A Quick Guide to Quitting Smoking This Year

We don’t need to tell you how bad smoking can be for your health, (but you can head to the NHS Smokefree site for more information) but that doesn’t make it any easier to quit!

Whether you’ve smoked your whole life or just enjoy one when you’re out for a drink, it’s really tough, as there’s a reason nicotine is so addictive!

And it’s not just a case of stopping, as most people find they need to replace the habit with something healthier.

However, with a strong plan and a lot of willpower, it can be done! Here’s our quick guide.

Identify Your Triggers

One of the first things you should do is identify what it is that makes you want to smoke, whether it’s to combat feelings such as stress and depression or other common triggers such as alcohol or being around other smokers.

Once you’ve identified these triggers, you can work to start to avoid them, or replace them with something else.

Think about when these things generally come up in your life and how you can avoid them.

Manage Your Cravings

While avoiding your triggers will go some way to helping you stop, you’re still going to get cravings from time to time.

When cravings do hit, they generally only last about five to ten minutes, but that doesn’t necessarily make them easier to suppress!

If you do find yourself wanting a cigarette, try doing something to distract yourself such as turning the TV on, or popping out for some fresh air, anything which takes your mind off smoking.

It also helps to stop for a second and remind yourself exactly why you’re trying to quit in the first place, whether it’s for your health or to save some extra money!

Preventing Weight Gain

Smoking suppresses your appetite, so many find that when they give up, they start to put on weight.

However, the actual weight gain that most people experience is actually quite minimal and that gain will decrease over time.

Try to find new things to do while stressed or anxious, or try and find healthier snacks or fruit to eat.

Drinking more water and getting a bit more exercise will obviously also go a long way to helping keep that weight off!

Quitting Aids

There are many aids which claim to help you to be able to quit, but whether they actually will or not depends on the individual, so you’ll probably have to try a couple before settling on the one that works for you.

Many work by trying to replace the nicotine hit that you get from cigarettes, such as gum, patches, lozenges or inhalers, which will help to relieve your withdrawal symptoms by delivering small and steady doses of nicotine without the harmful elements.

One of the most popular aids though is e-cigarettes, which not only help you to get your nicotine hit but also replace the action of smoking, which is a big part of what makes them so addictive.

There’s a whole culture dedicated to vaping these days, with literally thousands of flavoured juices to choose from too, just head to Cloudz Vapour to get an idea!

Quitting smoking is never easy, and there’s a good chance that you’ll relapse, but don’t let this knock you! Good luck and hopefully 2018 is the year that you finally kick the habit for good!