Being at home can be tricky but I find if I do things that I don't associate with smoking it helps! A long bubble bath, a pedicure, cooking a storm and having leftovers for the week, re-organizing my dvd collection... Just stay busy and distracted and that will really help take the edge off.
You can definitely do this! Hang in there! If you have a weak moment, log in and write about it. You can do this!!!!
I had to get out of the house after work. I would just walk around the neiborhood. I would come here read the blogs and go lie in bed early. Sometimes it was 6 and I was already in my pjs and in bed reading,. Whatever it takes 00
Being home, especially alone was hard for me at the beginning!!! I decided to go for a ride out in the country or go to town and walk thru a store.At the beginning of my quit I was home for 2 weeks and could not drive because I had a knee problem. So i had no choices but to be at home.
Distraction is the name of the game. DO NOT tell youself you are not sure you can do that......the only person who can talk you into smoking is you - and thinking like that is a bad first step.
The mantra is: I CAN do this and I WILL get beyond this....now - what can I do to distract myself for a bit? Then DO it!
I found these Craving Kickers....They really can help, I know, I used this list my first few days.
20 Craving Kickers: Did you know most cravings only last 3 to 5 minutes? 1. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “What do I really want right now?” Keep asking yourself the question til you figure out what you really need right now (probably not really a smoke). 2. Drink a glass of water. 3. Call a friend. 4. Write down 3 things you are grateful for in your life. 5. Do 25 jumping jacks. 6. Take a 3-5 minute walk. 7. Go brush your teeth. 8. Paint your nails. 9. Get a jar of bubbles and go blow bubbles 10. Play your favorite music and dance for a bit. 11. Write down 3 reasons you want to be smoke free. 12. Chomp on some raw veggies or fruit. The crunchier the better! 13. Cut a straw into the length of a cigarette and chew on it. Or use a cinnamon stick. 14. Get out some paper and doodle. 15. IF you are using one-Make sure you are using your nicotine replacement or medication properly 16. Take 5 minutes and write yourself a love note. 17. Do a crossword puzzle or Sudoku. 18. Imagine how you will feel tonight knowing you made it another day smoke-free! 19. Find a video on YouTube that makes you laugh. Congrats, you made it! 20. Look in the mirror and tell yourself “I love you and I will take care of you”.
I echo everyone. I've learned that I have to distract myself not just from the cravings but also from the fantasies and just plain thinking about it as if it were a possibility. Being not sure is normal; after all, in the very beginning we want to quit and we don't want to quit - got this from a counselor. But I assure you that countering the "I'm not sure's" with I CANs and I WILLs and then find a distraction and you will come up trumps. Sometimes all I have to do is come up on this site and read others blogs and blog away myself to reinforce my decision to never take another puff. RELAX. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
Oh, dar, I SO get how you feel! I travel for a living, but during the first few times I found myself at home after I quit, I felt like a caged animal! I paced, I cried, I didn't know what to do. My roommate (a non-smoker) just sat at the dining room table with her jaw hanging open; she had never seen me so out-of-control! Finally, she suggested that I GO to a place, ANY place, that I didn't associate with my smoking. BRILLIANT! I ended up sitting in a Barnes & Noble in a corner with my iPad for FOUR hours. It was a breakthrough for me; I realized that I did have many places/situations in my life that I was perfectly okay with when not smoking. I just started to spend more time doing things and being in places that were not all about smoking for me. Now, I'm not saying I didn't have some seriously rough times when I had to be in places where I used to smoke...but knowing that I could survive without a cigarette (which I didn't think was possible!) made a huge difference.
