If you’ve been smoking for a lengthy period of time, chances are, cigarettes have become part of your daily routine. In fact, many smokers find themselves craving cigarettes at certain times of the day, and after particular activities.
These urges to smoke are sometimes called “pattern triggers”, and daily life can be full of them. For instance, some smokers struggle to imagine enjoying their morning cup of coffee without a cigarette to go with it, while others automatically light-up when they get in their car. One of the keys to quitting is recognising your trigger situations and adjusting your routines to deal with them. If you’re looking to ease your quit journey with some changes to your daily habits, then there’s no better place to start than refining your morning routine.
1. Replace coffee with hot water
Interestingly, drinking coffee can be a trigger for smokers – especially if you associate drinking it with smoking – and therefore it may be wise to avoid whilst quitting. Alongside quitting, this can present an extra challenge, but one thing to consider is to potentially replace your morning cup of coffee with a cup of hot water.
Drinking water in the morning may help to ease off nicotine cravings, but can also help to rehydrate the body and aid the digestive system. Drinking water can also help you to feel less tired, and can enable you to maintain focus and concentration throughout the day.
2. Complete a quick workout
Within 2 to 12 weeks of quitting smoking, your circulation may have improved, potentially making physical exercise less tiring. One way to take advantage of this is to incorporate some exercise into your morning routine.
A morning workout doesn’t have to take up much time at all. In fact, a 5 or 10-minute “at-home” workout can yield a range of significant health benefits – both physical and psychological. It’s well-known that exercise helps to boost your metabolism, break down body fat, and lower your blood pressure, but a brief workout can have a positive effect on your mood and lead to greater self-esteem.
A further advantage of a morning workout is that it allows you to get your exercise in before the day’s distractions and demands commence.
3. Enjoy a healthy breakfast
Eating a healthy breakfast is key to starting the day well. Not only does it help you to think and perform better throughout the day, but eating a balanced morning meal may help to ward-off daytime cravings.
For many smokers, a key concern when quitting is weight gain, but eating breakfast will help to keep you full, and stop you snacking on unhealthy treats throughout the day. Moreover, preparing breakfast every morning can help you to stay busy, and fill the time you’d usually spend smoking a cigarette. Incorporating this into your morning routine could keep your mind off smoking, and give you something to do with your hands.
4. Look after your skin
Most people are aware of the effect smoking has on your skin, but fewer people realise that quitting smoking can help to improve your complexion. When you quit, your skin starts to receive more nutrients and oxygen. To make the most of this, why not start a skincare routine to boost your complexion?
If you’re completely new to skincare, starting simple can still make a difference. Cleansing your skin twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, is important to remove impurities and excess oil. This can help to prevent blemishes. Follow up your cleansing with a hydrating moisturiser. Moisturiser can help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and some can even protect your skin from everyday pollutants and toxins.
5. Start the day with meditation
Meditation is perfect for setting the right tone for the rest of the day. Shown to produce an abundance of mental and physical health benefits, meditation helps to reduce stress, enhance concentration, and improve sleep.
Infusing your morning with meditation is a great way to promote emotional wellbeing. By focusing on relaxation and inner peace, morning meditation can help you to recognise and accept your emotions and stresses. By doing this, you can reduce stress and improve how you react to it, helping to reduce the persistence of cravings.
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