Wow.....51 Days!!

[wanttoquit21]

Hi Everyone! Haven't been here in a while, but still smoke free! I was shocked to see 51 days when i logged in today!! Wow......so proud of myself. That also means my husband is at 44 days! He quit one week after me!!! I have been having strong thoughts of smoking though......like 'on my way home.... 'i am going to stop and buy a pack, smoke one, and throw it away.' I am finding it harder and harder to change my thought process....but i am doing it! I keep thinking of the health of my unborn baby (due Nov. 30) and the fact that my husband has quit, and that has helped. I thought it would get easier by now but i am going through a rough part of it. Thanks for listening to me vent!! Any advice would help!

[JonesCarpeDiem]

You are in No Mans Land. Promise yourself, your baby, and your husband you will get to 130 days and you should be through all this crap. What you are experiencing is the psychological addiction.

Remain willing and you will be victorius.

Congrats on 51 days!.

[YoungAtHeart]

You have a ways to go yet - but the craves should start to become further apart and less intense.  Just don't let those smoking thoughts roll around in our head alone.  In the car, try counting the red or blue or white cars you see, or  keep track of the number of lights you hit or miss.  If that is one of your most difficult times, you might try to find a different route so you have a change of scenery.  Try slow, deep breaths, thinking a bit about each one as it goes in and out and going slower and deeper (best to do this at a light or stopped in traffic!)  Maybe carry a bottle of really cold water to sip on in the car, or put a rubber band on your wrist and snap it when you get a smoking thought.  Can you play some music, turn it up loud and sing along?

I hope you find at least some of this helpful.  51 days is AWESOME!  Your unborn baby deserves this, so keep adding those days!

Nancy

[Storm.3.1.14]

Take the idea of "buying a pack, smoking one, throwing the rest away" and draw it out into the future, from the point of view of a nicotine addict who is not pregnant.

Monday, you buy a pack, smoke one, and throw the rest away. It gets you over the rough patch, and you feel good about only smoking one.

Tuesday, you feel like you need help again to get you through your drive home. So, you buy another pack, smoke just one, and throw the rest away. Easy! This could start to be your new 'thing", and 1 is better than 20, right?

Wednesday, you buy that pack but decide that you deserve 2 cigarettes to reward yourself for being such a light smoker.

Thursday, you deserve 4.

Friday, it's still only 4, but you start to feel like throwing the smokes out is such a big waste of money. Why not keep the pack and just control yourself enough to only smoke 4 a day?

Saturday, you smoke 6 because that pack is right there, calling for you.

Sunday, you smoke 12.

Monday, you're hooked again, and it's 20 at a time. 

I don't know about you and your past, but I have been down this exact road before, and it's a dead-end trap.

Just a little something to possibly help you think your way out of the maze...

[LouiseR]

You don't need a nasty stinkerette.  You have a beautiful baby on the way and are doing great.  Do slow deep breathing, get up and walk around, turn some good tunes on and dance!  You got this!

[wanttoquit21]

Thanks Everyone!! Totally forgot about that awful time 'no man's land'!!! That's why i come here:)

Storm - What a great point! I have done close to exactly that before....i deserve another because i am doing so well!! Funny how moronic it sounds looking back!!!

[Barbara145]

When you have those thoughts, do you say to yourself, "I don't smoke anymore."   I felt silly doing that in the beginning but it works.  At 340 days I still do it although I don't need to do it much lately. Oh, say it outloud.  God bless you and your growing infant.

[marilyn_marmac]

Congratulations to you, your husband and mostly...to your unborn baby! November 30th isn't far. I bet you are soooo excited. Probably a little miserable at this point too so I'm sure you are counting down the days.

As the others told you, you have reached a phase of the quit that is called "No Man's Land" and the urges may become very strong. One of the reasons we recommend reading the links and blogs is because it's proven, by all the smokers that have came before, that we have different phases that hit at different time frames. I hope you read a few to see how others have coped. Until then...I hope this pic kills any urge you have.

  

[MarilynH]

You're doing great, stay strong

[Junior7]

Hang in there--for yourself, your husband, and your baby!  We are here for you!

[cutiepie3]

That is so wonderful, I will be glad when my quit day roles around and then I can comment more.

Stay up!!