Quitting smoking
The days when smoking was fashionable are long gone. Tobacco use remains highly addictive and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory disease and many cancers. The good news is that stopping brings benefits quickly: heart rate and blood pressure begin to fall within about 20 minutes, carbon monoxide in the blood returns toward normal within about 12 hours, and the benefits continue to grow over the following weeks and years.
Quitting can be difficult, and needing more than one attempt is common. Behavioural support and proven stop-smoking medicines can substantially improve the chance of success. Here are 17 practical approaches that can help you build a quit plan.
1. Meditate
Mindfulness and meditation can help you notice cravings without automatically acting on them. They can also provide another way to respond to stress, which is a common smoking trigger.
2. Choose a clear quit day
The original article suggested Monday because research found that online searches about quitting tended to peak at the beginning of the week. The more important principle is to choose a definite day, prepare for it and make it meaningful to you.
3. Exercise
Physical activity can be a useful way to get through a craving, change your routine and manage tension. Even a short walk can give you something constructive to do while an urge passes.
4. Break the associations around smoking
Smoking is often tied to particular smells, places, drinks and routines. Change those cues deliberately. Sit somewhere different, change your after-meal routine, remove ashtrays and make your home and car smoke-free.
5. Watch tips from former smokers
Real stories can make the consequences of smoking — and the benefits of quitting — more concrete.
6. Try yoga or relaxation techniques
If cigarettes have become a way to deal with stress, replace that ritual rather than leaving a gap. Yoga, slow breathing, relaxation exercises, music or a brief walk can all become part of a new response to tension.
7. Get stop-smoking support in your country
You do not have to quit alone. Free or low-cost stop-smoking support is available in many countries, and professional guidance can help you build a realistic quit plan.
In Belgium: Tabakstop — 0800 111 00 (the Belgian national quitline). Visit Tabakstop.
Outside Belgium: use the World Health Organization's country-by-country quitline directory to find official stop-smoking support available where you live.
If your country is not listed, ask your doctor, pharmacist or national health service about local smoking-cessation support.
8. Eat fruit and vegetables
Keep simple, healthy snacks available, particularly for moments when you would normally reach for a cigarette. Carrots, fruit and other easy snacks can also keep your hands and mouth occupied while a craving passes.
9. Think of nutrition as support — not a cure
The original version recommended fish oil. Omega-3 fats are part of a healthy diet, but supplements should not be presented as a proven smoking-cessation treatment. If you use supplements, discuss them with a doctor or pharmacist when you take medicines or have a medical condition.
10. Drink tea and identify drink-related triggers
For some people, coffee, alcohol or certain routines are strongly linked with smoking. Temporarily changing the drink or the setting can weaken that association. Water, tea or another non-triggering drink can be useful alternatives.
11. Add strength training
Exercise does not have to mean running. Resistance training, walking, cycling and other forms of movement can give structure to your week, improve wellbeing and provide a healthy alternative when cravings appear.
12. Consider nicotine replacement therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) provides nicotine without the toxic products of tobacco smoke and can reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Options include patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and sprays. A doctor, pharmacist or stop-smoking counsellor can help you choose an appropriate option. Current WHO guidance also recognises other effective cessation medicines in appropriate circumstances.
13. Think about the people — and pets — around you
Second-hand smoke harms other people, and smoke exposure is also undesirable for animals sharing the home. Making your home and car smoke-free protects those around you and removes an important smoking cue.
14. Quit with someone
A friend, partner, colleague or family member can provide accountability and encouragement. You do not have to use exactly the same strategy; simply checking in with one another can make difficult moments easier to manage.
15. Start a new hobby
Choose something that occupies your attention and preferably your hands: cooking, gardening, music, drawing, sport, photography or learning a new skill. A new routine can help replace the time and reward previously associated with smoking.
16. Write down why you want to quit
Health, family, freedom, fitness, money, smell, appearance — your reason is personal. Write your strongest reasons down and keep them somewhere visible. Read them when motivation dips or a craving arrives.
17. Do not fight every thought about cigarettes
Trying to force a thought out of your mind can make it feel more persistent. Instead, acknowledge the craving, remind yourself that it will pass, and use a prepared response: delay, drink water, breathe slowly, move around or contact someone who supports your quit attempt.
Build your quit plan
You do not need all 17 strategies. Pick the ones that fit you, combine them with evidence-based support, and prepare for the situations in which you usually smoke. If you slip and smoke a cigarette, treat it as information about a trigger — not as a reason to abandon the entire attempt.
Sources and further reading
This article was translated and editorially updated from the earlier Dutch Earth Nature Wisdom article, which cited The Huffington Post. Health statements have been modernised to avoid presenting older or preliminary findings as established cessation treatments.