There are many ways of giving up the cigarette. Most people would prefer to do it one cigarette at a time. That would certainly qualify as the easiest method, but it would certainly not be the most effective. You do not actually count the number of cigarettes you smoke per day, do you? Reducing one cigarette each day makes no sense then. There could be very easily a day when you smoke an additional cigarette and the whole routine is disrupted once again
The best way to stop smoking – if you dare it – is certainly to stop smoking cold turkey. Going cold turkey meana to stop the addiction completely – not even one cigarette – howsoever much you might be habituated to smoke earlier. Certainly it is more difficult for heavy smokers to stop smoking cold turkey than for those who just have a few cigarettes a day.
Needless to mention, cold turkey is a very painful method of quitting the smoking habit. The pain is not just bodily, but it is mental agony too. Giving up an addiction entirely and all at once is certainly agonizing. In the case of cigarettes, nicotine is a powerful addictive. As long as it is consumed in the body, it stimulates the brain receptor cells. But if you were to go cold turkey and stop it completely from entering the body, your entire internal system is sure to react violently. That is what makes the whole process so very difficult.
But there are some ways that can make cold turkey bearable and yield the results that you want – i.e. lead you to a smoke-free life. Bear in mind that stopping smoking with cold turkey does not mean that you will simply get up from your bed one sweet day and decide randomly that you want to give up smoking and go cold turkey. If you do that, nothing will be achieved at all. You will be back to the cigarette in no time. Actually, if you want to stop smoking cold turkey, then you will need to make some advance preparations.
Your preparations should begin at least a fortnight prior to your set date for going cold turkey. Incidentally, you must mark this date on your calendar in red and treat it as a landmark day of your life. Begin your preparations by a positive outlook towards life. Write in a small book about all the things you will get when you are finally free of your smoking habit. Write about the diseases you will be protecting yourself from, the things you will do for your family and children and such things. And keep your body well supplemented with water. Drink lots of fluids prior to your cold turkey.
One evening prior to the day you have assigned for the cold turkey, keep your fridge stocked with carrots and celery – they will help if you get the craving for the cigarette. You must also stock on foods you like to eat, and get some good DVDs if you want. Throw all your cigarette packets away.
On the D-day, begin with a small meditation on the importance of your quitting the smoking habit. Then carry on life as usual. Throughout the day – the first day – you will feel the pangs several times. But, it must be your resilience not to succumb to the craving. Chomp on the veggies you have stocked, or divert your mind into other things. Think about people you are for. The craving will subside; cravings for smoking addiction do not last more than fifteen minutes at a time.
On subsequent days, you will find that the craving for the cigarette will have diminished with each passing day. A time will come when you will find the craving very low, and then finally nonexistent. This is the day when your mammoth troubles to stop smoking cold turkey will have borne fruit.