What to Expect When You Quit Smoking Cigarettes
Although quitting smoking is overall good for your health, there are many challenges you must face when quitting. Stopping smoking is a choice you must make for yourself and you must consider if you are doing it at the right time to make it last. There are many things to expect when you quit smoking, so here are a few to think about before you begin your journey.
Is It the Right Time?
Some may argue it is never the right time. Things come up and you may never feel ready to quit. Life has a knack of getting in the way and stressing you out, so then you just crave that one cigarette, which turns back into full-time smoking again. If you don’t have any major life-changing events happening such as planning for a wedding, moving to a new house, or a family illness, then this may be the right time. If you have anything coming up where you know for a fact you will become stressed, then although you may want to quit, you need to think about how seriously you’ll be able to take it when you’re dealing with stress and you’re more on edge from quitting smoking. Only you will know this; there is no need to feel pressure to quit smoking if it is not the right time for you, although this cannot be an excuse forever if you’re serious about stopping.
Withdrawal Symptoms
You must be aware of the withdrawal symptoms you may get from quitting smoking, as well as making your family aware of any of these so they can support you. As nicotine is an addictive substance, your body will crave it whilst you are quitting. This means you may experience mood swings, which is one of the biggest side effects. It also means you may lose your temper easier and may snap at those you love as your body becomes frustrated with not getting its fix. You may also get headaches and find it hard to sleep. You can be fidgety and often find yourself holding things in your hands where your cigarettes once were. Although withdrawal symptoms are difficult to overcome, they do not last forever, but you do need to be aware of them and know that you are in the right mindset to deal with them.
Weight Gain
Another side effect of quitting smoking is putting on weight. As smoking often curbs your appetite, when you begin to stop, you may find yourself eating more. This is for several reasons, either you feel stressed due to quitting so you eat more or the time you’d usually spend going for a cigarette you may fill with having a snack. There are ways around this and being aware makes it easier to stop this from happening. As you begin to stop smoking, you should find it easier to exercise and this is something you should introduce into your life if you do not already. You should also purchase healthy snacks to ensure that any time you do crave food to beat those cigarette cravings, you are not munching on another chocolate bar.
Alternatives to Quitting Nicotine Fully
If you do not think you can go cold turkey, there are alternatives such as patches and e-cigarettes. If cold turkey isn’t your thing or you don’t think you can handle the withdrawal symptoms, then e-cigarettes are your new best friend. You can get e-cigarettes from any vape store, online stores offer a variation of kits like The London Vape Co. which is a great site for anything you could possibly want from a vape store, and more. There are mods that you can purchase and there are so many flavours you will never be able to try them all. Another good thing about switching to an e-cigarette if you do not want to go cold turkey is that you can choose flavours that interest you. You will then find vaping more enjoyable due to the taste.
The Benefits of Quitting
There are plenty of benefits of quitting smoking and they are widely known. One of the biggest benefits is reducing your risk of cancer, as smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer. There are many other health benefits and stopping can help restore your lung capacity and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. You will also save money and for those around you, stopping smoking will be a relief to them, as nobody wants to watch their partner, friend or parent smoke themselves to death.
People will always tell you about the good parts of stopping smoking but do not warn you about the withdrawal symptoms, the weight gain, and the mood swings that come with it. Overall, quitting smoking, even for vaping, is much better for you than carrying on smoking, but this is a choice you must make of your own accord to seriously commit to it.