Hello all,
I just decided to quit three days ago. I joined the Colorado quit line as a start and on their web site I found a link to this one and I am really glad I did. For me, this type of support works. I know this because I used similar support to get through treatments for the hepatitis C virus. Not actually a problem with addiction but a really hard treatment to complete.
Anyway, I'm currently in the process of learning my addiction. There are a lot of good tools out there for this but so far the best one I've used is the pack tracker. In three days I've learned more about my addiction then I ever thought I could. Using the pack tracker, I realized first of all that I smoked cigarettes when there wasn't even a craving.
I never thought about that when I lit up before. I'd just grab a smoke and light up, never giving it another thought. After using this tracker for just one day I was able to identify the times when I smoked for no real reason. There was no actual craving or pressure. I was just smoking to smoke.
So on the second day I worked on reducing the times that I smoke for no real reason and reduced my cigarette consumption from an average of thirty a day to nineteen. This amazed me because it wasn't even hard to do. Kind of like clearing unnecessary overhead. All it took was a realization that I was "fooling" myself into believing that I needed all those extra cigarettes to get through the day.
I've managed to identify several trigger points throughout the day and have begun working on them. The hardest one for me is the morning triggers. I was generally almost a chain smoker in the mornings until yesterday when I started working on it. I still smoke a ton in the morning.
That's one of the reasons I'm sitting here writing this blog. To get me through this weak moment in the day and so far it seems to be working. My hands are busy but I'm still thinking of that darn cigarette. Still, I'm not smoking. And so the process will continue for me. I'll try to keep reducing my tobacco intake with every day that I have before my quit date.
Now I think I'll go take a shower. I'm trying to go two hours without another one. With a little determination and preperation I think I might make it this time. I only have another hour to go for this days first goal. I've also managed to quit lighting up at night when I wake up but this may be part of why the mornings are rough. Baby steps are OK for me as long as I continue to move forward.
Chuck
