NEWBIE HERE

[heather118]

Hello everyone. I am a newbie to the becomeanex.org site. I decided to quit yesterday. I set my quit date for April 11. As of now I am learning my triggers and trying to deal with them. The one I am working on at the moment is lighting up after I eat. Today I waited out the urge for as long as I could....I went 4 hours without lighting up. I am pretty proud of myself! My plan is by 3/28 to quit smoking in my home and my car, then by 4/4 to quit smoking while at work, and finally by 4/11 to quit smoking all together. I decided to break it down this way because I feel fighting little battles at a time makes it much easier. It also gives me time to do as much research as possible on ways to help get me through this really hard time. Any advise any of you are willing to give me is greatly appreciated. Good luck to you all and I hope I can be as much as a supporter to you as I am hoping you all will be to me. 🙂

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Hi Heather

Welcome

I took a month to get my head around quitting and just cut down naturally by saying wait and one friday I said

to myself "this is my last pack" right at the counter. That was over 4 years ago.

[dragulae]

Congratulations! Setting a date is a great first step. Researching your addiction is another. I used to have the same habit, smoking after a meal. It still bugs me every once in a while. My cravings are less frequent, and not that strong anymore. The hardest part is the first five days. After that, its all down hill.

My advice:

1. Eat more healthy snacks to replace your nicotine cravings. This will give your mouth and hands something to do.

2. Drink lots and lots of water. Feeling full and refreshed will definately keep you hydrated and also help you break your habit of smoking after eating.

3. Find several different ways to relieve the stress. The first few weeks you will feel it. I'm on week 2 right now. Having an outlet for stress will keep you overall calm and less likely to relapse.

4. Start exercising if you are already not doing so. This keeps the weight off also, and helps to become more physically active, and create another level of health for you.

5. Keep a journal to record your thoughts during the transformation. This will lead you to new insights about your habit and be able to overcome different scenarios as they come up.

6. Have a supportive group to help you through. These people must accept the fact you may call early in the morning, and late at nite to keep you quit.

7. Realize that quitting smoking is not a trend, it is a lifestyle change that must include your mind, body, heart and soul. You must want to keep doing this and fight the battle as a daily objective. That is how I survived so far.

You are doing great so far, just keep your eye on the prize. I cant wait for you to tell us how your battle plan is going!

[Yaya2.6.10]

Hooray for your decision to Quit and welcome to the site.  It seems that you have a great plan and I'm glad it includes us!

[dodge315]

Welcome!  Sounds like you have a good plan.  My advice-right before you quit, switch your cigarettes (maybe to a lighter cigarette or a different brand).  For me it was easier to quit when I just didn't "enjoy" the taste any more.  My other advice-in the words of Breathing Free-stick tight to the site-the people here are amazing!

[Strudel]

Welcome to the site! Congrats on deciding to quit! To prepare I did a lot of reading - blogs here, the free course at::   http://quitsmokingonline.com/ and Allen Carr's book - "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" -

 free download -   http://joga.365.lt/Allen-Carr_Easy-Way-To-Stop-Smoking_Download-free-PDF-EBook

[twinda]

This was strictly my plan.  One day I and my best friend decided to quit one Sun, am. I decided to get in touch with

her at 9pm, to ask how she was doing. She said ok, and that was it.  Next morning, she confessed that she didn't

last that long, and smoked before the night was even over.  That was 1416 days ago. I am so glad today, that I kept

my quit. Course it was hard, but once I made 3 days......I wasn't about to throw them away. Plans are good IF you

stick with them. but to me ,it just prolongs your quit. and makers it harder the next time you decide to quit. and......

once you 'skip' your quit, thinking 'you'll just  strart another.....think again.  All this does is lessen your ability to

really quit.  It is just an excuse to smoke more.  Just my opinion, again.

[twinda]

PS!!!!  Congratulations for starting now.

Great job.

[laurie37]

Welcome to the EX community! Your quit plan sounds SO good! Strudel gave you great websites to read and we're here to support you. 🙂

[ks100207]

Welcome.  Lots of Online Angels here willing to help and give advice, support and listen while you go through your change in life.  It is a life changing thing when you quit but OHHHHHHH it feels so GREAT!

Kelly

[lois13]

welcome sounds like you are getting prepard,  you will be ready for you quit date,

[pipster540]

Heather..sounds like you have a solid plan....DO IT!   My plan was very similar...I called it practicing my quit...before it happened.  I think it made a BIG difference. 

Wishing you much success and FREEDOM!

[patty76]

Great Plan!!!  That kind of stuff really helped me.  You are starting earlier than I did (good for you!!) but like the week before my quit date, I started making myself wait when I got up to have smoke, waiting after I ate to have a smoke, picking up most of my ashtrays and making myself move to have the cig, etc . . . . For me, it helped me get my head around that I was really gonna do it.  For me, the night before my quit date, I picked up all the ashtrays (emptied, washed and put away), and emptied all my wastebaskets.  This may just be a me thing, but when a craving hits you (or at least me) it's amazing how willing you really may be to dumpster dive (or in this case wastebasket dive) for a cigarette butt for just a puff it it's there.  For me, if they weren't in the house, I haven't caved to go to the store, but if there was one or part of one here, I think I would have cheated . . .

GOOD JOB, and as my originaly blog said, you need the support and I find it in this group -- to whine, to vent, to celebrate, or sometimes just to keep your hands and head busy to not think about quitting!!!  We'll be watching for you to help you through and celebrate!!!!

P

[budman12]

Welcome to  you, Heather! Sounds like you're on the right track and pretty much ready to go with your quit. As Strudel said, DO try to download (you can do it for free!) or buy Allen Carr's book and DO check out quitsmokingonline.com. Both of these have made my attitude and outlook about quitting change drastically for the better. It's SO much easier when you have a positive outlook about quitting and you don't make yourself feel like you're giving up something that is at all good or helpful to you. You've made the right decision. Best wishes. We're here for you

[heather118]

Thank you all so very much!