Healthy Ways to Stop Smoking

There are many options to consider when quitting smoking. Nicotine gum, inhalers, lozenges and even prescription pills almost always have side effects or continue to feed the body nicotine, which is exactly what you want out of your system to completely curtail the urge to smoke. Cold turkey is still by far the best and safest method for quitting.

Condition Yourself for Smoke-Free Living

• Cigarette companies themselves fund stop-smoking hotlines and websites as part of a wave of lawsuits and public health concerns caused by the smoking habit's devastating effects. Heart disease and lung cancer are two of the worst killers associated with smoking. One of the best ways to help convince yourself to quit is to fully educate yourself on these and other dangers of smoking.

  You should also concentrate on the benefits of kicking the habit. There are plenty of guides available to tell you exactly what happens to your body after your last cigarette. Your heart rate, oxygen and carbon monoxide levels, and blood pressure all return to normal levels during the first smoke-free day. Within two days, your senses of smell and taste will improve significantly. During the first three months, you will find your lung function drastically increased and your circulation improved to allow for more strenuous exercise than you might be used to. Complete one year of abstinence from smoking, and your risk of heart attack can drop as much as 50 percent. The benefits only get better as the years pass.

Hypnotize Yourself to Quit

• Hypnosis often helps the smoker who insists on quitting but can't find the willpower to carry through. If you can't afford a professional hypnotist or just can't be hypnotized, you will have to adopt your own motivational mantras and convince yourself there is no point to continue killing yourself slowly with cigarettes. First you should really get an idea of what smoking has already done to your body. Run a mile or as far as you can, and try to start a regular running or walking routine. The damage smoking has done to your system will become more than apparent and downright agonizing as you increase the exercise intensity, but once you quit you will notice this type of exercise is essential to reversing that damage. Putting yourself through rigorous exercise while trying to maintain a smoking habit should result in one of two conclusions. You will either end up quitting the cigarettes or quitting the exercise. If jolting your body back to reality doesn't work for you, try some of those over-the-counter quitting aids to complement your efforts.

Use Quitting Aids to Go the Distance

• Lozenges, inhalers, gum and patches all inject some amount of nicotine into your body as a way of replacing the need for cigarettes. While this is not the safest and cleanest way to cut yourself off from smoking, it is much safer than a pack-a-day habit. Use these quitting aids as a complement to a cold-turkey approach with more exercise, and you might find yourself smoke free. Use stop-smoking websites, hotlines and support groups if you still have trouble. Try to stay away from prescription products if you can. These can carry severe side effects.

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

• As a former smoker myself, I can personally say that it's all about forcing yourself to confront the problem, realizing the consequences of not quitting and carrying out a definitive plan to kick the habit once and for all. You'll find yourself saving a ton of money and feeling better and better with each passing day. Dropping cigarettes even helped me get in shape for a professional boxing career I intend to launch next year. There is no limit to how far you can go with your physical well-being if you quit smoking as soon as you can. Just make sure you have some willpower, because that's one product you can't buy in any store.