Quitting smoking is very difficult for most people, but it is possible -- and 1 million people quit smoking each year in the United States. The first and most important step is to make the decision to quit smoking, and make sure that you're serious about trying to quit. You can think about or even write down all the reasons that you have to quit smoking, such as reducing your risks for serious smoking-related diseases like heart disease, lung cancer and emphysema. The next part is to put together a quit-smoking action plan.
Step 1
Set a quit-smoking date, and tell your friends and family about your quit date. Tell your doctor, counselor, co-workers and boss about your quit date as well. You can choose an arbitrary quit date, or a date that has some meaning to you. Choose a quit date that's no farther into the future than one month, but not too soon so that you can cut down on smoking and arrange your support system before your final quit date.
Step 2
Begin cutting back on the number of cigarettes that you smoke each day in the weeks leading up to your quit date. You can either simply reduce the number of cigarettes that you smoke from, say, two packs per day down to five or 10 cigarettes each day, or you can delay the first cigarette that you smoke by one or two hours each day over the course of two or three weeks.
Step 3
Remove all cigarettes, ashtrays and other smoking-related items from your home, car and workplace. Avoid places where you're likely to smoke, such as bars and restaurants. Also, identify the times or triggers when you're most likely to smoke, such as while you're drinking coffee or alcohol, when you're stressed, while you're with friends, or while you're driving.
Step 4
Enlist the support of your family and friends by involving them in your quit-smoking goals. Instead of lighting up when you have an intense nicotine craving, call a friend or family member to talk through the craving. Also, you can attend a smoking-cessation program or support group, which are offered by many hospitals, health departments and other organizations.
Step 5
Try using nicotine replacements to help curb your cigarette cravings. You can use over-the-counter stop-smoking aids like nicotine gums, sprays, patches and other products, or you can get a prescription from your doctor for smoking-cessation medications like bupropion, or "Zyban," and varenicline, or "Chantix." If you don't want to use nicotine replacements, you can stock up on sugar-free candies, chewing gum and pretzels to help ease your oral fixation from smoking cigarettes.
Step 6
Reward yourself for not smoking for one week or one month to keep your motivation elevated to stay smoke-free. You can place into a jar the money that you would normally spend on cigarettes, and then use that money to do something to reward yourself. Celebrate with your friends and family the anniversaries of your quit date at one month, three months, six months, one year and so on.
Tips and Warnings
- If you're planning to take a smoking-cessation prescription drug like Zyban or Chantix, make sure that your doctor knows about your quit date. You'll need to start taking the medication one full week before your quit day for the best effects. If you have strong cigarette cravings when you're feeling stressed, try taking a walk or exercising instead of lighting up. If you normally smoke when you drink coffee, try switching to drinking tea. If you need to keep your hands busy to avoid smoking, try a hobby like sewing, knitting, playing computer games or doing crossword puzzles.
- Don't be afraid to enlist all the help you need to quit smoking. Cigarette smoking is both a physical and psychological addiction that can have the same addictive strength as illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin. Prepare yourself for the sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, intense cravings, nausea, depression, dizziness and cramps. Most smokers have to make several attempts to quit before they're successful. If you give in to a craving and smoke a cigarette, don't become discouraged. Just because you lit up once doesn't mean that you have to smoke another cigarette or that your quit-smoking plan failed.
Things You'll Need
- Sugar-free candies, chewing gum or pretzels
- Prescription Zyban or Chantix
- Nicotine-replacement products
