Giving up smoking: best tips

People say that bad habits are easiest to acquire and the most difficult to give up. Smoking is one of the most difficult habits to break, no matter how hard people try. The fact that there is both physical and mental aspect of this addiction makes giving up smoking a real nightmare. A lot of people try to stop smoking but eventually return to enjoying tobacco products. In many cases, even health issues can’t motivate a person enough to quit cigarettes.

The best tip you could get is to never start smoking at all (this comes from a long-term passionate smoker) however, if it’s too late for this tip because you’re already addicted, here are some tips that could help you fight the addiction, both on a physical and a mental level.

Know your enemy

The first thing that every future ex-smoker has to know is that giving up smoking is a process that your entire body feels and reacts to. The amount of nicotine (the substance which is the main cause of addiction) in your body builds up over time, while you smoke. When a person stops smoking, the amount of nicotine stored in our bodies begins to decline. As this happens, our body starts sending signals that it lacks nicotine. These signals are unpleasant to deal with, differ from person to person and manifest themselves in many forms. Most common nicotine withdrawal symptoms are:

  • Headaches
  • Irritability
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Insomnia
  • Being unable to concentrate
  • Dizziness
  • Tiredness
  • Stomach cramps
  • Nausea
  • Increased appetite and weight gain
  • Cravings

There are many other symptoms that people could experience, but these are the most commonly known. The problem with this part of the quitting process is that it kicks in really fast and causes people to give in to the need for nicotine. Some people take on various nicotine replacement techniques that help them fight off that initial comeback impulse. If you’re in this type of situation currently, consider checking online for some cigarette replacement products. To spend less money while breaking the habit that already took so much money from your wallet, you can use a Juul coupon (vapingdaily.com suggests some deals).

In addition, there are many triggers that could spark the need for a smoke: coffee time, after a meal, while having an alcoholic drink, after making love, etc.

How to fight the addiction?

The most popular, and the most difficult way to quit smoking is going “cold turkey”, however, this method ends in failure most of the time. Giving up on cigarettes at once starts all kinds of alarms in our body and only the most persistent can cope with all the mental and physical issues of nicotine withdrawal. If you decided to quit smoking at once, it’s good to change some aspects of your daily life which might trigger the need for smoke:

  • If you like to have a smoke after a good meal, it might be a smart idea to change your routine after lunch and take a walk, or exercise.
  • Anything that would distract you from the thought of a cigarette.
  • Alcohol and cigarettes go hand to hand for a large number of addicts.
  • It’s  smart to avoid drinking for a time because alcohol is not only a trigger, it also affects our judgment and allows a person to give in
  • Avoiding the company of smokers is a smart decision as well. It’s of utmost importance to distance yourself from anything that could remind you of your addiction. If you hang out with smokers or spend a lot of  time in a room filled with cigarette smoke it could emphasize your  craving for a smoke.

We already mentioned nicotine replacement as one of the methods that could help fight the need for smokes. Some people decide to quit smoking step by step in such a way that they gradually reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke. This is a good method if you manage to persist in your intention to ultimately reduce the number of cigarettes to zero.

Perhaps a more interesting method of nicotine replacement and gradual cutting down of the amount of nicotine we introduce is getting on board with the vaping subculture. Vaporizers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with all kinds of flavors and amounts of nicotine. You could save some money if you decide to invest in vaping equipment by looking for a Juul discount code or some other kind of promotion.

Motivation is everything when it comes to giving up on smokes. The list of benefits is so long it could take days to write about everything you could use as a motivation to quit with monetary and health aspect being among the most notable ones.

In order to stay motivated people often calculate the amount of money that they would save in a certain period of time. You could use that extra cash and plan a holiday, which could also help you distance yourself from smoking and help you go through anxiety caused by nicotine withdrawal.

There are support groups that help people in their struggle and stay focused on their ultimate goal – a life without cigarettes. If that doesn’t work for you, there are also self-help books with all sorts of interesting pieces of advice that could be useful.

Is there an alternative?

In case you don’t want to get rid of the nicotine addiction, but your focus is more on getting rid of the cigarettes as a product and all the smell, burnt clothes and furniture, bad breath, and house painting expenses that come along – there is an alternative. Vaping is gathering more and more cigarette quitters as a healthy alternative. Vape equipment is versatile and it’s a reasonable investment in the long run. You can find all sorts of vaping deals and save a lot of money on vaping gear, even though it’s not difficult to find cheap solutions.

Conclusion

Hope this article has helped you understand all the difficulties that come with giving up smoking. Remember that motivation is the key and there are alternatives in case you decide otherwise.

About the author:

Margaret Wilson, a blogger who writes about the healthy way of life (healthy food, sports, motivation etc.)

Now she studies vaping as an alternative for people who are struggling with smoking.