21 tips to quit smoking, thank your friends and family

I smoked for 10 years. Two weeks ago I quit and feel much better. Below is a list of things that may help you to quit smoking. Feel free to add more to the list in the comments to this post. Here we go…

1. Don’t get ready, just quit. Don’t think, just do it!
2. Read the book by Allen Carr called The Easy Way to Quit Smoking
3. Tell your friends and family that you quit.
4. Don’t confuse “I’m quitting” and “I quit”. It’s done. Stop doing it. Stop thinking about it.
5. Tell your colleagues that you quit smoking.
6. Blog about it, pretty much the same way I’m doing it right now.
7. Chew some gum. I heard Nicorette helps.
8. Use patches. I tried Nicoderm, helped to get rid of physical cravings.
9. Create a Facebook group around your quitting. Make an event out of it. Courtesy of Karine Vartanova. 
10. Think of all the positive things that you will gain as a non-smoker.
11. Think about all great things you are missing out on as a smoker.
12. Think of it in a way “smoking is for kids”. Courtesy of Robin Eldred.
13. Consider the diet: “Tips from Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet and food pyramid will help you a lot. Most of my cooking is now based on the ingredients in this pyramid:  http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet” Courtesy of Alex Gault.
14. “Make sure that you eat lots garlic, ginger, red peppers and turmeric. All have powerful anti-inflammatory powers, and consuming them will accelerate the cleansing of your system of nicotine — making it easier for your body to cope.” Courtesy of Alex Gault.
15. Twitter about the process. Here’s what I’ve been doing here @zagoumenov. People that follow up, even professionals, are people too and some of them have quit. My twitter friends have been very supportive.
16. Think of life. “Yesterday I ran and made it to a peak heart rate of 184. For my age it is clinical death by a lot of beats. With clogged arteries, from siruppy nicotine, that would have been certain death. Yo have a choice . . live longer and keep your arteries clean, live shorter and enjoy smoking . . . . vse budu horosho, in both instances we end up death, so what’s the big diff?” Courtesy of Tim Hartel.
17. It may hurt, but consider meeting less with your smoking friends and more with your non-smoking friends. Try it for a little bit until you get rid o cravings. Once cravings are gone, go crazy with your smoking friends.
18. Once you quit, help others quit. It’s like learning by teaching. The more I teach, the better I know the subject.
19. Once you quit, you quit. Don’t screw things up by just having one cigarette. You are a non-smoker now.
20. “The best way to quit smoking is to stop smoking.” Courtesy of Robin Eldred.
21. Avoid drinking companies for a little while. For many people alcohol and cigarettes are complimentary products. So, stop drinking alcohol for a few weeks

Good luck! You CAN do it! When you quit, thank your friends for support. The closest people will get hurt the most. Thank them big time! I want to thank Ulyana, my better half.