If you are a smoker you know just how hard it is to drop the habit. Regardless if the country you live keeps putting the price of cigarettes up you still keep paying because, wait for it, reality check, you’re addicted. No one wants to admit that. The same goes for vaping. And to be honest, I think I was more addicted to vaping than I was to the cigarettes. I vaped in the house, the car, everywhere I was for so long. And smoking I only did it until the prices were a lot.

I will say though, For me, I did quit smoking weed (Though I did quit vaping with my first pregnancy just as easily) which I talk about here. Now I’m not saying “oh you want to quit smoking and vaping just get pregnant, simple.” Because obviously if you are not wanting a baby that is a whole other issue that you will have to deal with! But these are tried and true methods that I have seen from family and friends to do in order to quit both of these once and for all.

What you don’t want to do is swap cigarettes for vapes. That is by no means a solution and if anything you are still creating a new and potentially damaging habit that just is swapping one for another. Because eventually you too will have to quit vaping and what are you going to do then? Find another thing to swap for that suits your need. No. If you want to quit either just don’t swap them for one another. That is what I did and I swear I vaped more than I ever smoked because it was so convenient. This was obviously pre-kids because once I had kids I stopped smoking all together, well nicotine that is since I do still smoke weed. Which I talk about in this blog post here.

One major option that does take a lot of willpower is quitting “cold turkey”. You know, just stop. Just never buy another pack, never get more vape juice, just quit. Are the first few days going to suck? Yep. Are you going to want to give in and buy another because it may seem tough? you bet. Don’t. If you have made the conscious decision to just quit and not look back. Do it. Don’t give in and use all your willpower. If you have to make a list why you wanted to do this than also reference this.

As mentioned, you don’t want to swap out smoking with vaping. However one thing I have seen people to is swap smoking for something like gum or Tik-Tacs. not the nicotine gum. I mean just something to have in their mouth in place of a cigarette. A lot of times we get addicted to the habit. For me it was the vape replaces the process of me bringing the cigarette towards my mouth. Having these little things on hand can be huge. That way you are still doing the motion. One thing that I have seen a friend of my parents do that used to smoke is drink water. Anytime they wanted to smoke they would take a drink of water. Sure they were probably going to the bathroom a whole lot more but that was something that they really thought helped. And just like anything, it does take a while to develop a habit so you have to keep reminding yourself to actually take that drink or put the Tik-Tac in your mouth too!

Another swap you do not want to do is food. People say will often say “if I smoke I stay skinny”, Sure. Because nicotine is low key an appetite suppressant. But that may be because the people who are quitting haven’t developed a habit that is safe and or not eating, to fill the void. Maybe you read or maybe you do crafts. For me I quit easily because I was pregnant. Something clicked and I was done. But I still felt like I wanted to vape and I still felt like if I wasn’t I should be eating. Maybe that is why I felt like eating a lot with my oldest. That being said I also developed a habit of starting to sew and craft more. That way I was doing things with my hands and I wasn’t left just trying to bring the food to my mouth when I would be puffing.

Another great reinforcement that is positive is there is plenty of apps out there now that you can use to track how many days or even hours that you have without nicotine and smokes. These can be helpful because when you stop smoking your body is beginning to repair itself. This is such a cool thing to see because obviously we don’t know what is happening inside of our bodies but it is refreshing to see that even if we are smokers for years there is damage that can slowly repair itself. the human body is wonderful and even if its been years and years of smoking there is no reason not to make the decision to quit.

I think though it should be said, whether you try hypno-therapy, or acupuncture, or whatever treatments, if you don’t really deep down want to quit smoking then chances are you won’t. You can’t really do this for other people and you can;+’t really just go at this half-assed so to speak. You have to want to quit smoking for yourself first. Whether that reason is to save money, for your health, for the simple fact that you are bored of it. You have to be the one making this decision and you are the one who has to be quitting. You can’t quit for anyone and hope it sticks. And sometimes you may have a minor relapse. It happens. But don’t beat yourself up. Refocus your mindset and why you quit to begin with and restart. Just because you quit once and came back doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means that there is one more little hiccup to overcome!