When you stop smoking, the health benefits begin to begin almost immediately. After you have quit for a few years, your risk of heart disease and stroke are equaled to the risks of nonsmokers.

Your smoking affects everybody around you. You are also a great risk of dying like the other 440,000 people who die from smoking every year. So here are a few tips on how to quit.

Take a rubber band and place it around your cigarette pack. Keep track of when you smoked, and why you smoked that particular cigarette. Don’t but another pack until you are completely finished with the one you are smoking. When you get out a cigarette, make sure you wrap the rubber band around the pack again.

Don’t use matches; keep your lighter out of reach so that you have to get up every time you want a cigarette to get a light.  The next day don’t smoke the cigarettes that are of less importance. Continue to keep track of your smoking. Reduce all non important cigarettes. Do this for three days reducing the not so important cigarettes.

On day six, do not smoke for 48 hours. Put forth an honest effort.

Day seven, don’t smoke at all. Clean and hide your ashtrays, stay busy and avoid triggers that give you the urge to smoke.

When you get the urge to smoke, drink water or do deep breathing exercises, carry gum or mints with you at all times.