I remember very early in my quit, the first 30 days to be exact, I could have ripped anyone's head off. I wanted to smoke so bad but I knew I had to give it up. I'm starting to get health effects and it's costing me an arm and a leg. I don't want to be working extra hours all the time because I need to spend $250 a month on cigarettes. If it was something I needed to sustain my life, like food or drink, fine. But this little item of luxury is slowly killing me over the years.
After the pent up energy came the fogginess, being tired all the time. My job is not one of physical labor but one where I have to use my brain. I have to remember a lot of things as I am producing a transcript. I couldn't remember anything from one minute to the next. It frustrated me, angered me. One of my biggest triggers that I identified in the beginning. I gave up drinking a month before I quit because that also was my biggest trigger. I knew early on if I sat down with a cocktail or a beer in the evening to relax, the thought of smoking will just float into my lap.
If I wanted to change something I've done for a lifetime, then I need to put some thought into it. What can I do for myself during the times when I'm most likely to smoke? What can I do for myself to replace the hand to mouth with something else? That's what you need to do for yourself. This is not a cut and dry predicament. This is a personal tailored plan that you, yourself, need to devise. We can give you some very broad ideas, but you need to fill in the blanks because you're the one living your own life and everyone is different.
Take the time to go through the steps in the beginning under My Quit Plan. Those steps are there for a reason. One, it is to make you realize when you smoke and have you take a second to identify why you think you need to. Two, it is for you to think of things to replace the act of smoking with something else. The first two weeks to a month is the physical aspect of it and then you work on “the habit,” the behavior modification, training yourself to do something else. Breaking yourself out of the mold, the drudgery of the same ol', same ol'.
One suggestion would be to visit https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/community/celebrations-events?sr=search&searchId=f39e1fb5-e568-42... and post on the Daily Pledge every morning and visit the Freedom Train every evening to announce your commitment to not smoke today and shout out those days of freedom every night. Create a new routine for yourself and break yourself out of the chains of smoking. Stop running in a circle or feeling like a hamster on a wheel. Break free and commit yourself to this new life that you're embarking on. You won't be disappointed !!!!
