Newbie in town!!!

[scgquit]

Hi all,  I found this site yesterday and have been spending a lot of time reading the post.  I think this is going to help me finally get where i want to be.  I have tried to quit many times but never with the help of constant support.  I would throw a patch on and hope for the best.  I am excited to try this again with my new support team!  I look forward to getting to know some or all of you and be a part of this smoke free voyage.  Once before when i took a smoke censation class the spokes person once said, "remember you are not going thru this because you decided to quit, you are going thru this because you started".  I think about that a lot and i hope when i do become smoke free, i will say those words over and over to try and prevent myself from ever picking up that ONE cigarette that takes you back down the path to where you end up here again.  I quit once for 2 years and LOVED being smoke free.  It is amazing how it is just as hard or harder to do it again! 

Keep the support coming!  My quit date is October 26th!  🙂

SG

[Zendlewise]

So glad you are here,, SG.  I am 88 days into my quit and just starting to really feel a bit more secure.  I quit once before and it seemed way easier than this one.  But I am hanging in there, because i do not want all the health issues that follow a smoker.  The people on this site have given me so much suppport, that I can say you are in the right place.  Please read all about the addiction, everything you can, it really is helpful to know what an insidious thing it is---smoking.  Keep in touch and don't let go---you won't regret it!

[Puff-TM-Draggin]

Welcome aboard, scg!  I too am quitting for the second time around.  After a life smoking I quit for three years only to give it all away.  The differences for me this time are that before I quit for someone else.  This time I'm quitting for me.  And last time I quit because I wanted something in return.  This time I'm quitting because I have nothing left to lose, which seems to me like the best time possible to throw away destructive behaviors too.

More difficult or not, I am confident this quit will be more solid ... and I'm here to tell you that it can be done, at least for 37 and half days.  But I'm still counting.

Keep your eye out for posts from other wonderful members with links to invaluable resources.  READ THEM!  They give you the perspective you'll need to make quitting, not exactly easy, but definitely easier.

Nice meeting you.  I look forward to watching you succeed!

[JonesCarpeDiem]

The patch can take the edge off the physical but it doesn't stop you from thinking of smoking  any less, and it won't keep you from smoking.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/06/26/what-to-expect-...

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Welcome scg quit. Congratulations on your decision to commit to stop smoking.   Our resolve is to never smoke again.  NOPE  “Not one puff ever.”  I suggest that you follow the steps on the web page along with reading, writing, studying, researching.   This is all about you and what you are willing to do to be a nonsmoker.  Here is a link to Allen Carr’s book Easy Way to Quit Smoking an easy read, suggested by the elders which is quite helpful. If you take the time to do the work you will have success.  There is no magic pill to quitting. http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

Also check out www.whyquit.com. There is a lot of beneficial information.  Look for Freedom From Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101.  Stay close to the site and learn, ask questions. Read the blogs enjoy your commitment to quit smoking. If you should need something to do here is  a link that will help https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

[freeneasy]

That spokesperson meant that you had the willingness to stop. Once you stop take it one day at a time. You found the right place to learn about stopping and stay stopped. There no such thing as "throw on a patch and hope for the best"  (-: The nicotine patch could help-learn about nicotine addiction, listen to all the advice above and do! Do it for you! .

[TerrieQuit]

All of the links and advice above and coming to this site every day and staying committed are all you need! Please do the reading. It helps alot! Educating and coming here reading a couple hrs a day (I still do) are how i stay quit! Congratulations on a great choice you have made to quit smoking! Hang in there and do your homework!!

Terrie  3  months of smoke freedom!!

[scgquit]

Thanks so much everyone!  I will definately be checking out these websites and the book from Allen Carr.  I use to read all the time, but now i would rather be outside smoking.  I am planning on getting back to reading because it helps take my mind off of things.  I know now that  "throw the patch on and hope for the best" does not work.  I have tried that numerous times and that is why i am here.  Does anyone have a spouse that is still smoking and if so, how are you handling that?  I guess that is my biggest fear.  We spend all of our time outside talking and smoking.  When i have tired to quit in the past, i found that the time we spent together is something i really missed.  He would be out smoking and i would be inside trying to avoid the temptation.  I missed him!  I guess the upside to that is it will soon be cold outside.  When it is cold, we would run out long enough to smoke and run back in.  That i will NOT miss!    And hopefully once the weather warms up again, i will be a little more comfortable in my smoke free world.  And maybe, just maybe he will try and quit himself.    Thanks again for all the support.  i am feeling really good about this.

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

There are lots of successful folks here who quit while their spouses continued to smoke.  I hope some of them will check in.  You should ask them to keep their smokes, lighters and ashtray out of your sight.  Some of those spouses also quit when they saw that it WAS possible.  I hope you stwo can join THAT group!

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. I think you will be surprised at what you don't know!

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. 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. 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!

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

[Puff-TM-Draggin]

NOPE.  The wife had to go.  Sorry!  It was the only way.

(kidding ... someone who is still married will have to chime in here.)

[elvan]

Welcome, please do the reading and get as much education as you can between now and the 26th.  Put together a Quit Kit, identify when you smoke, what your triggers are, and how strong those triggers are....THEN make a toolkit and decide what you will do INSTEAD of smoking when a trigger hits you, it really helps.  

I smoked on and off for 47 years, mostly on, I am now 66 and I have been free for 625 days,  I could not have gotten here without this site and all of the support I have gotten from all of the members of EX!

Please read and read and then read some more, read blogs, make friends, read people's stories.  Click on a member's avatar and it will take you to his or her page and you will find lots of reading material.

We are here to help you.

[kristen-9-7-15]

Welcome to the EX club!

[OldBones-Larry]

If you would like something to help keep you occupied, try reading the past blogs of the elders. Click on their picture, which will take you to their page. Under their picture therre you will find a link to their past blogs (Blogs). Click that and you can read all the past blogs of that person. We encourage "snooping" here, so do so as much as you would like to.

Larry the Caravan Master

[johio]

Welcome Sherry

This is a great first step on your journey...you can do this