It isn't a matter of just slapping on a patch or chewing nicotine gum… Every behavior you can think of is tied to your smoking. When you were happy, sad, mad, hurt, tired, sick, bored... etc.
Take a day to make a plan. Get creative and really think about it. Some folks have to use nicotine gum, or a patch. Both are NRTs (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) I quit “Cold Turkey” and read Allen Carr’s book, “The Easy Way to Quit Smoking.”
Have some Licorice Sticks to 'smoke'. Or a cut up a straw into thirds... especially during high trigger times like driving. Sometimes it feels good to just hold something in your smoking hand.
Grab your favorite CDs or tapes to put in your car so you can put one in and sing out loud. My favorite was dancing and singing at the same time. Your brain cannot do a 3rd thing, so thinking about smoking just disappears 🙂
To keep your mind and hands busy, go to a local arts/crafts store and look for things to do. Buy something that interests you; rug hooking kits, scrapbooking stuff, or Christmas stocking kits for the grandkids. Or, get some coloring books and colored pencils or felt tip pens. Adult coloring books are available now.
Make baggies of crunchy foods to satisfy your mouth so they are at work and handy to grab... Carrots, celery, Chex mix, pretzel sticks (you can hold those like a cig). They need to be ready to just grab at any given time.
Make a list of everything that needs to be done, or you want to do around the house. Go through each room and write down everything from cleaning out drawers and closets to painting, rearranging or redecorating. Do the same with the garage and yard work... Once you have your list, break it down into 5-15 minutes segments so nothing becomes overwhelming.
This is important! When you are craving and really shaky, post “HELP” and wait for at least 3 response posts before you smoke. Most times, you will be fine once you read the posts (keeps you from dwelling). If not...post again and wait for 3 more...] NEVER keep butts at hand! Drown em! Then you have to make that awful decision to go and buy some… You will hate yourself if you cave!
Once you have all these things figured out you will be well prepared to handle anything, and you don't even have to think...just look at your list… Keep 1 copy at work, 1 at home, 1 in your purse or wallet, 1 in the car. If you did one day, you can do 2. If you did 3, you can do one more.
No future tripping. You can't do a darn thing about tomorrow until it gets here. Today is a good time to quit but if you feel you can't, then take tomorrow to put together your Quit Kit and quit the day after. Don't set a quit date out there for 2 weeks, 1 month, etc. All you do is make yourself crazy in your head by stressing over that date. Having support here is the key to success! It's so much better to quit together! Rosemary
This is the Quit Kit from the old Quitnet.com Hope it helps you form a simple plan to quit.
