Your reasons
Your reasons for quitting are what keeps you going
When a craving hits, it is helpful to remember all of the reasons you have for quitting like, "I want to be alert for Saturday morning with my kid". What is most important to you in life and how does quitting help you move closer toward that?
Here’s some common reasons people say they want to quit. Tap the ones that are true for you.
Why I’m quitting
Nothing picked yet.
These carry down into My Plan at the end of this page, along with your quit day and the strategies you choose.
Weigh it up
Your reasons, weighed
Most people who want to quit are holding two true things at once. Smoking does something for you — it breaks up the day, it takes the edge off. And it is costing you something. Quitting is not about pretending the first list is empty.
It is also not about which list is longer. Mark how much each one matters to you and see which way the rope moves. One reason that really matters can outpull three things you would barely miss.
Both sides are empty.
What I like about smoking
Be honest, then mark how much each one really matters
Nothing added yet.
What I don’t like about it
Your reasons from above are already here — mark how much each one matters
Nothing added yet.
Add a few to each side, mark how much each one matters, and see which way the rope moves.
Make a plan
Plan for your triggers
A quit plan helps you prepare for what you will do when a craving hits. It is deciding — now, not when you are craving a cigarette — what you will do instead in the specific moments you already know are coming. Open the ones that might be helpful for you to plan for.
The 4 D’s
Your coach may have run through these already. Cravings usually last 10 to 15 minutes, so most of the work is riding out the wave rather than fighting it.
Delay
Wait at least 10 minutes before acting on the urge. Most cravings have passed by then.
Distract
Move your attention onto something else. Decide what that will be before you need it.
Deep breathe
Slow your breathing right down. Longer out-breath than in-breath.
Do something else
Get up and change what you are doing. Hands busy, scene changed.
Having a distraction ready beats improvising in the moment — especially in the first two to three weeks.
Tap a trigger that might cause you to go back to smoking, then pick the strategies you will try instead. Both go into your plan at the bottom.
Pick what you would actually use
Know the pattern
The moments that trip people up
Triggers come from three directions — how you are feeling, what you are doing, and who you are with. It’s common to experience multiple triggers a day, which is why quitting is a run of small decisions rather than one big one.
How to escape the withdrawal loop
Lots of people run into this. Make a plan to get through it without going back to using.
Tap a step to see what is going on underneath it.
Stress“Smoking calms me down”
What it mostly settles is nicotine withdrawal, which built up since your last cigarette. That is why the relief feels real and why it does not last. Once you are through withdrawal, the background stress of needing the next one goes with it.
Weight“I’ll put on loads of weight”
Generally, no. Many people stay the same and some lose weight. Among those who do gain, the average is around ten pounds — and planning ahead with regular meals and some activity helps.
Just one“One won’t hurt”
One is how most people end up back at a packet a day, because it restarts the cycle you have just broken. If it happens, it is a slip rather than a failure — but it is worth knowing where that thought leads.
Switching“I’ll switch to vaping instead”
Vapes are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for quitting smoking, because there is not enough evidence yet on whether they work for that and are safe. If you have already switched and want to be free of nicotine, a coach can help you plan the next step.
Start here
Pick a Quit Date
Picking a day and getting ready for it makes the first week easier.
Not sure yet? Pick a rough date. You can move it.
Get ready
Prepare for your quit day
Picking a day and getting ready for it makes the first week easier. Most people do these in the few days beforehand.
It will show up in My Plan further down.
The people who get through the first week are usually the ones who decided in advance what they would do when a craving hit.
Put it together
My Plan
This fills itself in from what you picked further up the page. Add your quit day, then take a screenshot so you have it on your phone when you need it.
My Plan
Kick ItCalifornia
I am quitting marijuana
I am quitting smoking
My reasons for quitting
What keeps me going when it gets tough
Pick your reasons near the top of this page and they will appear here.
Triggers
Times I will want to use
Strategies
What I will do instead
Pick the moments you want to be ready for, just above, and the strategies you would use.
Nothing here is saved when you close the page, so take a screenshot to keep it.
This opens your own email app with the plan filled in — nothing is sent anywhere until you press send.
Kick It California · 1-800-300-8086
How to stay quit
Quitting is a huge accomplishment. Staying quit takes a bit of planning, and knowing what a slip actually means is a large part of it.
When things don’t go as planned
A slip is information, not a failure
Most people who come to us for help have tried to quit before. Not once — several times. These are not failures. Each time you try quitting you learn something new.
So if you smoke again, the useful question is not ‘what is wrong with me?’ It is: ‘what was happening in the twenty minutes before? Who was there, what was the feeling, what time was it?’ That helps you build your next plan, and it is information you did not have last week.
Then set a new date and try again. The people who quit for good are the ones who keep going after this exact moment.
Keep going
You don’t have to do this alone
Give us a call — to build the plan, get support on your quit day, or to start again after a slip. It is free, it is confidential, and there is no lecture waiting on the other end.
This page is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor about anything to do with medications, pain, mental health or symptoms that don’t ease up — and tell them you’re quitting, because it can change how other treatments work.
If withdrawal brings on anything frightening — hallucinations, paranoia, or thoughts of harming yourself or others — that’s rare, but call your doctor right away. For mental health crisis support any time, day or night, call or text 988. In an emergency, call 911.