Rainy day 6 goals

[Marz727]

It’s a dreary rainy Saturday, day 6. My goal for the day...to be nice to my family and, if not nice, at the least not mean! (lol poor family!)

I have the sweetest kindest husband and my four adult children all live with us currently, as well as 2 dogs (the youngest at 11 months I call the monster). Charlie monster is my biggest challenge as he seems to enjoy eating the house...ugh. Anyway...

i woke up before everyone today and was ok in my own head. Stayed quiet, drank some coffee, cuddled a little with the still sleepy pups. Maybe it was going to be an ok day...well, until the family started showing up. These people that are my biggest supporters and greatest loves are so $*#&@ annoying when I don’t smoke!! (lol it’s funny to see that in writing!!)

Still sane enough to realize it’s me, not them! So, while my hubby sees my facial expressions and is tiptoe’ing around me (which btw I was also annoyed at lol) I made a decision. I am not going to be mean to these people, even if I’m thinking mean thoughts. I am not going to allow myself to secretly think they’re stupid or idiots or any of that! If I can’t have nice thoughts of them then I’m not gonna think of them at all (said only with love lol)

I will remain neutral and if I have an opportunity to actually be nice I will be happy to take it! I’m taking lotsa deep breaths and staying on the quiet side. Lucky for them, I have to work tomorrow (lol) so just one dreary rainy day of not mean...I can do this

[YoungAtHeart]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!!!

[FightforKids]

How very encouraging. I appreciate you. I haven' quit yet, thinking of it is making me plain ugly and miserable. You just lightened the mood. Thank you  I hope you have a beautifully blessed day. As the blessing you are to others. Keep up the Great job you are doing.

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to the community, FightforKids !

The 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 easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware.  I credit it in large part with my success at quitting.   You can search for it online or at your local library.

 You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

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 after you have tried to delay and distract.   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.  You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them..  For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum.  For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four 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,  3) it maintains the addiction to nicotine, and 4) they are proving to be unsafe.

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  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. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
 
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.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. 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.    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

[sweetplt]

Happy Saturday and 6 days of Freedom...almost through hell week...~ Colleen 418 DOF 

[Barbscloud]

Congrats on day 6.   Sounds like you have everything under control.  I also have a dog named Charlie.

Barb

[maryfreecig]

Congratulations on 6. I hope your goal went ok! Great work.

[Marz727]

Hi FightforKids‌. Sometimes I think getting ready to quit is worse than starting the quit. Thank u for ur kind words and best of luck to u!

[beazel]

Congratulations...almost a whole week! That's fantastic!

[Giulia]

Lunch time.  Eat a smile!

[elvan]

I was so miserable that l really felt sorry for my family but l kept telling them that l was adjusting to not stuffing my feelings. You can do this.