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- How to Quit Smoking and
Quit for Keeps
- Ways of Quitting
Switch Brands
- Switch to a brand you find distasteful.
- Change to a brand that is low in tar
and nicotine a couple of weeks before your target date. This will help
change your smoking behavior. However, do not smoke more cigarettes,
inhale them more often or more deeply, or place your fingertips over the
holes in the filters. All of these will increase your nicotine intake, and
the idea is to get your body use to functioning without nicotine.
Cut Down the Number of Cigarettes You
Smoke
- Smoke only half of each cigarette.
- Each day, postpone the lighting of your
first cigarette 1 hour.
- Decide you'll only smoke during odd or
even hours of the day.
- Decide beforehand how many cigarettes
you'll smoke during the day. For each additional cigarette, give a dollar to
your favorite charity.
- Change your eating habits to help you
cut down. For example, drink milk, which many people consider incompatible
with smoking. End meals or snacks with something that won't lead to a
cigarette.
- Reach for a glass of juice instead of a
cigarette for a "pick-me-up."
- Remember: Cutting down can help you
quit, but it's not a substitute for quitting. If you're down to about 7
cigarettes a day, it's time to set your target quit date and get ready to
stick to it.
Don't Smoke "Automatically"
- Smoke only those cigarettes you really
want. Catch yourself before you light up a cigarette out of pure habit.
- Don't empty your ashtrays. This will
remind you of how many cigarettes you've smoked each day, and the sight and
the smell of stale cigarettes butts will be very unpleasant.
- Make yourself aware of each cigarette
by using the opposite hand or putting cigarettes in an unfamiliar location
or a different pocket to break the automatic reach.
- If you light up many times during the
day without even thinking about it, try to look in a mirror each time you
put a match to your cigarette­p;you may decide you don't need it.
Make Smoking Inconvenient
- Stop buying cigarettes by the carton.
Wait until one pack is empty before you buy another.
- Stop carrying cigarettes with you at
home or at work. Make them difficult to get to.
Make Smoking Unpleasant
- Smoke only under circumstances that
aren't especially pleasurable for you. If you like to smoke with others,
smoke alone. Turn your chair to an empty corner and focus only on the
cigarette you are smoking and all its many negative effects.
- Collect all your cigarette butts in one
large glass container as a visual reminder of the filth made by smoking.
National Cancer Institute
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Information>Ways of
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