These are the 4 Things You Could Be Doing Instead of Smoking
Being dependent on nicotine is the biggest thing that makes smoking as addictive as it is, but it’s not the only thing. The mental component of addiction can be just as powerful. Smoking is mentally addictive because it keeps your hands and mouth occupied and because it becomes an anticipated part of your daily routine. Those factors help to make quitting even more difficult because even if you find a way to replace the nicotine, you still have one less thing to look forward to during the day. Smokers don’t just anticipate the nicotine rush of a cigarette; they also look forward to the fact that it breaks up the monotony of the workday.
If you’re having difficulty quitting smoking, you’re definitely not alone; there are about 6.4 million smokers in the United Kingdom. The first thing that you need to do is find an alternative way to supply the nicotine you require. Once you’ve done that, you need another way to occupy your time. In this article, we’re going to provide some suggestions for both of those.
These are the four things that you could be doing instead of smoking.
Switch to a Different Nicotine Product
If you’ve tried traditional nicotine replacement products in the past such as gums, patches and lozenges, there’s a good chance that your attempt to quit smoking wasn’t successful. Studies have shown that when people use traditional nicotine replacement products, they generally don’t stick with those products and don’t quit smoking successfully. What you might not know, though, is that there’s a wide array of alternative nicotine products today that you can use instead of smoking. Here are the three most popular options.
- Vaping: By far, vaping is the most popular smoking alternative in the UK. Roughly 3.2 million people have purchased vape kits from finer vape shops like Cloud City and made the switch from smoking to vaping. Most people find that vaping is the best alternative to smoking because it looks and feels like smoking, and it delivers nicotine efficiently since the vapour is inhaled. Vaping also keeps your hands and mouth busy, and it even tastes good. The only drawback of vaping is that you can’t do it in places where you aren’t allowed to smoke.
- Nicotine Pouches: Nicotine pouches are fairly new, and they’ve become popular among those who use chewing tobacco and other oral nicotine products. Nicotine pouches are available in a wide range of nicotine strengths that typically range from about 2-15 mg per pouch depending on the brand. You use a pouch by parking it between your gum and lip. Nicotine pouches don’t require spitting, and their flavour lasts a long time. The drawback of nicotine pouches is that nicotine doesn’t absorb as quickly through the mouth as it does through the lungs. However, you can use nicotine pouches in places where vaping and smoking aren’t allowed.
- Modern Gums and Lozenges: If you’ve tried traditional nicotine gums or lozenges and liked the nicotine delivery but not the flavour, you should try some of the modern gums and lozenges that are appearing online and in some vape shops. Because they’re marketed as smoking alternatives rather than cessation products, they’re available in much tastier flavours that you might find quite enjoyable.
Find Another Way to Keep Your Mouth Busy
Once you’ve found an alternative nicotine product that makes you happy, the next step is to alleviate the mental component of your addiction by keeping yourself busy in another way. If you’re the type of person who enjoys the oral component of smoking, you’re probably going to enjoy vaping or nicotine pouches because both of those things can keep your mouth busy for a long time. You don’t want to spend the entire day using nicotine, though, and that means you’ll need another way to keep your mouth occupied.
Candy and lollipops are popular among those who are trying to break the smoking habit. Choose a sugar-free option, though, because you don’t want to replace one tooth-damaging habit with another one. You can also try chomping on chewing gum or toothpicks.
Find Another Way to Keep Your Hands Busy
Along with the oral component of smoking addiction, you’ve also got to find an alternative to keep your hands busy if you’re the type of person who can’t resist smoking when you’re doing things like sitting around the house and watching the telly. This is one of the things that makes vaping the best smoking alternative – it requires your hands, and the hand-to-mouth motion feels very much like smoking. If you need to find a new activity that requires your hands and keeps your mind off of smoking for a while, go outside and play football with your kids after dinner instead of watching TV. You’ll keep your mind and body occupied, and you’ll get fitter at the same time. If that’s not your thing, buy a new video game instead.
Spend Your Time Where Smoking Isn’t Allowed
Even if you’ve done everything right – you’ve found an alternative nicotine product that works for you, and you’ve found some healthy new habits to replace the old ones – you’re still going to feel tempted to smoke once in a while. Using an alternative nicotine product makes quitting easier, but you’re still going to experience challenges from time to time. One of the best ways to handle those challenging days is by spending as much time as possible in places where you aren’t allowed to smoke. You may find that the temptation is lessened since smoking isn’t an option anyway.
If you’re looking for interesting places to go where smoking isn’t allowed, try spending a day in a national park or going to a movie theatre. You could also buy some tickets and take your family to a local football match. In all of these places, smoking is strictly forbidden, and smoking a cigarette could result in a fine or in expulsion from the venue. Those threats should be more than sufficient to keep you from wanting to light up.
