When you have finally made up your mind that you absolutely must quit smoking cigarettes, that is the easy part. The battle from day to day will be tough to say the least. One of the hardest parts of the battle is actually getting started. Everyday people say that they are going to get up in the morning and start the quitting process, but when their feet hit the floor the next day, they often lose the very first battle and go ahead and light a cigarette as usual and put it off until another day. Giving up that first cigarette in the morning is the hardest thing to do. It really makes the decision to quit real and smokers often fail that first test.
So, how do you manage to succeed with the first battle? Number one you can not have any cigarettes in the house on the morning that you have picked to get started. And it is not always necessary to quit this way. You can choose to start at lunch time, but it will not be any easier. Some people decide to use the gradually stepping down method. If you do this you need to limit the number of cigarettes you can have each day and decrease them every few days. Many people find that this method is a little less painful and sometimes it is more successful overall than trying to quit cold turkey.
So, even if you get up and fail that first battle in the morning, do not give up. The quitting process is exactly that, a process. There is likely to be times when you slip up and smoke. If you wanted to smoke nothing at the beginning of your first day and find you just can not handle it, look at it this way, smoking 2 or 3 cigarettes during that first day is much better than smoking an entire pack like you might usually do. Any tobacco reduction is worth the struggle. You did not start smoking over night and you will not likely be able to quit overnight even though some people do.
If you stay home during the day, you will have to find something to keep your mind off of not smoking. Chances are when you first start the quitting process, it will seem like smoking is on your mind constantly. The first thing you must learn to do is to think about it. The craving for nicotine is going to stay with you physically for several days, after that it is a mental battle. Make yourself think about all of the reasons you do not need to smoke instead of dwelling on how bad you want one. If there is a new project you have wanted to start, get started on it. Keeping your mind busy on anything is good to keep yourself distracted. If you have the opportunity to sleep away some of those first few days, do it.
At work, if you are already used to taking specified smoke breaks, this should help. If you are allowed to smoke whenever you like it is a little tougher because you are going to have to supervise yourself. If you make it through that first day without a cigarette at all, it will usually boost your confidence for the second day. The main goal is quitting, so even if you slip, never give up. Keep pushing on. If you quit trying, you will never quit smoking.
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