Here's a tool you should
absolutely use when you're trying to ditch a nicotine habit: your phone.
But don't call just anyone. Call a quit line -- a free phone line dedicated to helping counsel people who are trying to quit. It could
double your chances of success.
Frequent CallersIntensive telephone counseling (multiple sessions and follow-up calls work best) coupled with free medication (many quit lines help you find complimentary nicotine patches or other meds) doubled the quit rate of smokers in a recent study. So don't go it alone or do it cold turkey. Every state has quit-smoking hotlines. Here's what else helps:
- Set a quit date. Then do this countdown.
- Call or e-mail a support person daily to discuss your progress.
- Walk 30 minutes a day. (It will help you feel better. Here's how.)
- Talk to your doctor about patches or pills that can help.
- Check out the stop-smoking Quitline, below.
- More tips . . .
Watch RealAge expert Mehmet Oz, MD, on The Oprah Winfrey Show today as he explains his tried-and-true strategies for kicking the habit. New Look: Tell Us What You Think!The RealAge Web site now has a new look and feel.
Check out all the changes and then give us your feedback!
RealAge Cost: Smoking a pack per day can make your RealAge as much as 8 years older.
The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of telephone counselling and the nicotine patch in a state tobacco quitline. Hollis, J. F., McAfee, T. A., Fellows, J. L., Zbikowski, S. M., Stark, M., Riedlinger, K.,
Tobacco Control 2007 Dec;16 Suppl 1:i53-59.
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