Day 1 10/28/2018

[Bridgy]

So far so good! Had my morning coffee and didn't even want one. Little hard.when my company came over, because we use to sit at the kitchen table an light one right.after the other. I got through it though. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Positive thinking and smiles are great for quitting!!

[TW517]

Happy 1st day, and welcome to EX!  When you go to bed tonight, it will be Day Won!

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on your decision to quit and your first day.

The most 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  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

[Giulia]

  Howdy!  

                                      Welcome.

                                                                Glad you've joined us.

[maryfreecig]

Welcome to Ex!

[MarilynH]

Welcome to the community Bridgy you've made the best decision that you'll ever make in your lifetime and it's definetly the best gift that you'll ever give yourself which is the gift of LIFE, CONGRATULATIONS on your Day WON with many more to come you can do this quit believe it deep breaths and know that we're all here to help you in any way we can.....

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

WOW!! 

 CONGRATULATIONS on your decision to quit! So glad you found us. Day one was good. Love hearing that. You've just started a journey that can change the rest of your life. Learn all you can. Get to know what makes that addiction tick and stay true to yourself. Come here to blog if you need some help. We've all been where you are right now and we do understand. Looking forward to hearing of your continued success!

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

Chuck

[stAn3]

I’m glad your first day is going well, and I am glad you are spending it with us. Congratulations on your decision to stop smoking!

[Barbara145]

Congrats on quitting smoking and on day won.  Stay close to this site.  It helps so much as you navigate this new found journey.

[Barbscloud]

Welcome to the Ex and congrats on first day won.  Sounds like you started off your first day with a real test.  Stay close and reach out if you need support. We're here for you.

Barb

230 DOF

[Bridgy]

Thank you Marilyn H. I'm happy to know there are people her at EX that can

help, I appreciate that so much. I'm also here to help.

On Sun, Oct 28, 2018 at 7:23 PM Marilyn.H.July.14.14. <

[elvan]

Welcome to EX, you have gotten some really helpful comments from others, we are all glad that you are here and we all want to help you to stay on this journey and to stack up more and more and more days.  Please pay close attention to YoungAtHeart‌'s welcome, it has helped MANY people.  Education about this addiction, support from others, and your own commitment will keep you going in the right direction!

Ellen

[StacyS]

Welcome to Ex!  I'm at Day 9 and this place has been my saving grace.  Wishing you the best of luck! Stay strong!

[Bridgy]

Thank you 

[Barbscloud]

Hi.  Are you still out there?  We haven't heard from you.

Barb

[elvan]

So glad you are still here...I came to this site every morning and every evening for the first few months and I read blogs and commented and paid attention to what was working for other people.  We all started at a day one and it looks to me like you have over a month now...is that right?  That's HUGE!  Congratulations.

I hope you have read about NML, No Man's Land because that's just about where you are now and navigating your quit can get a little tricky,  You might have some surprise craves...be vigilant and remember that smoking will not help anything.  If you go to the top of the page on the right hand side, there is a little magnifying glass, click on it and type in NML or No Man's Land and you will get some good reading.

Ellen