So how do you quit smoking? It may seem like something that only that guy off the Nicorette commercial was able to pull off, but it is a reality and anyone can do it with a little help.

Accept and Confront

The first step to overcoming any obstacle is confronting the problem. Face smoking head on and accept your addiction as real. Avoiding your addiction or "putting it off till later" will only increase the difficulty in stopping. Nicotine calms and leaves you satisfied and yet it can make you more alert and even in a better mood. Nicotine leaves your dependent on this affect. This dependency is what makes quitting so difficult because your body feels like it needs the nicotine. Many smokers admit that it is the hardest thing that they have had to do. You shouldn't expect it to be easy, but if you are diligent in your decision and keep your commitment to quit, you will quit for good.

Pavlov and Puffing

One of the most difficult aspects of smoking to overcome is your own programing. To better explain what I mean, let's take a look at the example of Pavlov's dogs. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who made great discoveries in experiments to prove his theory of "classic conditioning." Pavlov noticed that when he would go to feed the dogs that they would salivate when he would bring their food. He decided to ring a bell every time he would go to feed the dogs and would monitor their salivation. He decided to try coming back when it was time to feed the dogs and merely ring the bell without presenting any food. Can you guess what happened? The dogs salivated even thought there wasn't any food. Pavlov had discovered that the dogs has been conditioned to salivate at the sound of the bell. Like Pavlov's dogs, smokers suffer from triggers that are similar to the bell. Maybe you smoke after you eat or you smoke while you watch TV; whatever the trigger it must be eliminated so that you can succeed. Once the main triggers are gone it will give you much more control and ease the withdrawal from smoking.

Kill the triggers

The first thing you want to do is identify times that you tend to smoke. Is it after mealtime, before meal time, morning, after you get home from work, etc. Once you can identify the time you generally smoke it will help you prepare for those times of the day.

Help through the urges

Now that you are aware of the situation and the habitual times of smoking you need to have an arsenal to defend yourself against those strong

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