Day 2

[timfriday2]

Halfway through day 2 and doing pretty good so far. I know this weekend will be the hardest. In an odd way being at work helps me not smoke. I am forced to stay at my desk and there are no stores I can walk to and purchase smokes. Being home this weekend will be difficult but I have my plan of attack... stay very busy. The is my 5th time to quit, this one will stick.

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

I wish you had found us sooner to prepare and plan - but it's easy to catch up.  The reading material makes a great crave buster!

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

As well, read the sections on this site, and read the blogs, responses and pages of folks you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com and quitsmokingonline.com for the good information contained there

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. 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.

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.  Don't let that smoking thought rattle around your head alone.  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

[sprinkles104-2]

Hi, welcome!  I felt the same way.  Work is easy, but weekends are tougher.  But it was always harder in my head, than in reality.  I've really learned how deal with things one moment at a time.  Try to only worry about right now, makes it much easier.  Just let me know if I can help. 🙂  Congrats on your quit!!!

[JonesCarpeDiem]

it wil stick if you stick to it.

[Thomas3.20.2010]

WELCOME! We're here for you! BLOG before you make a mistake you could regret. We'll get back to you 24/7 with helpful thinking.

[Eric_L.]

smoking never did anything for me.  it was just making a crave go away.  i'm not sacrificing anything...  these are some of the things i've learned here and wow its awesome