HealthyLife Articles

Category: Healthylife® QuitWell™

  • Buy Smaller Amounts

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 3

    A hand offering cigarettes and another hand rejected them.

    If you smoke, buy cigarettes one pack at a time, not by the carton. If you dip, buy one can at a time. If you vape, smoke cigars, or use another form of tobacco/nicotine, buy the smallest quantity available. If you vape, buy a lower concentration of nicotine or fewer cartridges. This makes your habit less convenient (more trips to the store) and it will be helpful to have less at home when you are ready to be completely done.

    Note for e-cigarettes: Start by stepping down to the next lowest concentration. If you’re using 18 mg cartridges, switch to 12 mg, and so on, until you’re down to 0 mg.

    While you’re cutting back:

    *  Focus on keeping your inhaling as consistent as possible. It might be tempting to inhale more forcefully to get a bigger nicotine hit.

    *  Avoid taking more hits than you did on higher doses of nicotine.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Day 6

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 6

    Healthy foods are on the table in the kitchen.

    Embrace the Ripple Effect

    Now that you have quit, you may want to make positive changes in other areas of your life:

    *  Self-image

    *  Managing stress

    *  Eating more nutritious food

    *  Moving more/being more physically active

    *  Getting more involved with your community

    *  Helping others work on their goals

    You have learned many skills in QuitWell™ that can be helpful in other areas of life. The information in this guide only scratched the surface for these topics.

    What do you feel inspired to do next?

    What personal strengths can you apply to another project? For example, maybe being assertive helped you avoid a slip-up or mindfulness helped you be more aware of the unexpected triggers during your day.

    Today’s Affirmation:

    Quitting has set me up for success. I choose what I do next.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Keep Track

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 3

    Man typing on his phone.

    Use a notebook, or a note in your phone. You can also find a sample scorecard at the end of this program.

    Each time that you use tobacco or nicotine, mark down the time. If you have space to write more, jot down the trigger or what you were doing right beforehand. At the end of each day, add up your total for the day.

    Do this for a few days to get an average. You many not use the same amount every day. Get your average for working days and days you have off. You will likely have different tobacco habits.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Nicotine Replacement Therapy

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 3

    Image of nicotine gum to help stop smoking.

    All of these products contain nicotine. Patches, gum, and lozenges are available other-the-counter. The nicotine nasal spray and nicotine inhaler require a prescription.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Positive Reinforcement

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 4

    Image of money in a jar.

    Anytime you are given a reward for something you do, chances are you will do it again. For example: If a person popped out and handed you a $100 bill each time you walked around the block, you would take a lot of walks.

    The more rewards you get for quitting (from yourself and others), the more likely you will be successful.

    Ciggy Bank

    Take a jar and place it next to your “Butt Bottle.” Each day put the amount of money you would have used to buy tobacco in the jar. Write a reward you might buy with the money. Past QuitWell™ participants have taken vacations with their family, bought tickets to sporting events and concerts, and even bought a boat with the savings from quitting.

    The Little Things

    Give yourself a reward each day that you are successful. Choose things and activities that bring you joy. They don’t have to cost money.

    *  Buy or pick flowers

    *  Picnic in the park

    *  Call an old friend

    *  Take your car to the carwash

    *  Rent or stream a movie

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Stages Of Change 2

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 1

    Broken cigarette with a paper ripped to spell Possible from Impossible.

    This program does not assume you are ready to change. Or, you may be ready to make certain changes but not others. Other changes you may not have even thought of yet! The tools and strategies in this guide are designed to help you move forward through the stages of change.

    Using the diagram below, consider which stage you are at. What best describes where you are at today?

    Diagram showing the different stages of quitting.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Carry & Store In A New Place

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 3

    Image of man with thumbs up.

    Change where you keep your tobacco/nicotine products. For example, instead of keeping them in your desk or in a locker, keep them in your car. Better yet, put that pack or can in the trunk of your car. When reaching in the usual place without thinking, coming up empty will be a reminder of what you are working on. If you have always kept a pack in your right pocket, switch to your left.

    This pause allows you to be more mindful and deliberate, instead of acting without thinking. This is another way to put a speedbump in your usual way of doing things every day.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Day 7

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 6

    Women who's depressed.

    Post-Quitting Depression

    Some people feel mildly depressed after they have quit. You may feel a letdown when such a major goal has been reached. You may also find that the people around you are taking less notice of the fact you’ve quit. This is why self-rewards are more long-lasting than those given to you by others.

    *  Acknowledge that you had a relationship with cigarettes, dip, or your e-cig. It may have been long or short, but due to the nature of nicotine and the habits that form, it was probably a powerful relationship for you.

    *  Try to see your experiences through a different perspective:

    – Missing out on times with family & friends while going outside to use

    – Worrying about the smell on your clothes or breath

    – The mess of cigarette butts or a spit bottle

    – The nagging cough that took weeks to go away (if at all)

    – Guilt, fear, anxiety, or other negative emotions using tobacco/nicotine stirred up in the moment or right after

    – The cost that just kept going up

    *  Look at the gains you’ve already made

    – More free time

    – Easier to breathe

    – Money saved

    – Freedom to go anywhere not worrying about when the next opportunity to smoke, dip or vape might be

    Be cautious of the nostalgia that may come with old, unhealthy habits. It may have felt like a friend, but tobacco/nicotine products are like a friend that stabs you in the back down the road. The tobacco companies are not trying to be your friend-they just want your money.

    Today’s Affirmation:

    Tobacco is a bad friend I have left behind.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Keep What Is Truly Calming

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 4

    Image of smiling man.

    Removing tobacco/nicotine doesn’t mean your entire strategy for managing stress has to go away. Many things you are doing ARE healthy and genuinely calming to your body and mind.

    Reasons why you may feel calmer after taking a smoke break at work:

    *  Getting away from your work area

    *  Getting away from the people that you work with (that may be contributing to your stress)

    *  Fresh air/being outside

    *  Movement-walking from place to place or pacing around outside

    *  Deep breathing as you inhale

    *  Looking off into the distance, versus looking at something right in front of you or at a screen

    *  Talking to co-workers outside of the office (maybe even venting a bit!)

    *  More open space, especially if you work in a crowded, noisy environment

    Why else do you feel taking a smoke break is calming for you?

    Modified smoke break strategy ideas:

    *  Plan to step away from your work for 5-10 minutes.

    *  Walk to a drinking fountain or bathroom far away from your desk to get in extra movement.

    How can you practice taking a tobacco-free break today or tomorrow?

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Non-Smoking Zones

    Healthylife® QuitWell™

    Part 4

    Child holding no smoking sign.

    Go to the places where you usually did not smoke/use tobacco-or where tobacco/nicotine is not allowed. Spend time with people who don’t use tobacco/nicotine.

    *  Go to the movies

    *  Visit a non-smoking friend

    *  Spend time with children

    *  Volunteer

    List places that are easier for you to be tobacco/nicotine free.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine