Smoking is a smelly, expensive and harmful habit. Not only does smoking endanger your life, but it also endangers the lives of the people you love.

Quit smoking to live a healthier life and spend more time with the people you love. Follow the great advice in the following article for ideas on how to quit smoking.

If you want to quit smoking, join a support group. When you are around people who are going through the same things you are, they can help you with the physical and emotional challenges associated with quitting. These individuals can offer support, guidance, and great tips to help you quit. To find a support group near you, check your local community center or community college, or at your church.

When you decide to quit smoking, make sure to add plenty of fresh fruit to your diet. Your body will likely undergo some chemical changes when you stop smoking, often including a lowered blood glucose level. Healthy fruits can help to raise your blood glucose level to normal levels, keeping you healthy while you’re working toward quitting.

Deal with nicotine withdrawal. Once you quit smoking, nicotine withdrawal can make you anxious, frustrated, or depressed. It’s all too easy to revert to your old habit. Nicotine replacement therapy can really help to relieve these symptoms. Whether it’s in the form of gum, a patch, or a lozenge, using one of these will probably double your chances of succeeding.

Keep a cold glass or bottle of ice water nearby at all times. When you get a craving for a cigarette, take a sip of water–even if this means you hardly put the bottle down at first. This gives you something to do with your hands and mouth, and it can be a useful way to prevent snacking, too.

Though aversion therapies have gotten a bad rap recently, they do sometimes work in helping you to stop smoking. They do not need to be extravagant methods and you don’t need to pay a therapist to employ aversion techniques. Try the simple things, such as permeating your favorite sweater with the smoke from that last cigarette you smoke. Then reach for it after not smoking for a day or two; you will be appalled at the offensive odor that you have been subjecting yourself and others to on a daily basis.

To quit smoking for good, you’ll get better results by gradually weaning yourself than you would if you tried to quit cold turkey. Nearly all people that try to quit cold turkey fail as a result of nicotine withdrawal. Cut back slowly and steadily, and if the cravings are still too powerful then subsidize your efforts with medication or other tools.

One small step toward quitting could be to switch cigarette brands. Switch to a brand that you don’t like or a cigarette that you don’t like the taste of. Some people find this helpful. This will get you started on your way to stop smoking.

If you have a friend or loved one who is having a hard time trying to quit, then you should try sharing with them some of the painful truths about smoking. Try to be sincere and understanding as you relate this information so that they understand that you are trying to help them and that you are not trying to attack them.

If you are trying to quit with the use of crutches such as patches and medication, then you need to be careful. When you begin taking in these other substances, you are in turn putting yourself at risk of developing a new dangerous addiction. Be careful when you begin your quitting crutches.

The first week is always the hardest when you stop smoking. During the first two days, your body will expel the nicotine inside it. After you eliminate the nicotine from your body, you just have to deal with psychological reasons for wanting to smoke. This means you will have no physical trauma from resisting those cravings.

Avoid dieting when trying to quit smoking. A lot of aspiring quitters try to diet while quitting so they can avoid the supposedly inevitable weight gain. However, in doing so, they’re depriving their bodies of too much at once and they wind up relapsing. This just means gaining weight, while they’re still smoking.

In order to quit, you must believe that you can do it. While the physical cravings and withdrawal symptoms of smoking are difficult, your brain is the most important item in your fight. You must be able to work past your cravings and that fight is all mental. Believe that you can do it and you will see success.

As stated in the introduction, smoking is a terrible habit that makes you smell bad, costs lots of money and is harmful to your health.

Use the advice in the article above for ways to make quitting smoking easier on you so you can live a freer, healthier life.

Drop That Smoking Habit Today With These Effective Strategies was originally published on Spring