After 30 plus years as a chain smoker I was starting to feel the damaging effects of my addition. I always wanted to quit mostly for health reasons and taking the decision to stop smoking is surely the best thing I could do.

Let me share with you what did it for me. Although I did not have the motivation or determination to really go through with it I new I had to quit. Over time I was sort of forced into trying to stop for good so let me share with you some of my "stop smoking tips".

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?

Quitting was my only option and going to jail in the Philippines was not one of my life goal. So going cold turkey was the route I took since I had to quit fast but I would not recommend this option to anyone because chances of failure are extremely high so 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. All your good intentions will have a greater chance of succeeding if you have a clear set of goals in mind to keep you stay on track. So sketch a list of the reasons why you want to stop smoking.

2. Decide on a specific date to quit and stick to it. This may be the single most difficult stop smoking tip to follow but it is an extremely imperative first step. Don't be tempted in trying to slowly cut down on your consumption, several researches have shown that 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. Sweat it out. It has been said that smoking and exercise don't get along, so which one would you rather do? A great stop smoking tip that is also beneficial to your health is to establish an exercise routine. Exercising regularly will lessen your dependency on nicotine and is guarantee to get you into a much better shape. Cardiovascular exercise is a better option than lifting weights, but doing both isn't a bad idea at all.

8. At the beginnings and for a few weeks at least, stay away from places and situations that will tempt you to smoke. Many people relate smoking with drinking alcohol, so it may be a good idea to stay away from drinking if you are such a person.

Immediately after quitting I suffered some very nasty withdrawal symptoms. I had headaches, nausea, stress, irritability, always cravings for food as well as cigarettes, and a general feeling of dizziness. Don't be surprised as you will most likely experience one or more of these symptoms and you will simply have to tough them out for a few days or a few weeks but it will eventually go away.

You can win the fight one day at a time. Each day is a step to success and don't be too hard on yourself you you take a step back and relapse a few times. Stay focused, I know you can do it. 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.