Can anyone please motivate me to stop smoking?

[Beni678]

i been trying to not smoke at all since Sunday. I'm only 17. I really need help guys. It's really hard for and been struggling for the past 3days. I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up..

[YoungAtHeart · Accepted solution]

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on your decision to quit and your first three days.  Quitting smoking is hard!  But - the more you understand, the less difficult it will be.  It sounds to me like you are fighting to say quit; there's a better way.  Read on!

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 highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

 You should also read the posts here and perhaps go the 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.

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.  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.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three 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, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

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

[pongaselo]

The book got me mad.  He probably never edited it and there are paragraphs that were literally copied and pasted over and over again but he got me mad and that energy was what has driven my work.  Not really sure why but I decided to believe the guy. I have a fair science background, went through a very effective quitting program back in the early 80's and succeeded in my quit for 20 years. Much of what he says is not based on serious science but if you just go with the flow, it works so he is right. I am not quite sure how this one gets labeled but who cares.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/06/26/what-to-expect-in-the-first-four-months?sr=search... 

[Puff-TM-Draggin]

What are you talking about!?!  You're doing great!  Listen.  If it was easy, we wouldn't be talking about it.  You don't see any websites dedicated to helping people stop licking dust build-up.  That's because licking dust build-up, while about as palatable as smoking,  doesn't change the fabric of your brain.  It doesn't give you a crazy, little, whack-a-mole high that says, "wow!," awesome, let's do that again.  Do as Youngatheart.7.4.12 suggests?  Once you understand your enemies, you have a much greater chance defeating them.  Once you figure out the sinister nature of nicotine, you might even be so frickin' ticked off that it will motivate you not to be the sucker/slave for which the tobacco companies are taking you.  Don't be a sucker!  Don't suck, (or lick.)

"I dare you to lick it.  The cool people do.  It's not that bad."

[elvan]

It's one day at a time, sometimes a day is too long and it is one moment at a time.  Quitting is a journey, not an event and we all had to start at day one.  Some of us smoked for many years, some smoked for a short time and are very young, recovery is recovery because this is an addiction.  Please do the reading and please figure out what your triggers are...is it something at home or school, is it classmates?  Figure out what the triggers are and KNOW that they will keep happening but if you plan for them and you plan for something to do INSTEAD of smoking, you CAN do this.  

Welcome to EX and please keep coming back, talk to us, read how others are doing this and take this one minute at a time.

Ellen

[freeneasy]

Great job on 3 days! It's not easy but it's doable. Keep going it will get better.

Learn How to Quit Smoking (and Make it Stick) 

[YoungAtHeart]

O

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hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I am so glad you are back puff-tm-draggin‌; there is nobody like you!

[MePlus3]

 Remember why you quit. Watch videos on YouTube of the people your age that have to live with the effects of smoking. I used to battle the "im young enough to quit later" thoughts but NO!! emphysema, COPD, heart disease, mouth diseases such as gum and throat cancer has no specific age, gender or person to target it CAN happen to you and me you don't know which sickerette is going to throw something in your body off and mess you up forever it could be the very one you're fighting not to buy that will put you on oxygen imagine walking around school and going to class or hanging out with your friends having to take your new friend "tank" (oxygen tank) along with you. That would be pretty embarrassing. Some get lucky to smoke many years before it affect them some it doesn't take long either way the results are permanent and bound to happen if you Don't stop while you have the chance! Don't gamble with your life! Those things are NOT your friend. 3 days is awesome! Stop fighting yourself that'll only exhaust you instead, make it up in your mind that you won't touch another one again and that's it no fight,argument ifs, ands, or buts about it. 

[maryfreecig]

Here is a link to a youtube channel I set up: it contains quit smoking videos, sorted into topics--one of them you might be interested in is titled "Encouragement."

Google 

You might find it helpful to listen to others stories about how they quit--it's one way to stop feeling so alone. Feeling alone in quitting can leave you feeling helpless. But dig down deep and  keep working it. High five on choosing to quit.