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Preparing to Quit Smoking: 5 Lifestyle Changes

PREPARING TO QUIT SMOKING: 5 LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Quitting smoking cigarettes is no easy task – first you need to decide you want to make a healthy change in your life, then summon the willpower to commit to it, and finally deal with pesky cravings and urges to light up again once you stop smoking.

Thankfully, there are several ways to quit smoking and help you negate the side effects of stopping so you’re more likely to make the change for good. Here are 5 tips to quit smoking that you can implement before you stub out your last cigarette.

1. Set a Quit Date

There is no best way to quit smoking that works for everyone, but setting a quit date can help. Try to choose a time that will be relatively stress-free, without any events that might tempt you back to smoking, e.g. Christmas or a busy period at work.

Give yourself time to prepare, but don’t put it off for too long – this could give you chance to change your mind and become less motivated.

Try to pick a date no more than two weeks away, which gives you ample time to put other quit-smoking preparations in place.

2. Research Nicotine Replacements

Nicotine replacements help to quell your cravings for cigarettes by delivering a reduced amount of nicotine into your bloodstream without the addition of all the harmful chemicals and toxins contained in tobacco.1 They come in many different forms and are designed to be gradually weaned off of2, so you eventually curb your nicotine addiction as well as become smoke-free.

Thrive offers different nicotine replacement products so you can choose the one that suits you best. Whether you want to keep your mouth busy with a stick of chewing gum rather than a cigarette, or you’d prefer a minty-fresh lozenge to quickly soothe a craving, our range has options of varying strengths for every smoker.

If you currently smoke less than a pack a day, our regular strength products may be a great fit for you. Choose between Thrive Regular Strength 1 mg lozenges, or our Regular Strength 2 mg gum, which comes in two different flavours – Cool Mint and Fruit Explosion. For those who smoke a pack a day or more – why not try our extra strength products? Our Extra Strength 2 mg lozenges and Extra Strength 4 mg gum (again in Cool Mint and Fruit Explosion flavours) pack an additional punch, to help relieve those cravings, fast.

If you plan to cut down on smoking before your quit date, testing out different nicotine replacements to replace some of your usual cigarettes could help you find out which one works best for you ahead of time.

3. Start Exercising

If you don’t already, take up some light exercise in the run-up to your quit date. Committing to a healthier lifestyle all-round will help you feel better in your mind and body, which will hopefully make you less inclined to ruin it by sparking up.

Exercise can also improve your mood3 and therefore help you overcome the frustration and irritation that can accompany nicotine withdrawals, plus can distract you from cravings4.

4. Get Rid of Smoking Paraphernalia

Having lighters, rolling papers and ashtrays lying around while you’re trying to quit smoking is never helpful as they can act as visual triggers for cravings. Of course, the same goes for keeping any cigarettes around “just in case”… chuck them out!5

To fully commit to giving up cigarettes, throw out all of these items on your quit date (or start getting rid slowly beforehand) to give yourself the best start on your journey to stopping smoking.

5. Devise a Reward System

Create a plan to congratulate yourself for important milestones on your quitting journey, like your first day smoke-free, first week, fortnight, one month, etc. Looking forward to rewards can make you excited about reaching goals, and achieving them can replace the dopamine your brain was used to getting through nicotine.6

Rewards you could set yourself include eating your favourite meal, going to the cinema, booking a show or concert, or simply treating yourself to a bubble bath – whatever feels indulgent to you! You could also plan to start a savings pot with all the money you’ll save by not smoking. Put in the amount per week that you would usually spend on cigarettes and use it to treat yourself to something nice when you reach your non-smoking goals. After six months or a year, you might even have enough for a vacation!

  1. CDC. How Quit Smoking Medicines Work. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/quit-smoking-medications/how-quit-smoking-medicines-work/index.html. Accessed 07/10/2021.
  2. CDC. How Quit Smoking Medicines Work. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/quit-smoking-medications/how-quit-smoking-medicines-work/index.html. Accessed 07/10/2021.
  3. Smoke Free. Fight Cravings with Exercise. https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/cravings-triggers/fight-cravings-exercise. Accessed 07/10/2021.
  4. Smoke Free. Fight Cravings with Exercise. https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/cravings-triggers/fight-cravings-exercise. Accessed 07/10/2021.
  5. CDC. Tips for Quitting. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/quit-smoking-medications/tips-for-quitting/index.html#make-your-environment-work. Accessed 07/10/2021.
  6. I Can Quit. Staying Quit. https://www.icanquit.com.au/staying-quit/tricks-to-keep-on-track/reward-yourself. Accessed 07/10/2021.

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