There are so many reasons to quit smoking now and whatever your own personal reasons, you will find that they are all important, because smoking is bad in so many ways. Now if you haven't quite made the hard decision to quit smoking now, and if you are telliing yourself that you still enjoy smoking, then let me point out a couple of reasons as to why you should quit smoking now.

Don't tell me, you keep telling yourself that 'it won't happen to you' and you have promised yourself that you will quit smoking the minute you get any of the worrying symptoms, like the angry cough that smokers experience, or start coughing up phlegm that is black or blood stained. But did you know that some smokers never experience these symptoms, and before they know it, they have contracted one of the horrible diseases related to smoking.

It is true that quitting will change your life, but not for the worst. Quitting is not easy, no one says it is, but it is the best thing you can do for yourself. I was a die hard smoker, I told myself that I would quit before anything awful happened to me, but seven months ago, the decision was taken out of my hands.

My teenage son came home from school one day in floods of tears. He had learned what smoking does to you in his science lesson. Needless to say, I quit smoking that afternoon and haven't looked back since. I feel so much better, I can play football with my son again, the hacking cough has stopped and I no longer have a yellow hue that stares back at me in the mirror. I won't ever go back to smoking now.

If you have considered giving up, great, but thinking about it isn't the same as actually doing it. So what is stopping you from taking the big step? We are in a much better position these days because there is so much help out there to alleviate the symptoms experienced when you give up smoking. You can use the nicotine replacement therapies, have acupuncture or hypnosis. There really is no reason not to stop these days. So you could use one of these therapies and use these 5 top tips to help you plan to quit smoking now.

1. Make a list of the cigarettes you smoke over a 48 hour period. This will give you a good idea of your smoking habit, how and why you smoke. This list should detail the times you smoke and what you are doing just before smoking, also include how you feel after having the cigarette. You will use this information to understand why and how you smoke.
2. Start putting together an exercise program. This doesn't have to be an elaborate high impact aerobics workout, you just need a basic workout that you can do in 10 minute bursts. This will get you on the road to recovery and will keep your weight in check when you quit smoking, because it is a well known fact that quitting smoking causes weight gain.
3. Think about how you can change your routine and plan a busy first quit smoking day. Changing your routine will help you to not think about the fact that you have quit smoking now and it will send the right messages to your brain; that your routine is different and change is afoot. The first day is the worst day so keep busy so that you are not thinking about smoking and change the way you do things so that there is no reminder of the times when you would normally have a cigarette.
4. Tell everyone that you have quit smoking now. This is so important because you can draw on these resources at times of weakness. Tell friends, family and those around you that you have quit smoking, make them aware of how serious you are about quitting and tell them your reasons for quitting. They can then remind you when times get tough.
5. Get rid of everything that is related to your smoking such as lighters, matches, filters, cigarette papers and ash trays. You can bin these things because you won't be needing them again. You won't have reminders dotted around the house which will make it easier for you when you quit.

Plan and prepare for your quit day and you put yourself in a much stronger position to quit and stay quit. Tell yourself that you just won't have the next cigarette and don't tell yourself that you will never ever smoke again, because doing this will make it more achievable.

Go step by step and day by day and before you know it you won't want to go back to smoking. Good luck to you.