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Give and get support around quitting

TBoyette
Member

Fingers crossed

Starting day 2 

109 Replies
Barbscloud
Member

You've made if through the most significant day.   The first day smoke free means you've begun your journey to be a successful non-smoker.  One day at at time and reach out if you need support along the way.

Barb

Beck37
Member

Crossing your fingers is for good luck. Quitting smoking isn’t about luck, it’s a choice. If you truly intend to quit smoking it’s about attitude and shear determination. It’s making a conscious decision to never smoke again and is totally up to you. You and only you have the ability to do this. 

My biggest piece of advice is to stay out of your head. Your physical cravings will end soon enough but the mental will test you on a daily basis.... Life can be rough and chances are you’ve never had to face anything without the comfort of a cigarette.  But you are so ABLE to do this cause you are amazing. You will not die from a craving, but you might if you continue to smoke.

We are all here for you!!!! Congrats on Day 2

Beck

TBoyette
Member

It's a tough choice... I didn't smoke cuz I craved it.  I just liked the activity itself...  But don't like being winded at times and don't like the smell and don't want the wrinkles around my lips!

karenjones
Member

Liar, Liar, pants on fire.  You craved it.  Do I hear an addict speaking?   Yes I do.  I am 327 days into my quit and one of the most important parts of the quit for me was aknowledging my addict.  learning to recognize the voice of the addict. That addict is not you. Leave it behind.  You craved it. 

Quitting smoking is a journey of self discovery, and it is all good.  All good.  I look forward to meeting you again on this page, you and your addict.     Karen and her addict (who is mostly silent these days)

0 Kudos
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Welp - if you keep your fingers crossed, you can't actually light a cigarette - now can you?    Luck, however, doesn't really do anything for you in quitting smoking.  Education and commitment DOES.  I can help with the first; you must provide the second.

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! 

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

MarilynH
Member

Welcome to the community you've made the best decision that you'll ever make in your lifetime and it's definetly the best gift that any of us will ever give ourselves which is the gift of LIFE please read the links suggested above me and keep reading everything you can about quitting smoking and remaining quit because there's a wealth of information right here on this site to strengthen your resolve to kick the nicotine poison to the curb permanently it's not easy by any stretch of the imagination BUT it's absolutely Doable and totally worth it ,stay close because we're all here to help you in any way we can.

marciem
Member

Hi there !

I agree with Beck37‌ ... quitting smoking isn't about wishing or hoping, it is all about your choices, and you can do this!!

BUT, I did want to say... keep those fingers well crossed while you make the right choice (not to smoke).  It is very difficult to hold and smoke a cigarette with crossed fingers!!  LOL!

Best wishes to you on this eventful journey you have begun  

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beazel
Member

being winded, yucky smell, wrinkles......

All good reasons!!!

One day at a time..........

Smoking Is Not An Option