spending time reading tips and comments in support groups

[jbennett300]

Today is my quit day. I have read all the hows and whys and want to continue to remind myself of those things to stay on track. But when I read reminders, it makes me think about smoking and how much I really want a cigarette. I feel like I'm better off not reading any tips or words of encouragement and just distract myself. But then I think that having support in some way is better. Anyone else struggle with this?

[Jennifer-Quit]

For me, in the beginning smoking was on my mind 24-7.  It did not matter if I was reading about it or not.  Reading and participating here helped me tremendously.  Sometimes just writing my thoughts and feeling out, made me feel better.  Do what works for you.  I really hope that you will stick around and participate!

[sweetplt]

Whoop Whoop  jbennett300 on today being your quit date.  I can't say this happened to me either way.  I am 66 days quit and I still have my moments of craves and triggers, but less and less with each day.  I feel this way...and it's only my opinion, but do What makes you keep the Quit...that is what it comes down to in the end.  And knowing if you need the support, we are here for YOU...Take care of YOU...YOU are choosing Life...~ Colleen

[maryfreecig]

What Jennifer said. It takes a little while to stop focusing on smoking, but staying busy is definately one way to retrain the brain at first. Keep coming back. Blog as often as you wish to.

[elvan]

Staying close to the site was VITAL to my quit and I know of many others who stepped away because the site reminded them of smoking...many of those people went back to smoking, not all, by any means but the support is here.  We all want you to succeed, we all want to help in any way that we can...please remember that.  I suggest that you take the pledge every morning...hold someone's hand and pledge not to smoke as another person holds your other hand.  It really does help. https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/docs/DOC-1091-take-the-daily-pledge 

I wish you the very best...I had a terrible time stopping the thoughts of smoking, it seemed that all I thought about was NOT smoking...ALL THE TIME.  I asked my husband if he had any suggestions, he is a recovering alcoholic of 34 + years, he suggested that I get on my knees and ask God to remove the mental obsession.  I will admit that I did not have a lot of faith...particularly since he said it HAD to be on my knees and I might have to do it more than once.  I cannot tell you at what point I was but I CAN tell you that it worked. I had to do it more than once but it's not like I had to do it every day.  I have been quit for over five years after smoking for 47 years and there is no way I would have made it without this site.  I came here every morning and every evening and I still do, for the most part.

Best to you and welcome to EX,

Ellen

[Sootie]

Thinking constantly about smoking in the early days is totally normal. It is literally ALL I thought about (got SICK of thinking about it!!). I think the site helped me. Yes, I still thought about smoking but I knew I wouldn't smoke while I stayed on this site. I was on here and on whyquit.com continually in the first few weeks. It may be different for you---you have to "do you".

Stay Strong.

[marciem]

Hi, jbennett300‌!! Congratulations on making the momentous decision to change your life and quit smoking!!

I understand completely how you feel, that reading about smoking is going to keep you thinking about it.  BUT, here's the catch.  Even if you aren't reading everything you can about this horrible addiction and tips and tricks on how to stop, your mind is going to pretty much be on smoking/not smoking 24/7 regardless.  First of all, your addiction is going to be poking, prodding and screaming for a fix.  And face it, for the last however long you've smoked, you've done it two to three times an hour every waking hour.  So your whole body got in the act, including your mind even when you were smoking on autopilot thinking you weren't thinking about it, but really you were.

So, as has been said above, it is pretty normal to think and even obsess about smoking/not smoking during the early quit, and it really is helpful to learn all you can and spend your time gaining knowledge on how to counteract those craves and triggers as you learn to live life as a nonsmoker.

Best wishes to you, it is an adventurous journey ahead of you!!

[anaussiemom]

In the beginning of joining yes!   It was a bit to much" I felt, for me.    As I gave it time and asked my "own questions"  to sort out things, that helped a lot.
Then I could digest more and more. 
My brain has a way of digesting things with time.  For me if I read a lot, I felt overwhelmed, slowed up some, and also time, manages to kick in too, and put it in perspective.

I encourage getting to know people, playing some games, try absorbing many aspects of EX Org.  
It helps with the quitting, so much, more.  Putting up blogs help a lot too!
Many Blessings
Kim

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

After you have done some reading on the subject, I hope you will start to think "Not another one" when you start to think about smoking!  ALL that you thought it did for you was a lie.  Read on to find out about it!

The 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 it online or at your local library. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
 
 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, quitsmoking.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 in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  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.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. 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

[indingrl]

In the beginning YES- MY drug NICOTINE consumed MY thought life- I stayed on this site and at whyquit.com watching videos- your doing good!