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[Brianairb2]

What an empowering & beautiful blog!  If you think you're fierce now, wait until those smoke-free days start stacking up.  You will be a force of nature!  I promise that you will not regret it, and it will gradually get easier.  Come here everyday, if only to read and keep your head in the game.  I'm only 214 days free, but I feel gratitude every day to have broken through to the "other side" of addiction.  I believe you will too.

[Bonnie]

Great post...thank you!  The SMELL is one of the main reasons I quit...I thought I smelled "clean", too, but as a smoker we can't smell it!  I got into a friend's car the other day (after I had quit) and when I closed the car door, we BOTH smelled the NASTY stale smell of cigarettes...it must have been my wool winter coat...YUCK! I hope nothing else stinks on my journey moving forward and let us both remember how we felt when someone told us we smelled like an ashtray

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

You sound so committed and ready.  Good for you!

I will give you some good reading materials.   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).

 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. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance.

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:

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

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

[Barb102]

What a great post. I was just getting the bad craving so I logged in for support,  I’m 8 days into my quit and you just empowered me! Your strong u will do this.  I’m here to help as are all the others!  You r not alone

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Congratulations on making the decision to quit smoking.  It is one of the best things you can do to save you life and welcome to EX.  The idea is to start at the beginning by making a commitment that no matter what happens or goes on in your life that you will not use it as an EXcuse to smoke. Which you have.  With that philosophy you will have success on this journey. 

No it is not easy but it is doable by using that principle and educating yourself about nicotine addiction.   If you hang around you will see that yes you can and will.   Look forward a new way of life that does not include smoking.  It is all up to you and what you are willing to do to be smoke free.  Quitting smoking requires hard work and determination not to give up.   It can be challenging at times but you will learn that it is doable if you adhere to NOPE not one puff ever no matter what. 

Start first, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction because education is the key to a successful quit.  

Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101 

Here are the links: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html   and http://whyquit.com/ffn/

I also encourage you to read. Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.       

Congratulations on making the decision to quit smoking.  It is one of the best things you can do to save you life. Welcome to EX.  The idea is to start at the beginning by making a commitment that no matter what happens or goes on in your life that you will not use it as an EXcuse to smoke. Which you have.  With that philosophy you will have success on this journey. 

No it is not easy but it is doable by using that principle and educating yourself about nicotine addiction.   If you hang around you will see that yes you can and will.   Look forward a new way of life that does not include smoking.  It is all up to you and what you are willing to do to be smoke free.  Quitting smoking requires hard work and determination not to give up.   It can be challenging at times but you will learn that it is doable if you adhere to NOPE not one puff ever no matter what. Start first, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction because education is the key to a successful quit.  

Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101 

Here are the links: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html   and http://whyquit.com/ffn/http://whyquit.com/ffn/

http://www.becomeanex.org/how-to-quit-smoking.php#thl  click on  the link and get started. 

I also encourage you to read. Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.       https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/newbie-quitters/blog/2018/01/18/is-today-your-quit-date So let's get started. 

[maryfreecig]

This is a quit letter!  Re read it as often as you need to. Yes you can recovery from nicotine addiction, one day at a time.

[Mandolinrain]

Great quit attitude! I hope you follow the advice above. It will make your transition SO much easier. Come see us often. Read lots of old/new posts. You CAN do this.

Glad your here.

Missy

[Sootie]

JACKIE1-25-15‌  already mentioned this site...but I am going to mention it again......whyquit.com. Please go there and read the articles. They will (I hope) show you as--- they showed me--- that you don't really enjoy smoking.....that's part of the addiction lie. Smoking does not make you enjoy things more....again, part of the addiction lie. You sound very strong and ready to do this....but you need to be careful. My first long quit, I made the mistake of romancing the cigarette. Told myself I loved smoking, it was enjoyable, it was my one relaxing pleasure.......and although I did quit for a long time, it was destined to fail because I approached it like a martyr----as if I was "giving up" so much. This quit, my FOREVER QUIT, my head is in a completely different place thanks to EX and to sites like whyquit.com. Hope you find it useful also

Stay Strong

[AnnetteMM]

Your powerful and courageous Quit Letter has just helped ME through a rough morning! Here you are, a brand-new non-smoker, and you're already having a great influence on others.