Cold Turkey – Is It A Good Way To Stop Smoking?

A common and popular way to stop smoking is the one we have all heard of, and the one some of us fear, the dreaded “cold turkey”.
The phrase cold turkey means to stop a bad habit immediately and usually to go through withdrawals, mood swings, nasty cravings and a touch of the sweats. Some doctor or other coined the phrase while observing drug addicts going through withdrawal symptoms, when in this state of stress the body diverts blood to the internal organs and the skin becomes white with goose bumps, making it look like turkey skin.

Luckily for the person quitting smoking this withdrawal phase does not last forever, usually between one and two weeks, sometimes three for a heavy smoker. It is one of the most common ways to quit but is it a good way? It definitely has a lower success rate than other methods, hypnosis for example, but I believe it is a very good way to quit.

The reason for this is the same reason that people fail, because it is very difficult, more mentally than physically. But if you are strict with yourself and get through the first two to three weeks then you are very unlikely to ever smoke again, because one, you know how tough it is to stop and two, you will not want to go through cold turkey ever again!

You can make the withdrawal process easier for yourself if you follow a few of the following hints.

Understand before you stop that the symptoms such as irritability, mood swings and cravings will be intense at first, but will ease off after the first two to four days.

Drink plenty of water to help your system flush out the nicotine and purify itself faster.

When you get hit with an exceptionally strong craving go out for a walk, or do some press ups or do anything that gets your body moving, uses up some of the extra energy you have and distracts your mind from smoking.

Try and time the first few worst days of quitting to coincide with your days off from work, or school or just when you know you definitely won’t be bothered.

Insane amounts of will power are usually thought to go hand in hand with quitting cold turkey and while a strong will does help, it is more about wanting to stop more than you want to keep smoking.
If you want to stop and you are ready for the toughness of the first two weeks then you will succeed.