Let National Non-Smoking Week Help You Quit Smoking

Mid-January is the perfect time to revisit your resolutions. If you’ve already let them slip, don’t worry—it’s not too late. And if one of your resolutions is to quit smoking, it may just be ideal, because this year, National Non-Smoking Week (NNSW) is January 15 to January 21.

Created 30 years ago by the Canadian Centre for Tobacco Control (CCTC), National Non-Smoking Week aims to help people quit smoking, or prevent them from ever starting by educating them about the dangers of smoking. Another of its goals is to promote a “smoke-free society in Canada.”

According to the CCTC, some of the many reasons to quit smoking include:

• reducing your risk of many diseases and living longer
• reducing the risk of fire in your home
• stopping exposing your loved ones to secondhand smoke (and even third-hand smoke)
• saving money (smoking is a very expensive habit)
• improving your senses of taste and smell

Some of their top tips for quitting smoking include:

• writing a “break-up letter” to tobacco
• keeping track of when and why you smoke each cigarette
• making it public, by declaring your intentions to your family and friends
• using the 4-D method when you feel a craving for a cigarette: take deep breaths, drink water, distract yourself, and delaying. Realize that the craving will pass.
• managing stress in ways other than with cigarettes
• rewarding yourself
• reminding yourself of all the good that you’re doing by quitting

Whether you’ve been smoking for a couple years or a couple decades, quitting is possible and will improve your longevity and your quality of life (and even help the environment!). Celebrate National Non-Smoking Week by taking the first step for your health!