TIPS FOR QUITTING SMOKING

Today, more and more people are kicking the habit, and the QuitLine is there to help, connecting you with the resources you need to quit successfully.  The latest research shows that calling the QuitLine improves the success of quitters by almost 20 percent.

The Florida Quit-For-Life-Line is confidential and toll-free.  By calling the QuitLine at 1-877-U-CAN-NOW, you will have access to some of the best cessation specialists in the state who can give you:

• Private counseling and continued support

• A personalized quit-plan

• Tools and skills to help you succeed

• Information about additional resources such as insurance benefits and other quitting programs in your area

• A tobacco Quit Kit mailed to your home

More Suggestions to Help You Quit

Here are some practice tips that have worked for ex-smokers who understand just how hard it is to quit:

• Make an appointment with your healthcare provider.  Your doctor can recommend medications that will help you through the process of quitting.

• Remember it is natural and normal to feel anxiety anytime you make a significant life change.

• Make a plan and set a quit date.  Give yourself some time to prepare before launching into your quit attempt.  Make a list of all your reasons for quitting and put this list where you will see it often.  Think about reasons you smoke or chew, including routines that trigger tobacco use, and brainstorm how to change those routines and avoid cues that prompt you to light up or dip.  Mark your quit date on your calendar and get mentally prepared.

• Plan ahead for temptation.  It's inevitable.

• Cut down on alcohol and caffeine consumption.

• Plan non-smoking tactics before you go to events where other people might be smoking.  The QuitLine cessation specialists can help you devise a plan.

• Keep healthy substitutes handy to keep your hands and mouth busy, like carrots, raisins, gum, hard candy and lollipops.

• Keep your hands busy.  Carry a stress ball or a doodle pad.

• Get support.  Tell your friends and family that you are going to quit smoking.  If they smoke, ask them not to smoke around you or to quit with you.

• Drink a lot of water.  Carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go.

• Eat frequent small meals.  This will stabilize your blood sugar levels and keep your mouth and hands busy.

• Change your typical daily routine in as many ways as possible.  Take a new route to work, drink tea instead of coffee, and have lunch in the conference room rather than at your desk.

• Remove all evidence of smoking from your life.  Clean your car interior and launder all of your clothes to remove the smell of tobacco smoke.

• Start an exercise program.  Taking a walk, doing aerobics and kickboxing or playing sports can take your mind off urges and remind you that quitting helps improve your lung capacity and overall health.  Exercise especially when you are angry, stressed or bored.

• Make an appointment with the dentist to have your teeth cleaned.

• Be proactive about spending time with non-smokers and/or ex-smokers.

• Write down the reasons you are quitting and review them to serve as a reminder why you think quitting is worthwhile.

• Reward yourself.  Dangle the financial carrot.  Give yourself a financial incentive to quit by putting the money you would have spent on tobacco products in a glass jar.  For pack-a-day smokers, this can be $1,500 a year or more!  Watch your savings - and you resolve - grow.

Additional Resources to Help You Quit:

Tobacco Free Nurses - The first national program focused on helping nurses and student nurses to stop smoking

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Tobacco information and prevention source

Surgeon General - 'You can Quit Smoking' Consumer Guide

American Lung Association - Tobacco Control

American Cancer Society - Guide to Quitting Smoking

Quitnet.com - Savings Calculator

Smokefree.gov - Dictionary

Quitnet.com - 'Quitticisms' (Quitting terms and phrases)

Back to Top