It is best to prepare yourself for quitting by removing all cigarettes, ashtrays and other signs of smoking from your environment at home, work and in your car. Seeing them is only a reminder and will hamper progress. Decide you want to quit and be determined. Do not smoke during this time even a little. The one cigarette you have may encourage you to have more, impeding your ability to quit altogether.

A support system is very important to quit. Make sure family and friends are aware of your decision to quit and will help support you in your decision. If you have family and friends who smoke, ask them not to do it near you for awhile so you don’t have the urge to smoke with them. There are many support groups available as well. You can find telephone support or group therapy in just about every major city. Most of these are free and can provide a valuable boost to your morale during this difficult time.

Try to reduce the stress levels in your environment. Stay busy and active to promote good health. Taking long walks, indulging in a hot bath, spending some time at a day spa or getting a massage are great ways to reduce stress levels while keeping occupied. Ensuring you are distracted will help curb cravings for cigarettes.

Nicotine replacement is helpful in overcoming the addiction while allowing you to concentrate on the removal of the other harmful effects of smoking. Most entail a gradual reduction of nicotine so your body becomes more used to not having it. There are many types from skin patches to gums and lozenges. Studies indicate one method is no better than the next and is dependent on personal preference. Acupuncture and hypnosis have gained popularity as ways to help quit smoking. Consult a physician for a referral to a reputable hypnotist or acupuncturist before committing to this type of treatment.

Making the decision to quit smoking can be one of the most difficult things to do but will greatly benefit you in the long run. With a little support from friends and family the process will be much smoother. Try to stay active to distract from cravings. If you have intense withdrawals use a nicotine replacement such as a patch or gum to help curb cravings. The advantages of living a smoke-free life are many. Improve your health and the health of those around you by quitting.

By: Gray Rollins

One of the greatest indicators as to weather your attempt to quit smoking will be successful is how mentally prepared you are. You have to truly want to quit in order to be successful, and if you try to quit without this mindset it is unlikely that it will work. A good way to motivate yourself - to get yourself to a point where you really and truly want to quit smoking - is to think of the health risks involved, and the many benefits of quitting.

The health risks associated with smoking are well known, but if you are trying to quit it is a good idea to revisit them. By smoking, you greatly increase your chances of lung cancer and heart disease. As well as the increased risk of a premature death, you will also, as a smoker, be plagued with breathing difficulties. Another thing you should consider is that as a smoker you are putting others at risk through second hand smoke. It is a well known fact that second hand smoke can be very detrimental to the health of your loved ones, especially over the long term.

Now, if you smoke there a good chance you’re aware of these factors, and the knowledge can be fairly sobering. All is not lost, however, and in order to motive yourself to quit your should think about the immediate benefits involved if you stop. Almost instantly you’ll notice that your sense of smell will improve. Smell plays a crucial role in the taste of food, and therefore your taste sensation will improve considerably, and you will find yourself enjoying food more.

Also consider the money that you will save. Depending on where you live, cigarettes can be very expensive, and the general trend is that the price will continue to increase in the future. Even a fairly generous assumption of $5 a pack means that if you quit a pack a day habit you will save almost $2000 in the first year. A great technique to motive yourself when you first stop smoking is to put the money you would spend every day on cigarettes into a jar, where you can see it steadily accumulate: even after the first week you’ll have $35 - enough to treat yourself to a nice meal.

By constantly reminding yourself of the benefits of quitting smoking you give yourself an important mental motivator: think of not only your own health benefits, but those of the people around you who suffer from second hand smoke. Add to this the amount of money you’ll be saving, and it becomes hard to justify a smoking habit. Quitting smoking is a win-win situation, and thinking of it in this way will provide you with an important mental weapon in your attempt to quit.

By: Brandon C. Hall

I don’t know how it is with you, but as far as I am concerned as soon as I have to look at statistics, my eyes get bleary and something just turns off in my head. But for your own good I implore you to take a good look at the smoking stats given below, remember, it could save your life.

The World Health Organization has been studying smoking trends and statistical patterns across the globe and has come up with the following statistics:

A good deal of variation exists from one part of the world to another. Many more women smoke in Eastern Europe than in East Asia and the Pacific Region. Eastern Europe itself has a particularly high rate of smoking, with up to 59 percent of adult males smoking.

As with other substances of abuse, such as alcohol and cocaine, the global frequency of tobacco use varies by social class, historical era, and culture. Historically, smoking had been a pastime of the rich. This trend has changed dramatically in recent decades. It appears that economically advantaged men in wealthier countries have been smoking less. The more years of education you’ve had, the less likely you are to be a smoker.

Most smokers begin early in life, before they are 25 years old. According to World Health Organization studies, the majority of smokers in affluent countries begin in their teens. A decline in the age of starting smoking has been observed worldwide.

As a wannabe quitter, you’re in excellent company. People all over the world are trying to quit and stay away from cigarettes. There appears to be a correlation between a country’s standard of living, level of education, and income and the number of people who have quit smoking. The more and better-informed people are, the more likely they are to quit smoking.

Current estimates are that over 1 billion people in the world smoke. (In other words, approximately one in three adults on the planet smokes.) The majority of these smokers reside in countries on the low end to the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. Of this majority, about 80 percent live in low- and middle-income countries. The total number of smokers worldwide is expected to keep increasing. But are things in the USA any better? Not really, as you can see for yourself in the figures of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics

In the United States, an estimated 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers. These people are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The latest estimates for persons age 18 and older show..

Among whites, 25.1 percent of men and 21.7 percent of women smoke Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (only), 32.0 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women smoke Among black or African Americans, 27.6 percent of men and 18.0 percent of women smoke Among Hispanics/Latinos, 23.2 percent of men and 12.5 percent of women smoke Among Asians (only), 21.3 percent of men and 6.9 percent of women smoke

Studies show that smoking prevalence is higher among those with 9-11 years of education (35.4 percent) compared with those with more than 16 years of education (11.6 percent). It’s highest among persons living below the poverty level (33.3 percent).

And These Figures Spell Death…

One out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco

An average of 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco

Tobacco to blame for many serious pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases

Tobacco and nicotine are some of the most potent carcinogens and are to blame for a majority of all cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, and esophagus

Tobacco use also produces cancers in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix

Impotency is sometimes to blame from addiction to nicotine because of its ability to reduce blood flow

Smoking is an important risk factor for respiratory illnesses, causing 85,000 deaths per year from pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia

Children and adolescents who are active smokers will have increasingly severe respiratory illness, as they grow older

Smoking during pregnancy causes about 5-6% of prenatal deaths, 17-26% of low-birth-weight births, and 7-10% of pre-term deliveries, and it increases the risk of miscarriage and fetal growth retardation

Cigarettes are responsible for about 25% of deaths from residential fires, causing nearly 1,000 fire-related deaths and 3,300 injuries each year.

By: Brenda Patterson

Although there has been a huge decrease in the number of smokers between 1965 and 2000, 22% of American adults still continue to smoke. The good news is that surveys have shown that 70% of active smokers want to quit.

When you quit smoking the benefits are immediate. Blood cells that transport carbon monoxide from cigarette smoke begin to transport healthy oxygen. Even though quitting doesn’t completely eliminate the risk of developing lung cancer, the risk of lung cancer starts to decline. One year after quitting smoking your chances of having a heart attack drops by half. The risk of lung cancer continues to decline and drop dramatically five to ten years after quitting. So we know that quitting is essential to enjoying a long and healthy life. The question is how do you pick the right way to stop smoking for you?

The first thing you need to know is that most smokers quit unsuccessfully several times before they quit for good. You will most likely not be successful your first time around - but you must still try! Each time you attempt to quit you come closer to finally quitting for good.

There are many organizations available to help you take control of your health and quit smoking. Most smokers find a greater success rate in groups. Organizations such as SmokEnders have community based seminars and will come to the workplace to counsel smokers. SmokEnders is a gradual stop smoking program that says it’s success is based on treating the physical and the psychological aspects of smoking. They offer unlimited toll-free phone counseling.

Some people prefer to try to stop cold turkey. They stop smoking completely with little or no reduction in the number of cigarettes they smoke beforehand. As with any smoker who quits, those who quit cold turkey will experience the withdrawal symptoms of irritability, increased appetite and restlessness. For someone trying to stop smoking cold turkey help can be obtained using medications such as Zyban which lessens withdrawal symptoms. Zyban can only be obtained with a prescription.

Some smokers obtain relief from smoking withdrawal with a nicotine replacement commonly known as a nicotine patch. Patches are used for up to eight weeks. Nicotine patches are available over the counter. It is suggested that you talk to your doctor before trying any over the counter nicotine replacement therapy.

The American Cancer Society and American Lung Association have free information available. The federal government also has free information for smokers available at http://www.smokefree.gov.

By: Catherine Olivia

We all know that smoking leads to many diseases. This isn’t even debatable anymore. But, what is is the method by which we can stop smoking. It is difficult in any case to learn how to stop smoking. It will take nothing short of determination to get it done. But, there are things to help you do it successfully.

You have more than likely heard of patches and pills that can help you to stop smoking slowly. In these methods, they provide the nicotine that you body craves through a safer means. Slowly, you will step down from needing two packs a day to needing only one to needing none. The gradual movement helps you to stop having to fight the temptation for more and more. It helps to keep you on the right track as well.

Another method to stop smoking is to go cold turkey. But, you will need to replace that need for nicotine with something else. In many studies, it has been found that people who stop smoking and begin exercise have a better chance of remaining smoke free. While this may not seem like something you can do, it has worked for many others. It does take a lot of dedication and determination.

Yet another way to stop smoking is often one of the most terrifying. Being faced with the consequences of what smoking can do to you may actually help you to stop. For example, those who smoke are filling their lungs with tar. You know, that stuff they put on the roads? Yes, that is what is going into your body. Take a trip to the health museum to see what it’s like. Or, if you are already too late, you may be faced with cancer already. Is this enough to get you to stop?

Unfortunately, it won’t be for many. If you want to stop smoking, you simply need to make the decision to do so and work hard at making that happen. You need to realize that your family and friends will suffer much more when you are not around to enjoy life with them because smoking has cut that short.

By: Alex Benyukhis

Let’s try to understand why you are smoking and what impact it makes on your life.

* Psychological aspect is probably the strongest reason for smoking. From physiological point of view you do not have any reason to start smoking. There is no any ingredient that will support your nutrition. But still, you find many reasons to smoke. You smoke since you consider that some kind of pleasure. You smoke to calm your self, or to cut the time while you waiting for something. But at the end, you are only smoking because you are used to it. Simply you do not smoke for pleasure, but in order not to have a smoker’s crisis. Is that “pleasure” really worth of your time, health and money? Do you really enjoy in every cigarette smoked, or simply you can not be in idle mode for a moment without a smoke?

* Physiological effect of smoking does not exist in any positive way while you smoke. But negative effects do exist if you try to quit smoking. How pathetic, you have no physiological benefits for starting with smoking, but you have negative effects of nicotine crisis, if you do not smoke. Despite that, you still want to inhale smoke and pretend that you feel pleasure, although you don’t? By the way, is it fun to make your body to age at accelerated rate?

* Social aspect is strong, since during a whole life you have somebody, who also smokes, to give you reason for smoking. It starts with first cigarettes with friends while you are adolescent and continues a whole life. You have always a good reason to smoke, since it connects you with the people that surround you. OK, but what about the people that do not smoke? They need to endure the torture from smokers, only because they are in your vicinity. If you do not care about your health, than why don’t you at least respect non-smokers that surround you?

* Financial aspect of smoking habit is having a huge impact in your life. If you are an average smoker, who spend €5 per day, it is easy to figure out that you burning money literally. If you smoke 40 years, your pleasure ( or just a plain addiction ) will cost you € 73.000, without any interest. Furthermore, if you invest annually equivalent amount of money with only 5% of interest rate ( you can get even more, but due to inflation let assume that this is minimal interest ), you are wasting the € 231.483. A small fortune. Now imagine yourself with that amount of money in one hand and box of matches in another hand. Would be a really stupid to lit the money and to burn them away?

But since you are the smoker, you are actually burning that money. It does not matter that you burn money slowly, you are still burning it. What do you feel about the fact that you are wasting so much money on something that is probably more habit than a pleasure? Is your creativeness for spending money limited to burning them? Now, try to question yourself about reasons of why you still smoke. Try to understand all things that you consider to be a positive and those that are really negative to yourself while smoking. Is it really that important for you to keep breathing in fumes of burned tobacco leaves while trying to pretend that you enjoy? Try to imagine all benefits that you will have if you quit smoking. You will be healthier, you will not have a bad smell and you will be wealthier.

Are you still smoking?

By: Laurus Nobilis

As stated above, of the most effective ways to quit smoking is by use of one of the nicotine replacement products. These products (namely, nicotine patches, gum or inhalers) work because they replace a small amount of nicotine in your system so that the edge is taken off of your physical cravings. This makes it easier for you to avoid picking up a cigarette because you just can’t stand not having one anymore. They don’t alleviate your cravings, I might add. They simply make them tolerable for many people so that they can sweat their way through their cravings without picking up a cigarette.

In addition to the physical addiction of nicotine, though, there’s also a psychological factor. That is, many people simply find comfort in the actual physical act of smoking. For some people, when they eat, have a cup of coffee, take a break, etc., having a cigarette is part of that process. Therefore, suddenly not having a cigarette to pick up during these situations or under times of stress, for example, can be one of the factors that can lead to failure instead of success in quitting.

For this reason, nicotine gums are a very feasible nicotine replacement alternative for many people. They help satisfy the oral craving that comes from simply puffing on a cigarette. Alternatively, there are also inhalers that you can buy (although these are not yet available over the counter in many places) that mimic the physical act of smoking on a cigarette. To get a small dose of nicotine, you simply take a plastic tube that has a hole in one end, and “inhale” to get a small dose of nicotine. Some smokers also swear by chewing on carrot sticks, chewing regular gum, or doing other “oral replacement” activities when they get the urge to light up.

One of the most effective ways to quit smoking, possibly used in combination with some of the other methods as well, is to have a buddy system set up, whereby two of you are trying to quit smoking at the same time and keep each other accountable. You can also do this online through various “quit smoking” forums. Alternatively, talk therapy or hypnotherapy may also be a way to help ease the transition from smoking to not smoking.

There are many effective ways to quit smoking, and you just have to find the one (or combination of two or more) that works best for you. If you can do so, you, too, can be on your way to a healthier and smoke-free life.

By: Vincent Pham

What often times happens is that people get paralysis by analysis simply by going through the different products available, and as a result end up giving up on their attempt to stop smoking. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some tips to help you cut through the clutter now.

The first thing I’m going to tell you might surprise you a bit, but it’s definitely true-the treatment you get is not the determining factor in whether or not you succeed in stopping smoking- you are.

Quite simply, the treatment is important, but you can succeed with a bad treatment, and fail with a good one, if you don’t have one element-desire. This is one of the most important factors in helping you stop smoking, because if you truly don’t want to and aren’t 110% committed, you just won’t achieve your goal. It’s really that simple.

While a stop smoking treatment will deal with the mechanics of your smoking addiction, it won’t deal with the mental. If you don’t really want to quit, you won’t do so regardless of how good the treatment you get. Therefore, that’s the first step. Remember this one thing-failure isn’t an option.

Keep picturing what you’re life would look like without smoking, the incredible benefits you will enjoy, and think about them the next time you are tempted to reach for the cigarette. Chances are, this thought will be enough to stop you in your tracks.

With that said, there are many different ways you might explore. A quit smoking shot, laser, patch, and gum have all proven effective at helping you to stop smoking. While it is a bit expensive (around four hundred dollars) I’d recommend you go with the shot, as it gets right the heart of the issue by preventing your brain from even recognizing nicotine, which obviously prevents you from craving it.

It does this by cutting off the nicotine receptors from reach the brain, and therefore the brain doesn’t even recognize it. If the brain doesn’t know what it is anymore, it can’t be addicted to it anymore. This has proven very effective at helping many stop smoking.

I’d also recommend you think about the reasons you first started smoking. Chances are, it was in response to some sort of stress that occurred in your life at the time you firs started, and however temporary, smoking gave you a way to stop thinking about it for a time.

If you don’t understand why you first started smoking, you won’t be able to prevent the next negative habit from coming up to take it’s place. If you do understand what caused it, on the other hand, you can know how to develop a better habit the next time some sort of stress invades your life, and be much more effective at dealing with it.

Of course, before you do anything else, make sure to check with your doctor on which stop smoking treatment is best for you.

By: Marcus Washington

There are many aids like gums, patches and pills on the market that will help people to stop smoking. A lot of people are helped by these products, but they do not work for everyone. If you’re a smoker who has tried to quit time and time again, but have not been helped by other methods, hypnosis therapy may be a welcome alternative.

Many people, who have almost given up on being able to quit smoking, are finding success with hypnotherapy. This kind of hypnotism is not the same kind you will see when watching a hypnotist act for entertainment. Hypnotherapy is not about making you say and do funny things. Hypnotherapy works because it uses positive suggestion to influence your behavior.

Hypnosis works on the subconscious part of your brain. Subconscious thought is very powerful and we often bemoan the fact that we have a lot of negative subconscious thoughts about ourselves. However, your subconscious mind can be trained to think positive thoughts as well. Hypnosis successfully plants suggestions deep into your brain. When you awake and go about your everyday business, you’ll begin to act on these positive suggestions.

When hypnosis is used to stop smoking, the hypnotherapist will make gentle suggestions to the smoker, who is in a completely relaxed state of mind. This hypnosis style does not control the person’s mind or body movements. While the smoker is relaxed, they will be very accepting to the suggestions that the hypnotherapist repeats.

The smoker is told over and over again that they no longer wish to smoke. The voice will reinforce a very strong message that cigarettes are no longer needed or desirable. After going through the hypnosis, the smoker will still experience cravings for cigarettes every once in a while, but will be able to resist due to the deep belief that they no longer need to light up.

Studies show that when hypnosis is used to help people to quit smoking, there is an 80% success rate. Most smokers who are successful with this method are people who are highly motivated to quit smoking and respond well to hypnosis.

You can choose to either visit a qualified hypnotherapist who is trained to treat smokers, or you can buy a hypnosis CD or Mp3 download and do-it-yourself at home. If you choose to do it yourself, you can save money and listen to the hypnosis session anywhere you wish.

No matter how you choose to get the hypnosis therapy, the important thing is to stick with it until you’ve completely kicked the habit. Giving up smoking is not easy because it is a serious addiction, however, you must do it because of the long-term health problems you may experience due to smoking. Plus, I’m sure you’re tired of stained teeth, yellow hands, coughing and smoker’s breath.

You can stop smoking with hypnosis therapy right now if you really want to finally be done with this awful habit. The choice is yours. If you make this commitment to yourself now, you will ensure that you’ll be able to live a much happier and healthier lifestyle.

By: Star Smith