Give and get support around quitting
I'm creating this discussion in the hope it will be helpful to all the New Years' Resolution Quitters, and to solicit comments from current community members, as well. If you are new here, let us help! If you have quit or are in the process, please give the newbies your best advice!
The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for a free pdf of it on the net (copyright enforcement won't allow me to post the link here), buy it online, or find it at your local library
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. Best of EX has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan My Quit Plan
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. E-cigarettes are proving not to be as safe as originally thought, continue the hand-to-mouth motion and nicotine addiction, - so I would stay away from them, as well.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
Congratulations on 190 days! This is a huge accomplishment! Life-changing right? This whole thing is a bit humbly at the moment. So grateful for everyone who has offered hope and suggestions for my prep and for the kind words.
One of the things that helped me when I quit was to write positive affirmations on little sticky notes and put them in various places that would catch my eye during the day. I put them on the door going outside. On the toilet lid. On the car visor, etc. I still have one hanging from desk which reads ATTITUDE STUPID! (I may have quit smoking, but I still have a problem with that one! lol) I had one that said, YES YOU CAN! Yours will be personal to you. Check out https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/message/30685-quick-quips
The other thing that really helped was keeping a sense of humor about it all. Quitting tends to make us myopically morose at times and we need to slap ourselves upside the head and get OVER ourselves already! And we do that by employing humor.
Hi Marilyn,
Thank you, immensely, for taking a few moments! I am a big (although not
consistent) believer in affirmations. I'm going to check out and put into
play many of the resources you "quitters" have offered before my quit
day....Jan 8th. I have been logging (just quick time frame things) on my
cravings....why they come, what triggered....how long they have lasted so I
can have a solid plan designed for ME. Wishing the "cravings" I have so
often did not last so long....like an HOUR. I practice deep breathing
during this time while the anxiety builds, only for it to come back ...then
the caving in to make it stop!!
I'm optimistic and wee bit apprehensive as my start date approaches!
Thank you so much, Marilyn! Btw....I will be on the site as LindaLivesFree
if my username is accepted.
Linda
On Dec 28, 2017 8:37 AM, "Marilyn.H.July.14.14." <
You can succeed in your upcoming quit lindalivesfree , read everything you can about quitting smoking and remaining quit because there's a wealth of information here to strengthen your resolve to kick the nicotine poison to the curb and start living a life of Freedom, prepare yourself for Day ONE by reading, blogging and commenting which at the end of your first day quit you'll be able to say Yay for Day WON, believe in yourself and be willing, determined and committed and you will be Smokefree.
Hi! I’m new to this and decided before Christmas to quit January 1st. ANXIOUS! Still smoking and wanted to cut down but now it’s 3 days away? Should I make this the last pack and when it runs out even before the first let it be the quit date?
dallison1189, there is a lot of good information above concerning educating yourself so you know what you're up against. It's perfectly normal to be anxious about it - we all were! I didn't necessarily cut down before I quit though I did keep track of when I smoked, why I smoked (triggers), how bad I thought I wanted it, whether I enjoyed it (honestly), how it made me feel afterwards. It really enlightened me about what my real perceptions were.
If you think you're ready, then go for it! Welcome to the site!
Doug
Dallison1189, I am in the process of doing all of the prep work for my quit
date of Jan 8. At first I thought, why wait? Why not just quit? After all,
that is the goal. Once I got into the site, started using the tools and am
still looking into all of the recommendations that have been kindly offerd
to me, I see the importance in all of the prep work. Like Doug, I too have
been tracking my cravings, pushing them out further and documenting the
"why's" (actual triggers) so I can do my best to "plug the holes" before I
start.
Do you think you allowed adequate time to prepare? Personally, I think it
is more important to lay the ground work even if you push the date out to
allow time for this. In my daily homework, today I read the Blog in the
Quit Kit (I think Thomas wrote it) about disappearing from the playground
(playground being this support group) and how relapse works and that it
happens. I also like the phrase "never quit quitting"....also from this
site. It's a journey. Like any addiction.
Be brave in this! I'm trying to BE that. We are starting together in a very
nice NON-JUDGEMENTAL environment. For that I find comfort in taking this
first step into FREEDOM.
My best to you! Stay close to this community! If I have all of these
wonderful people holding my hand, in kindness and support, my hand is
OCCUPIED...lol, tied up so I can't hold a ciggy in my hand. (My vision )
Linda
Hello everyone! I am so glad that I came back to this site and especially found this post started by Nancy! I have had my quit date of Jan 2nd planned for a few weeks now and that is what brought me back here. I looked at my old posts on here and can't believe that it was 4 years ago that I was here and had a quit going! I am so disappointed in myself that all that time has gone by and I have been smoking.
So I have redone my Quit Plan on here and have started reading different things that have been suggested on here. I am also going to dig out my Allen Carr book. There is so much good information right here that I want to stay up all night and read it! I have plenty of time in the next few days so that is what I plan to do.
Thank you everyone for being here and thank you Elders for your continued support! I hope I can do someday what you to do help others!
Stay close to the site and keep in mind that you are ALREADY helping others...your preparation is helping. You CAN do this, your plan and your commitment are number one and the education and support you get from here will keep helping you along the way. It is PRICELESS!
Welcome back.
Ellen