Ok, before I begin, I have a big question! I have been reading material on the site, and I've come across things talking about using your workbook or your journal, I haven't seen anything about these things on my learning plan. Am I missing something? Oh and the BIGGEST news of all! I have officially set my quit date! March 28th! I know it seems like forever away right now, but if you read my previous blog you'll see why it's so far away. I have created my list of reasons to quit as well as the beginning stages of my quit plan. I'm going to paste it here. Not just for everyone else, but for me too. So I can go back and access this when I need to. This is a rough draft and a plan in process, but maybe it will help someone else.
Reasons to stop smoking:
- lung cancer
- leg amputation in the next 20 years
- hardened arteries
- heart attack in the next 20 years
- can exercise and look better
- will be more attractive
- aging my skin
- increased stress levels
- yellow teeth
- smoky smell on my clothes
- breathing easier
- no more coughing
- no more pains in my back
- can enjoy activities without worrying when I can smoke
- pride of quitting
- no more feeling bad about smoking
- overall health
- dry mouth
- pains in my back at night
- shallow breathing when running or walking a lot of stairs
Plan of attack:
WEEK 1
- Tracking daily for one week
- separation activities during that week
- smoke half instead of whole
- washing hands after each one
- no more smoking in the house
- switch to ultra lights
WEEK 2
- Separation activities continued
- smoking halves, cutting down by one each day
- finding routines/exercises to help cravings
- i.e. sugarfree gums, candies, drinking lots of water,crunches, drumming hands on steering wheel, cleaning,toothpicks, etc.
- creating new routines for separation:
- Mornings- getting straight out of bed to let tater out
- Driving- drumming, gum, singing
- After eating- toothpicks, gums,
- Work- cutting down & changing times
WEEK 3
- Continuing week 2 plans
- Beginning reward planning
