Limit Smoking Cigarettes

If you've had trouble quitting or cutting down on your smoking, it's probably because cigarettes contain the highly addictive chemical, nicotine. Nicotine causes your brain to crave the simultaneous stimulation and relaxation that comes from smoking a cigarette. You may also find it hard to cut down or quit because of the associations you have with smoking, like taking cigarette breaks or smoking while drinking or after dinner. Because the act of smoking can still be quite pleasurable, completely quitting may not be something you want to do. Learn how to limit your smoking, manage your stress, and consider quitting.

Steps

Planning to Track and Cut Back Smoking

1. Track your cigarette use. Before you change your behavior, you need to understand your current situation. Take a baseline, or keep a count, of how many cigarettes you smoke in a day. You can use a calendar, notebook, journal, poster board, or anything that helps you track it consistently. As you track your consumption, try to notice if there are any patterns.
   • For example, you might notice that on Wednesdays you tend to smoke 5-8 more cigarettes than the rest of the week. What is going on on Wednesdays? Maybe you have a stressful weekly meeting on Wednesdays that wind you up, and you smoke to relieve the anxiety.
2. Decide on a daily allowance. Set a goal once you have tracked how many cigarettes you typically smoke in a day. Since quitting cold turkey (cutting out smoking completely) is bound to be stressful, difficult, and may lead to a higher rate of relapse, start by limiting your smoking. You may try going from a pack a day, 20 cigarettes, to 15 a day.
   • Only you can decide what is the right amount to cut down to, but a good start may be to cut down by a quarter. For example, if you smoke 16 a day, go to 12. Or go from 12 to 8.
3. Set up a smoking schedule. If you are going to allow yourself five cigarettes a day, decide when you will smoke them. This removes the option of smoking a cigarette when you are feeling bored or have nothing else to do. Instead, you have designated smoking times to keep you accountable.
   • For example, you might smoke one in the morning, two at work, one in the evening, and one before bed.
4. Set up consequences. It may be hard to give up the instant gratification of smoking, especially if there's no immediate reward for cutting back. You need to create a system of immediate rewards and consequences. So, if you smoke 2 more cigarettes in a day than you had allowed yourself to, there should be a consequence. Choose consequences that will benefit you in some way.
   • For example, for every additional cigarette you smoke, tell yourself you have to do 10 minutes of stretching, put a dollar in a jar, clean the bathroom, or journal for an extra 10 minutes. While this is supposed to serve somewhat as a punishment, at least you will have worked in some way to make up for the lapse in discipline.
5. Set up rewards. Reward yourself when you meet or exceed your goals. This will make you more likely to continue cutting back. Rewards don't need to be tangible things. You could remind yourself that you're investing in your healthy future and that's a reward in and of itself.
   • For example, if your goal was to smoke no more than 8 cigarettes a day and you only smoked 5, you might reward yourself with a glass of wine, 20 minutes of playing your favorite video game, or free time. Choose something that you enjoy, but don't necessarily have access to all the time.
6. Keep tracking your smoking habits. This will create a progress report. You could even graph your cigarette consumption in order to see the peaks and troughs. Here are a few things to consider keeping track of when you're monitoring your smoking habits:
   • Triggers: Watch for what factors trigger higher rates of smoking.
   • Cost: Track how much money you spend on cigarettes every week. If you're saving money during the week, start putting it aside. After a few weeks, use the money to buy yourself a reward.
   • Consequences/Rewards: Notice if certain intervention plans (like increasing or decreasing consequences and rewards) are working or not. This way you can change them to make cutting back more effective.

Limiting Your Smoking

1. Change your environment. While it may be difficult to change your environment, understand that certain environmental cues can actually lead to higher rates of smoking. You may want to limit time around social groups that revolve around smoking. Instead, find new places and activities to enjoy. If you enjoy having a few drinks and smoking on the patio at a local bar, you might find it hard to sit on the patio and not smoke. In this case, try moving inside where smoking is not allowed. This will add a level of inconvenience to smoking since you’ll have to leave the group you are with to go outside.
   • Give yourself the rule: no smoking in the car. Smoke before or after the car ride. Make smoking as inconvenient and uncomfortable as possible.
2. Change cigarettes. While this isn't an overwhelming change, changing brands may help you reduce your nicotine intake. For example, if you smoke Marlboro Red 100’s, try switching to shorts or to a more “natural” brand of cigarettes like Sherman’s. Do not let the word “natural” make you think these cigarettes are safe. They are most definitely cigarettes which still contain nicotine. Look for cigarettes based on their nicotine content, which are generally:
   • low-nicotine: filtered cigarettes with the words "Ultra Light"
   • medium nicotine: filtered cigarettes with the words "Light" or "Mild"
   • high nicotine: filtered or unfiltered cigarettes that don't say "Light" or "Ultra Light"
3. Don’t smoke the whole cigarette. Another way to reduce cigarette smoking is by smoking a quarter or half of a cigarette. Then wait until your next cigarette break to smoke the second half or quarter.
   • This way, you smoke as often as you normally do, but only half a cigarette at a time. You still get to take your smoking breaks, but it cuts your cigarette consumption in half.
4. Set a timer. If you tend to chain smoke in certain settings like a bar or while sitting outside chatting with friends, try setting a timer. It can be easy to lose track and just light another cigarette when you are having a good time. After each cigarette, set a timer on your phone for a time limit of your choosing. Wait until the timer goes off before smoking another cigarette.
   • As time goes on, try to increase the amount of time in between cigarettes. For example, if you set the timer for 20 minutes, push yourself to wait an extra 2 minutes. If you and your friend are both trying to cut down, you can make it into a small competitive game on who can wait longer.
5. Satisfy the oral fixation. Sometimes it is the oral stimulation that needs to be satisfied in addition to the nicotine craving. Carry things like breath mints, gum, mouthwash sprays, small hard candy, sunflower seeds, or other small (ideally healthy) snacks for whenever you feel the urge to smoke.
   • Avoid high sugar or fattening treats that will just fill you up. Make sure not to use treats as an oral substitute for the long-term.

Increasing Your Chances of Cutting Back or Quitting

1. Get support. Tell those around you that you are working on this goal. This can create a good social support network to help you reduce your intake. They can also keep you accountable by asking you how you are doing with your goal. If you have friends that smoke, let them know you are trying to cut down so they do not tempt you.
   • You may even inspire your friends or family to cut down as well. Consider referring some of your closer friends and family to this website to help them help you: http://smokefree.gov/social-support.
2. Work with a therapist. A therapist will help you work through issues and stressors that caused you to smoke in the first place. You can work with a therapist in an individual or group setting. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy can help you learn to deal with stress and make you feel more confident about quitting smoking.
   • You can search The National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists database for certified therapists. Your general practitioner may also be able to recommend a therapist. Be sure to find out about any fees that aren't covered by insurance in advance.
3. Manage your stress. Stress is a common trigger for cigarette smoking. While it's impossible to completely avoid stress, setting up a coping strategy will help prevent stress smoking. If you start to feel stressed out and crave something to relax you, try replacing smoking with one of the following:
   • A short conversation with a friend
   • 10 minutes to yourself to sit quietly and meditate or stretch
   • A small walk around the block, office, park, or building
   • Journal writing for 10 minutes
   • Watching a funny video
   • Exercising, which can improve your health and help you counter the weight gain that can sometimes come with cigarette cessation.
4. Stick with it. Social support can reduce smoking, but in the end it is up to you. Sticking with it is one of the hardest parts and setbacks will occur. The important thing is to not completely give up when you have those lapses in discipline. It happens to everyone. You are learning to live your life without a habit that is a central part of your day, and is often associated with so many areas of your life throughout your day. Learning to cut down takes persistence, patience, consistency, and a lot of self-kindness.
   • Keep tracking, even if you relapse. Keep implementing bigger rewards and consequences as time goes on.
5. Consider quitting. Once you've started limiting and reducing your cigarette consumption, you may find that you are ready to quit entirely. You might want to join a support group where you can talk about your cravings and how to reduce them. You could also try incorporating one of the following:
   • Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): This includes nicotine inhalers, oral medications, patches, and gums. They deliver the nicotine without the act of smoking. Don't use NRT if you are still smoking, since they can cause a toxic increase in nicotine levels. If you are trying to cut down on smoking, but are not necessarily ready to quit, NRT may not be the best option for you.
   • E-Cigarettes: Electronic cigarettes may help you reduce or quit smoking. While E-cigs simulate the puffing of smoking, which may help wean people from traditional cigarettes, it may actually replace smoking instead of wean people off smoking. Though e-cigs might be less toxic than traditional cigarettes, there is limited research about their safety. Caution should be taken when using an e-cig as it tends to create the perception that it is a safe alternative.

Tips

• Remember that you will have setbacks which is normal. Don’t let that completely derail your goal.
• If you can quit cold turkey, go for it. Just be prepared for any challenges and learn how to manage the stress without smoking.
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is recommended for people who smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day. NRT is not proven to be effective for people who smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day. Dosing depends on how many cigarettes you smoke a day and should gradually be reduced.
• NRT is more successful when used in conjunction with a behavioral/counseling program.

Related Articles

• Keep Smoking Systematically Without Getting Addicted
• Avoid Getting Caught Smoking by Your Parents
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Sources and Citations

See also

• Quit Smoking
• Quit Smoking Cold Turkey
• Stop Smoking Instantly
• Smoke an E–Cigarette
• Quit Smoking With Cream of Tartar
• Quit Smoking when You Don't Really Want to
• Keep Smoking Systematically Without Getting Addicted
• Get a Nicotine Rush Easily
• Eliminate Chest Congestion Caused by Quitting Smoking
• Persuade Someone to Quit Smoking

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