Anyone who has ever tried to quit chewing knows that it is difficult. Doctors say that chewing tobacco is even more addictive than smoking. In fact, a person taking 8-10 "chews" a day receives as much nicotine in one day as a person that smokes 30-40 cigarettes a day.


Steps

1. Decide you are going to stop. This is the first step in breaking any habit, and overcoming any addiction, and until you make up your mind to do it, you have little chance of success.
2. Remove the temptation. Chewing tobacco is not as easy to "bum" as are cigarettes, and not having any on hand will make it easier to resist the urge.
3. Substitute bubble gum, hard candy, or beef jerky if the desire to have something in your mouth is overwhelming. This will do absolutely nothing for the nicotine craving (the chemical dependency), but it will act as a placebo for your desire to chew.
4. Take a day at a time. Since with most addictions, the first day is usually the hardest, it may help to substitute the nicotine in your tobacco with a nicotine patch or gum, but use this sparingly, and decrease the amount incrementally so that after a reasonable period, you will be completely free of the chemical dependency.
5. Keep yourself busy. Starting to quit this habit when you have a lot of idle time may be difficult, since the idea of having a chew is always right there. If you are involved in something which keeps your mind occupied, there will be less time thinking about what you are missing.
6. Give yourself a "pat on the back" for each milestone you pass. This can be defined as the first hour, day, then week of tobacco free living.
7. Educate yourself on the dangers and effects of tobacco and the chemicals it contains. This should help you to make a firm and lasting decision on leaving this habit behind you, since the effects of tobacco on your teeth, gums, mouth, and health can be quite devastating.
8. Try the overload and make yourself sick method. Dump a mouthful of dip in your mouth, force yourself to keep it in until you become sick of it, and spit it all out at one time.

Tips

• Get support and encouragement from friends and family.
• Suckers and lollipops can be substituted for chewing tobacco, especially Tootsie Pops, since you can hold them in your cheek much as you would your chew.
• Enjoy your freedom from tobacco, and your new found surplus of money. If you have been spending "X" amount of money each day or week, put that much money in a jar every week, and be amazed how fast it adds up!
• Some people like to find a good flavor of tea, rip the bag open, and use tea leaves instead of chew.
• Another good way is to bite off a decent size carrot piece chew it until the bits turn about the size of the tobacco leaves Chew the carrot just as you would tobacco. (This will most likely cause your mouth to water, so you can spit as if you were chewing tobacco.)

Warnings

• It is much easier to write an article like this than it is to give up an addiction involving a chemical dependency, but people do quit tobacco, and with will power and determination, you can too.