How to Stop Smoking Cold Turkey

To quit smoking is difficult, as the cigarette contents keep a person hooked to it and leaves him asking for more. Often it takes a lot of mental and physical preparation to do so. At times, there are medical conditions that push one to quit smoking. However, quitting is not easy and that is why there are so many products in the market to aid quitting. These methods might be successful or not, depending upon one’s determination and will power to do away with the habit. However, there is one more approach to stop smoking and that is referred to as “cold turkey”. The phrase, ‘stop smoking cold turkey’, implies that a person decides to quit smoking without any prior preparation, forethought or gradual reduction. It is a simple ‘no’ from the very instant.
It is not important to get into the details of how and when the phrase came into use, but what is important is that does it work? It is actually one of the popular ways of quitting smoking but not the most successful one. The reason behind the not-so-perfect success rate of the approach is that the body is not prepared to face the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking. Years of nicotine dependence has crafted the body and its requirements in a way. These needs cannot be subdued abruptly. For this reason, not many are able to cope with the cold turkey method of quitting and therefore revert to smoking.
However, it is not that the stop smoking cold turkey method is completely not worthwhile. It is challenging and those that can overcome these challenges emerge victorious and absolve themselves of the habit of smoking. To stop smoking using the cold turkey method, the following guidelines should be followed as these can improve the chances of quitting permanently:
In the initial few days, the withdrawal symptoms like tiredness, irritability and other such things are quite intense. But if one overcomes them, he would find that these subside after a few days.
• One can keep something in place of a cigarette to keep the mouth and the hands busy.
• The body is full of toxin built up and to flush it out from the system, one should drink as much water as he can.
• It is best to divert your attention when you feel the craving to smoke. The best way to do this is to call somebody and divert your thoughts away from smoking.
• When the craving is intense, you can shut your eyes and count backwards slowly. Take deep breaths while counting. When you reach zero, you would find that the craving to smoke has gone.
• A small walk is also helpful at times to divert the mind from wanting to smoke.
To stop smoking cold turkey requires a strong will power, determination and grit. It requires the belief that you can do it and with this strength you can successfully achieve the uphill task of quitting smoking forever. Moreover, the stop smoking cold turkey approach is free and can be done from any instance.