Ah!

[gettingthere]

So, my quit date is tomorrow. I'm trying to not use the patch because I figure I have to deal with it anyway, and I've heard cold turkey has longer lasting effects. Anyway, last night I had eight! I was fine until I went to a bar with my boyfriend who smokes. It was a bar you could smoke in. I know it was stupid to do. I shouldn't go to a bar but I had had a long day and just wanted to relax with a drink. Anyway, do you think I can still quit tomorrow or have I really messed up? At work I don't smoke at all anymore, that's from the time I wake up 6:45 until 5:30 when I get home. But my best friend and boyfriend smoke, and I just don't know how to preoccupy myself around them. Any ideas for great things to do for ten minutes to preoccupy myself?

[hwc]

a) Of course you can still quit tomorrow. Smokers smoke. Ex-smokers don't smoke. The day the transition occurs is your "quit day".

b) In all honestly, I would recommend that you not go to bars with smokers for the first week. Maybe even the first two weeks. You will get to a point of comfort, but being around cigarettes and drinking the first week all but guarantees a relapse.

c) You need to ask your friends' help and, to some degree, lay down the law. They need to keep their cigarettes out of your sight. They need to go outside and not smoke around you. They need to agree to a non-smoking bar or restaurant for now. They can go outside to get their junkie fix while you quit. It's the least they can do. Don't let them railroad you. Your right to not be around smoking is at least as strong as their right to smoke.

[manofsteele]

Hey there ...Getting There

I have a Crave Kits Can Help Save Quits post that might help you in the Words of Wisdom group. There are many other posts there that also might help with your smoke free attitude. Two that come to my mind are QuitTude and "Trying" to Quit . They are fast reads by those that have long time quits.

I also have a daily pledge group that has helped many build a strong smoke free foundation so you will never want to smoke again. It has helped me stay smoke free over 50 months now and can easily be followed by anyone seeking success.

Realistically you should have a plan going into this on how you will handle these types of situations. The EX plan is designed to help you work these problems out before you actually set a date.

Have you written down the reasons you want to quit smoking?

How determined are you?

You can do anything tou want to do if you want it bad enough. There will most likely always be smokers around you so you just have to want it more than you you want to poison yourself with crap your body does not want or need.

Believe in yourself and learn to love yourself so much that poison will never be able to enter your body angain voluntarily

Just remember .... U CAN Do IT