Hello, I am preparing to quit smoking. I set my quit date for August 11.
It's a bit far out, but my partner (non-smoker) has a procedure on the 8th where he will be put under anesthesia, and I know I'll be extremely stressed until I know he's safe.
I have been a smoker for 14 years. 13 of those years were cigarettes, this last year has been almost exclusively vaping. I have had less than 10 cigarettes between July 2022 and July 2023. At my worst point in time, I was probably at a pack a day. At the end of my time smoking cigarettes, I was at about half a pack a day.
Just switching to vaping has made a world of difference in terms of ability to taste and smell (equal parts vinegar and water work decently well getting smoke smells out of things that are hard to wash, by the way), but I am still addicted to nicotine.
There were two reasons I decided it was finally time to quit. The first I don't feel comfortable talking about since I know my coworkers are aware of this forum, the second is funnier and I'll share- my vape slipped out of my pocket...into the toilet. Before flushing. Beginning of the workday! Brand new coil, full tank of juice... The only thing that could have made it worse would have been if it had been a Monday, to boot.
In the time leading up to my quit date I am trying to identify what stressors are causing me to vape. I've discovered that my boyfriend expressing his feelings stresses me out. Ok, that sounds horrible, but he gets very passionate and very loud. It starts sounding very aggressive and intimidating even though I know logically his anger isn't directed at me. I have definitely used smoking/vaping as a crutch to avoid uncomfortable feelings. On a coaching session today, deep breathing was suggested. I also have a picture of my favorite place on Earth to help me visualize a place that puts me at ease taped up by my desk as well as a poster about stress management (taking deep breaths, accepting what we cannot change, staying hydrated, etc.)
Some are just habits I'll need to learn how to break. I'm finding the information on this website extremely helpful. The suggestion to try drinking water through a straw is kind of genius. I know the old trope of eating sunflower seeds isn't good due to the high sodium, but I never thought about water through a straw. Water is good for you anyway, but the straw probably helps transition you from one kind of inhaling habit to another, healthier one.
My employer has a monthly health newsletter. It was released today, and it feels timely. One of this month's themes is changing habits. The newsletter called it a "habit loop". It described there being three stages to the loop: cue, routine, and reward. The brief article discussed identifying the routine you want to change (in my current case, smoking), identifying the cues (stressors, triggers, etc., reasons we smoke), and then changing up rewards to help create a new routine (instead of nicotine hit-- sugar-free candy, or maybe sugar-free flavored water if water isn't a reward enough on its own?)
Oh, man. One of the topics on here was learning who to avoid-- but my problem won't be smokers tempting me. The problem will be people stressing me out. I can't avoid people since I have a front facing customer service job and I share an office (more like a cubicle) with someone in close proximity. We get along decently, but we butt heads sometimes and this is going to be one of the biggest trials of my patience, quitting.
