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mommymakeover
Member

mommymakeover's Status Update on 01/10/2019

Smoke free since Sunday 12/30/2018. So....why did I crave so much this morning? Um weird
13 Replies
TW517
Member

Everyone is different.  My first 2 days were easy, followed by 2 horrible days, followed by 2 relatively easy weeks, then about 10 days of agony.  Hang in there!
TW517
Member

Just checking in.  How are you doing mommymakeover ?
mommymakeover
Member

I have been doing ok. Had super craving dor some reason last night. Was by myself and knew no one would know but me but thankfully I chewed my gum and persevered. 
TW517
Member

Good job.  Those super craves will eventually all but disappear.  Although it seems like they take forever to go away when you are experiencing them.
Giulia
Member

Howdy.  So you're at the two week mark?  Super!  You might want to put up a blog instead of a status report as bogs can be seen by everybody on the site easily and status reports kind of get missed.  If you need help with that hover over my avatar and then click on "message" and give a holler.  Major cravings can pop up at any time for no reason at all.  Each time you get through one, it will become easier until you can easily shrug them off.  Hang tight!
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

​Congratulations on TWO weeks. That is HUGE.  I would still recommend that you do some reading to understand this addiction - and why it's such a difficult one to get past.  Some of my points might help to make the rest of the journey a bit easier, too


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


Mandolinrain
Member

Welcome ! I am so sorry I did not see your post sooner. I am so glad your here and I hope to see you even more and more. Please do the suggested reading because it truly does help.
elvan
Member

Welcome to EX...as you can see, many of us did not see your post.  Personally, I am not a fan of status updates because they just do not get seen by most people.  Blogs tend to be seen by more people.  You are doing GREAT...you have two weeks, is that right?  Those of us who have been here a while affectionately refer to the first week as Hell Week and the second as Heck Week.  It DOES get better.  Education, support, and commitment will make all the difference in the world in the success of your quit.  We all very much want you to succeed and we want to do everything we can to help you. Do the reading suggested by YoungAtHeart, it really will help you.  Think of this as the place you will go to INSTEAD of smoking.  Craves will come and go but no crave ever killed anyone, unlike cigarettes.  I used the mantra NOPE when I came here....I got it from this site.  Not One Puff Ever. It makes it clear that if you smoke even one puff...you are back at the beginning of the emotional roller coaster.  This addiction has a physical and a psychological component and, in my opinion, the psychological component is MUCH stronger because the physical portion is resolved fairly early on. We all have to learn to FEEL our emotions instead of stuffing them down by smoking.  Smoking does nothing for us except to temporarily satisfy that nagging addiction...at the same time as it STRENGTHENS it.

​Again, welcome.
​Ellen
Jennifer-Quit
Member

Welcome to EX!  Sorry for the slow response but just now seeing your post.  My advise is to read and educate yourself about this addiction - knowledge is power!  The more you know, the less scary it will be.  Best wishes to you!