Countdown to quitting
 

I'm going to be posting a daily message on this thread for the next 56 days with tips on how to make it through quitting smoking. The first 21 days will prepare you for a quit day in 21 days time, the remaining days will take you through the first five weeks smoke-free. Using this plan, and today as day 1, my quit day will be October 22. So if you've been thinking about it, or really wanting to do it, then come along with me and let's do this thing! :)

Day One - The Five Stages of Quitting
 

Quitting usually happens in five stages. What stage are you at?

Stage One: I'm not thinking about quitting, at least not in the next six months. In this stage, you may feel it is hopeless to even think about trying to quit smoking. You may even feel your smoking is not a problem.

Stage Two: I'm thinking about quitting someday, but not right now. In this stage, you know that you have a behaviour you wish to change and are trying to figure out how to do that.

Stage Three: I want to quit within the next month or two, and I want to know more about how to do it. By now, you are ready to plan your quit program and to set a specific quit date.

Stage Four: I have just quit and I am going through withdrawal. My body is reacting in uncomfortable ways. This can be a tough stage. You may have been through withdrawal before but started smoking again. Hang in there. If you do slip and have a puff, just forget about it and continue with your plan to quit.

Stage Five: I have quit smoking and I want to know more about how to never smoke again. Some people find this the hardest stage of all. You've reached your goal, but you have to really work at staying smoke-free for good.

© Health Canada

DAY 2 - The five keys to quitting
 

Studies have shown that these five key steps will help you quit and quit for good! They are the focus of all of our daily messages. They will prepare you for quit day and help you succeed over the long term.

1. Getting ready. You probably began doing this even before you read the first message. If you did not, this is a very important step. There will be many "Getting Ready" messages to help prepare you for week three (Day 21), when you finally quit.

2. Getting support. Tell people you are quitting. Build a network of people you can call for moral support.

3. Getting medication and using it correctly. Studies show that using medication can double your chances of quitting.

4. Learning how to live without cigarettes. Learn how to say no if you are offered a cigarette. Learn how to break the habit of having a cigarette with your coffee every morning or other routine activities. Learn how to cope with stress and how to relax without smoking. In short, learn how to live without cigarettes.

5. Preparing for setbacks and difficult situations. Face it: quitting just isn't easy but you already know that, right? What you may not know is that it takes most people at least five tries before they are able to quit for good. This isn't a reason for giving in to a cigarette or giving up on trying to quit. But it is sometimes part of the whole process. Just remember to take things one day at a time. You can reach your goal!

© Health Canada

Wait, wait, I'm still working on the stage thing, you can't give me two day's at once!! No fair, I object!!

5 tries? Phew! I told ya I wouldn't be an easy candidate.. now what medication?

Hi Chy! :wave: Take a look again- they were posted on different days!

Details to come about medication and other quitting aids.

Don't forget to look for day 3 tomorrow morning! :)

Oh!;)

DAY 3 - Getting Ready
 

It is important to pick a specific quit date on which you plan to stop smoking - and stick to it! Pick a date a couple of weeks from now so that you have time to get ready to quit. If you are following along with these messages, quit day will be on Day 21, but you can always choose a day that suits you better and just keep these messages until you are ready.

Some people find it best to pick a day when they'll have the least amount of stress. Others like to be kept very busy on that day. A day outside your normal routine that allows you time to yourself is usually the best time to quit. That's why many people are able to quit while they are on vacation.
Many people decide to quit smoking all at once. Others choose to "taper off" by smoking fewer cigarettes each day until their final quit date.

If you choose to taper off, start now! You should smoke less and less over the next couple of weeks. The day before your chosen quit day, you should be smoking only half the number of cigarettes you do now. If that sounds like a lot, you will be surprised how far you can go by saying "no" to just a few cigarettes each day.

Here are some tips that will help you taper off.

* Wait before you have your first cigarette, and wait longer each day. If you let yourself smoke the first one as usual, especially at the start of the day, you "program" yourself to smoke as usual throughout the day. Change the program.

* Don't keep your cigarettes near you. Put them where you will have to get up and get them, such as a coat pocket, cupboard or drawer. "Out of sight" means "out of mind."

* Think about each cigarette before you light up. Ask yourself whether you really need it. Avoiding the cigarettes you smoke "automatically" as a reflex or habit will help you cut down a lot.

* Cut back one cigarette a day until quit day. Start with the easiest one.

* If no smoking is allowed in the house or car, it makes it more difficult to have a cigarette.

* Cut one cigarette a day by only smoking 1/2 of two cigarettes.

* Only carry the number of cigarettes that you have decided you will smoke over a given time. For example, if you decide you will only smoke 3 cigarettes during the workday, only bring 3 cigarettes with you. A related goal would be when you finish your 3 cigarettes, don't ask anyone if you can borrow a cigarette, and don't accept a cigarette if offered, even if you run out.

* Don't buy more cigarettes until you have finished your pack. Never buy a carton. The more you have, the more you may smoke, and the more you will think of yourself as a smoker. That's not what you want or who you want to be anymore!

© Health Canada

These are good Margo!

DAY 4 - Getting Ready
 

Deciding to quit cold turkey

You may decide that you do not want to quit gradually, but rather, want to wait until quit day. That means that you will smoke your last cigarette before you go to bed one night and not smoke again the next day - your chosen quit day. If you are following along with these messages, quit day will be on Day 21.

Some people, especially those who are not very addicted, find this method of quitting quite easy. For others, who have become very physically dependent on cigarettes (usually those who smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day), tapering off may be easier.

If you choose to follow the plan in these messages. Just read the messages each day and think about them. Do any of the exercises that we suggest. You haven't started to actually give up cigarettes yet, but it is still important to prepare yourself mentally for quit day.

© Health Canada

DAY 5 - Getting ready
 

Deciding whether to use medication

Smoking is both a habit and an addiction. These are very hard things to stop just by saying "no". Almost every smoker who tries to quit finds that willpower alone is not enough.

Accepting this fact and asking for help does not mean you are weak, it means you are smart! It means you understand that tobacco is a very powerful product that can control your behaviour in harmful ways. It means you will do whatever it takes to get back that control.

There are many good products that can help you do this. They can be as important to a smoker trying to quit as medication might be to a person with a serious disease. Research shows that using certain medications may double your chances of quitting. Your doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other health professional can help you decide what is best for you.

Nicotine patches and gum will help you control cravings. They feed and lower your body's appetite for nicotine without any of the 4,000 harmful chemicals in smoke. You can get nicotine patches and gum from your drug store without a prescription. The pharmacist can help you decide which product and strength is best for you.

Bupropion hydrochloride is a pill that can also help you quit. It works on the part of your brain that gives you pleasure from smoking. Buproprion can be very effective, but it must be prescribed by a doctor. If you are very addicted or have had trouble quitting before, your doctor may suggest using Buproprion together with nicotine patches or gum.

Patches, gum and Buproprion will not do all the work. There is no single, magic cure. But they will make it much easier to say "no" to cigarettes and to keep your promise to yourself to quit.

© Health Canada

DAY 6 - Getting ready
 

Identifying your cues to smoke

While you are still smoking get the details of each cigarette you smoke (see the list below) over a week's time. If you have tapered off or quit smoking but are still having strong cravings, get the details of each craving you have and write them down.

Figure out what makes you want to light up each cigarette, and what rewards you get from having each one. Find answers to these questions:

* Where are you?

* Who is there?

* What is happening?

* What time is it?

* How are you feeling?

* What are you thinking?

* What are you telling yourself?

* How strong is your craving?

* If you smoke a cigarette how does it feel?

* Other information:
Record exactly what happens in each situation. Don't guess. It is the details of the situation that will help you to find a solution to staying quit.

Write down the details immediately as things happen. You don't want to wait because our memories give us ideas about how we think it happened, not how it actually did happen.

Use a Journal to keep all of your comments together in one place. This information will be very useful as you develop a plan of action to quit smoking.

© Health Canada

Thanks again Margo, I'm trying real hard to taper!

Good girl! I'm down to roughly a half pack per day. :)

DAY 7 - Getting ready
 

Your feelings about smoking

Face it. As you quit, there will be times when you will really want a cigarette. You need to be prepared for this by learning more about why you smoke each cigarette. Smokers react to some situations more than others. You need to figure out what those times are and what causes them so that you can be prepared and not give in to your craving.

Once again, ask yourself the following questions:

* Why do you smoke?
* When do you smoke?
* Who smokes with you?
* Where do you smoke?

Then take a look at what you are going to do instead of lighting up a cigarette each time one of these cues happens. Write it down so that you have a plan in place if the going gets tough.

Make a list of what you like and do not like about smoking. Keep this list with you. When you crave a cigarette, use it to remind yourself why you want to quit.

If you listed more things you like about smoking than things you don't, you may not be ready to quit. You may need more time to think about why it makes sense for you to quit.

Remember, you do not have to quit right now. You can always use these messages when you feel you are more ready. But don't leave your decision for too long. Sure, quitting may not be easy, but it will be worth it.

© Health Canada

Thank you Margo. I'm at stage 4, just quit. I had to travel and what a pain it is, especially if you can remember the days when you could smoke on board. Oh those cigarettes really lit up at take off.
I attended my drug addicted son's two day graduation from brat camp in Utah and could not smoke there. I used the patch and did fine. I had some cigs in my suitcase when I came back and gave them away at the airport. I announced to one and all that I had quit but I really hadn't yet. And I found if I bought a pack I would just smoke the whole thing. "One is too many and a thousand too few." I since have been going to Nar-Anon meetings, reading 12 step books and just read Jame Frey's book "A Million Little Pieces" about addiction. I now believe what is written there. Cigarettes are a habit, not an addiction and I can quit smoking. I thought I was addicted but now I have a better understanding of real addiction. I don't want to be a slave to anything, especially cigarettes. I will keep reading your posts. These are great suggestions. Thanks again. MamaGoose

DAY 8 - Getting ready
 

Thinking about addiction in a different way

Doctors will tell you that you are addicted if you smoke within half a hour of getting up in the morning. Or if you smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day. What they mean is that you are physically addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. And that's true. But virtually everyone who smokes regularly also becomes addicted to the act of smoking. Addiction is all about our relationship to cigarettes and how we respond to everyday life through cigarettes.

Tobacco addiction is in your mind as well as your body. It isn't just a physical addiction to nicotine. Once you stop smoking, the nicotine leaves your body in a few weeks. So what makes you want to keep smoking? It is the psychological and emotional cravings, as well as the habits we have built up over years of smoking. That's what tells us to keep smoking.

The habits that we develop each time we smoke are very powerful. For example, if you puff each cigarette 10 times and smoke a pack a day, you would be repeating this hand-to-mouth motion 250 times a day, or over 90,000 times a year. Of course you want to put something in your mouth after you quit smoking! You are conditioned to do it.

You may have also developed social habits related to smoking. Maybe you only smoke with friends, always have one with coffee, etc. Without even realizing it, you've trained yourself to smoke in certain situations.

Most people who smoke think of their cigarettes as good friends who support them through thick and thin. That's why it is so important to build a real support network - of people! - when you are quitting smoking.

Many people see smoking as a big part of who they are. Because smoking may be central to how you feel about yourself, it can have a very strong hold on your life.

So, people have to concentrate on healing their soul or spirit so that they no longer feel the need to smoke. They have to deal with their emotions, habits, perception of the role tobacco plays in their lives and its effects on their identity. But before they can do that, they may have to go through the physical withdrawal from nicotine.

Think about your habits that relate to smoking, as well as your physical, emotional and mental dependence on cigarettes. How do cigarettes truly affect you? (More about this tomorrow.)

© Health Canada

DAY 9 - Getting ready
 

Learning about why you smoke

We all know that smoking is "bad for us". So why do we do it? Some people don't even know why they started in the first place. They still smoke even though it makes them feel bad after they've had a cigarette. Maybe you've even found yourself smoking without even knowing that you had lit up. How does this happen? If you are a regular smoker, the entire process of smoking in order to deal with your emotions is an unconscious act. Because you smoke for emotional reasons, as well as physical ones, you have to deal with these emotions before you can successfully quit.

You may not even know what your emotional cues to smoke are, but think back to a few situations that made you light up. Were you happy? Sad? Alone? Just wanted a break? Some people also use cigarettes to reward themselves for working hard.

What makes you reach for a cigarette?

In addition to physical cravings, many people smoke in response to certain emotions. Some common emotional cues for smoking that people experience are:

* Acceptance by a group or by schoolmates (especially when they first start)
* A need to relax or take a break
* Shyness
* Sadness
* Loneliness
* A break-up of a relationship
* Divorce in the family
* Fear of gaining weight
* Stress
* Depression.

We all feel these things, but we can choose how we respond. What else could you do with your emotions instead of smoking? What else could you do to feel pleasure when you quit? Just think about it for now and we'll talk more about this in future messages.

© Health Canada

DAY 10 - Getting ready:
 

The power of the written word

You'll notice throughout these messages that we keep asking you to write down various thoughts you have about quitting smoking. Although this seems like a lot of work, it is one of the best ways to help you be successful in quitting for good.

Keeping a journal or diary is a way to help figure out why we do the things we do. In a journal, you can record your dreams, your setbacks and stumbles, your quit plan, the lessons you've learned and your own feelings about your process of quitting. A journal:

* provides a safe place for you to express yourself
* helps you by getting down on paper what's going on in your head
* helps you to figure out your danger zones
* provides a private outlet for feelings you have
* develops a record over a period of time to help you identify patterns (strengths and weaknesses)
* helps you figure out your assumptions and beliefs.

Your journal is for you and you alone. Give it a try. You don't have to be a good writer since it's for no one else but you. Keep it simple. Read it over in the weeks to come. Even if you just write down a few key words, they will help you remember what you were feeling at the time you wrote them. We know that writing in a journal may not feel normal to you. That's ok. Maybe you'd rather draw pictures or paint to express your feelings and record your progress. Do whatever feels right to you - just make sure to get everything down on paper somehow.

Until you have truly become an ex-smoker, at the end of each week, ask yourself the following questions and record the answers in your journal:

* What were my physical and psychological reactions to trying to quit? What did I do to relieve them?
* Did I reward myself this week? How?
* Did I follow my plan of action? How did I change it?
* When was I tempted to smoke? What did I do to resist?
* Did I ask my family and friends for support when I needed it? How did it go?

© Health Canada

DAY 11 - Getting ready
 

Changing your associations with cigarettes and smoking

Until now, smoking has been a source of pleasure for you, at least in some way. To help you quit, you need to learn to create negative associations with smoking. Some people use a butt-jar - a jar filled with water, ashes, and old cigarette butts. Some people watch a film about what smoking does to the body, and then keep a mental or cut-out picture of what really goes on. You may have to work hard to turn around your positive associations with smoking - it is a technique worth trying.

Disadvantages of smoking

It will be important for you to learn to see smoking in a different light if you are to become smoke-free. Try to list the disadvantages of smoking to your health, family, friends, finances, self-esteem, mental well-being, etc. Print this out so that you can fill it in.

Short-term disadvantages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Long-term disadvantages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Advantages of being smoke-free

Part of reaching your goal of being smoke-free will rest in seeing the advantages of becoming a non-smoker. So, take the list of disadvantages of smoking that you have created and redo it as the advantages of being smoke-free. Try to list the benefits to your health, family, friends, finances, self-esteem, mental well-being, etc. Add any new ones that you can now that you are thinking positively about your future as an ex-smoker. Print this out so that you can fill it in and keep it handy to motivate you.

Consciously create positive associations with not smoking. You may notice many things as time goes on, such as tasting your food more, having more energy, or how much money you've saved (save it in a jar or somewhere you can see it).

Short-term advantages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Long-term advantages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

© Health Canada