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Staying On Track
Quitting smoking is an amazing achievement. Yet it's important to be aware that for some people, even after years of being tobacco-free, you can still get cravings to smoke. Learning to live without cigarettes means keeping your guard up and learning new coping skills to deal with situations, people and feelings that may tempt you to smoke.
It also means replacing your cravings with healthy substitutes as you live your new tobacco-free life. This section will explore some of the key healthy alternatives to smoking that will help you get through your critical times of cravings and withdrawal and stay on track, including:
- Keep Physically Active
- Minimize Weight Gain
- Deal With Stress
- Dealing with Relapse
- Reward Yourself
- Life as a Non-Smoker
- Keeping physically active will help eliminate your cravings and improve your overall health, well-being and attitude towards life. To ensure that you keep up your new physical routine, be sure to take up activities that you enjoy. Once you get started and start seeing the results, you will be hooked!
- Concern about weight gain is often a significant barrier for many smokers to take action to quit. When people do gain weight however, the gain is usually moderate. The average weight gain of about six or seven pounds is usually lost after one’s body adjusts to the new tobacco-free state. Remember, the benefits of quitting smoking far outweigh the possibility that you might gain a few extra pounds in the short-term.
- Many people have used smoking to deal with stressful situations in their lives. So when you experience stress after quitting, it may trigger a strong craving for a cigarette. It’s therefore important that you try to learn how to cope with stress in your life without using tobacco and avoid stressful situations where possible.
- Quitting smoking is a huge deal! You should feel proud and delighted that you have broken free from your nicotine addiction. You deserve to reward yourself for all that you have accomplished.
- It's important to know that smoking is a chronic and relapsing addiction. Most smokers relapse several times before achieving long-term success. Just remember that relapses are a trial and error learning opportunity and not a sign of failure!
- Congratulations on your amazing achievement. Many people are still trying to achieve what you have – quitting smoking for life.
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