Welcome! You have many, many reasons to protect your Quit and not a single reason to lose your precious Quit!
CONGRATULATIONS for One Week! That's a very BIG DEAL!
We can talk about the many physical reasons you will benefit from your Quit
Or the many ways your Quit will protect your furbabies
But the Greatist Gift is reclaiming your Spirit!
Yes, anger is a natural part of Nicotine Recovery but it's only short-lived and temporary!
You can learn skills to cope with the anger and allow it to wash over you instead of acting out of it.
Meditation helps me in so many ways with anger and other emotions I choose not to express to others. I don't deny them - I let them run their coarse within me and decide my actions and words for their Benefit to my cause.
Read more and you can learn many skills that will help get you from day to day in your Quit Journey!
Well hello and Welcome LooniLoni! (Love the name.) And congrats on your first smoke-free week. That's fabulous. Many of us get snappish when we first quit smoking. We're simply mad that we can't have our binky. As you progress down your quit path and become used to the new smoke-free you, you'll find your anger dissipating. Doing slow, deep breathing and changing your focus will help with that. You might also carry a little "change of attitude" object with you. Could be a funny saying or picture you've seen on the internet that you can print out, or putting on a silly hat when you get mad. Or you could take a quarter, glue some white paper over it and write something on it as a reminder to pull yourself out of your grrrrrrrrrrowl. Like HA on the side and HA on the other, or a smilie face and a frownie face, then flip it. Just something that will draw your humor up. Humor is a saving grace in this quit business. Here's a link to a group with jokes that may help divert your attention: H-H-Humorous Corruptus.
Congratulations on your decision to quit and your Week WON! The first week is often the most difficult. Everybody goes through ups and downs of mood swings. I liken it to a roller coaster ride....but the only way out is to finish it - so hang on tight. Maybe aplogize in advance to those you love (or work with) and ask for their patience! It takes a bit for your body (and mind) to adjust to life without nicotine.
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. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:
As well, read the sections on this site, and read the blogs, responses and pages of folks you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com and quitsmokingonline.com for the good information contained there.
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.
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. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around your head alone. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
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!
Hi and Congratulations! Please read the book that Nancy recommended Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” It really helps you look at smoking and not smoking in a whole different way. I re-read some chapters from time to time just to reinforce my resolve to stay quit.
Welcome and congratulations on your one week of smoke free living and heading for two precious smoke free wks, one day at a time or if need be one hour or one minute or even one second, just keep moving forward and stacking up your awesome days of freedom and do the recommended reading because it will help strengthen your resolve to remain smoke free!
hi-di-ho, new person. This is the place to be if you are serious about quitting smoking. there's lots and lots of information on here and all different theories. Hop on my page if you wish and read some blogs. Use the search bar on top of this page for things you are curious about. Ask away. we're all here to make you sucessful at being an ex-smoker !!!!
Congrats on your first week of quit. Those that love you will understand and love you more and more as you advance forward in your quit. Just make sure you've given them heads up! Hugs!
Love the pictures.... I don't want to be that "old lady" either, but I was for quite a while - you will get through it and you have a lot of good advisors here to help you with the nuts and bolts. THe important thing is Just Don't Smoke, No Matter What.
I am no expert, have just these 72 days and not all of them were pretty, but I always refused to smoke, no matter what, told myself NOPE (Not One Puff Ever), and SINAO (Smoking Is Not An Option), and all these strategies (see above) really work. Soon, it won't be all you think about, I promise.
Don't Quit On Your Quit!
P.S. Make sure all your "smoking stuff" is gone, out of the house, destroyed, that little thing probably saved my early quit, more than once.
Welcome, you've come to the right place for support. Focus on your quit first, the withdrawal (and change) symptoms will sort themselves out. Relearning life without the smokes is absolutely, entirely, no doubt about it, doable. Congrats on your decision to quit. Keep up the good work.
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