Day 1

[TEGS71191]

its been a challenge but I'm trying my best, the worst part about this is the withdraws and being ghosted from someone I thought I had a future with. I guess I have to do this on my own 

[CommunityAdmin]

Welcome! Congrats on joining. Did you start your quit already? I see you had set your quit date to 6/1/20.

Mark
EX Community Manager

[sweetplt]

Hi and Welcome to Ex’s TEGS71191 

I am so glad you found our site.  Best of all that you are quitting smoking.  Let me suggest, you read at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX ... Also, read the blogs here at Ex’s to educate yourself about quitting.  This journey takes hard work and making YOU and YOUR Quit priority one...so the person that ghosted you may be a new beginning.  You can solely work on this journey.  Be sure to drink lots of water and keep busy (take a walk, take a shower, say a prayer, watch something funny, post here, etc.,)...You can do this...it takes times and determination.  We are here to help you, so stay close to the support site.  We are in this journey together...~ Colleen 519 DOF 

[blakesgigi]

But you are not alone!  Yes it's hard, yes, there will be times that you want to cry (please do) but in the end, coming out a winner is so worth every moment of hardships.  YOU can do this.  We are here for you:)

GiGi

28 DOF 

See - I am a newbie too!!

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to the community!

Since you have become a member of our community, you are not going to be doing this alone.  Just ask a question, or for support, and we will right with you!  I am confused about your quit date, so I will share the welcome blog I offer to all who are newly arrived/

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 easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware.  I credit it in large part with my success at quitting.   You can search for it online or at your local library.

 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. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract.   I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another.  You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them..  For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum.  For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for obvious reasons.

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

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

[MarilynH]

Welcome to the community TEGS71191 we're all here for you and we're rooting you on you can and will turn your DAY ONE into Day WON with many more to come deep breaths and know that you're going to be successful one precious Smokefree Day at a time or hour minute or even a second at time, please read the links suggested above me and keep reading everything you can 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 to be Free.....

[maryfreecig]

I'm sorry your relationship ended abruptly. That you want to quit and have started day 1 is fantastic--congratulations--even though you are likely upset over being ghosted, you are taking the first step. 

Stick with it one day at a time. And welcome to Ex.

[elvan]

Congratulations on your quit, you are not alone, glad you found us. I never could have quit without this site! One day at a time. Sorry about your relationship, you are about to enter a period of great emotional growth & you may not want this relationship after you get some recovery time under your belt.

Welcome to EX.

Ellen

[SuzyQ411]

Let us be your supporters and cheerleaders. We have your back TEGS71191‌. 

[sweetplt]

Let us know TEGS71191 how you are doing? Hoping Day 1 is Day won...Happy Day 2....Colleen 520 DOF 

[Strudel]

Welcome and congrats on your quit! Stay close! 

[MarilynH]

How are you doing TEGS71191? We're here for you.....

[TEGS71191]

At the moment I'm holding up as much as I can, what are some tips to stop the cravings, and thank you everyone for being here for me when I need it

[MarilynH]

I'm not very tech savvy to post links BUT YoungAtHeart , Barbscloud  and sweetplt are three people I can think of right quick that have some great they'll post that can help, I chomped on carrots and celery sticks plus I kept a bag of sugar free mints around in case of of any unforseen cravings plus I drank alot of water and still do, try to keep your mind as well as your hands occupied and I watched alot of comedy TV and DVD'S because I found if I was laughing I didn't have any cravings that's just a few things I did. TEGS71191

[TEGS71191]

Well like I realized when. I play my video games the cravings go away until I stop then a huge rush just hits me, like it sucks because I started smoking 3 years ago because of a traumatic experience. But I've been trying to quit and trying to figure out other options so I might pick up the carrots

[Giulia]

Craving Buster Technique‌ that's a good one that may help.  You can also just type "craving" in the search box (upper right magnifying glass icon) and read forever about those who are going through them, have gone through them, ways of getting over them....

Life is going to continue to happen whether you're on day 1 or day 101.  We have to learn to separate our emotional needs for comfort from the cigarettes.  We're so used to that being our "go to" for comfort that it's naturally the first psychological trigger that hits us.  Emotions make us fragile and addiction becomes most active when we're in that state.  So we first must learn to understand ourselves and our relationship with this addiction in order to overcome it.  The more we know about ourselves and the more we learn about the addiction, the better able we are to gain the necessary tools to combat it.

Just keep reading.  That is one of the most valuable tools in your quit kit.

Day 2.  You just keep hanging in.  That's how it's done.  One day after the next.  That's how quits are built.

[YoungAtHeart]

MarilynH I gave my usual welcome earlier!

Here's the link again for ideas of things to do to help get past a crave: 

 https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

Pull out the ones you think you would like to do and write them down so you are prepared when you find yourself in a difficult spot. 

This quit thing takes effort in the earliest days, but it DOES get easier.  Just take it an hour (sometimes a minute) at a time.  Decide you won't smoke a cigarette until after you..............then decide it again, and again!

You can do this - if it didn't get easier, none of us would have made it through.

Congrats on your success thus far!

Nancy

[Barbscloud]

How are you doing this morning?   Welcome to the Ex.  Sorry I'm a little late, but you've gotten great advice.   There are many tools to use when you're having a craving.  For me it was walking, Sour Patch Kids, chewing straws and deep breathing.   I had to keep busy! I found video games helpful because the time would pass so quickly.  

It's important to create new behaviors and associations that previously involved smoking.  Early on, I would just go out the door and take a short walk.  That's something you could do after playing video games and it helps you to refocus.

Stay close now and continue to reach out.  We're here to support you and want you to be successful.

Barb

[SuzyQ411]

Sometimes a bit of humor helps~

[elvan]