Give and get support around quitting
N.O.P.E
I read this online and really liked it. I myself like I'm sure many of you have fallen into that I'll just take one puff!! And even if it smelled really bad and tasted like an ash tray we some how spiraled into smoking the same or more cigarettes cigars etc a day??? Ahhhhh!! Rite .. so I just really liked The N.O.P.E Not One Puff Ever!! I really have to keep it simple in my brain many days too much running around in there... My tip.that I heard to get through a craving was to suck air through a straw for about 5 minutes mimicking the cigarette. Hope this helps someone out there!! You are not alone. Take it a day at a time or a minute a time
Welcome to our community!
The Law of Addiction states (as you so aptly also put): . "Administration of a drug to an addict will cause re-establishment of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance."Jul 29, 2007 whyquit.com
We are addicts - plain and simple, and as such there will never be such a thing as "just one."
I'm sorry I somehow missed giving you my usual welcome. 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. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site.
Be careful using the NRT - be sure you use it only as a last resort, and don't sub using it for every cigarette you used to smoke. Doing so will not change your behavior, or your chemical dependence, and you might just end up being addicted to IT!
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:
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
Nancy thank you so very very much!! I'm so very glad someone replied.. it's so hard being new and getting the nerve to post anything!! I'm so open to information guidance and wisdom from those who have experiance!! There are not enough words to Express my grattitude.
SOOOO glad you posted! This site and the information I gave you made my success possible I quit using both on my first ever attempt - and I have been quit now for over 6 1/2 years!
You can be successful, too. Do the work, ask any questions you might have, and let us support you!
Nancy
Ditto, everything Nancy said LOL And adding my own welcome!
Annette thank you so very much...
You are so very welcome (literally!)
CONGATS AND GOOD JOB NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF EVER!!!! WAY TO GO!!! Yahoooooooo
Welcome to EX...when I first came here and saw NOPE, I wondered how it could be that I had not heard that before because I certainly had tried to quit many times in the past. NOPE became my mantra and I said it over and over and over again, sometimes quietly or even silently and sometimes not so quietly. One puff is all it takes to go right back to day one. My oldest daughter quit smoking a little over three years ago and she did not use the site, although, with me as a mother, she sure got an earful...in any event, she said that NOPE got her through and she could not believe how effective it was. This is a one day at a time journey and sometimes, it is one FEELING at a time. When we smoke, we stuff our feelings and when we quit, they SEEM to emerge much more intensely than what we are used to...basically because we are used to being numb.
Glad you found us and glad that NOPE speaks to you too.
Ellen
Elvan ot surely does!! Thank you so much