5 Tips To Stop Smoking

If you’re a smoker, chances are you want to quit. Some 70 percent of smokers want to, according to US News. But if you’re a smoker, chances are you’re also aware of how powerful nicotine addiction can be. Smoking can be unbelievably difficult to quit, and most people require several attempts to do so successfully. Some studies suggest nicotine is equally as addictive as heroin and other hard drugs.

That doesn’t mean quitting smoking is impossible - far from it. Millions have done so. But it does require determination and discipline. Don’t feel bad if you’re trying to quit for the third or fourth - ot ninth or tenth - time, and instead focus on getting back on the bandwagon. Here are five tips to quit smoking that can help alleviate urges and keep you away from another pack.

1. Exercise often

Going out for a jog can help kill the urge to light another cigarette. Exercise releases endorphins that can ease your cravings, and it also uses greater lung capacity - the last thing your body wants when it’s gasping for air is smoke. Taking a quick jog or even doing a small bodyweight workout in a private room when you feel a craving coming on can help get your heart pumping and kick the urge to smoke.

2. Build a support system

Although you may not want to share your cravings and struggles with people, having a public support system to provide you with distractions and keep you accountable improves your chances of quitting successfully. Confide in friends and close co-workers when you’re trying to quit and ask them to remind you of your goal when you’re feeling stressed out and turn to your usual solution.

3. Keep your hands busy

For many people, smoking becomes a habit, a physical reflex. The urge to pull a pack out, slide a cigarette from the pack and light up can be a force of habit as much as it can be a physical addiction. Developing new habits that keep you busy - like using one of the many fidget toys now on the market - can help supercede the old ones, so instead of feeling the urge to pull your cigarette pack out, you feel the urge to bring out your fidget spinner, your deck of cards or your rubik’s cube instead.

4. Consider medication

No, you don’t want to replace your physical dependence on one substance with another. But certain medications have been found to aid in the process of quitting smoking without significant side effects. Chantix and Zyban are both approved for patients attempting to quit smoking, because they help reduce cravings. The medications aren’t a permanent replacement - treatment often lasts about 10 weeks - and they can double your chances of quitting successfully.

5. Look at nicotine replacement therapy

You definitely don’t want to kick the cigarette habit and retain your nicotine addiction, but for many people, the best e liquid and nicotine gum are an effective and useful step in the process of quitting altogether. Replacement therapy helps you break the habit without dealing simultaneously with the withdrawal symptoms. However, once you break the habit, you’ll still have to wean yourself off the nicotine.

Smoking can cause all kinds of cancers and illnesses and has killed millions. If you’re a smoker, you know this. You also know you’re not doomed to smoke until you die - you can join the millions of people who’ve quit smoking with some determination, support and a solid plan of action.