Quit Smoking Without Your Smoking Buddies

What To Expect When You Try To Quit Smoking

Smoking Buddies
Some friends, especially those who are smokers themselves, may not be supportive of your efforts to cut down or quit. Also, they may not understand how much impact their behavior can have on your efforts to quit. They may say negative words or discouraged you from quitting smoking by poking fun at your attempt to quit smoking.

Why would they do that?
The reason is that your smoking buddies would not want you to succeed in quit smoking, because if you succeed this shows that they themselves can quit smoking too.

Here are more situations to expect

• The changes you intend to make may disturb friends and family members who are smokers.
  

• Friends may feel that your efforts to quit smoking will put a strain on your friendship. It will be tempting to join them for routine smoke breaks. Don't Join Them.
  

Did You Know?

• You may find that you don’t want to smoke just because you see someone else smoking. Rather, your desire to smoke may be triggered by something special about the situation.
  

For example, being around the people you usually smoked with could trigger the urge to
smoke.

What To Do

• Ask others to help you in your quit attempt. Give them specific examples of things that are helpful (such as not smoking around you) and things that are not helpful (like asking you to buy cigarettes for them).
  

• Post a small “No Smoking” sign by your front door. Provide an outside area where smokers may go if they wish to smoke.
  

• If you are in a group and others light up, excuse yourself, and don’t return until they have finished.
  

• Do not buy, carry, light, or hold cigarettes for others.

• Try not to get angry if family, friends, or coworkers hassle you about quitting.

Nicotine and Your Body and Mind

• You may want to observe what triggers your urge to smoke. Figure out what it is about that situation that makes you want to smoke.
  

• Many studies have reported that smoking may make you feel happier, more alert, and not as anxious. These good feelings may make you want to smoke. Also, you may associate these feelings with being around other smokers.