“I want to quit smoking” – There’s no smoker in the world who doesn’t regularly utter this sentiment – whether it’s a new year resolution or every time they stand wheezing at the top of a flight of stairs.
Back in 2015, a review published by Public Health England confirmed the rather obvious that e-cigarettes and vapes are 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. In the subsequent years, the number of vape users in the UK has skyrocketed. In fact, data suggests that the number of smokers in Britain is officially lower than it has been since we started collecting this data back in 1974.
Smoking remains quite high in Scotland and Northern Ireland – 19% of the population, with a slightly less (but still not great) 18.1% in Wales and 16.9% England.
The NHS has been advocating for vapes as an effective aid to quitting smoking for years now, even before the safety of e-cigarettes and vapes had been established. At first considered to be the lesser of two evils, switching from smoking to vaping was like switching one bad habit for one slightly less bad habit, and was nonetheless encouraged as a stepping stone to a smoke free life. Nowadays, health professionals will happily advocate for those looking to quit smoking to take up vaping as a long-term solution.
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably thinking about using vaping as a means to quitting smoking. We’ve collated a few tips, tricks and incentives to make the switch easier, whether you’re a newbie vaper or you’re looking to make the permanent change and throw out that “just in case” cigarette pack that’s been sitting in your kitchen drawer the last few months.
Tips, Tricks & Incentives To Swap Smoking For Vaping:
1. Change Your Monthly Budgeting
So health benefits aside, there’s a financial plus to vaping as well.
According to a recent article in The Telegraph, the average vaper in the UK spends £30 a month to sustain their habit. Meanwhile, those pack-a-day smokers could be spending up to £300 a month! That’s quite the difference on your wallet. But new vapers take note, although it may be much cheaper to be vaping on a monthly basis once you’ve got the ball rolling, it’s a bigger investment to get started with vaping. A new vaping kit should consist of two batteries (so you’re never without when your vape is on charge), a few coils (we recommend four), a nice flavoursome selection of e-liquids and, of course, the vape itself.
We also recommend not messing around with bold flavours too early on in your vaping career; keep it familiar and in a way you know you’re going to enjoy!
2. Change Your Inhaling Habits
While it may be assumed that vaping and smoking are the same sort of thing, vaping is a totally different kettle of fish.
To smoke a cigarette, you have to take quick and frequent puffs and you can’t really take a massive drag without having a coughing fit (and why would you want to anyway? Cigarette smoke doesn’t exactly taste like something you want as much of as you can take). Cigarette manufacturers are onto that and have designed cigarettes to provide the smoker with just the ‘right’ amount of smoke per puff.
Vapes are a whole different ball game. Vape machines are complex little creatures with a million and one different settings that let you create your own vaping experience exactly how you enjoy it. Sure, it may be a little overwhelming at first. There’s nothing in your hand telling you how much you’re about to inhale. It’s totally up to you. But the best part is, it’ll change your inhaling habits and a few long drags will quench those cigarette cravings in no time and soon you’ll be feeling sick at the thought of harsh tobacco flavoured smoke filling up your mouth and lungs.
3. Change Your Mealtimes
If you’re a smoker, your mealtimes are about to get tastier!
Go two days without smoking and then head to your favourite restaurant and you may notice a little something great. Now you’ve gone 48 hours without smoking, the taste and smell receptors in your nose and tongue have begun to heal themselves and so everything will begin to taste better.
4. Change Your Mindset
It’s easy to fail when you hold yourself accountable for big changes.
Instead of thinking of this as how you’re going to quit smoking, think of it as simply changing your smoking habits. So instead of this being the end of your identity as a smoker, think of it as the start of your identity as a vaper.
Every time you pick up your vaporizer instead of a cigarette, you’re another step closer to being where you want to be. It’s much easier to succeed when you focus on the day-by-day goals instead of the admittedly intimidating notion of quitting smoking altogether.
It’s also useful to identify the moments that have you reaching for a cigarette in the first place. If you tend to socialize in the smoking area at work on your lunch break, make some lunchtime plans for a while to keep yourself out of a smoking environment until you feel strong enough to return. If you always crave a cigarette when you’re stressed or upset, make sure there are no cigarettes and a fully charged vape always available on your person. When you break down quitting a habit in this kind of fashion into bite-sized chunks, you’ll be surprised at how easy the bigger picture will start to look.
And this is another big one to consider: when you decide to quit smoking there are only two ways to go about it. You can go cold turkey altogether or you can slowly lessen the amount of cigarettes you have until you’re not smoking at all and there isn’t really a right or wrong way to do that. Identify how your mind works best and proceed accordingly. The only thing you shouldn’t do is give up after one slip up. It’s not a failure unless you give up so dust yourself off and get back to work!
Change your life (forever!)
Vaping has one major advantage as a quitting mechanism in that you can directly replace cigarettes with a vaporizer. No wonder so many millions of people have managed to cut out tobacco cigarettes by making the switch to vaping.
The habit of inhaling stays the same, what you’re putting into your body is what changes. Many people will stick to vaping nicotine vape liquid for a little while then begin to reduce the amount of nicotine they have in their e-liquid until they’re no longer hooked! Once the addiction is over, it’s up to them whether they wish to continue to vape as a harmless habit or hobby.
We want to end with highlighting the obvious – the health benefits of quitting smoking! When you quit smoking cigarettes once and for all, your entire body will thank you. After just 20 minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure will drop to the normal levels before you had lit it up. After three months, your lung function and blood circulation will have notably improved. After nine months, your lungs will be back at working capacity. At the one year mark, the risk of getting heart disease has been slashed in half. These health benefits only continue to climb as your time as a non-smoker continues.
With millions of vapers currently in the UK, you’ll be in good company picking up a vape instead of a cigarette. Vapes are much less anti-social, are not illegal in public areas (including, apparently, hospitals!) and your body will thank you – now, in a year, in 20 years – for making the change and changing your life.