Kicking a bad habit is never easy. It seems that starting on a certain day like New Years just sets you up for failure. So many of us make that our resolution only to give it up a couple days, weeks or months after we started. You first had to decide if you are going to quit smoking for yourself. Why do you want to quit? How bad do you want to quit smoking? They seem like similar questions but they will give you different responses. Are you the type of person that has an extreme personality? Meaning you would be better of quitting cold turkey? Or are you the type of person that needs guidance and praise when you complete designated goals that you set? Do you need a quit smoking aid to help you or will you wean your way off of traditional cigarettes? There are many scenarios and paths to chose from but it must be one that works with your personality type. Whatever you decide, the decision to quit smoking is only going to make you healthier.

Let’s talk about the variety of quit smoking aids out there on the market today. There are medications that can help wean you off nicotine offering lower doses each time. Chantix is a prescribed medication that blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain so that you don’t crave nicotine. Zyban is a prescribed medication that makes the withdrawal symptoms a bit easier to control while cutting traditional cigarettes out of you routine completely. The withdrawal symptoms are the reason most people don’t succeed in smoking cessation. Electronic Cigarettes are marketed a lot lately to help people quit smoking. This way seems to be very effective because you continue smoking like normal but you can order different levels of nicotine per smoking cartridge. So, if you are used to smoking full flavored cigarettes, you can order your electronic cigarette in the next nicotine level down, so that would be lights. Do this until you are ordering cartridges with 0mg of nicotine and you are then nicotine free. You can either then decide to quit smoking the electronic cigarette or just have it for when you get a craving to smoke or just need to use the electronic cigarette when you’re out and need something to do with you hands (if you’re anxious).

Try which ever method to quit smoking works for you and try to stick with it. The health benefits of you deciding to quit and following through with it are worth it. Get yourself a quit smoking buddy or go to a counselor that can help you through when the withdrawal symptoms get to much for you. Feeling good and being told you are doing an amazing job is a stimulant for us to keep doing what we’re doing or to even do better. Good luck on your quit smoking journey.