How to Quit Smoking and Vaping

Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

We’ve compiled a list of some of the most successful and common tips to help you quit, whether you are ready to quit smoking traditional cigarettes or e-cigarettes for good.

Create a “Quit Plan”

When you decide you want to quit smoking, a great first step is to make a quit plan.

Your quit plan will help you decide everything about your non-smoking future ahead of time, so after you’ve given up cigarettes, you won’t have to worry about making decisions while you’re in the early stages.

Consider the following details when creating your own quit plan.

Pick a Quit Date

Pick a specific day to quit and add it to your calendar. It doesn’t have to be special (like New Year’s Day) unless you want it to be.

However, setting an official quit date can help you stay accountable. It can be easy to fall into the trap of telling yourself, “I’ll start tomorrow/I’ll start Monday/etc.” and end up in a procrastination loop.

Choose a date about two weeks ahead without significant distractions or stressors (such as major holidays or important deadlines). Two weeks is enough time to prepare, but you likely need it to be shorter to maintain your motivation.

Build a Support System

Having a support system is invaluable when you decide to quit smoking. Your support system includes friends, family members, support groups, or professionals like therapists or healthcare providers.

An ideal support system will be there to encourage you if you struggle with cravings or other nicotine withdrawal effects in the early days. They’ll also offer encouragement and provide accountability to help you avoid returning to smoking or other tobacco use.

Identify Your Triggers

Smoking triggers are external cues that prompt you to smoke. These triggers are often tied to habits, like smoking with coffee or after a meal, or they can be social, such as smoking with friends during a night out or with colleagues during a work break.

By identifying your triggers ahead of time, you’ll be prepared to face those challenges or adjust your routine to eliminate some triggers altogether.

Prepare for Nicotine Withdrawal

Nicotine withdrawal is an unpleasant part of quitting smoking. For many, the nicotine cravings they experience in the early days of quitting cause them to return to their smoking habit.

However, if you prepare yourself to face these symptoms ahead of time, you give yourself a better chance of managing them without breaking your nonsmoking streak.

Preparation for nicotine withdrawal isn’t just mental; it can also be physical by using various smoking cessation tools.

Choosing Your Smoking Cessation Tools

Once you’ve developed the main pieces of your overall quit plan, it’s time to start thinking about the tools you’ll use to help you quit.

You’ve likely heard of smoking cessation tools like nicotine patches, but smoking cessation options also include prescription medications, apps, and even alternative therapies.

Knowing all your options can help you create a holistic quit-smoking plan tailored to your unique needs.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

NRTs are FDA-approved specifically to help people quit using tobacco products. These tobacco-free options deliver controlled amounts of nicotine to your system, allowing you to taper your dosage and reduce cravings.

Research shows that using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can increase your chances of successfully quitting smoking by 50-60%.

Typical NRT options include:

• Nicotine gum
• Nicotine patches
• Nicotine lozenges
• Nicotine nasal sprays
• Nicotine inhalers

Nicotine gum, patches, and lozenges can be purchased over the counter at most pharmacies. However, nicotine lozenges and nasal sprays must be prescribed by your doctor.

Prescription Medication to Quit Smoking

You can also talk to your doctor about prescription drugs to help you quit smoking. They can help you choose the right option based on your health history and specific situation.

There are two main options for quit-smoking medication:

• Varenicline (Chantix): A medication that helps users quit smoking by reducing cravings and eliminating the enjoyable effects of nicotine.
• Bupropion (Wellbutrin): This is an antidepressant that can help people quit smoking by stabilizing mood and decreasing cravings.

Quit-Smoking Apps

Technology gives you a powerful quit-smoking support tool in your pocket. Quit-smoking apps provide features like tracking and encouragement to help you stay focused on your smoke-free future.

Some examples of quit-smoking apps include:

• QuitGuide: Personalized quit plans, daily tips, and progress tracking.
• Smoke Free: Tracks progress, financial savings, and health benefits and includes a cravings tracker and community support.
• My QuitBuddy: Personalized quit plan with progress tracking, motivational messages, and a cravings diary.
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) App: This app helps you integrate NRT with your individual quit plans and tracks progress.
• Kwit: Gamefied tracker to help users quit smoking by setting goals and rewarding progress.
• QuitNow!: Quit plan, motivational messages, progress tracking, and a supportive community forum.
• Easy Quit: Progress tracker, cravings log, and motivational reminders.
• Tobacco Free Life: Quit plan, progress tracking, and health tips to support quitting.
• Quit Smoking Quitzilla: This site offers a quit plan, progress tracker, motivational support, and tips for managing cravings.
• Quit Smoking Cigarette Tracker: Tracks smoking habits, progress, and health improvements over time.

These are just a few examples of the many different apps available for your smartphone that can help keep you motivated when you quit smoking.

Counseling and Behavioral Therapy

Counseling can offer emotional support and guidance throughout the quitting process.

Your therapist or counselor can help you explore the personal reasons behind your smoking, manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and set realistic goals.

Therapy also offers a safe environment to discuss challenges and get support while potentially addressing co-occurring issues such as depression or anxiety.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common type of counseling that is especially effective for quitting smoking.

CBT helps patients identify and shift their negative thought patterns and behaviors that relate to smoking. It can also help you better understand your smoking triggers and develop positive coping strategies to handle them in the future.

Alternative Therapies

These alternative therapies can provide additional support for quitting smoking, but they are best used alongside proven methods like behavioral therapy and NRT.

Some common alternative therapies for quitting smoking include:

• Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique believed to promote balance and healing.
• Hypnosis is a sort of guided meditation usually performed by a licensed counselor to shift their thoughts around cravings and their desire to smoke.
• Herbal remedies, including lobelia, valerian root, and ginseng, are sometimes used in the belief that they can reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Make Lifestyle Changes to Support Quitting

Adopting healthier routines, such as exercise, a balanced diet, and stress management techniques, creates a more supportive environment for quitting.

That doesn’t mean you must overhaul your entire lifestyle—starting with small changes can significantly impact you.

Change Up Your Routine

Adjusting your rituals around smoking can help you adapt faster to a smoke-free life. For instance, if you usually have a cigarette with coffee in the mornings, you might change where you sit and add something new, like playing a phone game or reading.

After lunch, you could take a walk or message a friend instead of going outside to have a cigarette.

These small changes to your routine help rewire what your brain expects, helping to eliminate triggers and build new habits outside of smoking.

Get Rid of Your Smoking Supplies

Once you’ve officially quit smoking, it’s time to get rid of all your smoking stuff. Throw out or safely dispose of your cigarettes or vape equipment (vape juice, batteries, chargers, etc.)

Remember to toss things like ashtrays and lighters! Removing these items from your environment will eliminate visual triggers and make it harder to give in to cravings.

Stress Management Techniques

Techniques like deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can help you manage stress and cravings—especially if stress is one of your smoking triggers.

Some specific examples you can try might include:

• 4-7-8 Breathing: Take a deep breath through your nose for the count of 4. Hold your breath at the top to the count of 7, then exhale slowly through your mouth to the count of 8. (If holding your breath at the top feels uncomfortable or makes you anxious, focus on inhaling slowly for 4-6 seconds and exhaling more slowly for 8 seconds or more.)
• Body Scan Meditation: Sit somewhere comfortable and close your eyes. Take a moment to relax each area of your body, beginning with your toes and slowly moving up to your head.
• Sun Salutation (Yoga Sequence): Perform a series of yoga poses known as Sun Salutations. If you’re new to yoga, countless videos on YouTube can guide you through these poses and many more—even if it’s just for a few minutes!
• Guided Imagery: Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a place of pure peace. Is it a beach with a warm sun and lapping waves? Is it a cool, shaded forest with the sound of birds? Is it a place you’re familiar with or someplace imaginary? Visualizing yourself in a calm place can help you manage stress and resist the urge to smoke.

Diet and Exercise

Just because you’ve quit smoking doesn’t mean you have to become a fitness guru!

However, simple tweaks to your diet and activity can make a significant impact on reducing cravings and other nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Here are some examples of what you can do to shift your diet and exercise habits once you quit smoking:

• Stock up on healthy, nutritious snacks. Smoking suppresses appetite, so you may get hungry more often after you quit. If you’re worried about weight gain, try to have nutrient-dense snacks available instead of only junk food.
• Increase your daily steps. How many steps are you taking daily? Many smartphones track your steps in built-in health apps, and they are pretty accurate. Setting a new daily step goal is an easy, low-impact way to increase your movement and activity.
• Incorporate more fruits and vegetables: When people quit smoking, their sense of smell and taste often improves, making food more enjoyable. You can take advantage of this benefit by adding a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to your meals. Their natural sweetness and crunch can also help satisfy cravings.
• Try a fitness class: Consider joining a local fitness class or group activity, like yoga, cycling, or a walking group. Regular exercise with others can help you stay motivated, reduce stress, and distract you from cravings, all while building a new, healthier routine.

Focus on the Health Benefits of Quitting

You may sometimes struggle with willpower and motivation before and after your quitting date. One way to keep you going is to remember the many health benefits of quitting smoking.

You can keep the list of these benefits handy for more challenging moments or in the event of a relapse (more on that later).

Immediate Health Improvements

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people who quit smoking will begin to see health improvements mere hours after they stop.

Short-term health improvements include:

• Normalization of heart rate and blood pressure (20-30 minutes after last cigarette)
• Improved oxygen levels throughout your body (12 hours)
• Decreased risk of heart attack from improved heart and blood vessel function (24 hours)
• Improved circulation, making walking and other activities less tiring (a few days)
• Improved lung function, including less coughing and shortness of breath (a few weeks)

Long-Term Health Benefits

Not only will becoming a nonsmoker provide immediate benefits, but the long-term health benefits are substantial and life-changing.

Quitting smoking not only adds years to your life but also enhances the quality of those years by reducing the likelihood of serious illness: 

Other Changes in Risk Factors:

• The risk of heart disease drops to half that of a current smoker (first year)
• The risk of stroke is reduced to the same rate as a nonsmoker (5 years)
• The risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder cancers cut in half (5 years)
• The risk of lung cancer drops to about half that of active smokers (10 years)

Mental Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking

Quitting smoking isn’t just good for your physical health. Your mental health can also improve significantly after you stop smoking.

Some of these mental health benefits might include:

• Reduced anxiety: While some people use cigarette smoking to numb feelings of anxiety, over time, nicotine can actually exacerbate anxiety symptoms.
• Improved mood: Many people experience an improved mood (including fewer symptoms of depression) after they quit smoking.
• Better memory and concentration: Since nicotine can affect how well your brain functions, quitting smoking can give you better focus and improve your memory.
• Improved self-esteem: Quitting any addiction is a significant achievement, so when you stop smoking for good, it can boost your confidence and self-esteem.
• Better quality sleep: Nicotine also affects your sleep patterns, which can cause insomnia or just low-quality sleep. After you quit smoking, you can usually expect to get much more restful sleep.

Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking for Others Around You

The dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke on nonsmokers are well-documented. But quitting smoking removes those health risks from your friends and loved ones.

According to the CDC, the risks of secondhand smoke to those around you can include the following:

• Increased risk of heart disease
• Lung cancer
• Respiratory problems in children, like asthma, respiratory infections, and bronchitis
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Pregnancy complications

While quitting smoking should be a personal choice (i.e., you can’t quit for others), considering the positive impact it will have on those around you can help you stay focused on quitting.

Connect With Resources and Support for Quitting Smoking

Quitting smoking is a personal journey, but you don’t have to do it alone! Connecting with resources and support can make all the difference in your success.

Whether you join a support group, talk to peers online, or visit a healthcare provider specializing in quitting smoking, having outside support can help you stay motivated and have people join you as you celebrate your successes on this journey.

Some popular resources to help you quit smoking include:

• Smokefree.gov: This website provides free information, tools, and support from the National Cancer Institute, including personalized quit plans, apps, text messaging programs, and live chat support.
• Nicotine Anonymous: This is a 12-step support group specifically geared around quitting nicotine, with online and in-person meetings.
• Freedom From Smoking: Sponsored by the American Lung Association, this program offers both online and in-person features to help you quit, including a step-by-step plan and a supportive community.
• QuitNow: An online support community with chat rooms, forums, and personalized coaching geared around quitting smoking.
• Empowered to Quit: An email-based program that personalized quit plans, educational materials, motivation, and practical strategies to succeed at quitting.

Have a Smoking Relapse Backup Plan

The first thing to know about relapse is that it doesn’t mean treatment didn’t work. Quitting smoking is hard work, and if you find yourself returning to your smoking habit, it doesn’t negate your progress!

Creating a relapse backup plan doesn’t mean you’re planning to fail; instead, it provides an immediate resource to help you get back on track more quickly if a relapse occurs.

Some elements to consider when creating your relapse plan:

• Who are your emergency contacts? They might include friends or family members you can rely on for encouragement, accountability, and moral support in case of a relapse.
• What are your reasons for quitting? Reexamining your quit-smoking goals and the reasons you wanted to quit in the first place can help you regain the motivation to give up smoking again. You should list these goals or nonsmoking benefits somewhere to refer to during your quitting journey.
• What are your healthy coping strategies? Make a list of activities or other positive strategies to help you manage cravings and stress as you return to nonsmoking life.
• Do you have professional support? Often, relapse can take a painful toll on us mentally. Having the contact information of a therapist or counselor can be a great safety plan if you relapse and need some additional guidance.

Finally, if you relapse, examine what happened and be honest with yourself. Adjust your quit plan to accommodate any weak points or aspects of your life that have changed.