Article Treasures | The Path to Quitting Smoking

You have already decided to stop smoking and the problem you are now faced with is how to remain a non-smoker. Following are several steps that may help you to stay away from smoking for ever.

First you might feel restless at night when you should be sleeping or you often times feel you are out of control of your body movements or perhaps experiencing coughing. These are all symptoms of being in a withdrawal stage. What helps to make you feel more comfortable is telling yourself that you are on the verge of quitting the smoking habit and therefore getting clean and healthier.

Many develop colds, sore throats and coughs soon after stopping smoking. You begin to wonder why you stopped when your smokers cough is worse than before! I think of it as the badness coming up out of my lungs and feel that it is worth some discomfort to rid myself of the smoking habit.

The manifestation of withdrawal symptoms can be mild for some and hard for others as nicotine leaves your body. This is just how the body initiates cleansing.

The most common withdrawal symptoms that are experienced are feeling hungry more often, restless or cranky. Many smokers report getting headaches, feeling tired, being low on energy, and having trouble sleeping. For me it was a need for a substitute. Some days I wanted lots of coffee - a caffiene boost. Other days it wasn't hunger in particular, more a craving for foods with a strong taste.

I found it helpful to keep some orange segments in the fridge. I never liked to smoke when I could smell or had just eaten freshly opened oranges as cigarettes didn't taste the same. No harm in getting some extra vitamin C either.

Whenever these symptoms are felt, many actually will last for 3-5 minutes, this is the time you will experience cravings or the desire to smoke like in the old days. Or a need to overcome stress and emotions, you smoke to feel better, relaxed, and more comfortable. This is also the time that you should keep on telling yourself you are over and done with smoking. This should keep you focused on your goal to quit.

Now, there are very easy ways to overcome this situation like taking a few deep breaths for a few minutes until these cravings are gone. Breathing is an exercise that relaxes muscles consequently calms down the urge to smoke.

Another way to help overcome withdrawal symptoms is by drinking water. This gives you a fresh feeling and enables your body to flush toxins like nicotine. Keep on doing something. Watch your favorite television series, play computer games, sing a song, look at happy family pictures, or make a sketch of anything you want to draw. Just keep your hands and your mind busy.

Exercising regularly can help too. Apart from keeping your mind off cigarettes, exercise will give you a feelgood boost. You quickly feel healthier and regular exercise can help you to sleep better. I remember thinking that another nights sleep is another day away from being a smoker.

Trying to stay in a good mood is the key to being less tempted to smoke. So take care of yourself by being positive. This will make you more able to resist the desire to smoke. Talk to yourself about the advantages of being smoke-free and finally think about how much money you will save by quitting smoking.