Step 1: Map your day as it is now
For a few ordinary days, jot down when you smoke or vape, where you are, who you are with and what you were doing just before. Include the commute, breaks, meals and evenings. You are not changing anything yet. You are building a picture you can bring to a provider.
Step 2: Note where you already can't smoke or vape
Fort Collins already has many smoke-free places, and knowing them helps you plan. The Colorado General Assembly's page for House Bill 19-1076 says the bill brought electronic smoking devices such as e-cigarettes under the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, removed earlier exceptions including one for certain places of business, and widened the no-smoking area around building doorways from 15 feet to 25 feet.
The City of Fort Collins Smoking FAQs page adds that smoking is not allowed in restaurants, bars and taverns, or on or within 20 feet of outdoor dining areas or patios abutting a public right-of-way or sidewalk, and that since January 1, 2015, electronic smoking devices are prohibited wherever conventional smoking is not.
If you spend time at Colorado State University, its Smoking, Vaping and Tobacco Use policy bars smoking or vaping of any substance and all uses of tobacco in all buildings and on all grounds owned, leased or controlled by CSU, including walkways, plazas and bus pick-up points, and in university vehicles.
Mark these places on your map from Step 1. They can become anchors in your plan.
Step 3: Choose a start date with care
Look at the next few weeks. Some people pick a date when they will spend most of the day somewhere smoke-free, such as a full campus day. Others pick a calm weekend with few social plans. Avoid a week with a big deadline, a move or travel if you can.
Step 4: Decide what kind of help you want
This directory lists three types of independent providers serving Fort Collins:
- Stop-smoking coaches, who work with you one on one and check in over several weeks.
- Consulting hypnotists, who offer hypnosis sessions as one approach. Ask each to explain plainly what happens in a session.
- Group programs, where you meet with others on a set schedule, in person or online.
Think about what has helped you stick with other changes in the past. Do you prefer one-on-one attention, or does a group keep you on track?
Step 5: Contact two or three providers with the same questions
Ask each one:
- How many sessions do you plan, and over how long?
- Where and when do you meet, and is video an option?
- What will you ask me to do between sessions?
- Do you help with vaping as well as cigarettes?
- What are your fees and cancellation terms, in writing?
This directory does not review providers' credentials, so your notes are your guide. Be wary of anyone making big promises. For questions about any product or medicine, talk with your own doctor or pharmacist.
Step 6: Plan for your hardest moments
Take your map from Step 1 and pick the three moments you expect to be hardest. For each one, write a specific alternative. For example: after lunch near Old Town, walk a block instead of stepping outside a patio; on the drive home along Harmony Road, call a friend; on a campus break, refill a water bottle. Share this list with your provider.
Step 7: Tell a few people
Let a friend, family member or coworker know your start date and what would help. Some people want check-in texts; others want no mention at all. Be clear about which you prefer.
Step 8: Start, and keep your sessions
On your start date, follow the plan you built. Keep every session you booked, even if a day goes well and you feel you don't need it. If you slip, tell your provider at the next session and adjust the plan rather than starting from scratch.
Step 9: Review after a few weeks
After three or four weeks, look back at your map. Which moments got easier? Which still catch you? Decide with your provider whether to keep meeting, space sessions out, or switch to occasional check-ins. Keep the alternatives that help, and keep using the smoke-free places around Fort Collins as part of your routine.