It might be one drunken night in the pub when you bought a packet promising to only have one. The danger is that the next day, you will be in a very bad mindset and it takes enormous strength and determination to get out of that mindset.

Once you have gone back, you’ve had one, two, three, even a packet in a moment of madness, it becomes almost certain that you will continue. You start to think that because you have caved, you might aswell go back to old ways. This isn’t the case, it’s a setback. We all have setbacks in life – that’s what makes it so dam hard, but it’s how we deal with them that makes us the people we are. The first thing you need to do when dealing with a setback such as this is to recognise the danger – this is absolutely crucial. If you don’t recognise what the danger is, you can’t prepare for the potential hazards.

The main danger is slipping into the mindset discussed earlier. You need to add reason to this mindset by acknowledging the fact there was a mistake and promising yourself that it won’t happen again. No need to take it any further and give it any more thought. So what if you have a packet left over from last night? Throw it out.

It’s difficult and this type of problem is responsible for a large percentage of people picking the habit up again. For most, if they can just stay strong through periods like this – they can be safe in the knowledge they have firmly kicked the habit.

I’m sure you don’t need reminding that smoking is extremely bad for your health, it can lead to an array of nasty diseases and it costs you a fortune. That said, some people quickly become addicted and no matter how much they want to quit, they simply can’t.

A small section of your brain reacts to the nicotine contained in your cigarettes. The reaction is stronger in some people and weaker in others which is why some people get addicted and others seem to be more casual smokers.
Unfortunately, quitting smoking is going to take massive will power and there is simply no way round this. There are supplements and tools that can help but they are only aids – they wont make you quit, that’s all down to you.

Should you decide to quit, you need to make sure you’re in exactly the right frame of mind or you’re completely wasting your time. If you aren’t fully dedicated, you will fail extremely quickly.  Check out some of our other posts which contain some really useful tips to help you through the hard times.

Deciding to quit smoking and following it through will be the best decision of your life – in a year’s time, you will actually despise cigarettes and cigarette smoke – and your body will be forever thankful for you quitting!

As we have already mentioned, quitting smoking is a massive dedication in the beginning. You need to stay focused and resist any temptation every time you feel like a cheeky one. If you immediately cut cigarettes from your life after smoking 10 a day or whatever, you might be in for a tough ride. What some people need to do (especially if you’re a heavy smoker) is begin reducing your daily amount. Cutting them out completely is a little unrealistic and is a lot harder than some people can manage.

The bigger problem with simply cutting out cigarettes straight away is that it might put you off from future quit smoking attempts, which is the worst possible outcome!

So take our advice and start by cutting down by 2 cigarettes a day and keep reducing the amount by two a day every week.

Stopping smoking gives you a long list of hugely beneficial advantages. The heath benefits are a given, you’ll be healthier and live longer blah blah…

…but the best benefit for me was the money. I save over £10 000 per year since I stopped smoking and boy does that come in handy. Well, it’s actually not coming in handy right now because it all goes into the bank – but its there and it could be there for you too.

The old cliché rings true when you light a cigarette – you may as well be setting fire to your money.  Think of that next time you light up – use it to your advantage because that’s exactly what its like.

For some people, this thought alone is enough to stop them from smoking and they give up on the spot. For others, it takes a little more will power.

The next time you’re at the counter to buy your next packet, think what you could do with the money if you saved it and put it in your bank account and let it build up.

I let mine build up for 3 months and bought some new clothes – im now saving up for a car!!

What will you spend yours on?

So next time you’re sat at your desk or at home and would normally light up, just take note of what you are actually doing to fend off the craving. If it is food you are using, make sure its not junk. Nuts and seeds are a great substite as they last for ages and so are grapes.

If you’re thinking that stopping smoking is sounding more and more like hard work, dont worry – we are making it sound harder but if you’re dedicated you will do it. There is simply no substitute for commitment and dedication so make sure you are extremely well prepared for any possible pitfalls that might be lurking, waiting to trip you up.

Just by being a regular smoker, you are saying “YES” I want to live 10 years less than my non smoking friends. Thats right, by smoking you are reducing your life expectancy by a massive 10 years! Just think about how you could spend those extra years in later life. Thats a whole decade of watching your grand children grow and playing with them on a regular basis! Im sure they would want to see their favourite grandparents for as long as they possibly could aswell!

Whats worse about smoking related deaths is that they are often long and painful. Rarely is a smoking related illlness a quick kill which means you will likely suffer and put your friends and family through the heartache of watching you die painfully.

BUTT (no pun intended, well perhaps a little!)

Its never to late to pack up. In fact no matter what your age and no matter how long you’ve been at it, stopping smoking TODAY can significantly increase your health, right from the off.

Nicotine is a drug like any other and just like other drugs is extremely addictive, when you take it on board, it stimulates your brain and increases the levels of nicotine in your blood stream. When those levels drop, you crave your next hit to top them levels back up again. Cravings can come in a wide variety of symptoms, most of them not very nice – being around nicotine starved people a lot, I can tell you this first hand!

Smokers who crave a cigarette will get anxious, nervous, hungry, restless, irritable, headaches, difficulty with concentration and the list could go on.

What you need to do before you start to quit smoking is plan ahead for these inevitabilities so you can fight them off as soon as you see them surfacing. Not as easy as it sounds but by planning, you are in a much better postition to power through the problems and come out the other side.

Once the nicotine levels in your blood levels dramaticlly fall, you will begin to crave them less and less and the job will become much easier.

Let me leave you with another horrible thought!…

The chemicals in a single cigarette is though to amount to about 4000 different types. Can you imagine what that must be doing to your poor old insides? They dont stand a chance!!

Its never too late to quit…

The point of this however is to get across to you guys how easy and more importantly how beneficial packing up smoking can be for you – whatever age you are. The other major points I want to get across relate to my own journey when giving up, I want to share with you my struggles and how I overcome them to stay fag free for the last 7 years.

Okay, the first thing I want to do is establish some of the major pitfalls I ran into when I was trying to quit. I am very confident you will relate to some, if not all of these symptoms (or cravings as they are probably better described). It is crucially important that you recognize such problems so that you can plan to battle with them – if you have a battle plan, overcoming them will be much easier.

Me? I never even though id encounter one of the problems I came across which is why it took me so dam long to quit!

Okay, one of my main vices in the early days of quitting was drinking and drinking is no good for someone looking to quit smoking (at least not in the volumes I was launching it down my neck!). In my opinion anywhere past “tipsy” and you’ll be in danger of looking for some fags, after all you’re having a good time arent you? you want to keep going!?? This is a biggy and one that takes some beating – but I do have some cracking tricks up my sleeve!

Another massive one I didnt think would be a problem was after meals. I used to really enjoy lighting up after a large meal – it just seemed to complete things for me. Its something you dont really think about at the time but when its gone, you miss it like a hole in your head. Again, I have some brilliant tips to start coping with that, so stay tuned.

Okay, im running out of time for this here post, there’s an array of other craving dangers you need to dodge and I will make you aware of them in due course, we will also come up with some really effective battle plans to make sure you overcome your cravings!

For now, ill say goodbye.

FACT: If you smoke, your taste buds and sense of smell is significantly reduced. How will you appreciate the subtle flavours of a well cooked meal? Or a fine wine? By quitting smoking, thats how!…