So-Bored-With-My-Coping-Mechanisms Week

[JustinHoot99]

Today is day 21 for me which is the start of week 4.

Here are some definitions I saw and liked:
1. Hell Week (White hot raging withdrawal.)
2. Wailing Week (Shock wore off. A deep sense of loss and longing set in.)
3. **bleep** Week (What now? Will this ever get easier? What has gone wrong with my brain? Why has my IQ dribbled out the bottom of my shoes? How long have I been staring vacantly into space? Will I ever poop normally again?)
4. So-Bored-With-My-Coping-Mechanisms Week (I'm so sick of .....)

My plan for getting through this week:
1.  Changing from never having access to my keys w/o asking wife to get them, to having her hide them only M-F.  I keep them Fri nite to Sun nite.  But I still will be having her give me the smell test if I drive somewhere on weekends.
2.  Continuing my daily check list.
3.  Obviously I'll still be coming here.  Lots
4.  Repeating the 3 or 4 inspirational quotes I keep telling myself.

Things to work on:
1.  Since I've quit smoking, I've had a tough time getting my self started working in the mornings.  I work from home since Covid.  Pre-quit, I would always drive to the gas station to get a fountain drink, and of course smoke 1 on the way there and 1 on the way back (Its literally a 2min drive so you can imagine how far out of the way I would drive).  Now, I get up, come to my computer and check FB, read CNN and FOX hilites, then come here.  The nicotine was my kick in the butt to get started and now I waste a lot of time because my brain just does not want to do work w/o that nicotine.  I need to cut back to just a quick check in here, then get started on work.

[YoungAtHeart]

I am so happy you are here and sharing your journey with us.  I enjoy your insights and writing, and I just know it is helping others come up with coping ideas!

Could you maybe add a quick brisk walk into your first thing AM routine?  Might help get you awake and more motivated?

Three weeks is HUGE!  Congrats!

Nancy

[KMC56]

I know its a kick in the pants reply..but it does get better.  Your IQ will be better without the nicotine intake (loved that analogy btw)  

I smoked 40+ years, and really thought I'd be the last person on this planet to quit!!  Have had many reasons and life situations that could put me back on board of the nicotine hamster wheel...but N.O.P.E.!  I embrace my 6 years free!!

These withdrawal symptoms are the reason you move forward,  and will be the reason to never return!

You will be successfull, embrace each hurdle my Ex friend!

Kathy

[Barbscloud]

@JustinHoot99 I know you exercise, is there some exercise you can incorporate to start your day?  When I was working I would do my aerobic DVD early in the morning before I got ready for work. (Don't have to do that anymore).  Now I walk my dog at 6:30 am.   

You're doing great with three weeks of success. 

Barb

[Barbara145]

Congratulations on 21 Days.  That's huge.  Sure could identify with it all.  It has been 8 1/2 years ago for me.  I chuckled a lot.  Great post.  Have a good day.

[JustinHoot99]

@KMC56 and @Barbara145 .  Thanks for the support.

@YoungAtHeart and @Barbscloud 
Thanks for the exercise suggestion but I've got the morning walk covered.  I currently already exercise at start of day (and several other times).
My day starts at 4:30 am and I'm on the computer and eating my hard boiled egg and bacon (all premade on the weekend).  I eat and read for about a 30 min or so, then start work.  Then at 6am, I go outside for a morning HIIH w/o which is a crazy mix of some stretching, short slow jog, freebody strength training, and old man Parkour (rolling, jumping, climbing, vaulting).  
Then I have 2-3 "movement snacks" fit in during the day whenever I feel the need or get a smoking craving.  A movement snack is just 1 set of any exercise (typically pullups and handing leg raises).  Then around 5pm, I do about 30min of movnat ground exercises which is a kind of dynamic stretching.
After my 6am morning w/o, I come home and waste another 15min on the computer looking at all the things I did before I exercised.  My head misses the nicotine hit that signified starting the day.  Something to work on.

[Barbscloud]

@JustinHoot99 Back to the drawing board!

[JustinHoot99]

@Barbscloud Well, there is always "more exercise". lol
I think so many of peoples physical and mental health issues can be reduced, if not eliminated, through exercise.  I can't preach about health because I've been poisoning my body with cigarettes.  But I can say that even though I've smoked for 40yrs, I never had hacking coughs or shortness of breath.  I credit exercise for lessening some of the effects of smoking, although I'm sure it has no affect on my chances of getting a cancer of some type.

[Barbscloud]

@JustinHoot99 I think you do benefit from exercising while smoking, but research does indicate that it does effect your physical activity and physical fitness.  In addiction to lungs, smoking does effect muscles, joints and bones.  No getting around it; we shouldn't smoke.

Barb

[MarilynH]

You are doing super fantastic with your awesome quit journey Justin you've got this quit firmly in your grasp deep breaths and keep moving forward stacking up those precious days of DOF so each evening you can say YAY for another Day WON YAY for Freedom....

[YoungAtHeart]

Oh, @JustinHoot99 I hope you have better luck with the "exercise might reduce..." the effects of smoking.  That was my mantra the entire time I smoked!  I exercised EVERY day - at least a 30 minute walk after work and an hour plus both weekend days n the fall, winter and spring, and 30 minutes of swim laps in the summer.  Some years after I retired I swam laps 12 months a year.  I thought I was immune UNTIL a vascular surgeon apprised me otherwise.

I told myself I would quit if it ever interfered with my exercise, because I am a FIRM believer that exercise is the answer to stress, anger, lack of motivation, etc.  I found out, though, after I quit that it HAD affected my swimming when I noticed a MAJOR improvement in the number of strokes I could swim without needing a breath, or how my walking distances improved when I quit.  So slow was the deterioration that I hadn't noticed!

This all to reinforce your quit - not give you pause!

Nancy

[daverson828]

@JustinHoot99  really enjoyed this post. I definitely get the "staring vacantly into space" thing! Congratulations on the progress you've made, and I look forward to reading more from you. 

[vicky_k]

@JustinHoot99 , You are doing terrific!   You are exercising which helps your body to produce endorphins in your body.    I've heard that it is also good to do journaling either you can write it in the note book on a daily basis, or you can type in a Word documents, which ever is more comfortable for you.   

In addition, it is also good to write down a gratitude lists, what you are grateful for in your life at least 3 to 5 items every day.    I also have smoked cigarettes for many years.    I am very close to your age and know that it is very difficult to kick the habit since cigarettes was our friend for decades, and now our bodies is going through physical and emotional withdrawal.    You are doing great!!  Hang in there, it will get better!

[Kimshine]

@JustinHoot99 I think you could be a motivational speaker and a personal trainer for a living!

[JustinHoot99]

@Kimshine

I doubt it.  I sold real estate for 3 years.  By the time I was done, I knew the last thing I ever wanted to do again was work w/ the public.  So I became an engineer.
But I am passionate about exercise.  Especially MovNat type training which includes ground based exercising, but the main focus is outdoor mobility training.  The older you get, the more mobility becomes important to focus on.

[Kimshine]

@JustinHoot99 I definitely want to keep my mobility as I age. I get what you mean about working with the public. When I worked as a medical assistant in a doctor's office, I was physically and/or verbally assaulted by a doctor or patients at least once a week. 

[JustinHoot99]

It's day 22.  The early stages of a quit, while tough and painful, are also exciting.  It's like there is a stepping stone to celebrate all the time.  Days 1-5, week 1, 10 days is double digits, 14 days is 2 weeks, etc.  Of course, everyday not smoking is a reason to celebrate. But as your quit lengthens, it starts being the norm.  You start to realize it's just another day.  Today feels like a ho-hum day.  I'm here typing, avoiding getting started on my job work, just feeling blah.  6 days till my next "celebration day" of 4 wks.  At least that is only 28 days.  I get another 3 days later when I can say it's been a full month. lol

[MarilynH]

You're doing super fantastic Justin 🤗 I do get the feeling of ho - hum BUT hey your quit is to be celebrated every day because you're rocking it we're all rocking our quits no matter where we are in them because we're all giving ourselves the GIFT OF LIFE! It's my son Alfreds 39th birthday today, his son Adam celebrated his 18th birthday on the 11th of March and my daughter's son Mason will be 13 on Friday WOW I have lots to celebrate, lots of birthdays whew Gramp and I are blessed although I feel old lol! 🎂

[JustinHoot99]

Day 23.  That's 460 cigarettes I haven't smoked.  That's approximately 2500 hits of tar and poison I haven't brought into my lungs. 

[Kimshine]

Way to go @JustinHoot99  23 days is great!

[JustinHoot99]

Day 24.  My wife announced she is going to visit our daughter next Monday which is 5 hrs away and she will be gone till Thur.  That leaves me most of 4 days alone. I have to admit that makes me nervous.  Of course, I will have her leave my car keys hidden while she is gone.  But it's not impossible for me to access cigarettes, just inconvenient.  It's a good 1.5mi bike ride which I can easily do.  My mind is already coming up w/ excuses, trying to negotiate, and looking for compromises as to how I could smoke and not affect my quit.  You know, that junkie part of your brain that tries to get you to ignore truth and logic.  You wish it would just shut up and forget that you ever smoked, but that trail is already beat down solid in your brain.  It may get overgrown w/ brush over time, but it's always going to be there.  So next week will actually be my first real challenge.  Just have to remember that 1 cigarette would come w/ the 7000 others I would smoke over the next year.  And come here and type a lot.

[Barbscloud]

@JustinHoot99 IMHO I know you've heard this message before, but I don't think your  quit should be dependent on someone else.  Your commitment is your commitment.   You have 24 days of success so I  know you can do it for 4 days.  We're here to support you.

Barb

[Kimshine]

@JustinHoot99 I think you have done so well that you can spread your wings and fly solo. Your wife doesn't keep you from smoking, you're doing that! You could have always gotten smokes if you wanted this whole time but you haven't. 

We all get junkie thinking. It's a pain in the A$$! I try to figure out ways to smoke without ruining my quit sometimes too. Ridiculous, right?  

You know what to do if you are seriously challenged. Your Ex friends are here to hold your hand when you need us to.

You've got this!!