Although it was once fashionable years ago, smoking has since become a very negatively viewed habit. This is predominantly down to modern research that has linked smoking to cancer, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, damaged blood cells, damaged arteries, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and much more. Ultimately, smoking isn’t as glamorous as it used to be and is perceived as quite the opposite. Whether you’re looking to quit for the sake of your health or even for your wallet, it can be incredibly difficult to quit cold turkey. Read on to discover some of the top tips for quitting smoking.
Use Stop Smoking Aids
As previously mentioned, combatting your nicotine cravings by quitting cold turkey is immensely difficult. It’s possible, but it can be an irritable and uncomfortable journey. Instead of quitting cold turkey, you might consider the use of stop-smoking aids such as vapes, mouth and nasal sprays, lozenges, oral strips, tablets, inhalators, chewing gum, and skin patches. This way, you’ll be able to soothe your nicotine cravings without consuming the cancerous chemicals from tobacco. As you move further along in your quitting journey, you can gradually reduce your nicotine intake until you’re down to nothing.
List Your Reasons to Quit
Everyone’s reasons to quit smoking are personal to them and yours need to be what drives you to persevere. The most common reason is that smoking is detrimental to one’s health, influencing people to quit in favor of their physical wellbeing. Finances are another reason that people wish to quit smoking, with the cost of living consistently rising, the price of cigarettes simply isn’t something that can be factored into a lot of people’s budgets. Furthermore, you might be looking to get pregnant in the future and you’re looking to get a head start on quitting. Whatever your reason or reasons are, you need to remind yourself of them to propel you forwards in your quitting journey.
Tell People You’re Quitting
If your reasons aren’t enough to keep you motivated, perhaps telling other people will keep you in the quitting mindset. If all your friends and family members know that you’re quitting smoking, this creates pressure on you to keep going. It’s one thing disappointing yourself, but the fear of disappointing your loved ones might just be the driving force behind you kicking your nicotine cravings. Additionally, the pride that they will feel once you finally quit will surely push you to keep going and eliminate cigarettes from your life.
Take Note of Your Triggers and Avoid Them
Every smoker has a trigger that causes them to reach for the cigarettes; therefore, you should identify yours and actively avoid it. One of the most common triggers is alcohol intake so, if you know you like a cigarette after a drink, refrain from drinking. Of course, some triggers can’t be avoided; some people like to smoke after a meal or even first thing after they wake up. Despite this, you should maintain your willpower and keep in your mind why you’re doing this. Fighting your triggers and habits can be one of the most difficult parts of quitting, but it’s so worth it in the end.
Keep Busy
There’s no denying that someone will smoke more when they’re bored. Even with non-smokers, you’re more likely to snack if they have nothing else to do. Therefore, when quitting smoking, you should keep yourself as busy as you can to stunt any cravings that might come your way. This is the perfect time to learn a new skill or take up a new hobby to keep your brain occupied.