quit smoking - cold turkey
Quitting smoking using the cold turkey method is the first choice of the majority of smokers who want to quit. Which smoker hasn't tried to go cold turkey at least once in their smoking life? Lots of the ex-smokers I know, including me, tried this method day after day for ages without success. Going cold turkey means going from 20 or 40 a day to nil immediately; it means you give up completely and rely on will power to fight your nicotine addiction.
While going cold turkey is the most popular method it is probably the hardest and most uncomfortable method of stopping smoking you can use. Stopping this way usually involves decided on a particular day to stop and on that day, removing or destroying all cigarettes and smoking equipment and gritting the teeth against the cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Craving and withdrawal symptoms can include irritability, tiredness, headache, coughing, sore throat, sleeplessness, sweating, lack of concentration, depression, increased appetite, and of course cravings for tobacco. The reason that quitting smoking using the cold turkey method is usually the hardest and most difficult method of stopping smoking is because most people still need to function and concentrate on their jobs. When they are suffering the normal withdrawal symptoms associated with cold turkey that can be difficult and is why the majority give in and begin smoking again.
To quit smoking cold turkey you must be very prepared and planning will be the key to successfully quitting your smoking habit. Do not think of quitting smoking as the losing of something but instead think of this as a very exciting new beginning to a more healthy lifestyle for you.
The planning of your quitting should start about two weeks before you quit. Get ready by first thing in the morning doing some visualization of yourself as a newly non smoker, breathing deep and having more self confidence. After these 5 minute or so visualization sessions you will not feel like smoking but that urge will come back again within an hour or so. Remember that this is just practice for now. The next thing that you can do is make a long long list of all the reasons that you would like to quit smoking, this should not just be the things that are bad about smoking but also a bunch of great advantages to you for quitting smoking. You can work on this list for a few days and it will be one of the tricks that you will use on quit smoking cold turkey day.
Secondly get your body ready for quitting smoking by starting to drink more water and prepping your body to quit by eating more water rich foods like fruit and frinknig lots of water. This will be important as the day that you quit smoking will be a lot easier if it is another step in a healthy lifestyle.
A couple of days before you quit smoking cold turkey you will want to get comfort food and snacks that will keep your from wanting to smoke. Celery and carrots will stop those physical urges but it is also important to have your favorite foods around.
The day that you are going to quit smoking should be a special day. Wake up and have confidence that you will be quitting smoking this very day. Do your non smoker visualization and then eat breakfast and get a bit of exercise. The most important thing to do is to get though those nic fits that you will have throughout this day and tyo lesser extent in the days to follow today. Stay busy during the day and do not try to fake out the nicotine urges by ignoring them, instead remember that these will happen a few times a day and will go away within the time it takes to have a cigarette, about 15 minutes max. Remember that list that you make of the reasons why you are quitting smoking? This is the time to read and be excited about the reasons to quit on this list.
The day that you quit smoking cold turkey is going to be in many ways a sick day for you if you want to think about it that way. You are fighting a tough addiction so allow yourself to be feeling crappy off and on for a couple of days. Remember though as well, this is one of those days that you can remember forever. You are changing yourself for the better and quitting smoking is the one single thing that you can do to improve your health and your future.
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