Smoking Cessation

There are many proven ways to help you stop smoking and there are many supports and resources available to help you. Find tips and community resources below.

Here are some tips that will help make quitting easier:

• Develop an action plan. Writing down a specific plan will help you to think more carefully about what you need to do and how you will do it.
  Try the following:
  • Make a list of the important benefits of quitting and read it over before, during, and after you quit.
  • List the situations (when and where) in which you smoke and the reasons why you smoke – this will help you identify what "triggers" you to light up.
  • List fun and healthy activities to replace smoking, and be ready to do these when you feel the urge to smoke.
• Avoid smoking triggers. Starting on the day you quit, try to remove or avoid your smoking triggers. For example, if you associate coffee with smoking, try drinking tea or water instead. If you usually smoke at parties, find other ways to socialize with friends until you feel comfortable and confident about facing these situations.
• Don't carry matches, a lighter, or cigarettes.
• Each day, delay lighting your first cigarette by one hour. After the first cigarette, when you have your next craving to smoke, delay for another 15 or 30 minutes. By delaying each cigarette, you take control.
• Get moving! Exercise is a great way to relax and feel good, instead of smoking. As you exercise, with each deep breath you take, you can start to repair some of the damage done to your body from smoking.
• Enlist the help of a close friend or family member, your doctor, someone you know and respect who has recently quit, or someone who wants to quit smoking with you

Did you know?

• Within 8 hours, carbon monoxide level drops in your body and oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.
• Within 48 hours, your chances of having a heart attack start to go down and sense of smell and taste begin to improve.
• Within 72 hours, bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier and increasing lung capacity.
• Within 2 weeks to 3 months, circulation improves and lung functioning increases up to 30%.
• Within 6 months, coughing, sinus congestion, tiredness and shortness of breath improve.
• Within 1 year, risk of smoking-related heart attack is cut in half.
• Within 10 years, risk of dying from lung cancer is cut in half.
• Within 15 years, risk of dying from a heart attack is equal to a person who never smoked.