Why quit?
You may have one or multiple reasons why you want to quit. Most people say health is the main reason. Knowing why you want to quit is a good way to keep you motivated in your quit journey.
If you are unsure of your reasons to quit, thinking about the costs of smoking may help you define them.
You can start by thinking about how it affects your health and the health of your family.
Or the social costs, such as restrictions on where you can smoke, the smell of cigarettes on your clothes, hair or breath.
Your Quit Plan
For some of you, you may like to work out a plan to stop smoking. You may want to use one strategy or multiple strategies to help you on your journey to becoming smokefree.
Your strategies may include:
- mental strategies,
- receiving extra support from a health professional, family or friend, or
- using products.
Using other strategies is not a sign of weakness; rather it is responding to your own individual needs on your personal quit journey.
Getting Started:
A helpful way to start might be to ask the following questions:
- Should I use products in this attempt?
- How can I change my smoking routines?
- Should I get professional support?
- How can I reward myself early on in my quit journey?
- When cravings come, what can I say to myself to reduce their impact?
There are plenty of ideas that you could add to your plan. However, many people find adding one or more of these ideas in addition to using willpower helpful. - A product such as nicotine replacement therapy or a prescribed medication
- Support from their GP
- Support from Quitline
- Individual Counselling
- Attending a quit smoking group
- Changing smoking related routines eg. walking the dog, instead of smoking after a meal
- Avoiding well known triggers for awhile
- Starting an activity eg. exercise
- In particular, there is strong evidence that attending a group, getting professional quit smoking counselling, using nicotine replacement therapy or a prescribed medication, or getting advice from Quitline all increase the odds of quitting on any give attempt.
Any one of these can be added to your plan. Set a Date:
Once you have decided about which strategies to try, setting a quit date is a great next step. Although not essential, a quit date signifies a starting point in time. Remember that prescribed medications are normally started 1-2 weeks before a quit date.
Setting a quit date is not essential for many people. Some people spontaneously decide to quit, and that's excellent. In fact, you or someone you know may have already started an attempt. If that is the case, well done!
Some people like to set a quit date as it simply signifies a starting point in time, or it is associated with a particularly meaningful date such as a birthday.
For other people, a quit date is a necessary part of the plan. It allows a person to commit to the attempt, and reduces the possibility of thinking about delaying it. It's good to keep this clever strategy in mind. Creating a supportive environment:
As part of a quit plan, it is a good idea to adjust your home and car environment so that it benefits your quit smoking journey. The approach to take where possible is "Out of sight out of mind."
This may include: - Throwing away lighters and ashtrays the night before your quit day. (Or washing up and putting away ashtrays).
- If you have a car, discarding old cigarette butts, removing the ashtray or any container you might put the butts in.
- Making the car and home a smoke free environment.
If you live with a smoker ask if they would: - be willing to smoke outside
- be willing to not leave cigarettes or lighters within view of you
- to stop smoking with you
- A quit buddy can be a real motivator
Doing these tasks should help reduce the risk of temptations. For more great advice on how to quit, visit: http://www.icanquit.com.au/ |
