I hope you don't mind me putting this out. I do alot of writing for another forum, and wrote this for No Smoking Day. I have adjusted it to suit here as well. Seen as I have been welcomed in with open arms. No smoking day is nearly here again! Are you ready for the challenge!! On this post is a collection of handy tips that will hopefully help you along your way to the new smoke free you. Welcome to The quit train. Quittrain.com No 1. join the Quit Train forum for fun, friendly, FREE support with your quit!! The elastic band technique Wear a rubber band around your wrist. When you really feel like you want a cigarette, snap the rubber band a few times and in your mind say STOP. You might try this at home aloud a few times and then do it silently when in public. Write down your reasons Write a list of reasons why YOU want to quit. Keep it with you. In your purse or wallet, so you can go back and look at it when you are struggling. Have a plan Plan your quit. Look at how you smoke. Which times of the day cigarettes will be the hardest to beat. What will you do in those circumstances. Who will support you? Join a support forum or group, tell friends and family that you are quitting. Decide how you are going to do this Plan and decide what method you think will work better of you. Go and speak to your GP, stop smoking cessation nurse or a local pharmacy and find out about your options. There is an array of different products out there to use. Exercise Exercising helps to beat the cravings. 1)Walking is one way of getting more physical activity. Take a walk at lunchtime or after dinner, perhaps finding a coworker, friend, or family member to join you. Be sure to choose companions who don't smoke! Gradually lengthen your walks and step up the pace. 2)Think about other activities that you might enjoy, like biking, swimming, dancing, yoga — just about any sports activity will help. 3)Housework and gardening provide exercise benefits, too. And there’s always that garage to clean out. Playing music you enjoy will help you step up the pace. 4)Plan family activities or social gatherings that involve physical activity like hiking, a volleyball game, or a trip to the beach. How to cope with the cravings 1)Keep your hands busy - doodle, knit, type a letter. 2)Avoid people who smoke - spend more time with non-smoking friends. 3)Find activities that make smoking difficult (gardening, exercise, washing the car, taking a shower). 4)Drink plenty of cold water. It helps to flush out the toxins but it really does help with the cravings. 5)Put something other than a cigarette into your mouth. Keep oral substitutes handy - try carrots, sunflower seeds, apples, celery, raisins, or sugarless gum. Frozen grapes also help. 6)Strong flavoured sweets (lemon drops, cherry drops, aniseed Fisherman's Friends) are great for taking your mind off a crave when you're romanticising the taste. 7)Cut a drinking straw into cigarette-sized pieces. Inhale air. 8)Use a mouthwash. 9)Change your surroundings when an urge hits; get up and move about, or do something else. 10)Avoid places where smoking is permitted. 11)Look at your watch whenever an urge to smoke hits you. You'll find the urge will only last a few minutes. Money Jar Keep a money jar. Watch as it grows and treat yourself at different milestones throughout your quit. Maybe you had a bad day, but you have got through it without smoking. The trick is to reward yourself for your achievements. Phone apps Get yourself a Quit smoking app. You can get one for any device and they can be a good motivator, but it is also very interesting and scary how big those stats get. Read, read, read Knowledge is power when it comes to the nicotine addiction. The more you understand this process the better it is to deal with. Remember it takes time to completely be free from this addiction. Home remedies Some people will swear by these and you never know they could make a difference: Home Remedies to Quit Smoking 1. Oats Oats is an age-old remedy used to quit smoking. It is one of the best home remedies to stop smoking. Take a tablespoon of ground oats and mix it in 2 cups of boiled water. Leave it for a night, and then, boil it the next morning for about 10 minutes. Drink it after every meal. Avoid taking it at night. Oats helps to flush out the harmful toxins from the body while lowering the craving for smoking. It also helps in easing up the withdrawal symptoms. 2. Water Drinking plenty of water is the ultimate remedy to treat the habit of smoking. Water will help in detoxifying the body. Whenever you feel the urge to smoke, drink a glass of water. This will not only decrease the craving but will also reduce the withdrawal symptoms. 3. Cayenne Pepper Cayenne pepper is also one of the best natural remedies to stop smoking. Include the spice in your diet or mix a few pinches in a glass of water. Cayenne pepper helps in desensitizing the respiratory system to all the addictive things, such as tobacco and nicotine. It also helps to lessen the craving for smoking. 4. Ginger One of the most common withdrawal symptoms of smoking is nausea, which can be easily eased up by taking ginger juice. 5. Lobelia Lobelia is also beneficial in lessening the craving for smoking. It helps to overcome the withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, irritation, too much hunger, as well as poor concentration. 6. Multivitamins Smoking causes deficiency of a number of vital nutrients in our body. This can be replenished by supplements of Vitamin A, C and E. These also help in coping up with the withdrawal symptoms of smoking. Vitamin A is beneficial in repairing the damaged mucus while Vitamin E repairs the damaged cells due to smoking. You can have orange juice to replenish the deficiency of Vitamin C in the body. 7. Radish This is another reliable home remedy to quit smoking. Grate a radish and take out its juice. Mix some honey in it, and drink it at least 2 times a day. 8. Licorice Stick One of the most opted natural remedies to refrain oneself from smoking is chewing a licorice stick whenever you feel the urge to smoke. This is a good substitute of a cigarette. 9. Grape Seed Extract Consume grape seed extract to repair the damage of lungs, caused due to smoking. 10. Grape Juice The acidic content of grape juice will help to flush out the nicotine from the body, so drink grape juice daily while you are ready to quit smoking. 11. St. John’s Wort This herb is useful in reducing the urge to smoke. It has been studied that 450 mg of St. John’s Wort capsule, if taken twice a day, will help to alleviate the habit of smoking. 12. Hyssop Hyssop can be taken to lessen the smoke withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety and hysteria. It is also useful in clearing out the lung congestion. 13. Ginseng Add a teaspoon of ginseng powder in your breakfast to help reduce the craving for smoking. Ginseng is an effective remedy to prevent the release of dopamine, one of the main components found in nicotine. 14. Valerian Valerian is one of the best herbs to ease out smoking withdrawal symptoms, like stress, anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. 15. Honey Honey is an excellent remedy in handling the cessation process of smoking. Honey contains beneficial vitamins, enzymes and proteins, which help in giving up the habit of smoking with ease. 16. Try Herbal Cigarettes You can also try herbal cigarettes that have 0% nicotine in them. These are made with herbs, like mint, cinnamon, licorice, lemongrass, cornsilk, or clover. But, they should not be used for a longer period of time as it also contains some carcinogens. There are also herbal products to help with insomnia, anxiety and depression. So if you suffer with any of these ailments there is help at hand. 1)For Insomnia - Nightol and Karlms 2)For Depression - St John's Wort 3)For anxitey - Rescue Remedy and Rhodiola There are other products out there, but these products have been used by some of our members. If your symptoms persist or you are at all worried. Please go and see your GP. Games Find some addictive games to play. Tetris has been proven to help beat craving's but games such as 'candy crush' and 'make it rain' could help to keep your hands and mind busy. N.O.P.E NOPE is a mantra that we all live by here because it works. It stands for Not One Puff Ever! Think of it as any other addiction. An alcoholic can't have a sip of a drink, a drug addict cannot ever take their drugs again. It's simple but effective. It could be a slippery slope if you do. H.A.L.T HALT is another mantra to help you when you are going through the craving's. Stop and think, are you: []Hungry - nicotine is a suppressant, so you will feel hungrier and craving can feel the same. []Angry - nicotine is a mood suppresser, so until your brain balances out you will be prone to mood swings []Lonely - you will feel like there is something missing for awhile, that you are morning a close friend. It will take awhile for your brain to come to terms with the fact you don't smoke anymore. You have trained it well. But it will happen. []Tired - some people sleep more and some people get insomnia for awhile when quitting. It will balance it's self out, remember this is all temporary. Never act straight away. Always STOP and think first, could it be something else that you need. One day at a time Take thing's one day at a time. Donot look any further than that day. Even hour by hour if you have to. It is the basic structure to beat any addiction. Never think you will never smoking FOREVER as that is too much and will look to daunting and impossible to achieve. Say to yourself every morning when you wake up I will not smoke today. Never look back, just live for today. Positive thinking Try to stay positive and get into the right mindset as it WILL make it easier. If you start to doubt yourself, that little voice at the back of your mind will start with the 'just one won't hurt' or 'you are doing so well, you could smoke to celebrate and start to quit again tomorrow'. Believe in yourself. You are in charge it's your choice and your choose NOT to smoke.
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