You’re giving up smoking for Stoptober – and hopefully for good. It’s great for your health and even better for your wallet, but how can you beat smoking cravings during the first day, week or month?
If you can make it to 28 days without smoking, you’re five times more likely to quit for good (NHS, 2024). The only thing standing in your way is those cravings – so here are some of our top tips to fight them.
How to get rid of smoking cravings
Keep busy
Do you actually want a cigarette or are your hands and mouth just bored? Keeping your body busy is a great way to distract yourself from cravings.
Try chewing gum or sucking on a straw to give your mouth the feeling of doing something.
And if your hands need something to do, pick up a stress ball or a fidget toy.
Get moving
Exercise is good news for you – and bad news for your cravings. Distract yourself by going for a walk, a swim or a bike ride.
With that new energy from quitting smoking, you may even find you can exercise for longer than usual.
Share the news
Tell people that you’re doing Stoptober. If your friends and family know that you are trying to quit smoking, they can help support you.
You might be surprised at how much a bit of encouragement from a loved one helps to beat the cravings.
Meditate on it
There are several types of meditation that can help control cravings or refocus your thoughts.
Try focusing on your breathing or using affirmations to remind yourself of your goals. Check out our tips on mindfulness for more ways to boost your Stoptober wellbeing.
Try stop smoking aids
You don’t have to rely on just your willpower to beat smoking cravings. Stop smoking aids, like e-cigarettes or vapes, nicotine patches or nicotine gum, can help you slowly wean yourself off cigarettes.
Get support from us
Imagine how much easier it would be to beat those smoking cravings with help from your own personal coach.
We help people stop smoking for good, with free one-to-one support, plus stop smoking aids and resources.
Sign up today to get your own personal stop smoking coach.
