IV. STAYING IN CONTROL THE TOP THREE TRIGGERS OVER THE LONG TERM WHAT ABOUT WEIGHT GAIN? UNDERSTANDING SLIPS AND RELAPSE A NONSMOKER FOR LIFE A FINAL WORD ON YOUR NEW LIFESTYLE After you've quit smoking for a couple of weeks, you may start to feel much more confident about your ability to stay quit. This is a good thing - it means that your planning and hard work are paying off. You're well on your way to becoming a nonsmoker for good. But it doesn't mean that all the challenges are behind you. Whether you've quit for a day, a month, or a year, certain trigger situations may keep coming up. Your best defense is to plan ahead for how you'll handle them. Here are the three triggers that give people the most trouble over the long term. Being around smokers: seeing them smoke, smelling it, being offered a cigarette, or just finding cigarettes lying around. Alcohol Use: Especially in the presence of people who are smoking Highly Emotional Situations Many people quit smoking, only to go back to it when they start gaining weight. The average person gains five to seven pounds, but there are things you can do to reduce that amount. In fact, many people gain no weight at all. It depends on personal factors, such as your metabolism and level of activity. If you want to know more about managing weight gain, click below to download a fact sheet. Click here to download a fact sheet on Quitting Smoking Without Gaining Weight. What happens when a trigger situation comes up? Do you smoke a cigarette, or do you use your planned strategies? Obviously, the quickest way to become a nonsmoker for good is to follow your plan and not smoke. But slips are common. If you have a slip, don't let it turn into a relapse. Ask yourself what went wrong, then fine-tune your plan and commit to it. Click Here To Enlarge Staying quit for good will be easier if you think of yourself as a "nonsmoker," rather than an "ex-smoker." Ex-smokers see themselves as a person who smokes, just not smoking today. Smoking is an option that they refuse every day. Nonsmokers made a decision once and for all that smoking is not an option. They don't have to struggle with a new decision every day. They may feel an urge to smoke now and then, but their self-image simply does not allow smoking anymore. What can you do to start feeling like a nonsmoker? Remember that being a nonsmoker is your natural state. You were born a nonsmoker, and you can be a nonsmoker again. Think of other times when your self-image changed. Some common examples are leaving school, getting married, having children, changing careers, having grandchildren, and retiring. Going through any one of these may have felt awkward at first. But gradually, you adopted a new self-image. Becoming a nonsmoker is the same. Arrange your daily life so that cigarettes don't "fit in" anymore. Tell yourself that smoking is not an option in any situation. Refer to yourself as a nonsmoker regularly. Picture yourself five or ten years from now as a nonsmoker. Hold onto the positive image. Click here to download a fact sheet on Positive Thinking. For many people, quitting smoking is the only big change they want to make. Once cigarettes are out of their life, they're happy. For others, quitting smoking is part of a larger plan that also includes losing weight, taking control over their finances, or making some other big lifestyle change. Quitting gives them confidence to face the other challenges in their lives. Whether or not you plan to make other changes, be sure to give yourself credit for making this change. Quitting smoking is not an easy thing to do, but with motivation, planning and effort, you've done it. That's really something you can be proud of.

Developed by the California Smokers' Helpline.