Greensboro, NC -- 2012 is just around the corner, and many of you are busy making those New Year's resolutions. If quitting tobacco is on your list, where do you start?
Christine Brannock with Cone Health says the first step is making sure you're ready to quit. Then, you need to find a good support system.
"Make sure they have at least two or three very strong support people. It's good to have people that do not smoke. It is very helpful sometimes to have someone who has smoked and has been successful," said Christine Brannock, Cone Health Cancer Center Outreach Coordinator.
Brannock says it's also important to go ahead and prepare yourself for hard situations and find alternatives to those trigger situations, like drinking your first cup of coffee or on that car ride to work.
There are also patches, gum and other nicotine replacement products that help some people quit. But, what about if you quit and then start back a couple days later. Brannock says you shouldn't let that get you down.
"You take it as a learning experience and use that learning experience to try again. A lot of times, if you look back at what you might have done wrong that time, it helps you to discover what you can do the next time to actually succeed," said Brannock.
Cone Health offers free smoking cessation classes. The next class starts January 24th and ends on March 6th. Each class is an hour and a half long, and they're free. Here's how to sign up.
If you don't have time to go to a class, you can call 1-800-quit-now. It's a quitline that's staffed by counselors trained specifically to help smokers quit. When you call, your "quit coach" will work with you to develop a personalized plan and provide you with information to help you quit tobacco. The service is free as well.
WFMY News 2