If you smoke, I’m sure you understand the drill. You feel stressed and you immediately want to grab a cigarette. See another smoke and your hand suddenly reaches out for a light up. Different activities, foods times and places spark an urge for smoking. Professionals call them triggers and they are limitless. The problem comes when one wants to stop smoking and comes across these triggers. They can make your quitting journey hard or even impossible if you are not properly prepared. Some of the most common triggers come when you are taking a work break, finished a meal, driving, drinking tea, feel stressed or bored, or even when happy.
Understand Your Triggers
If you have really decided to quit smoking, learn your triggers and be prepared to manage or stay away from them. Before starting the journey, you can have a note book or use your phone to keep record of every time you light a cigarette. Include time of the day, the location, how you feel and who you were with when the cravings hit you. Note the most powerful triggers and learn how to manage them.
Ways to Outsmart Triggers
Coffee
If you used to smoke every time you took coffee in the morning, try to change the routine. You can change the time from early morning to late morning. You can shift from the place you used to buy coffee to another place. You can even avoid the coffee completely and start taking juice or tea. Try to keep your hands busy while sipping by browsing or chatting.
Stress
Cigarettes helps people relax when stressed due to the chemicals they contain. Change the way your brain handles stress by experimenting new ways of relaxing. You can take deep breathe, listen to calm music or go for a walk. Call a friend to spend time with them or keep your hands busy by squeezing a stress ball.
Driving
If you are used to smoke every time you drive, you can wash your car and freshen it to completely get rid of the smell. Put a lot of candies and chewing gums in your car to make sure you always have something in your mouth. Listen to your favorite music and adapt other healthier car habits.
Plan Ways to Resist Challenging Smoking Triggers
You might not be able to avoid all the triggers, but you can prepare for them and make a plan for when they hit. You can use nicotine replacement therapy and buy Nicotine Pouches Canada to help you deal with withdrawal symptoms. Make sure you mouth always have something else to chew instead of cigarettes. When working, take deep breathes to let fresh air inside. You can increase your exercise time, meditate and keep your hands busy everything to feel like you want to light up. Every time you beat a trigger brings you closer to being a tobacco warrior. This shows you have gained back the power smoking has over you.
Don’t let your triggers take you back to the slavery of smoking while you had already overcome it. Look for different ways and activities to replace the cravings and times you used to smoke. You can change your snacking area, the type of food or drinks you used before with new once. You can also seek professional help to get medication and advice for successful quitting.
