Quitting smoking and weening yourself off of nicotine is far more challenging than anyone may think. Smoking and nicotine use is not only something people do for pleasure, but it is also often used to destress or lessen anxiety.
However, if you want to quit smoking or lessen your nicotine intake, here are a few tips and tricks to help you succeed in your quitting journey.
Use Lower Nicotine Vape Liquid
Whether you use a uwell vape or a standard vape pen, you have the option of choosing the nicotine level of the liquid inside. The first step is to use a weaker liquid than you usually use, and then either weekly or monthly, lower that level.
This allows your body to get the hit of nicotine it craves, but you’re simultaneously weaning yourself of it.
Nicotine Chewing Gum
If you don’t want to smoke at all but aren’t ready to give up nicotine just yet, then nicotine chewing gum (long term effects of chewing tobacco) is the next best thing. Once again, you get it in varying strengths, meaning you can start strong and then slowly lower your nicotine intake with time.
Have a Schedule
One problem that many smokers have is that they will tend to light up when they are bored or when they have a few free minutes to kill. The problem here is that there are so many times during the day when there is enough time to have a cigarette or vape break.
Therefore, make yourself a schedule that you force yourself to stick to. You can smoke once every two to three hours, or not before or after a certain time; whatever you choose, stick to it and make the gaps between breaks bigger as time goes by.
Avoid Smoking Triggers
Another step to take is to avoid triggers that would cause you to want to smoke. This can be very difficult as many people smoke while having their morning coffee or if they’re at the bar having a few beers with friends.
While you don’t have to stop these habits, do them in a new and different way; have your morning coffee in a new part of your house or at work, for example. The goal is to try and break the habit and ritual that includes smoking.
Delay
When you try to quit, you will do well for a couple of hours, but then the craving will hit you out of nowhere. When this happens, tell yourself that you will only smoke in 30 minutes or an hour.
When that 30 or 60 minutes pass, tell yourself again that you will wait another 30 or 60 minutes. It will be very difficult to delay for the entire day, but you will start to notice that you be lasting longer and longer between cravings.
Get More Physical
While exercise won’t eliminate cravings immediately, it will distract you long enough to pass a craving without much notice. Exercise also releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good, similar to what a cigarette will do.
You can also think about how much time can be passed between nicotine hits simply by exercising. If you spend an hour or two at the gym, come home, make and eat dinner, then shower and go to bed, you can easily go four or five hours without smoking.
Don’t Cave for “Just One”
When it comes to smoking and nicotine, there is no such thing as “just one.” More often than not, you will have more than just one and then quickly derail the progress you may have potentially made with quitting.
The best thing to do is to stop thinking about it as “just one.” If you start teaching your brain that just one means more than one, you will fight harder not to cave.
Have Snacks Available
While this won’t work for everyone, not smoking can often lead to you feeling hungry and wanting to smoke. Therefore, you can distract yourself by having some healthy snacks nearby to distract you from your cravings.
Stay Busy
As mentioned already, many people will take a smoke break simply because they have nothing else to do. While you shouldn’t force yourself to be busy every minute you are awake, when a craving hits, do something with your time.
You can go for a walk, clean your house, do dishes, or do anything else that will keep you busy for some time.
Use a Smoking Replacement
Finally, many smokers don’t realise how important the act of smoking is, compared to how important getting nicotine is. Lighting up and holding a cigarette is part of the smoking experience, and replacing that with something else can also help reduce cravings.
Therefore, if you hold a vape pen or something similar and even put it to your lips every now and then, it will help far more than you may think. While it may seem silly at first, you will be surprised at how quickly it can work.
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