Quitting tobacco is a great way to improve your health. Adding exercise to your quit plan can also provide an opportunity to improve your fitness! Regular exercise makes quitting a less stressful experience and helps prevent weight gain. Read on to learn how to use fitness to fight tobacco cravings.

Reduce Cravings and Withdrawal Symptoms

Exercise can help you ditch tobacco by helping you manage cravings. Aerobic exercise, exercise that causes your heart rate to increase and makes you breathe harder, has been shown to reduce the urge to smoke in people who are trying to quit. Even short bursts of physical activity can help you get past cravings. The benefits last up to 50 minutes after you exercise. So, if you’re struggling to stay away from tobacco you could try:

• Going for a quick walk or run
• Doing basic exercises like sit-ups, push-ups or squats
• Getting outside and shoot some basketball hoops

In the long-term, incorporating exercise into your daily routine can help you build new habits that support a tobacco-free life. It will give you something to do other than use tobacco, keep your mood up and leave you feeling great. Some places to start are:

• Prioritize getting 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Pick any form of exercise you like or do several different things!
• Make plans to exercise with people you care about. Organize a soccer game with friends, go for a walk with your partner or play catch with your kids.
• Find ways to incorporate small bursts of exercise into your daily life. Park farther away from the grocery store and walk in, take the stairs instead of the elevator or ride your bike to work.

Prevent Weight Gain

When people quit smoking, they sometimes gain weight. This happens for several reasons. First, tobacco affects your metabolism and makes you burn more calories. Second, the nicotine in tobacco products reduces your appetite, so when it leaves your system, you might be hungrier than usual. Third, people sometimes snack to help manage their cravings for tobacco. Incorporating exercise into your plan to quit can help prevent weight gain by increasing the number of calories your body burns and helping you control cravings without adding extra snacks.

Form Healthy Habits That Last a Lifetime

Adding more exercise into your life while you quit tobacco is an opportunity to build healthy habits that last a lifetime. There are a lot of resources available to help you live a tobacco-free life. You can start by speaking with your healthcare provider or by checking out the tools and resources here.