Give and get support around quitting
Welcome to the Ex. Day one is the most important day--you've taken action on your desire to quit. I hope you've educated yourself about this addition and have prepared a plan. That's the key to success. Go to my My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX if you haven't already. We're here to support you on every step of this journey. Just reach out if you need help. There are many examples here to prove the you can do this. You got this.
Barb
Welcome to our community!
Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking and following through. Tonight you can count Day WON! I wish you had joined us sooner for education, planning and preparation work, but the readings make great crave busters. The tips I will share have been gathered over years of being around here and my own experience.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. 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. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. 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.
The 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. You can search for it online or at your local library. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a 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, quitsmoking.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. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
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
Thanks so much for your help, I'm very emotional and scared of what's ahead
of me, I will keep close to this help and reading all the blogs
On Sat, Aug 24, 2019, 3:30 PM Youngatheart.7.4.12 <
Most of us were scared, too - it is natural to be afraid of the unknown. Cigarettes have been constants in our lives, and something we have turned to in times of sorrow, happiness, stress, boredom, loneliness. We don't yet know how we will deal with them without our crutch. But - we DO learn how! Day by day, we find other ways to deal with life. We exercise, we do crosswords, we talk to friends, we blog, we read, we go for walks.
I smoked for probably 45 years - and I have now been quit for 7 - if I could do it, so can you!!!
Good for you, 7 years! From what I hear there's a lot more addictive
chemicals in cigarettes now, thanks for your advice, I pray a lot, that's
my plan for what's ahead, and all of you.
On Sat, Aug 24, 2019, 4:01 PM Youngatheart.7.4.12 <
Welcome to Ex. We're here 365. Scared is OK, just keep moving forward one day at a time.
Congratulations on making the decision to quit smoking. You have come to the right place for support. Education is the key to a successful quit. Start first by educating yourself on addiction to nicotine Go to. My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX use this guide to get started. If you have any questions. Let us know.
Welcome and please know it is one day at a time and YOU will be ok one breathe at a time one thought one feeling - just remember moments connected 5 minutes and so on - please try drinkng more water and applesauce with CINNAMON HELPS to clean the blood of toxins - please blog everyday and remember to give us time to HELP - gentle hug
I'm not okay, Very angry, Anxious, Can I do this? Would I'd rather Smoke or
Breathe! This is just Terrible
On Sat, Aug 24, 2019, 6:51 PM indingrl.01.06.2011 <