It’s a known fact that smoking is bad for your health. But once you start smoking, it’s difficult to stop. While that’s true, the only way you can quit smoking is by helping yourself to do so. Once you’ve finally decided to stop smoking, you might have the urge to give up on day one as you start to get cravings. But, before you turn yourself in, here are some things you can do so you can stop smoking completely:
- Go for an Alternative
Quitting to smoke on the first day might be a difficult habit to leave. You can look for an alternative way that will help you quit smoking cigarettes. One effective alternative is vaping. Vapes fulfill many of the same actions of cigarettes –after all, the psychological effect is just as powerful as the physical – without the same drawbacks of cigarettes.
Vaping removes many of carcinogenic elements of the cigarettes while still allowing you to go through similar motions, and it helps you control how much nicotine you take in. But if you’re planning on quitting completely, go for nicotine-free e-juice to release you from all of the bad effect cigarettes brings.
If you’re looking for a vape juice store that has wide options to choose from, you should visit redvape.com to see your choices. They offer four different kinds of collections that range depending on the nicotine amount.
- Stick to Your Plan
If you’re decided that you’re quitting to smoke, stick to your plan. Start immediately and don’t wait for another day to quit. It would greatly help if you could get rid of all of your cigarettes and lighters so you won’t be tempted to smoke in case you cannot handle the lack of nicotine.
Remember that no plan works for everyone. What might work for other people may not work for you. It’s recommended that you explore different ways on how you can quit smoking, try to stick to the plan that works, and keep yourself motivated as much as possible.
- Keep Yourself Busy
Keeping yourself busy is a great way to distract yourself from your need to smoke. You could exercise so that you can start your smoke-free life with a healthier tune. If you’re taking it lightly, you could go for a walk at the park or somewhere that has fewer possibilities of seeing someone smoke. You could hang out with your non-smoking friends and family and have an adventure.
With keeping yourself busy, it’s highly encouraged that you try to keep your hands busy to mitigate the temptation to pull out a cigarette. You could write, play with a pen, play games, or whatever that will keep them busy.
- Get Support
With proper support, you’ll be more motivated to stay smoke-free for a longer time.
When deciding to quit smoking, you should let the people around you that you’re trying to quit. This will help lessen the temptation and they will hopefully respect your decision. Along with this, you could also join a support group with your fellow smokers who are trying to quit. A support group enables its members to be inspired by each other’s journey thus, motivating them to quit smoking a lot more.
Aside from those, you could dial a counselor who specializes in helping people quit smoking who can provide you tips and proper guidance on how you can quit smoking. They might even give you your first step into a smoke-free life if you’re not too sure when to start your journey.
- Stay Positive
Quitting to smoke is extremely difficult. But since you’ve already decided to quit, that’s already a huge step for you to take. Now, all you have to do is to stay positive with your decision and keep yourself motivated.
Depending on how much you smoke per day, the difficulty gets higher. But with the right mindset, you’ll be able to get through it. Just think about it in baby steps and try to go for an hour at a time. You make it past your first hour and want to have a smoke, but then you decide to keep busy. Next thing you know, you’re already on your second hour and still smoke-free. As it might seem small to some people, consider that as a win.
Always celebrate small wins no matter how small they are. When you decided to drink water instead of smoking, celebrate. When you pass through a convenience store and did not purchase a box of cigarettes even when you’re dying to, celebrate. This will help you to keep yourself motivated.
- Avoid Smoking Triggers
When you know that you just need to smoke when you go to a certain place, avoid that place at all costs. No matter how much you miss that place, don’t go there until you’re fully a non-smoker.
The biggest step that you could do with avoiding smoking triggers is for you to throw all of your cigarettes, lighters, and ashtray into the bin with no intention of having them back. Remember to throw them out entirely and not hide them. Hiding them will only lead to the temptation of bringing them up and use them when you just can’t take it anymore.
Another thing that you could do is hang out with non-smoker friends. Yes, it might seem sad to not spend time with your usual smoker friends, but if they’re going to be a bad influence on your new path, avoid them at all costs.
In addition to that, you should be avoiding caffeine as it can make you feel jittery, thus induce the dying need to smoke. You should be avoiding coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolates as they contain caffeine. Try drinking water instead.
In line with that, try to keep a healthy lifestyle by eating the right food and get plenty of exercises. Certain foods are said to help you quit smoking so you could give those a try.
- Keep Yourself from Smoking
No matter how tempting it is, don’t “have just one” cigarette so you can get over your jitters. Next thing you know, that one cigarette could lead to 10 at the end of the day.
You might be telling yourself that you’ll just be having one smoke and then continue to stop just so you could get over that feeling. No matter how much you tell yourself that, that will not be true. You’re already doing a huge step and you shouldn’t step back and continue to be a better person than you plan to be.
- Delay Your Cravings
When you’ve convinced yourself that you’re going to have a cigarette no matter how many people told you to stop, try to delay it.
When you’re planning to smoke, set a time wherein you’ll smoke. For example, you tell yourself that you’re going to light up a stick at 3 pm. Ten minutes before that, do something that will distract yourself from the time. You could read, play, or watch a movie. Just make sure that you’ll refrain from checking the time to keep you distracted.
- Chew
Many smokers have found the use of chewing gum helps them to refrain from smoking. When you have the urge to smoke, chew on something. You could chew gum or hard candy to satisfy your cravings. Along with this, you could also munch on nuts, carrots, or anything that requires a lot of chewing.
- Relax
Many people turn into smoke when they’re stressed. When you’re stressed and have the urgency to smoke, practice different relaxation techniques to help you reduce your stress levels, thus avoiding smoking.
You could try to practice deep breathing exercises, yoga, massage therapy, aromatherapy, or listen to calm and soothing music. You should be helping yourself not to smoke and go into alternatives to make you feel better.
- Remind Yourself of the Benefits
When things get hard, always remind yourself of the benefits that this will bring you once you have passed the hard part and get to enjoy the smoke-free life.
You’ll be providing a healthier environment for your family, you’ll not be going through diseases associated with smoking, you’ll feel better, and you can also get yourself to save money. You could lend your smoking allowance to something else you have always wanted. You could go for a weekly smoothie or ice cream at the fancy store you’ve been eyeing on, or you could use that extra money to save for future use.
It might be challenging but you have to go through that phase. Once you’re done, it’ll be all worth it.
Conclusion
Quitting to smoke is hard – but taking the initiative to quit smoking is already a big step for you to take. Not everyone has the strength to go through what you’re going through. You should be proud of that and continue to be an inspiration to others. Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of smoking just a single stick because everyone knows that won’t be your last cigarette.
Just think of your life afterward when you have finally stopped smoking. It would be breathing fresh air, more time spent with your family and friends, you’ll be able to live longer and healthier, plus you’ll have extra money for other stuff to spend on.
It’ll be difficult at first, but it’ll be worth it as long as you surround yourself with a supportive environment and you try your best to help yourself to quit.