Quitting Smoking

[thefirst]

My little girl came in this morning and got in the bed with me and said "Momma, I'm so glad you don't smell like cigarettes anymore" - I love that

Awww....

That awesome. thefirst.

Thank you MsMary!!

[Damelon]

Keep at it, thefirst.

[stonemaybe]

Keep it up, the first!

There's a really helpful mentality you can develop, that takes a bit of logic twisting, but it works!

If something really stressful happens that makes you really really need a smoke, tell yourself that you WILL have a smoke, but not until tomorrow. If you can do this, and persuade yourself that you really will, by the time tomorrow rolls around, you'll feel so guilty (little girl etc), and annoyed with yourself for all the hard work wasted, that you won't have one! Or, if stressful thing is still going on, and tomorrow rolls round, again, say to yourself 'I'll have one tomorrow'.

Also, but much more annoying for those around you, you can try to turn yourself into the anti-smoking police! This way, if you have friends that smoke and you give them loads of hassle about it, it reduces the chance that you'll ever join them for a smoke in a weak moment, cos you'd be a complete hypocrite!

But whatever you do, well done, I was going through exact same thing last year and I know how hard it is, but I also know it's do-able!

[Cagliostro]

I don't know if that would work for me (saying I'll have one tomorrow and then not). I've done things like that before, and gone ahead and had one when I said I would allow myself such. I think the best way for me is to be in a committed relationship with someone that suddenly becomes serious about quitting, is absolutely doing a great job quitting at the same time I too have quit. I don't want to be the one to blame for getting us both back into it.

It worked in 2005 when I quit for a year, and it seems to be working now. Even though the past two days I have come very close to walking over to the convenience store and buying a pack due to how annoying work has been lately. Or maybe my inability to deal with how annoying work is. But I've kept it up.

I usually give myself a cheat date, but I haven't done it yet. Sadly, I'm pretty confident I haven't smoked my last cigarette, but I also know how easy it is to slip back into it, so I'm on guard against it.

[bloodguard bob]

Here's the key to my past smoke free year.
The body tries to trick us into smoking. It asks for one smoke and says it won't bother us later but it lies, my precious, it lies, dirty rotten tricksie it is.
So I'd get a craving, and thoughts start creeping into my head like walking to the store and buying a pack, or smoking after a meal, how nice would that be?
These were the thoughts I knew would break me. So I let the part of my brain that was determined to quit take a front seat and tell the rest, "No".
"Yeah, but what if we..."
"No."
"But I just wanted to..."
"No."
"Come on, one drag, just one drag."
"Tut, tut, tut...No."
With previous attempts the craving would start out as a whisper and turn into a battle between the rational side of my brain and all the nicotine dependent cells in my body, and the latter always won, what with all those thoughts of rewarding myself with a smoke for how good I'd been not smoking.
What seemed to work for me was to recognize the whisper when it started , or even just before it started, and shut it down right away. Your sitting there minding your own and the body says,"You know what would be nice?"
"NO. You're not gettin' one, forget it!" and I'd get up and do something, anything else.
I'd shuffle the furniture in the house, I got bird feeders and kept them full and cleaned up the mess, I'd exercise and breathe for no reason other than to get high on oxygen, hell, I'd organize the dish towels, anything else than sit there and crave a cigarette.
My body soon learned, it seemed, to quit asking. It may have figured out that it is more rewarding in the long run to do something else needs to be done than to sit and crave and suffer and argue with the mind about smoking. The main benefit, of course, is now I find myself smoke free, without cravings, thinking cigarettes are the stupidest thing in the world. The secondary benefit was that this time around, the succesful time, there was a lot less suffering.

[thefirst]

I'll take all the advice and helpful hints that I can get, though it's getting easier, their are the odd moments here and there that are a bit harder to deal with than others, so I'm sure I'm not out of the woods altogether, so thanks

[Loredoctor]

I'll take all the advice and helpful hints that I can get, though it's getting easier, their are the odd moments here and there that are a bit harder to deal with than others, so I'm sure I'm not out of the woods altogether, so thanks

And know KW is here to support you.

[thefirst]

And that is no small comfort to me

[sgt.null]

black licorice. have some black licorice when you want to smoke.

[Cagliostro]

I proved this last weekend that I can go to karaoke, drink and not smoke.

What I also learned is that I cannot go to Wal-Mart and not want to smoke. I never go, but the girlfriend insisted it was closer and easier than going to the grocery store. I agreed this once, but I was seriously craving by the time we left.

[aliantha]

I proved this last weekend that I can go to karaoke, drink and not smoke.

What I also learned is that I cannot go to Wal-Mart and not want to smoke. I never go, but the girlfriend insisted it was closer and easier than going to the grocery store. I agreed this once, but I was seriously craving by the time we left.

There's yer anxiety talking. Going to Wally World makes me nuts. I can only stand to be in that store for a certain period of time before I want to run away screaming. I think it's sensory overload from all the cheap merchandise, plus it's always crowded. I'm on hyper-alert every time I come out of an aisle, afraid that I'll mow down another shopper with my cart. And people bring their whole freakin' FAMILIES and then they all mosey along -- or worse, they stand in the aisle and go, "Where do you want to go next?" "I dunno, where do *you* want to go next?" when all I want to do is get in, get my cheap plastic crap, and get out. And as if the noise level wasn't already bad enough, now they've installed video monitors WITH THE SOUND TURNED UP in the checkout aisles. Arrgh. I *hate* that place. </rant>

[Cagliostro]

Y'know...the inside always gets to me, and the near accident I ALWAYS nearly get into in the parking lot freaks me out too. This time it was as we were leaving. Somebody on our side of the parking lot aisle driving right at us, and we had to swerve over to the left hand side to avoid being hit by them. Must have been someone from England in the car, as Americans drive and count on others sticking to the right. Seriously, every time I'm in that parking lot, something equally idiotic happens. But yes, I was already grumpy enough dealing with zombie families in the place, and the crappy reception from the cashier who didn't want to deal with us using change instead of just bills.

[thefirst]

I think even non-smokers would almost have a drag when leaving walmart - I'm one of the few women I know who doesn't like to shop, so it makes me twice as insane as it used to. Ah well, so far so good.

[Cagliostro]

I think even non-smokers would almost have a drag when leaving walmart

So if that is true, why does anybody go there? I guess I need to ask my GF.

Congrats, by the way, thefirst, on your quit.

I want, to become, the guy, who uses, too many, commas.

[aliantha]

I think even non-smokers would almost have a drag when leaving walmart

So if that is true, why does anybody go there? I guess I need to ask my GF.

Congrats, by the way, thefirst, on your quit.

I want, to become, the guy, who uses, too many, commas.

Sorry, Cag, you've a ways to go before you can beat Lurch at that game.

Why do people shop at Wal-Mart? Because it's cheap, and they have darn near everything. I prefer Target but Wally World is cheaper on a lot of stuff.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I like to do my Wally World shopping at Wal-mart.com. This is mainly because it helps support my best friend who works there. She makes the webpages work.

[A Gunslinger]

thefirst... stay with it. When you have a craving..do something physical. Crunches, push ups...a brisk walk, or (and i am not kidding) Sex. That's how I did it.

[thefirst]

Well at least with that strategey you're not the only one who benefited from the process. I don't think it's a very workable one for me at the moment, but I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

[A Gunslinger]

Well at least with that strategey you're not the only one who benefited from the process. I don't think it's a very workable one for me at the moment, but I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

In the words of Woody Allen..."Don't knock Mast*rbation; it's sez with someone I love". You only need your own naughty self, Senora.

[thefirst]

well, that takes HALF the fun out of it