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Give and get support around quitting

tomb7382
Member

Week 2

So I never really do these things online but the support I see on this site is incredible. 

I have smoked roughly 1.5 packs every week for about 10years(I'm 27). Now, I am going on 2 weeks clean, cold turkey, and I feel better. I'm feeling good about committing to something I have wanted for years. I've tried before, to quit, but it was never for me, id try to quit for a girl or I'd try to quit for a family member and it never worked. This time I quit for me. The cravings for a cig are bad sometimes, I just want to sneak a smoke and not tell anyone, but I know I'll only be cheating myself. Its a good feeling though, knowing I am stronger than the nicotine. I never thought I'd be able to beat this addiction, but here I am,  I am doing this! I will try to post around my 1 month mark with an update on how I'm doing, I got a good feeling this time, I got this and you can to, without question, beat nicotine.

Tags (1)
14 Replies
freeneasy
Member

Congrats ! You're doing great. Stick with it. Read and learn about quitting and nicotine addiction. You can never learn too much about quitting smoking. Not one puff ever N.O.P.E. is the key to success!  You will never regret quitting.Learn How to Quit Smoking (and Make it Stick) 

JACKIE1-25-15
Member

Welcome to EX.  

Congratulations on making the decision to quit smoking. You have come to the right place for a new day and a rebirth. This is all about you and what you are willing to do to be smoke free. Quitting smoking requires hard work.  It can be challenging at times but you will learn that it is doable if you adhere to NOPE not one puff ever no matter what. 

Start first, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction.  

Education is the key to a successful quit.

Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101         

Here are the links: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html   and http://whyquit.com/ffn/

I also encourage you to read. Allen Carr's book, "Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking".       

The link is here:  http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

elvan
Member

Do the suggested reading, for YOU, stay close to the site, for YOU, it is the best way to keep your quit, you will be nourishing the quit and shutting down the craves.  NOPE was my mantra at the beginning, I learned it here, Not One Puff Ever.  I am really glad that you are doing this for you AND that you realize that if you smoked, it would be YOU who you would be cheating on...that's a HUGE observation.  

Welcome to EX, we are all happy to welcome you here.  Smoking will do nothing FOR you, it will not fix anything but there are LOTS of us here who can tell you what it can do TO you.

Ellen

elvan
Member

BTW, tomb7382‌ congratulations on your quit!

YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on TWO weeks.  That's GREAT!

To help cement your quit, 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.

 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, quitsmokingonline.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.

I am sure you must have figured out at least some of what I will offer you now - but I will include it - just in case it might make your journey a bit easier.

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. 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.  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

SkyGirl
Member

Two weeks is no small accomplishment! Congratulations.  Yes, at the age 27, you have a wonderful opportunity to quit now and just be done with nicotine.  Because many people here on EX smoked for 20, 30, 40, even 50 years before making the decision to deal with their nicotine addiction.

You received a lot of good advice and links to excellent reading in the comments above.  So I just want you to know that the people who come to EX and are the ones who do find their Forever Quit  (not just another "attempt"!) are the people who make this website a real part of their life.  In the early stages of quitting, it's important to maintain a steady stream of connections with other. Quitters.  This is so you can talk about the issues you are having, the best ways to keep your commitment to your Quit, to receive positive reinforcement each and every day.  It's important to give your Quit the attention it will need to be successful.  We all have busy lives, but if we didn't make sure to educate ourselves about nicotine addiction, find strategies for staying quit and lean on other Quitters for help in difficult moments, then we're all less likely to have LESS life, busy or not!

Stick around, check in every day for a while, make some friends here and be sure to keep blogging.  About anything and everything.  We are so happy when someone new finds their way to this site!  And we want to be able to share what we learned about how to quit forever!

Again, congrats on 2 weeks!     \

Sky 

MarilynH
Member

Congratulations on your awesome quit, you are doing great one precious smoke free day at a time Yay on your wk two and counting.

WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Build on what you've accomplished!