What does it take to break the smoking habit

How do you break a habit?
The first step is to accept that you have a habit and then look at the reasons why you
have that habit. If you know the reasons you can then think of better ways to deal with
those reasons. The reason why you started smoking might not be the reason why you
continue to smoke so you will need to look at your current situation and look at the
things that make you want to smoke.

Large portions of the people who take up smoking do so to be accepted by others.
After smoking for some time on a regular basis and with the added evil of the
addictive nature of nicotine the original reason might have little bearing on the reason
why you continue to smoke. It might be that you now find some comfort in having a
smoke or it makes you feel great when you have a smoke.
The next time you pick up a cigarette to smoke think about the things that made you
want to light up. Was it something that happened (and this can even be a particular
time of the day such as breakfast) Was it something that someone else said or did?
Did you get upset or angry and feel the need for a cigarette?
You need to be honest and answer the questions before you can break the habit.
Smoking is a habit and you can't hope to quit if you don't know what the habit is. It is
no use simply saying that smoking is the habit as there are almost always triggers that
stimulate the need for the next cigarette.
One of the best ways to break the habit is to refrain from smoking when you are faced
with the situations or emotions that would normally cause you to smoke. Even if you
delay the reaction to these events initially and wait a few minutes before having the
smoke you will be going some way to breaking the habit. You will begin to gain back
some of the control in your life that you lose each time you feel the need to smoke.
By separating the action of smoking from the event that usually causes the desire to
smoke will break the smoking habit.
People will often use the excuse that they are too old to stop smoking and assume that
because they have been smoking for most of their life it seems pointless to stop in
their latter years.
What they should realize is their body will start repairing the damage that has been
done from long term smoking as soon as 20 minutes after their last cigarette.
Yes your health will begin to start improving that soon. Within that time your blood
pressure will begin to decrease as will your pulse rate.
The increased blood pressure that is caused by smoking is one of the reasons why
those who smoke are more susceptible to heart disease.
Within approximately 8 hours the levels of carbon monoxide that are present in the
blood will drop and there will be increased levels of oxygen and this will help to
improve all aspects of your health as the bloods ability to transport oxygen to the
organs of the body is crucial for optimum health.
Things continue to get better as the time from the last cigarette grows and after the
first day there is a reduction in the possibility of getting a heart attack. So if you have
just had a cigarette and don't have another for the next day you have increased your
chance of survival considerably. Within two days you will begin to regain some of
your sense of taste that you probably didn't even realize you had lost. Food will taste
and smell better and your sense of smell with all things (eg; flowers) will begin to
improve.
Three days later and you will be having less difficulty breathing as the bronchial tubes
will have relaxed. As your breathing becomes more relaxed, so does your whole body
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and your outlook on life. Stress levels will be lower and the chance of having anxiety
problems will also diminish.
Many people will smoke in times of stress and when they are feeling anxious, yet
refraining from smoking for such a short period can also bring similar aspects of well
being with the improvements that you will enjoy to your health.
Over the next three months breathing will continue to improve and along with that
there will be an increase in energy levels and exercising will become easier.
After the first year of ceasing smoking there will be 50% less chance of heart disease
and four years or so later the chance of lung cancer will have also decreased by 50%
or more.
The good news is that after 10 years or so your health will more than likely be back to
that of someone who had never smoked and the pre-cancerous cells will have been
replaced.