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How to Earn Points — Quit Tobacco Focus Area



You can earn points when you Quit Tobacco. Follow this link for a PDF version of how you can earn points in the Quit Tobacco focus area.

Weekly goals are provided to help guide you. Everyone will complete the Week 1 activity, but after that, you choose the options and activities that best suit your needs or stage in your quit plan. Every time you learn more about quitting, you’re better prepared to quit, so earn Live Well Challenge points for Learning, Preparing, Quitting and Staying Quit.

Week 1: Take a Self-Assessment

Take a self-assessment to help you understand how ready you are to quit smoking.

Weeks 2 – 6: Choose Your Activity

You choose the activity that best suits your stage of readiness. You don’t have to choose activities in order – feel free to do the one that best fits your needs. Each option is designed to help you Learn, Prepare, Quit or Stay Quit.

Option 1 – Learn About Motivations and Challenges to Quitting

The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to quit. So study up.

Option 2 – Relax and Manage Stress

Find new ways to relieve stress. This will help you avoid using tobacco when you feel stress. Take a walk, listen to music, take a hot bath/shower, read a book, call a friend, go to a movie, or meditate.

Option 3 – Tame your Triggers

Even if you’re still using tobacco, identifying your triggers and making different habits will help you avoid using tobacco.Make a list of your top triggers and come up with an alternative for each. Ideas include:

  • Swapping your daily coffee for tea.
  • Drive a different route to get to work or the store.
  • Take your break with friends who don’t use tobacco.
Try to avoid places, people or situations that tempt you to smoke. Take the trigger detector quiz to get more ideas about alternatives to smoking

Option 4 – Seek Support and Build Networks

You will have a better chance of success if you have help. You can get help in many ways:

  • Tell family, friends and coworkers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you. Ask them if they want to quit with you.
  • Talk to your health care provider about quitting - they can help.
  • Get individual, group or telephone counseling.
  • Call the Washington Tobacco Quitline: 1-877-270-7867 or 1-877-2NO Fume (Spanish)
  • Visit the Washington Tobacco Quitline web site

Option 5 – Healthy Living

  • Focusing on keeping yourself healthy will help you quit.Take this week to practice:
    Good nutrition – make sure you’re eating healthy meals
  • Physical activity – regular physical activity will help distract you from using tobacco and will provide many other health benefits.It’s also great for stress management
  • Getting enough sleep – get at least 7 hours sleep each night
  • Drinking water – drink 8 glasses a day
  • Getting your teeth cleaned

Option 6– Create Smoke Free Environments

Getting rid of things that remind you of smoking will help you get ready to quit. Try these ideas:
  • In your home–
    • Throw away all your cigarettes, pipes, matches and cans of snuff
    • Give or throw away your lighters and ashtrays
    • Wash or dry clean your drapes and clothes and get the carpets cleaned
    • Make a non-smoking rule for your home
  • In your car–
    • Remove the lighter and the ashtray
    • Vacuum the inside of your car, wash the windows, and clean the hard surfaces
    • Make a non-smoking rule for your car
    • Try some methods to reduce the amount of tobacco that you use before your official quit date
  • Methods to reduce smoking include :
    • Choose a few specific cigarettes to give up each week (for example, the ones you smoke in the car on your way to work)
    • Gradually increase the time between cigarettes
    • Smoke only during odd or even hours
    • Limit your smoking to certain places (outside, not at work, not in the car)
    • Wait as late in the day as possible to start smoking

Option 7 – Review your Resources

Try out some of the resources available to you including:

  • Try some of the smoking cessation services and products covered under your health benefit plan
  • Learn about pharmacological options and if they’re right for you
  • Enroll in a tobacco cessation support system such as: Visit QuitNet (Call BROS at 206-684-1556 for your access code first)
    • King County Tobacco Quit line: 877-279-0624
    • Washington State quit line: 800-Quit-Now
    • American Lung Association free online program Freedom from Smoking
  • Use free community resources such as:
    • Free Quit Kit – Contact Public Health Seattle and King County at 206-296-7613
    • Resources form the American Cancer Society
    • Daily log – Set a goal to cut back on how much you smoke and track you progress

Option 8 – Get Ready

  • Talk to your health care provider about quitting
  • Review your past quit attempts. Think about what worked and what didn't.
  • Make a list of reasons to quit.
  • Develop a Quit Plan. Use this tool to help create your personal quit plan
  • Complete a Quit Checklist to ensure that you are fully prepared for quit day.
  • Set your quit date.Have a quit ceremony the night before.The first few days, focus on changing your habits, congratulating yourself each day and keeping up with your healthy habits such as sleep, exercise, good nutrition and stress management. If you smoke at work, quit on the weekend or during a day off. That way you'll already be cigarette-free when you return.

Option 9 – Relapse Prevention

Slips sometimes happen. The important thing is to get back on track.If you have a slip:

  • Forgive yourself and get back on your quit plan.
  • Identify what went wrong and ask yourself what you learned from the experience. Do you need more support, more stress management training? Then decide what changes can help you succeed next time.
  • Revisit the reasons you decided to quit smoking. They are no less true today.
  • Use the slip meter to get the advice you need to get back on track.

Weekly Bonus Activities (choose a different one each week)

  • Talk to your health care provider about quitting
  • Make a wallet reminder card
  • Go to a restaurant or bar and DON’T take a smoke break
  • Start saving. If you’ve already quit, put the money you used to spend on tobacco in a piggy bank or jar.If you haven’t quit yet, every time you buy more tobacco, put the same amount of money in your piggy bank. Watch it add up and make a list what you will do with the money you save.
  • Listen to a podcast (select “Smoking and Tobacco Use” as the topic).
  • Review historic tobacco advertising.
  • Learn more about why cigars, chew, hookas, and bidis are not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
  • Watch the movie “Thank You For Smoking” or “The Insider”
  • Watch a video about tobacco use on You Tube (search for “anti-smoking”)
  • Watch the “Take it Outside” television ads
  • Send an e-postcard to a friend announcing your quit day
  • Read a success story or submit one of your own
Questions? Contact us: livewellchallenge@kingcounty.gov or call 206-263-7333.
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  Updated: July 14, 2008