to Stay Quit Monday Tips

Transcription

1 52 to Stay Quit Monday Tips

2 52 Tips to help quit. 1 Walk stress off Walking is a great and healthy way to deal with stress. Start this week with a plan to walk instead of smoking. Perhaps by the end of the week you ll have saved enough money from not buying cigarettes to help pay for a new pair of walking shoes! 2 How to relax smokefree Reward yourself after a long day. Choose a favorite meal, a funny movie, or a hot shower to help relax smokefree. Put a stop to smoky thinking! 3 Every smokefree day matters Know that cravings become weaker and less frequent every day that you do not smoke. Just one puff will feed the cravings and make them stronger. Instead of reaching for a cigarette, take a long, deep breath. Choose fresh air over smoky air. 4 Go multilingual Teach yourself how to count to ten in another language, and when you feel the urge to smoke, impress someone with your new talent. Uno, dos, tres 5 Challenge your creative cooking skills Instead of using your hands to light another cigarette, use them to prepare a new, delicious, and healthy finger-food recipe. Some ideas are lettuce wraps (ground turkey), fruit kabobs, or veggie pizza squares. What else can you come up with? 6 Give yourself reasons to be smoke-free Creatively remind yourself why you are smokefree. For each day of the month, write down a reason why you are smokefree. When you successfully stay smokefree, place a checkmark on the day. By the end of the month, you ll see that there are so many reasons keeping you smokefree. 7 Phone for help Call QUIT-NOW to get free one-on-one help quitting, support and coping strategies, and referrals to local cessation programs. Take advantage of what s available to help you stay quit. 2

3 8 Open a ciggy bank account Keep your eye on the prize. Think about starting a ciggy bank if you haven t already. Put cigarette money aside for each day you don t smoke. Soon you ll have enough money to buy a reward for yourself or loved ones. 9 Get support to stay on track Quitting smoking is easier with the support of others. Tell family, friends, and coworkers that you plan to quit by sending them an e-card. Dont forget to suggest some specific things they can do to help you stay on track. 10 Take it one Healthy Monday at a time Recommit to quitting. Don t let a minor relapse become a major failure. It may take more than one try to quit for good. Remember that millions of people have quit smoking and you can be one of them! 11 Love your heart Stay on track for a healthy heart. The chance of getting heart disease goes down within 1 or 2 years of quitting smoking. After 10 smoke-free years, your risk is the same as a non-smoker. Stay quit, and your heart will thank you. 12 Enjoy smoke-free zones This week, plan to spend as much free time as you can where smoking isn t allowed. Get together with friends for a trip to the mall, museum, or theater. 13 Try something new If you always smoke while driving, listen to a new radio station or your favorite music. Take a different route. Or take the train or bus for a while. 14 Start fresh on a Monday If you slipped over the weekend, don t be too hard on yourself. Identify what caused your relapse and get back on track today. 15 Snack smartly Stock up on healthy snacks for the week. Snacking smarter can help beat the cravings. Keep fruits and veggies on hand instead of candy and chips. Frozen grapes or crunchy carrot and celery sticks will keep you from smoking and help avoid the post-quit weight gain. 16 Energize with exercise This week, improve your health and your mood with 10-minute exercise appointments each day. Go for a walk after a meal, take the stairs, and plan some active games. Exercise can replace the small burst of energy that nicotine gave your body when you were a smoker. 3

4 17 Let your list empower you Remind yourself why you decided to quit. Make a list of your reasons for quitting. Keep the list where you used to put your cigarettes to help strengthen your determination. 18 Join the ranks of successful quitters Remember that you re not alone! Quitting and staying quit is hard, but it s not impossible. About 40,000,000 Americans have already quit smoking. If other people can do it, so can you! 19 Toughen up for your health s sake Get tough and remind yourself that you can do this! Refuse to give into the temptation of having just one cigarette. Replace your smoky thinking with clear thinking. 20 Come up with an action plan Brainstorm the challenges you will face as you try to quit smoking and come up with solutions for each. Do this activity with a friend or family member. They can help you overcome the challenges that may come up. 21 Make today an I m still Smokefree holiday! Quitting smoking is always something to celebrate and be proud of. Decorate your house and listen to your favorite music today. You might even want to give a gift to someone who has supported you along the way. 22 Reach out and touch someone s ear Play telephone. Call a cessation counselor to get questions you have answered and then pass along your newfound knowledge to someone else who is quitting. 23 Practice breathing for relief Take a long deep breath in through your nose and then slowly exhale through your mouth. This is a great way to relieve stress and calm your nerves without smoking. 24 Apply your imagination Go on a mental vacation. Choose any place you want to be, close your eyes and visualize being there. Get creative with what you mentally see, hear, and feel. Doesn t it feel good to relax without a cigarette? 25 Stretch with yoga Namaste. Try doing some yoga to keep your stress levels low. You might be surprised at how good a downward dog or child s pose can make you feel. 4

5 26 Learn to love the taste and smell of fresh breath Go to your local store and treat yourself to a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash. Brush your teeth often and especially if you have the urge to smoke. Enjoying a clean mouth can help make the difference. 27 Think big picture Sometimes while you are quitting, it s hard to see the big picture, like doing a puzzle. Tackle the stress head-on and spend time working on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle instead of smoking. You can even turn it into a family activity. 28 Get a good night s rest Sleeping soundly can make the difference. Get to sleep early tonight. If extra pillows or blankets lead to sweet dreams for you, then go for it! Getting a good night s rest can help you cope with quitting. 29 Replace coffee with water Adopting a smokefree lifestyle requires you to make changes. Instead of drinking coffee, which is often a smoking trigger, drink a glass of water or hot tea. It s a healthy way to help stay smokefree. 30 Knowledge is power Get in the know. Knowing what triggers you to smoke is a great way to stay in control of your quitting. Come up with a plan of action to cope with each of your triggers. 31 Let them know your nonsmoking personality Re-introduce yourself to a friend as a non-smoker. Labeling yourself as such will remind you of who you are and how important it is to be smokefree. 32 Read and be inspired Take some time to explore your local library. Read a book about quitting. This will be a great way to find new tips for staying smokefree and to understand all the feelings you are experiencing while you re quitting. 33 Help keep the environment safe Do you know that smoking is not only harmful to your health but it s also harmful to the environment? How about using your hands to give back to the environment and plant a tree in your yard or start a garden. Now every time you look at your work, it will remind you that being smokefree is a great thing for everyone. 34 Discard smoking triggers Have you done your spring cleaning yet? Go through your home and car and put everything that you associate with smoking (like matches, ashtrays, and coffee) in a trash bag and throw it out. 5

6 35 Protect your family Create a banner for your front door enforcing a no-smoking policy in your home. This will help remind you of what you value and protect your family from secondhand smoke. 36 Pound off those unwanted pounds Dont wait to gain weight. Although weight gain is possible after quitting, exercising can help you avoid the unwanted pounds. Sign up for a kickboxing class or try using the elliptical twice a week. 37 Wanna dance with somebody? Dancing is a great way to exercise, have fun and avoid smoking at the same time. Make a playlist of your favorite tunes and get out your dancing shoes. 38 Use some expert advice Talking to an expert can be both informative and relieving. Call QUIT-NOW or U-QUIT. Get all your questions answered and learn something new. 39 Don t be left behind Become a part of the movement. More and more states are going smokefree. Is yours? If so, celebrate by grabbing a meal at a smoke-free restaurant. If not, write a letter to your congressmen encouraging the change. 40 Keep reminding yourself What are your reasons for staying smokefree? Is it your family? Your health? The money? Whatever it may be, create a collage of pictures that represent why you are quitting and hang it somewhere you will see everyday to serve as a constant reminder. 41 Value your relationships Relationships matter. Does your significant other smoke too? What s his or her attitude towards you smoking? Understanding the role smoking plays in your relationship can help in your path to staying quit. 42 Treat yourself You deserve a reward after a long day, but there are better rewards than a cigarette. A favorite meal, a funny movie, or a hot shower will help you relax without ruining your quit attempt. 43 Ready to try something new? Does your current quit plan need some assistance? Try talking to your doctor to combine medication and counseling. Research has shown this is an effective way to go. 6

7 44 Lose yourself in music The next time you have a craving, turn on some calming music and try meditating. 45 Adopt aerobics Make it part of your new exercise plan. Doing some cardiovascular exercise is great for your health and can keep your mind off smoking. 46 Relax! After a tense week of work, chores, etc., we know you can be stressed. But reward yourself for a smokefree week with a massage at a nearby spa. 47 Re-evaluate your relationships Being able to stay quit and smokefree not only requires getting a better understanding of your relationship to smoking, but also the other people in your life. Consider your friends and co-workers. How do they affect your smoking? Take some time to talk with them about how they may be able to help keep you smokefree. 48 Recruit for the Smokefree cause Do you know another woman who smokes? It could be a friend, family member, or co-worker. Send them an e-card and encourage them to take the Pledge to be smokefree with you. 49 Go where smoke is not welcome Make your environment smokefree. Choose a smoke-free restaurant to celebrate your smoke-free status. 50 How about a reality check? Know that your quitting is not in vain. Remind yourself of all the positives of quitting. Good health will be restored. 51 Monitor your withdrawal success For the next 4 weeks, take the withdrawal quiz, and see how your body is responding to being smokefree. 52 Unwind at the cinema Make it a movie night. What s new in theaters this week? Take your family, a friend, or go solo to the movies. You can t smoke in the theater, so here s one of many ways to enjoy yourself smokefree. 7