Let’s Set that Quit Date!

Certainly you understand all the reasons why you want to quit, the reasons you need to quit and now you’ve decided that you are going to tackle the first step....setting your quit date.  If no one has told you this yet, congratulations for make the best decision of your life and those around you!

The easiest way of setting your quit date is to not only pick a date within the next two weeks, so as you can get prepared, but to set it around a special day to you and your spouse/family.  Some easy days to remember would be your birthday or anniversary, the holiday seasons that could be either Christmas, New Year’s Day or Valentine’s Day, Independence Day or even better World No Tobacco Day (May 31) or The Great American Smokeout (third Thursday of each November).  No matter when you choose to be your quit date, it is important to not quit where you normally smoke, perhaps consider quitting on your day off or weekend off if you smoke at work, as you want to return to work already starting your body off in a smoke-free situation.

You also need to inform those close to you and who you work with that you are quitting and what your quit date is as it is far simpler for you in your campaign to be smoke-free to have the support of those around you.  Those that you feel seem negative towards your first steps in quitting smoking should be avoided, especially around the time that they generally go have a cigarette break.  Also look to have minimal contact with these individuals as you don’t want them to put you off the success track.

Most importantly, when you discuss with those around you that would be most affected by your decision to quit, advise them that you will no doubt have mood swings but they will not last that long.  It is your body cleaning out the nicotine, which is the drug that you become addicted to when smoking, but they should not last more than two weeks.  It is also important for you to check with your doctor about any medications that you may be taking as nicotine can interact differently when under some medications and you may have to change your prescription as the nicotine clears from your body.