Taking the decision to stop smoking is surely the best thing you could do if you have been smoking for any number of years like I was. I always wanted to quit mostly for health reasons and as I was getting older and after 30 plus years as a chain smoker I was starting to feel the damaging effects of my addition.

I did not have the motivation or determination to kick the habit for good although I new I really had to quit. Let me share with you a few stop smoking tips and what really did it for me and what forced me into stopping.

Cigarettes are real cheap where I live in the Philippines, approximately 50 US cents per pack. Being a Canadian I do go back home for visits from time to time. I had not returned to Canada in a few years so just before going back home on a visit for a few months I bought my allowed two cartons for a bit less than 4 USD each. I almost had a heart attack when two weeks after arriving and running out of my cheap Marlboro’s I discovered I now had to pay over $9.00 for a pack of 25. It felt as if I was heading straight for bankruptcy and ultimately going to be DEAD broke.

To make things even even worst, the great and friendly City Of Davao where I made my new home in the Philippines had implemented a few drastic changes. Our now famous Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had decided to make Davao one of the first smoke free city in Asia and was throwing people in jail for breaking the law. So if you were caught smoking in public you would get a fine plus one night in the city jail. Man… was I in trouble then?

I personally took the cold turkey route since I had to quit and fast. This is obviously not the best way for most people but going to jail was not in my plans. Because chances of failure are extremely high here are my stop smoking tips if you want to increase your chance for success they may help you get on the road to dropping the habit for good

1. A list of clear set of goals will help you stay on track you also need to clearly define the reasons why you decided to quit smoking cigarettes in the first place. Sketching a list will help you stay on track.

2. One of the most difficult stop smoking tip to follow is to set a date to quit and to stick to it but it is an imperative first step. It has been shown through several researches that most people only tend to smoke more when trying to cut down slowly. Most people only tend to smoke more of each single cigarette, keeping their nicotine levels at the same level as if they have not reduced their consumption at all.

3. Go ahead and tell everybody of your decision to stop smoking.

4. Throw away all of your smoking related accessories such as ashtrays, lighters and cigarettes obviously.

5. With the high price per pack, others will soon be avoiding you like the plague if you keep on begging for cigarettes so do not buy your own cigarettes anymore. Soon, very soon, you’ll become a loner.

6. To beat the beat the dependence of your addiction. Do not carry cigarettes with you anymore. This means you can not depend on having a cigarette when you need one and over time it will be an effective behavioral change.

7. A great stop smoking tip that is also beneficial to your health is to establish an exercise routine. Sweat it out. It has been said that smoking and exercise don’t get along, so which one would you rather do? Exercising on a regular basis will lessen your dependency on nicotine and is guarantee to have a positive effect on your love handles and to get you into a much better shape. Lifting weights is not as effective as cardiovascular exercise but if you can handle it why not do both?

8. For a few days weeks or even months you should avoid exposing yourself to places or situations that would tempt you to smoke. Alcohol is the definite worst, so it may be a good idea to stay away from drinking if you are a person that relates smoking with alcohol

For a few days or weeks you are surely to experience some unpleasant side effects such as headaches, nausea, stress, irritability, always cravings for food as well as cigarettes, and a general feeling of dizziness. Don’t be surprised if you get those uncomfortable withdrawal symptom. You will just have to tough them out, don’t despair as it will eventually fade out.

Stay focused YOU CAN DO IT! Each day that you win the fight is a step to success and don’t be too hard on yourself if you relapse. No one is perfect and smoking is one of the nastiest habits to break. Use a relapse as an opportunity to examine the reasons for smoking again, and figure out a way to deal with such situations better in the future.

Learn more on how to quit smoking with valuableStop Smoking Tip. Stop by Regis Pelletier’s site where you can many effective Stop Smoking Tip and see how it can help you kick the nasty habit.