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Here are more ways you can choose healthy foods to manage cravings and any weight gain.

Healthy Eating Behavior

How you eat is as important as what you eat. Weight control involves developing and maintaining healthy eating behaviors. Diets are hard to stay on for a long time because they are usually boring or too rigid. If you make a lasting change in your eating behavior, you will be able to maintain a healthy weight without depending on diets.

*  Try to always eat in the same spot in your home. Eat at a table, if possible, and avoid eating on the couch or in bed.

*  When you eat, only eat. Avoid TV or looking at your phone.

*  Slow down your eating pace. While tobacco/nicotine raised your blood sugar in seconds, food takes a bit longer.

– Chew and swallow each bite before the next.

– Pause frequently to take a drink of water or engage in conversation.

– Put your fork or food down between bites.

*  Start your meal with a small salad or hot soup.

*  Before having a second serving, wait 5-10 minutes to see if you begin to feel full or satisfied with your meal.

*  Keep less healthy foods hidden in cupboards or in the back of the fridge.

*  Use smaller plates and utensils-this will help you feel satisfied with a healthy portion and may help you eat more slowly.

Avoid turning to food to manage difficult emotions. Address what is bothering you, go for a walk, or call a friend. Emotional eating can lead to choices higher in sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

Choose Healthy Snacks

Your body may be giving you hunger cues more frequently when you quit. Your body’s natural way of managing blood sugar and metabolism takes time to go back to normal. Choosing healthy snacks can help you manage your weight and energy level.

*  Celery stalks

*  Bell peppers, cut into slices

*  Cantaloupe, cut into cubes

*  Raw carrot sticks or baby carrots

*  Cucumber slices

*  Tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes

*  Broccoli or cauliflower florets

*  Green beans

*  Frozen veggies, microwaved

*  Apples

*  Peaches

*  Oranges or grapefruit

*  Strawberries or other berries

*  Bananas

*  Dried fruit

*  100% fruit juice

Other Healthy Snacks & Combinations:

*  Cut-up veggies with hummus, salsa, or nut butter

*  Pita bread with hummus

*  Granola bar (with less than 5g sugar)

*  Raw nuts (low-salt or no-salt)

*  Natural peanut butter on low-salt crackers, apple slices or celery sticks

*  Mini whole-wheat bagel with natural peanut butter or cream cheese

*  Hard boiled eggs

*  Trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and seeds

*  Yogurt with berries and nuts (with less than 10g sugar)

*  Whole-grain crackers with cheese

*  Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts

*  Scrambled eggs with veggies

*  Nut butter on a slice of whole-grain toast

*  Whole-grain cereal with milk

*  String cheese and low-sodium crackers

*  Smoothie with fruit, protein powder, and milk. Try adding avocado or leafy greens.

Go to the places where you usually did not smoke/use tobacco-or where tobacco/nicotine is not allowed. Spend time with people who don’t use tobacco/nicotine.

*  Go to the movies

*  Visit a non-smoking friend

*  Spend time with children

*  Volunteer

List places that are easier for you to be tobacco/nicotine free.

If you are punished for doing something, you are less likely to keep doing it. If a person threw a bucket of water in your face each time you walked around the block, you would take fewer walks.

Urge Zapper

1. Place a stretchy band on your wrist.

2. Snap your wristband whenever you have an urge to use tobacco/nicotine.

Tobacco Consequence Control

When you get an urge, think of something you want to avoid-shortness of breath, cancer, heart disease, or letting someone down. What do you want to avoid?

As the urge goes away, reward yourself by thinking of something you are looking forward to with quitting-feeling in control, breathing more easily, or having more money. What do you look forward to?

Butt Bottle Revival

1. Keep your butt bottle where you can see it.

2. Open it up and smell.

3. Add water to highlight the foul odor.

Over the next few weeks, as you move through the QuitWell™ program, you might notice yourself moving back and forth between the stages as different factors affect your thinking. For example, a stressful day at work can make you feel like you’ve taken a step backward. Don’t let that stop you! This guide will give you tools to work through challenges and be better prepared for future ones.

You can try out nearly all the activities in this guide, though pay special attention to the activities highlighted for your stage of change. Look for the tips throughout the guide that help you fit an activity to your stage of change. This will help you feel good about where you are at and help you feel more confident about the future. When you feel yourself moving forward in the stages of change, you can go back to these activities and do them again, using the tips for your new stage of change.

In a few words, describe how you are feeling right now about quitting. What brought you here? What stage of change do you feel fits you best right now?

All physical activity has benefits for the body and mind. View exercise as a break from your day. Use this time to focus on the present, instead of past or future problems and worries. What are your favorite ways to be physically active?

Physical activity can help you quit and stay quit. It can also improve your energy level, ability to learn, and focus.

Emotional Health

Exercise releases endorphins and increases levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. These brain chemicals help create feelings of happiness and euphoria. You may start to feel these benefits after just a few minutes of moderate exercise. This leads to a happiness buzz and overall mood boost!

Stress Management

Norepinephrine is a chemical that can moderate the brain’s response to stress. Exercise helps to increase that chemical. Exercise can decrease worry and tension. These may be triggers for you to smoke, dip, or vape. Exercise also enhances the mind’s ability to deal with daily stressors. Managing stressors can reduce urges to reach for your old habit. The calming effect of exercise can last at least four hours after the exercise is over.

Physical Health

Exercise helps strengthen your muscles and bones. This helps you have good posture and keeps your joints and body more aligned. Exercise strengthens your heart muscle so your heart is more efficient. This also helps reduce your risk of having a heart attack or blood clot. Exercise can also help lower your blood pressure. Your ability to breathe also improves, especially as you reduce and eliminate smoking. Exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood that fight off viruses and bacteria. Exercise also helps combat damage done to cells, tissues, and organs.

Recommendation: Be physically active for at least 2 ½ hours (150 minutes) per week. You can do this for 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes at a time. Consult your doctor before beginning an exercise routine if you:

*  Have a chronic health problem, such as heart disease or diabetes.

*  Have high blood pressure.

*  Feel faint or dizzy when you try to exercise.

*  Have an injury or bone or joint problems, such as arthritis, that have been or could become aggravated by exercise.

Reduce Sit-Time

Find ways to move more throughout the day.

*  Set an alarm on your watch or phone to get up every hour, if sitting.

*  Stretch and walk for a few minutes to get more oxygen flowing through your body.

*  Drink water regularly so you need to use the bathroom every few hours.

*  Get up during commercial breaks on TV to tidy up a room or dust.

*  Walk outside for a few minutes. Take a deep breath of fresh air.

*  Walk to get lunch.

Move in Different Ways

All exercise and movement help give you the benefits. Finding activities you like doing and that you will keep doing is important for long-term success.

Cardiovascular (cardio) training uses large movements that involve multiple muscle groups, such as your legs, buttocks, and abdominals, all at once. Popular aerobic activities are brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, and dancing.

Resistance training uses body weight or weights to build muscle. Move slowly through exercises, breathing regularly. Squats, lunges, push-ups, calf raises, and bicep curls are basic resistance movements.

Stretching helps your body be more flexible. This helps you prevent injury during exercise and everyday activities. Stretching can also help you relax.