MY Choice

[bethomrod]

I am thankful for another day sober and praying for relief and deliverance from this horrible 38 year addiction of smoking as well. I am so excited to have found this website, thankful for the producers of it, and looking forward to the support of all those trying to quit and those that are staying quit. I could list all the reasons I need to smoke every other minute but I now realize they are all excuses and a way for me to numb the pain of the past for me and like so many of you. I am choosing to try to make a difference in my, my families and others, especially those who suffer from addictions as I do, lives. So saying prayers for you and myself. Stay MOTIVATED and keep choosing to STAY QUIT.

[jonilou]

Happy Sunday, Beth! Today is a day to succeed in our journey of freedom from the scourge of smoking. This is a wonderful group of people, actually a FAMILY of people who never fail to encourage each of us in our darkest hours. So glad to have you join us and see what true FREEDOM looks like!

[JACKIE1-25-15]

To EX.  You have come to the right place.  This is all about you and what you are willing to do to be smoke free.

Start here

First, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction.

Education is the key to a successful quit.

Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101         Here are the links      

 http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html

 http://whyquit.com/ffn/

Also Read   Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.       

The link is here:  http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

Go to the home page   https://excommunity.becomeanex.org

click on   About EX tab and get started. 

We will support you. You are in your journey for freedom.

[shashort]

Hi Beth welcome to the community this is a great place to be and glad you found us.  You are in the right place to gain knowledge about your addiction as well as the support which I believe goes together. You cill have more people joining in a bit to give more info read and learn and great choice to quit smoking. 

[constanceclum]

Welcome Beth, there are several people here just starting our quits after smoking for many yrs. but, 1 day at a time, we are doing it. You can too!!!

Connie

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

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 also highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read.

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  quitsmokingonline.com for the good information contained there. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested on this site

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.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

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:

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 site, be sure to do the reading above and read everything you can here about quitting smoking because there's a wealth of information here to strengthen your resolve to remain quit ,we'reall here to help you through the rough patchesand it's so worth it and definitely doable.