Day 3

[HughMary10]

I am on day 3 going into day 4 of choosing not to smoke. I have smoked for almost 39 years a pack a day. I have tried quitting  with help from pills, patches and vaping. I hated all those techniques and allergic to most of them. So I decided if I am going to quit I just had to do it cold turkey, which scared me to death. So my quit day came and I choose not to smoke. It’s early in the game here for lack of words, I have to shut the door on the craving every other minute it seems but I am glad I decided to go cold turkey. To be honest I think it was easier then using the other techniques.  I could be naive here and I know each day will be a up hill battle. My biggest problem is going to be gaining weight. What do you guys do for that hand/ mouth activity. I try mints, and chew gum ( not a fan of gum chewing). Seems M&M work good but I’ll be 400 lbs if I keep doing that. Any suggestion would be helpful. 

[green1611]

Excellent ...

I read that cold turkey works better than supportive measures.

Not to worry about weight gain just now.

My trick was to go out for loooong walk during cravings, and even after, so not much weight gained post smoking quit.

[Thovis]

Don't worry about weight gain and you're right, m&m's work great.  I used to change type, peanut butter, caramel, peanut, and sometimes pretzel.  lol    I am hitting 135 days tomorrow.  I gained about 25 lbs in the first 120 days.  I've spent the last 2 weeks focused on fixing my diet.  The pounds are falling off pretty quick. I feel great and I feel far away from smoking.  Keep it up! 

[PastTense]

HughMary10‌ - I am so glad to see you here!  Quitting smoking is the hard but the people here are great and very supportive.

I, too, am struggling with cravings, M&Ms, and weight gain.  For the first week, I think you can do whatever keeps you quit.  The first week is tough; you're dealing with withdrawal symptoms plus behavioral changes and it takes industrial quantities of chocolate to prevent homicides.  I beleive that's the law.

At week two we can start talking about breathing excercises and taking walks and all the other stuff.

Right now, just focus on not smoking. 

You got this

PT

[YoungAtHeart]

You might try Twizzlers or something that you can put in your mouth and that will take awhile to ingest.  You can also cut up straws to fiddle with, pull air through and chew on.

You might try subbing some healthier options in between the chocolate - carrot/celery sticks, pretzel sticks, suck on flavored toothpicks.  You also might try eating 6 smaller meals a day to keep your blood sugar level - something like a few almonds and some apple slices, some yogurt and fruit, or a bit of chicken and raw veggies.

You should definitely try to increase your exercise.  Even marching in place or doing a few sets of stairs will burn some exra calories.  Going for brisk walks not only burns the calories while you are doing it, but continues to burn them at a higher rate when you stop, AND it gives you a bit of the dopamine you are missing by quitting

Don't diet while you are quitting.  You will have extra time AND money to work on the excess weight when your quit is well in hand.

Congratulations on (almost) THREE days.

.

[maryfreecig]

I dealt with my weight gain when I was about 7 months in. I had to focus on quitting--I made an effort to not eat everything in sight, but I certainly ate more for a while. My weight came back down. Being active daily is one reason my weight stabilized.

An alternative to cold turkey is smart turkey--education, support in large amounts. 

Try to give yourself lots of food choices that are both what you like and pretty good for you too. Have the stuff on hand. Chewing on straws is another tactic. 

Congratulations on your three days! This is a big deal. Keep the smober days coming.

[brittneyd.rice]

Congrats on day 3-4! I know day 4 was very hard on me. Keep pushing through and remember all the reasons why quitting is so important to you! I'm only on day 7 and I'm doing whatever it takes to stay quit. Good luck!

[Barbscloud]

Just saw this today.   Big congrats.  Don't know if this was said already, but chewing on straws really helped me.

Barb

[HughMary10]

Thanks everyone on your comments. I will try them all. I am now on day 11 still not smoking. Yeah!!!!! Seems the last two days have been more difficult not sure why? Seems like I am  thinking about it more. But I am determined to remain a non smoker. Taking a lot of deep breaths. Tomorrow I  am going to start doing work outs when I feel the urge. Hopefully it will take my mind off smoking and reduce the weight I am going to gain.  Funny but being only on day 11 I am feeling a lot more healthier and more energy. I used to state that the cigs gave me energy and kept me going. I think the opposite is true. I appreciate having this place to go to as you all inspire me. 

[Barbscloud]

Happy to hear it's going well.  Big congrats on 11 days.   Even just going for a walk helps to pass a crave.  And feeling better already is a real motivator.  Stay in touch.

Barb