Top 10 Useful Tips to Quit Smoking
Smoking exposes a person and their loved ones to many health risks. However, quitting this habit is not easy. Tobacco urges or cravings are generally powerful. Nevertheless, a person that wants to quit should not be at the mercy of their cravings. Whenever cravings strike, it’s important to remember that they will pass no matter how intense they are. Each time a smoker resists the urge to smoke, they get closer to quitting smoking for good.
What’s more, there are techniques or tips that you can follow to succeed in your efforts to quit smoking. Don’t forget that quitting is an individual process. Thus, not every technique will work for you just because it worked for somebody else. You can also come up with your own methods or tricks for quitting smoking. Nevertheless, there are tips that have worked for most people. Here are some of the most useful tips to quit smoking.
❏ Use Nicotine Replacement Therapy
There are many options to consider when it comes to nicotine replacement therapy. They include:
- Over-the-counter nicotine gum, lozenges, and patches.
- Prescription nicotine found in an inhaler or nasal sprays.
- Prescription non-nicotine or stop smoking medications like varenicline and bupropion.
Short-acting therapies like nicotine lozenges, gum, inhalers or nasal sprays are used to overcome intense nicotine cravings. They are more effective when used with non-nicotine medications or long-acting nicotine patches.
❏ Try Vaping
Though no conclusive clinical trials have proven that using the best vape pens can help you quit smoking, some people have reported using the device to quit. Vaping entails inhaling the aerosol that is created when nicotine flavorings are heated. Apparently, the general agreement is that vaping is safer than traditional smoking. However, vaping is not completely safe because it can cause throat or mouth irritation, coughing, and nausea. What’s more, the long-term effects of vaping are yet to be known.
Nevertheless, there is a study that has shown that when vaping is compared with other nicotine replacement therapies, it can help some smokers quit.
❏ Avoid Triggers
The urge to smoke tends to be strong when a smoker faces a situation where they used to smoke more often. Such situations include parties and bars. Some people are triggered to smoke when stressed or while sipping coffee. It’s important to identify your smoking triggers and come up with a plan for avoiding them or getting through them without smoking.
Ideally, avoid setting yourself up for smoking relapse. For instance, if you smoked when talking on the phone, have a pen and a paper to doodle on instead of smoking.
❏ Get Physical
A major reason why some people use vape pens when cravings strike is to reduce their intensity. But if vaping is not your preferred way to quit smoking, you can try to get physical whenever cravings strike. This will distract you from cravings while reducing their intensity. A short physical activity burst like running up and down a few times can distract you from cravings. You can even jog or take a walk.
If stuck at the office or home, try pushups, squats, running, walking, or deep knee bends. If not interested in physical activity, try needlework, prayer, journaling, or woodwork. You can also do chores like filing paperwork or vacuuming.
❏ Try Relaxation Techniques
Maybe you have always smoked to deal with stress. However, resisting cravings can be stressful. You can deal with this stress by practicing different relaxation techniques. These include muscle relaxation, yoga, deep breathing, and visualization.
❏ Chew Something
A great way to fight cravings is to have something to chew. You can chew a hard candy or sugarless gum. You can even munch on a raw carrot, sunflower seeds, nuts, or celery. Just have something satisfying and crunchy. This is particularly important when you don’t want to use a vapor pen or any form of nicotine replacement therapy.
❏ Get Support
Let your loved ones know that you are trying to quit smoking. You can also join a stop-smoking program online. There are also quitter’s blogs that you can read online. Share encouraging thoughts with other people that are also trying to quit. You can also learn from people that have managed to quit smoking successfully.
❏ Remind Yourself the Benefits
There are many reasons for quitting smoking. For most people, benefits, like getting healthier, feeling better, sparing loved ones from the effects of secondhand smoke and saving money, are the major reasons to quit. Write these benefits down and go through them whenever cravings strike.
❏ Think Positive
Maybe you have tried to stop smoking before and failed. This should not be a reason to give up. Instead, consider the things you have learned from this experience. Think about the best way to apply what you learned from the previous experience to ensure your success.
❏ Watch Your Diet
Some foods like meat make smoking cigarettes feel more satisfying. Others like fruits, vegetables, and cheese make tobacco taste terrible. Therefore, consider changing your diet to increase your chances of success.
You may opt to use vape pen mods, conventional nicotine replacement therapies, or other ways to quit smoking. However, your focus should be on the ultimate goal, which is to quit smoking for good. No matter how hard it seems or the number of times you relapse, don’t contemplate giving up.
About the author: Christina Matthews, the journalist who studies the latest news in the health industry. Now she studies the effects of smoking and vaping on health and reasons for such its popularity.
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