Day 3

[HoytGirl]

Here I am, doing quitting. Playing on the site on my phone keeping two hands busy. Tried to quit Sept 12th made it 8 or 9 days but made mistakes. Trying it again. Threw out all butts. No excuses to get more smokes. I know now the patches are ok for me in the morning but just 7mg. Stupid vivid dreams on them but they do help. Until they dont.. Pop a lozenge if it doesnt go away. I know what to expect this time.

 Nice community. I dont know what to really say or where to post but, Hello to You, I like to read your posts.

[Mortalzeus]

I trust you did all the required reading, truly believe that this is an addiction, identified what your triggers are and how to combat them, and prepared yourself mentally for the journey ahead? Your Freedom demands it!

Thank You sharing and let us help on this journey  

Darren  

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking and our first three days!  Sounds like you have the right idea if you are keeping your hands and mind busy!  The OTHER thing you can do is read about this addiction to better understand getting your freedom from it.

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 a free pdf of it on the net (copyright enforcement won't allow me to post the link here).

 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, quitsmokingonline.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.

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.  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.

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. 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.  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

[HoytGirl]

Hi Darren,

I have prepared myself. I read and believe. The addiction is as real as it

can get. All 30 years of it. I know this wont be easy, but nothing good

ever is. The morning craving came and went. Yay! Made it! Thank you for

your kind thoughts.

[HoytGirl]

Thank you Nancy, those were great ideas! Switching up, breaking routines. I understand my brain thinks nicotine is what it needs, but, if I do not feed it any, soon, my natural chemical balance will restore itself. I am eager to stay quit. Im happy to find nice people like you to help.

[elvan]

HoytGirl  Welcome to EX, please do the reading and accept that this is an addiction and has to be treated as one, it is no walk in the park.  This is a one day at a time journey, it is not an event.  You found that out in September.  Doing the reading and accepting that this is an addiction were HUGE keys to me, I also came to this site first thing every morning and last thing at the end of the day...I read blogs, I commented, I wrote blogs, I asked for advice and I LISTENED when it was offered.  I changed all of my routines, I didn't drink coffee in the morning for the first few weeks because I was afraid that it was a trigger.  I drank green tea and I HATE green tea.  I went back to coffee once I realized it never was a trigger because I never drank coffee outside and I never smoked INSIDE.  My addiction tried over and over again to get me back...I knew that I did not want to smoke, I knew that it was killing me and yet, I STILL had to recommit every day.  I suggest staying very close to the site, tell us about yourself, figure out your triggers and then plan to handle them WITHOUT cigarettes...triggers will always show up.  There will always be good days and bad days, smoking does not do anything good for us...it sure does a lot of bad things to us.  I suggest you do the Daily Pledge every morning and take the hand of another EXer as you pledge not to smoke today, no matter what then ride the Freedom Train and celebrate your milestones along with others.  You can find links to both at the top of the page under "Celebrations and Events".  You can blog about anything you want, a good day, a bad day, any questions you have about how to keep going...ANYTHING that we might be able to help with.  We are all here to help you succeed.

Again, welcome to EX,

Ellen

[OldBones-Larry]

Welcome to the community. If you need help to resist lighting one up, post with HELP as a subject. We will do our best to help you. That is what we are here for. We know about cravings "out of the blue" ourselves.

Larry

[HoytGirl]

Thank you Larry!

[HoytGirl]

Ellen, Thank you for helping me navigate the site and my quit. I also use the text messaging feature texting CRAVE MOOD SLIP when it comes. Very nice when I cant really stop and navigate the site. Its the after I eat ciggy crave thats my hardest! I keep wanting and wanting but it is so poisonous, I am not giving up anything by quitting, I am gaining so much. Im hanging in there. No slip. No patch on today, instead, got home from work, (where I could never smoke anyhow), am on a cleaning house frenzy. 

Hope you have a lovely day.

[YoungAtHeart]

Try sipping on some ice cold water after a meal or a nice cup of herbal tea in a place different from where you smoked, or taking a quick walk, or (if you're home) getting right to the clean up?  You might get up and come to the site for a bit, or turn on some music in another room and sing aloud to it.  You are relearning your life as an ex-smoker - and changing up your routines is a big part of that!

Stay close!

[maryfreecig]

Hello back at you. And welcome to Ex. Blogging about your quit is a great way to start. Keep coming back, keep reading and participating--there are so many helpful folks here and tons of useful info.

[MistyNoMore]

Welcome and congrats! As you know, Day 3 is one of the very hardest days, so you have done great things already.

Good luck with the rest of your quit.

[elvan]

HoytGirl‌ I am so proud of you...yes, most of us have really clean houses at least at the beginning of our quits, we clean EVERYTHING.  It's good to keep busy...remember to reward yourself too...a manicure, a latte, something JUST for you.  The hardest trigger for me to get past was the "reward" trigger.  Whenever I finished a task, I always sat back and smoked...that was tricky. The one after eating was tricky too...I would get up from the table after dinner and immediately start cleaning up, doing the dishes, putting things away and THEN I would write the number of days I had on a big calendar on the kitchen wall.  It made me feel so happy to see those numbers going up.

It WILL get easier, I promise, you are doing a great job.

Ellen

[HoytGirl]

I am enjoy a hot tea right now! I recently switched from coffee to tea. Had to give up caffeine for other health reasons. I dont have the strong association of smoking and tea like I did with smoking and coffee. And Im being saved by Cup o Noodles! Comfy time. Tough after dinner cravings earlier got beat out by an immediate after dinner truck ride with my other half who has been smoke free for 10 years. I did not smoke in vehicles with him execpt on very long rides, I mean two, three day rides,  and I always felt bad doing that. He never asked me not to, its been my choice, I just figured it had to stink to him, so I was nice! He's a great supporter. The silliest thought I had today was "Oh Im not enjoying anything without cigs"...as I was having a great time!! I hate being an addict. 

[HoytGirl]

Mary, you're right. This is a great place. 

[HoytGirl]

Those are good tips! I enjoyed my "reward" smoke when I got through with a job,  figured out a problem, its another tough trigger for me  

I went and got my hair done the day I quit! Rewards are awesome.

[elvan]

Good for you...take care of yourself and understand that you are really growing stronger with every smoke free minute but you are in a fragile state right now, needing to take care of you and be gentle with yourself.  You CAN do this...it is one day at a time and sometimes a whole day is too long and we have to shorten it to one hour or one minute....rewards ARE awesome.  So glad you have a supportive partner, that is a big help.

Ellen

[elvan]

I had my first EVER pedicure after I quit smoking, I never wanted to spend money to have my toenails filed and my feet smoothed.  I wasn't interested in nail polish, I just wanted someone ELSE to deal with my feet.  It was pretty amazing.  I was going once a month for a while but then I really was having some issues with the strong smells in the shop so I stopped.  I DID put away the amount of money that I would have spent on cigarettes because I KNEW that, no matter what, I would have found a way to come up with that money.  It's harder now that I have been quit longer and I am not working as many hours but I make an effort to recognize the fact that I quit and that it really needs to make my life better in more ways than one.