Assessing Your Readiness to Quit

Step 2

Identify Your Reasons to Quit

Think seriously about why you want to quit smoking.  The decision to quit and your long-term success are greatly influenced by the advantages you see to quitting - your “pros.”  Your reasons to quit must be important to you.  While it is good to listen to your doctor, spouse, or children, you have to quit because YOU want to.  Internal motivation is key.

Think About the Health Benefits of Quitting

The link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer and chronic lung diseases has been proven for years.  But smoking causes more than just breathing problems.

·        Smoking is major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

·        Every year about 400,000 deaths in the U.S. result from smoking.  About 200,000 of them are due to cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks and strokes.

·        Even a single cigarette has harmful effects.  Smoking just one cigarette raises your blood pressure, makes your heart work harder, increases your risk for blood clots and dangerous “extra” heartbeats, and may narrow your coronary arteries.

·        Smoking lowers your HDL or “good” cholesterol.

·        Women who take “the pill” and also smoke cigarettes are especially at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

·        Second-hand smoke causes about 10 times as many cardiovascular deaths as cancer deaths (estimated at close to 40,000 annually).

·        Children of smokers have many more respiratory infections than children of non-smokers.

·        Non-smoking women exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have low-birth weight babies.

No matter how much or how long you’ve smoked, when you quit, your risk of heart disease goes down. Only a few years after quitting, your risk of death from heart attack is almost the same as if you’d never smoked.  It’s crucial, however, to stop smoking before you have a heart attack or stroke and cause irreversible damage.  If you already have heart disease, quitting smoking will dramatically reduce your risk for future heart problems and strokes.

Stop Smoking Now - For Your Health

There are also numerous personal benefits to stopping smoking.  Which of these would you enjoy?  Check the ones that mean the most to you.

q       Feeling better about yourself , feeling in control

q       Being a good role model for children, family members, and friends

q       Improving the health of others by not exposing them to second-hand smoke

q       Smelling clean and having clothes that are free of smoke

q       Saving money (See “How Much Does Smoking Cost You?”)

q       Getting to sit anywhere you want in a restaurant

My Advantages for Quitting -- List your “pros” here:

·        _______________________________________

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·        _______________________________________

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In addition to your reasons to quit, there are probably some barriers keeping you from quitting.  These are your “cons.”  Check any of these that apply to you.

q       Afraid of gaining weight

q       Concerns about withdrawal symptoms

q       Concerns about being around others who smoke

q       Afraid of not being able to quit for good

My Disadvantages for Quitting -- List your “cons” here:

·        ________________________________________

·        ________________________________________

·        ________________________________________

·        ________________________________________

·        ________________________________________

How Much Does Smoking Cost You?

Complete the exercise below to compute your cost of smoking.  This represents only the direct cost of buying cigarettes.  Other costs include medical expenses for smoking-related illnesses, higher insurance premiums, and extra cleaning bills for clothing.

Price Per Pack       # Packs per Day          Annual Cost of Smoking
$__________    x   _____________     x   365 days = $____________

For example, if you smoke one pack of cigarettes per day at a price of $1.50 per pack, you would save about $547 each year by quitting!

How much could you save:

            over five years?            $ _________

            over 10 years?              $ _________

            over 20 years?              $ _________

What else could you buy with this money?

Knowing When You Are Ready