I am so happy to see the new names of our NEWBIE friends...WELCOME and jump right into any discussion we are having...I noticed a lot of us have asked how to prepare to quit...that is the best question....you DO need to prepare to quit..think about a plan..ask ....will I need some kind of Nicotine replacement to help me do this..(you know that is only very temporary) ask your doctor and you can ask anyone on EX what they did to help them.
Pick out a date that gives you enough time to start deleting cigaretttes everyday...by my quit day i was only smoking 3 a day from a pack a day that I smoked for 47 years...I was down to one after every meal... I knew that was a hard "habit" time to quit. Another thing you can do is if you smoked in the house or car...STOP..and start cleaning out all the spaces that you will now notice has a brown film on like the walls and windows...I never smoked in the house or my car...but I got rid of all the ashtrays on the porches and threw out all the lighters accept for the last one I was using...to put out those 3 a day cigarettes I had to walk a few houses away to the gutter and drop those last few cigarettes down into the sewer....very symbolic to me! Also start washing your favorite jackets and sweaters, and anything you always had on when outside having a smoke...I found that the clean smell of my jackets was wonderful after I quit....and now I love putting on one to go out and know that my smell doesn't announce my entry into a store anymore...lol...Just by changing the way your house smells and your car you are even more motivated to keep it fresh and fragrant. I went through a lot of Fabreze spraying furniture...I never smoked while sitting on it...BUT I would sit on it as soon as I came in from having a smoke! hmmmm I never noticde it before but I did then. Now at Day 19 I love the smell of my house...of course my dog was playing in mud and a German Shepherd who is wet is not lovely..but he did dry and his oder didn't linger like the smell of cigarettes...amazing how acrid the smell is to me now...and I don't mind it on other people...I don't go around spraying every smoker I meet...I just prefer right now to smell like soap and shampoo...WE change so slightly...not a big drastic change...we are still who we always were ....just BETTER!!! Tomorrow I will tell you how my Quit day came about and what I did to make it easier for me....OH and it is still so much EASIER than I ever imagined to NOT SMOKE...( as my smart aleck 18 yr old grandson said today...WOW Nana NOT smoking and you didn't hurt anyone yet!...WAY to GO!)
Keep taking deep breaths...blog and chat all you want...everyone here needs help and can lend help...I am sending all of you
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}
Barbara in SC (Schoney50)
