Once you read the long list of health risks that come along with chewing tobacco, quitting seems like the only realistic option. Unfortunately, quitting cold turkey isn’t often successful. Having a plan in place and a support team behind you leads to a better success rate of finally quitting chewing tobacco once and for all.
Quitting chewing tobacco doesn’t mean never having snuff again. Herbal snuff options are now available for you to try. Instead, kicking chewing tobacco to the curb means freeing yourself from your addiction to nicotine and letting you live your life fully again.
Quitting chewing tobacco means no longer having to worry about whether or not you got your can of snuff when you head out fishing for the day. It is a relief not having to worry about where your can is and if you have enough to get you through the day.
Herbal snuff, like Schmitty’s, doesn’t have all of those harmful and addictive chemicals that traditional chewing tobacco has. So you can breathe easy knowing that what you are putting into your body isn’t going to become a new addiction for you. Instead, herbal snuff is a great replacement option. You can rest easy knowing that you want the herbal snuff because you enjoy it rather than you need to have it to get by.
Once you have finally decided to quit chewing tobacco for good, my beloved wife Pam suggests some helpful tips to increase your odds of success. As Pam was my guide towards quitting, she too can help you finally kick that unhealthy habit for good.
Reasons for Quitting
The first recommendation she has is first to figure out why you would like to quit. What exactly are the reasons you no longer want to use chewing tobacco? Your reason may be as simple as you want to take care of your body. You may also consider the people around you and the effect your choices of chewing tobacco are having on them. Reasons can be much more personal.
My main reasons were I was absolutely sick and tired of constantly feeling like I needed to have my chewing tobacco to make it through the day, and Pam was sick of my addiction controlling me. Before leaving the house, constantly checking that I had enough snuff for the ride was driving Pam and I crazy.
While she sat in the truck, I had to check every nook and cranny to make sure my backup cans of chew were full. Now being free of having to make sure I don’t forget my chew is absolutely liberating.
Make a Plan
When you first decide to quit, it may seem like an endless uphill battle. Having a plan in place will help make your goal of being tobacco-free and nicotine-free that much easier to accomplish. Quitting chew is not an easy overnight process—things will take some time. However, setting goals and a timeline to achieve them will help make your journey a bit more manageable.
Pam recommended that I start by talking with my doctor. While I was stubborn at first, as usual, she was right. My doctor gave me some realistic expectations that I don’t think I could have come up for myself. My doctor gave me information about what I should expect with tobacco withdrawal and ways to find support.
Having dates set is a great idea to help you follow through with the final goal in mind of being tobacco and nicotine-free. Each date will help you get one step closer to accomplishing your goal. Furthermore, having specific dates will break down your final goal into more manageable steps. These little reminders will help you stay on track to finally take back control of your addiction.
Embrace Your Support System
Having a solid support system to help you through the process and hold you accountable is essential to ensure success. Going through the process alone makes quitting that much harder when it doesn’t need to be. You need someone to celebrate the little and big accomplishments with. Luckily, I had Pam by my side, cheering me on and giving me some stern talks when I strayed from the plan.
Telling your family and friends about your plan to quit may be daunting at first, but you will need those people to help you through your journey. Sometimes your friends and family can give you the tough love speech that you may hate at the moment, but in reality, it may be the talk that you need to get your butt in gear and finally kick that old habit of chewing tobacco.
Plan on having someone to celebrate your successes with you. Did you make it a whole day without nicotine? Time to celebrate! Did you make it a full week without using chewing tobacco? Time to celebrate! Did you have a craving that you were able to ignore? Time to celebrate! Did you have a craving that you gave into? That’s fine, no one is perfect, and we all make mistakes.
Celebrating even the smallest achievements is important to see the progress you are making. If you make a mistake or take a step backward, use it as a learning curve for the future. It’s okay to stumble and fall sometimes; remember that your journey is a marathon and not a sprint. How you handle that misstep is vital to your journey on quitting chewing tobacco.
Stop Using Tobacco Today!
Taking the first step is never easy. To help you, make sure that you constantly remind yourself why you are doing this. What are your reasons? What steps have you made towards quitting? What accomplishments can you celebrate?
Quitting chewing tobacco doesn’t mean you have to give up snuff altogether because healthier alternative options are finally available. Herbal snuff, like our Schmitty’s, is a perfect alternative to use on your journey to quit and even after you are tobacco-free. Herbal snuff doesn’t have all of the toxic and addictive chemicals that you will find in chewing tobacco.
You can put your mind at ease knowing that you are using the herbal snuff because you want to and not because you need to. Schmitty’s Herbal Snuff helped me finally kick my lifelong addiction to nicotine to the curb. Having a healthy and natural alternative that still had the taste and flavor that I was used to was an aid that I used to switch.
Remember that you are not alone in your journey. Of the roughly 6 million tobacco chewers, the CDC reports that about 58 percent of chewers actively want to quit but struggle to. So don’t give up: quitting chewing tobacco will definitely be difficult in the short term but will ultimately be so rewarding in the long run!