How do you break a habit?

The first step is to accept that you have a habit and then look at the reasons why you have that habit.

If you know the reasons you can then think of better ways to deal with those reasons.

The reason why you started smoking might not be the reason why you continue to smoke so you will need to look at your current situation and look at the things that make you want to smoke.

Large portions of the people who take up smoking do so to be accepted by others. After smoking for some time on a regular basis and with the added evil of the addictive nature of nicotine the original reason might have little bearing on the reason why you continue to smoke.

It might be that you now find some comfort in having a smoke or it makes you feel great when you have a smoke.

The next time you pick up a cigarette to smoke think about the things that made you want to light up.

Was it something that happened (and this can even be a particular time of the day such as breakfast)

Was it something that someone else said or did? Did you get upset or angry and feel the need for a cigarette?

You need to be honest and answer the questions before you can break the habit. Smoking is a habit and you can't hope to quit if you don't know what the habit is. It is no use simply saying that smoking is the habit as there are almost always triggers that stimulate the need for the next cigarette.

One of the best ways to break the habit is to refrain from smoking when you are faced with the situations or emotions that would normally cause you to smoke. Even if you delay the reaction to these events initially and wait a few minutes before having the smoke you will be going some way to breaking the habit. You will begin to gain back some of the control in your life that you lose each time you feel the need to smoke.

By separating the action of smoking from the event that usually causes the desire to smoke will break the smoking habit.

People will often use the excuse that they are too old to stop smoking and assume that because they have been smoking for most of their life it seems pointless to stop in their latter years.

What they should realize is their body will start repairing the damage that has been done from long term smoking as soon as 20 minutes after their last cigarette.

Yes your health will begin to start improving that soon. Within that time your blood pressure will begin to decrease as will your pulse rate.

The increased blood pressure that is caused by smoking is one of the reasons why those who smoke are more susceptible to heart disease.

Within approximately 8 hours the levels of carbon monoxide that are present in the blood will drop and there will be increased levels of oxygen and this will help to improve all aspects of your health as the bloods ability to transport oxygen to the organs of the body is crucial for optimum health.

Things continue to get better as the time from the last cigarette grows and after the first day there is a reduction in the possibility of getting a heart attack. So if you have just had a cigarette and don't have another for the next day you have increased your chance of survival considerably.

Within two days you will begin to regain some of your sense of taste that you probably didn't even realize you had lost. Food will taste and smell better and your sense of smell with all things (eg; flowers) will begin to improve.

Three days later and you will be having less difficulty breathing as the bronchial tubes will have relaxed. As your breathing becomes more relaxed, so does your whole body and your outlook on life. Stress levels will be lower and the chance of having anxiety problems will also diminish.

Many people will smoke in times of stress and when they are feeling anxious, yet refraining from smoking for such a short period can also bring similar aspects of well being with the improvements that you will enjoy to your health.

Over the next three months breathing will continue to improve and along with that there will be an increase in energy levels and exercising will become easier.

After the first year of ceasing smoking there will be 50% less chance of heart disease and four years or so later the chance of lung cancer will have also decreased by 50% or more.

The good news is that after 10 years or so your health will more than likely be back to that of someone who had never smoked and the pre-cancerous cells will have been replaced.