Up until now you've been learning short-term strategies to beat your physical, social and mental addiction on and right after Quit Day. Now it’s time to look at long-term strategies to maintain your smokefree status and live life confidently as a former smoker.
The first three long-term strategies focus on ways to make healthy lifestyle changes. Not only do these changes make it easier to say good-bye to smoking—those who adapt healthy lifestyle changes are also more likely to become lifelong nonsmokers. The last two strategies are about relapse prevention.
When you quit smoking, you feel better and have more energy. Use this time to come up with an ongoing plan for physical activity that keeps you moving. As you learned in Session 3, physical activity doesn’t have to mean going to the gym every day, although it can.
Select each box for some easy ways to add activity to your day.
The key to being more active is to choose something you like to do, or something new you always wanted to try. As a bonus, you’ll also feel less stressed!
It’s easy to say you’ll try to be more active. But making a plan for how you'll add activity to your life will make it more likely you'll follow through.
To come up with a plan to be more active, start by answering four quick questions.
Which activities do you already like to do or are willing to try? Select as many as apply or enter your own answer.
When could you find time to be active?
Where is a good place for you to be active?
Who do you want to be active with?
There are two ways to ruin good intentions when it comes to being more active. One is doing too much, too fast. The other is doing something you don't enjoy.
In general, if you can’t talk easily while doing an activity, you may be overdoing it. Remember the importance of stretching and having proper equipment for the activity you choose as well.
NOTE: In general, light- and moderate-intensity activities are safe for most people. If you have a preexisting condition you should talk to your healthcare provider first before beginning any new moderate- or high-intensity activity.
Being more physically active is one of the most important long-term strategies for staying quit for good.
Now that you’ve quit smoking and your health, appearance and sense of self-control are better, you can probably see how this is also a good time to improve your eating habits. Looking at what and why you eat can also help you make better decisions to avoid or limit the weight gain that sometimes happens after quitting smoking.
There are a few reasons quitting smoking and gaining weight seem to go hand-in-hand. Understanding them can help you limit how much you gain and guide you to adopt healthier habits. Select each box to learn more.
Want to learn more? Visit the Resources section to print a “Why Do I Eat” quiz. This tool can help you identify your potential roadblocks in managing weight so you can address your individual challenges directly.
Whatever you do, do not use weight gain as an excuse to go back to smoking. Make being smokefree your number one priority!
Life is full of stress and quitting smoking won’t change that. What can change is how you deal with stress. Don’t ignore the things that cause you to worry or that overwhelm you. Instead, look for real solutions to solve the problem.
Select each box for ideas to lower the stress level in your life.
This relaxation and positive thinking exercise is especially for new nonsmokers. Try it now and keep using it as often as you can. After you listen to it here, visit the Resources section to download the MP3 files for use any time. You can also find other helpful relaxation exercises there.
As a short-term strategy for quitting, it’s wise to avoid social situations that you strongly associate with smoking. But eventually you’ll need to get back out there. When that time comes, the following tips and advice can help you successfully face these situations as a new nonsmoker.
Caution! Consuming alcohol may increase your urge to smoke. If you normally drink alcohol while socializing, you may want to switch to soda or seltzer water instead until you are sure you can handle it.
As you learned earlier, people who reward themselves for quitting and staying quit are more likely to succeed over the long haul. So don’t let big milestones pass unnoticed. Instead, savor these dates as a reminder of overcoming your addiction.
After completing Freedom From Smoking® Plus, keep celebrating milestones such as your three-month, six-month and one-year anniversary of Quit Day.
If you have stayed smokefree since Quit Day, good for you! At this point your physical recovery should be nearly over. Your social and mental recovery may take a bit longer but the strategies in this session will help.
Keep looking for ways to make healthy lifestyle changes. The benefits will outweigh any perceived loss from not smoking.
Stay active and eat well to maximize the benefits of your increased energy and the health benefits of quitting.
Keep using your relaxation exercises to combat stress but look for ways to resolve recurring stress too.
Prepare and practice for social situations coming up in your life.
Celebrate small and big victories. You don’t need to give yourself a reward for every milestone but do give yourself plenty of credit for staying smokefree.
If you find yourself struggling at any time, ask for support on the Freedom From Smoking® Community or ask the Lung HelpLine for advice.
Before returning to the Dashboard, it might be valuable to go back and review this session to make sure you understand the key points.
You are now at the end of Session 8. Just one more session to go! Hopefully by now you are really starting to think of yourself as a nonsmoker. You may also be experiencing fewer physical recovery symptoms and fewer urges to smoke. Don’t let your guard down yet. But definitely give yourself credit. Every hour, day and week without tobacco is cause to celebrate. Stay strong!
Before returning to the Dashboard, it might be valuable to go back and review this session to make sure you understand the key points.
You are now at the end of Session 8. Just one more session to go! Hopefully by now you are really starting to think of yourself as a nonsmoker. You may also be experiencing fewer physical recovery symptoms and fewer urges to smoke. Don’t let your guard down yet. But definitely give yourself credit. Every hour, day and week without tobacco is cause to celebrate. Stay strong!
Great Job! You are now at the end of Session 8. Just one more session to go! Hopefully by now you are really starting to think of yourself as a nonsmoker. You may also be experiencing fewer physical recovery symptoms and fewer urges to smoke. Don’t let your guard down yet. But definitely give yourself credit. Every hour, day and week without tobacco is cause to celebrate. Stay strong!
Great Job! You are now at the end of Session 8. Just one more session to go! Hopefully by now you are really starting to think of yourself as a nonsmoker. You may also be experiencing fewer physical recovery symptoms and fewer urges to smoke. Don’t let your guard down yet. But definitely give yourself credit. Every hour, day and week without tobacco is cause to celebrate. Stay strong!