In the process of building a smoking habit we learn to associate cigarettes to almost every emotion you experience. When we get angry or frustrated we learn to crave a cigarette to relax and calm down. When we get bored smoking is the first thing that comes to mind to kill the time. Get anxious? Grab a smoke. Hungry? Reach for a cigarette. Over time these cravings get associated with almost everything in our lives.
When it comes time to quit smoking we are left with the challenge of dealing with cravings that are associated with almost every emotion we have. This can be a hugely difficult obstacle to overcome in your journey to becoming a nonsmoker. Using the H.A.L.T. method can help you get passed a large majority of these cravings. Using this method as a checklist to determine the underlying cause of your cravings will give you alternatives to reaching for the cigarette that can curb the urge to smoke altogether.
The H in H.A.L.T. stands for hungry. When you are hungry your body will have a craving for food that can easily be misconstrued for a craving to smoke. When you have an urge to smoke take the time to ****yze your body and see if you are actually craving something to eat. Grabbing a snack can be a great alternative to smoking once you quit smoking. Just be sure to grab healthy snacks to help keep your post smoking weight under control.
The A in H.A.L.T. stands for angry. Obviously this is one of the biggest triggers when it comes to smoking. Because you are aware that this trigger will be a huge influence on you once you quit smoking you should be proactive and create alternatives to smoking that can be used to release your anger and aggression.
Taking up meditation works for some, taking up kickboxing works for others. Whatever works for you, be sure to plan ahead and have a way to work off excess energy and keep yourself in control once you quit smoking cigarettes.
The L in H.A.L.T. stands for lonely. This includes boredom, depression, and the sense of loss you get from missing cigarettes. When you get urges to smoke that don’t fall under the previous two categories you should see if one of the emotions under this category are the cause. If you find this to be the case you should find ways to distract yourself. Making a list of things you can do to distract yourself before quitting smoking will be an invaluable tool once you quit.
The T in H.A.L.T. stands for Tired. When we get tired we can get cravings to smoke as well. In today's society the emphasis is always on doing more and pushing ourselves harder. When we do this we very often push ourselves too far and end up staying up way past the point of exhaustion. Using cigarettes as a way to perk up becomes ingrained in our habitual patterns and once we quit this habit can be difficult to overcome. By getting plenty of rest and making sure you don’t overwork yourself you can make quitting much easier on yourself.
Use the H.A.L.T. method to help you deal with cravings once you quit and you can increase your chances of success drastically.
