Three tricks that can help you stop smoking

Quitting smoking is certainly not easy, but it may help to break it down and focus on ritual, reward and replacement. — TNS

Let's not delude ourselves: Quitting smoking means summoning up all your willpower.

But with a little mental preparation and strategy, you can make the path to a cigarette-free future a little easier.

Focusing on three things – the daily rituals, the rewards of a smoke-free life, and the chemical replacements that give you your nicotine fix – can make a successful outcome more likely.

> Find new rituals for old smoking situations

Smokers are all aware that cigarettes are closely linked to certain situations.

It is often simply part of waiting, digesting a meal or dealing with strain.

If you’re trying to bridge waiting time, then you need to find a different task.

Sort out photos on your mobile phone, look up new recipes, read a book or breathe consciously.

And after a meal?

Make yourself a cup of good coffee or tea, or eat a piece of dark chocolate, instead of having a cigarette.

If you find yourself getting fidgety, you can keep your hands busy with an anti-stress ball or a pen.

> Focus on the rewards, not the sacrifice

If you smoke a pack of 20 cigarettes a day and quit, the savings you make should easily be enough for an extra holiday after an entire year.

You can work out your individual savings with one of the many cigarette expense calculators available online, and plan ways to reward yourself with the money you’ve saved.

Of course, it’s also helpful to focus on the everyday benefits: be mindful of details like having stronger lungs, less smelly breath and no more yellow fingernails.

> Use nicotine replacement products

Withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness or poor concentration levels when quitting are likely, as your body will miss the nicotine to which it has become accustomed.

This is where nicotine plasters, pastilles and chewing gum can help to cushion the withdrawal symptoms.

The user is not subjected to the 4,000 or so other harmful substances in an ordinary cigarette.

The dosage of the substitutes can be reduced gradually until you no longer need them at all.

A 2023 evaluation by Germany’s Öko Test consumer magazine found that 12 products available on the European market actually increased the chance of weaning oneself off cigarettes.

However, people should be aware that nicotine from cigarettes reaches the brain in seconds and triggers a feeling of well-being.

This process takes longer with substitute products, which can also be addictive.

But which product is the best?

Patches keep nicotine levels constant and sudden withdrawal symptoms can be avoided.

Chewing gums or pastilles, on the other hand, work faster than patches and give the user a feeling of doing something.

A combined use of these products might be advisable for some.

It is a question of trying out what works best. – dpa