Quitting smoking in and of itself is a very daunting and courageous act. However, when you are on a beautiful long drive with your spouse and kids, oh no! You need to smoke. What do you do? How do you fight your urges and nicotine cravings? Well, fret not! In this article, we shall guide you on a few steps you can consider to help in your smoke-free journey.
1. Plan Distractions: The best way to fight against smoking cravings is by avoiding thinking about it! By bringing along dopamine-stimulating fun exercises like games or playing riddles, you can optimize your time away from smoking into enjoying faith without feeling like you are missing your smoke time.
2. Stay Hydrated: Constantly drinking water helps divert your mind from smoking by keeping you constantly hydrated and filled. And yes, it’s better to stop for toilet breaks than smoke breaks! Additionally, smoking causes loss of appetite, which, as you would have well guessed, can be pretty detrimental to our body. You are likely to skip meals and require daily water consumption as well. So, keeping an additional water bottle will be very important to replenish your body.
3. Deep Breathing: Even simple techniques like slow breathing can help fight smoking cravings! Studies show that deep breathing helps relax the mind and body by releasing endorphins, which help you indirectly calm down against your cravings. When you take a dream breath, you wire your mind to focus on the moment. This will help you distract your mind away from cigarettes and feel calm and relaxed.
4. Positive Reinforcement: Many people might shrug this advice off or think too little of it. However, several prominent psychological research papers have confirmed that positive reinforcement is significantly beneficial in helping achieve a certain mindset, in this case, to motivate yourself against quitting smoking.
5. Communicate: It can be frustrating to be imprisoned in your mind with your smoking cravings. However, opening up and discussing this with your family and talking about it will definitely make it easier for your mind to be at ease and function effectively and help reduce the frustration and agitation that come with figuring out smoking cravings. Such communication is invaluable and paramount in successfully fighting such cravings.
6. Chew Gum or Snack on Healthy Options: Keeping your mouth munching and occupied is a great way to trick your mind into not remembering that you need a smoke break. Studies have shown that when individuals were busy with alternate tasks, they smoked less compared to individuals who had a lot of free time or were unoccupied. Hence, munching on snacks like dry fruits keeps your mind focused away from smoking and boosts your nutrition.
7. Plan Stops: It can become frustrating to constantly fight the cravings throughout the drive. We recommend planning short breaks to take a walk or even a fast muscle stretch to feel active and distance your mind from such cravings.
8. Emergency Kit: If in any situation you find yourself having an intense desire to smoke, keep a small emergency kit with items such as stress balls or even tobacco-free nicotine pouches, which help you feel relaxed with minimal nicotine dose whilst being 100% tobacco-free and smoke-free. All you have to do is pop one of these bad boys under your lips, and voila, you won’t have the smoking urges anymore. It slowly and safely gives you the nicotine dose without any tobacco. This is a great alternative for individuals to are not able to quit smoking or are unable to do so. The most dangerous component of cigarettes is tobacco, which is the cause of many diseases of the lung and other parts of the body. So, by consuming tobacco-free nicotine pouches, you not only protect yourself from the harm of tobacco but also keep your lungs safe from the toxic fumes generated by smoking. Nicotine pouches come in different flavours, so if you have a sweet tooth, you could give a fruity flavour like watermelon a shot, or if you feel the need for something spicy, you could try the apple flavour as well. Eventually, it helps you quit smoking without endangering your family members due to second-hand smoke exposure with you on the car ride to help you stay strong against smoking!
Remember, each journey without smoking is a victory, and with time, the cravings will become less intense. Stay committed and determined to your goal, and remember to never smoke with anyone around you as you not only harm yourself but those around you too.