Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program

You can quit smoking!

Insert your name and program name here

4 Steps to Quitting

1. Identify your reasons to quit

2. Make a quit plan

3. Set your plan in motion

4. Become a nonsmoker!

You can do it!

• Most smokers have to try a few times before they quit for good.

• Half of all people who have ever smoked have quit!

1. Identify your reasons to quit

• Health• Family and friends• Money• Others?

Reason to quit: Health

• Quitting now is the single best thing you can do for your health.

• Risks include: – heart disease– many types of

cancer– aneurysms – chronic bronchitis – emphysema – stroke

• For women: – difficulty getting

pregnant– miscarriage– stillbirth– infant death– low birth weight– SIDS

Reason to quit: Friends/Family

• Your family and friends will be glad you quit.

• Have more energy and live longer to be an active part of their lives.

• Reduce their risk of secondhand smoke.

Reason to quit: Save money!

• Long-term costs:– Missed work– Doctors’ visits– Long-term care

• Short-term – those cigarettes add up!– A pack-a-day smoker who pays $7.50 for a pack

of cigarettes spends $52.50 a week.– That’s $2,730.00 a year!

2. Make a Quit Plan

• Pick a quit date• Use your experience• Know your triggers• Plan for cravings• Be ready for challenges

Pick a quit date

• This is the day you will quit smoking completely.

• A date two to four weeks away from today will work well.

• Write this date in your Quit Plan.

Use your past experience

• What helped you quit?• What made you start smoking again?• What could you do this time to make

sure you do not start smoking again?• Write down your answers in your Quit

Plan.

Know your triggers

• Common triggers:– First cigarette in the morning– After a meal– Driving– Drinking alcohol– Using other drugs– Boredom or killing time– Coffee breaks– Stress

Track your smoking

• Tracking when you smoke, what you are doing, and who you are with will help you understand (and beat!) your triggers.

Plan for cravings & withdrawal

• Withdrawal symptoms are strongest the first 3 or 4 weeks after you quit.

• Common symptoms:– Coughing– Headaches or feeling lightheaded– Tiredness, trouble sleeping, and lack of

focus– Feeling irritable and emotional– Stomach pain, gas, and constipation

The 4 Ds

• Delay• Deep breathing• Drink water• Distract

Be ready for challenges

Stress• Talk to someone • Plan your day• Be active! • Do something different• Relax • Try a stress

management course • Get enough sleep

Be ready for challenges

Common negative thoughts• If I had a cigarette, I would feel better.• Everyone else is smoking.• I am still young. I could smoke for a

while.• Why am I putting myself through this?

Try talking back to your negative thoughts.

Be ready for challenges

Being around other smokers• Ask smokers not to offer you cigarettes or

leave packs lying around.• Ask them not to tease you or say that you

will fail.• Don’t hang around while they are having a

cigarette.• Ask smokers you live with to quit with you

or to smoke outside your home.• Remind yourself of your main reason for

quitting.

Set your plan in motion!

• Line up support• Decide on

medicine• Cut down to

get ready• Make your

world smoke-free

Line up your support

• Which friends/family members do you want to tell?– Who will be supportive? What do you

want them to do?

• Tell your healthcare provider• Call your insurance plan• Consider counseling support

– In-person, over-the-phone or online

Line up your support

• Free support is available!– online info– one-on-one telephone

support– Info about local

support groups

Decide on medicine

• FDA-approved options:• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

– patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, inhaler

• Zyban (Wellbutrin SR)– pill

• Chantix– pill

Did you know?

• Using quit-smoking medicines and counseling support together makes you more than twice as likely to quit for good!

Cut down to get ready

Today Quit date

40 cigarettes 30

cigarettes 20 cigarettes 10-12

cigarettes

2-4 weeks

Make your world smoke-free

• Remove cigarettes from home, car, purse/bags.

• Avoid smoking in places where you spend a lot of time, like your home or car.

• Make plans to go to places you enjoy that don’t allow smoking

• Stock up on healthy snacks.• Put the Why I Want to Quit wallet card in

your wallet, and look at it often.

You are about to be a nonsmoker!

• Worried about weight gain?

• What to do if you slip

• What to do if you relapse

Worried about weight gain?

• Not everyone gains weight when they quit smoking.

• For people who do, the average weight gain is 5-10 pounds.

• For easy ways to be active and eat better, visit:www.mass.gov/massinmotion.

Simple ways to be active

• Get moving. • Take a 15 to 30-minute walk every day.• Get back to a sport you used to enjoy.• Take an aerobics or yoga class.• Exercise at home with a DVD

or tape from the library.• Get a friend to try

something new with you. • Volunteer!

Simple ways to eat better

• Eat six smaller meals and snacks throughout the day.

• Watch the size of your portions. • Drink a glass of water when you want to eat

something.• Stay busy so you are not thinking about

food.• Keep low-fat, low-calorie foods on hand. • Eat less red meat, cheese and processed

foods. • Brush your teeth after eating.• Try a cooking class.

Congratulate yourself!

• Don’t forget to congratulate yourself every time you hit a milestone!

What to do if you slip

• Don’t give up! You are not the only one who has ever done this, and it doesn’t mean you have failed.

• Don’t have another cigarette, and keep moving forward with your plan to quit.

• Learn from what happened. – How you can prevent it from happening again? – Look at your reasons to quit. – Review your quit plan. – Talk to a friend or counselor. – Remember that you can quit!

What to do if you relapse

• Take some time to think about what happened.– Why did you start smoking again? – What was going on when you had your

first cigarette? – What could you do differently next time?

• Look at your quit plan and make changes. Then pick a new quit date and try again.

• Each time you try, you are more likely to quit for good.

Resources

• 1-800-TrytoStop

• www.makesmokinghistory.org– Resources including quit tips, information

about insurance coverage, free materials

• www.becomeanex.org– Active on-line community including blogs

and support groups

BecomeanEx.org

Makesmokinghistory.org

Local Resources

• Add names and contacts for any local smoking cessation support groups.

• If no local resources, delete this slide.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program