serial quitter

[snowy69]

hi i'm tina i'v been a smoker for 35 years i started around 10 taking a puff when my mom and dad wasnt looking smoking everyday since i was 12 and never ever thought of quitting untill about 3 years ago when my mom got sick with copd and my dad ended up with mouth and throat cancer so it scared me but not enough to stop the longest i stop was 4 mo then its been 2 weeks here and there so i stopped again its been 8 days i cant do this alone i need help so here i am i want to win this time it gets harder and harder every quit i do its the afternoon thats the hardest for me and im not sure why thats when i think all kinds of things to convince my self just to smoke but i dont want to give up this time

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Hi Tina

Welcome to Ex

You have come to the right place if you are making the decision to commit to quit smoking.  At EX our resolve is to never smoke again.  NOPE “Not one puff ever.”  I suggest that you follow the steps on the web site pages along with reading, writing, studying, researching and blogging if you like.

This is all about you and what you are willing to do to be a nonsmoker.  If you haven’t read it or have not been informed here is a link to Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Way to Quit Smoking”.  It is an easy read suggested by the “elders” (those with 1+ yrs. quit).

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

Also check out www.whyquit.com.  There is a lot of additional beneficial information to read and study.  Look for Freedom From Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101.  

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html

http://whyquit.com/ffn/

Both were extremely helpful for me.  Stay close to the site and learn, ask questions. Education is the key to success even in quitting smoking. Read the blogs and most of all enjoy your commitment to quit smoking.

If you should need something to do here are two links that will help

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

 https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/JACKIE1-25-15-blog/2015/07/09/what-is-your-crave-busteri Tina 

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on your decision to make this your FINAL quit and on your first eight days.  If you are not using a Nicotine Replacement product, the nicotine is out of your system.

To get past those afternoon cravings, make a PLAN.  Can you for for a walk, buy a adult coloring book and colored pencils and treat yourself to an hour of doing that, perhaps with a soda or cup of tea? 

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 also highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.”  You will be surprised, I think, at what you don't know about this addiction.

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.

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! 

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

[Dotgirl_1-28-16]

Welcome Tina! You can do this! Educate yourself on this addiction, make a plan and just say NO! N.O.P.E. Congratulations on your 8 days of freedom from smoking...just keep saying no a moment at a time and those moments turn into hours and then days...YOU CAN DO THIS...a day at a time

[TerrieQuit]

Hello and Welcome to EX, Tina! You have been given some very good informationa above. Please do the suggested reading, education is key to a successful quit! Willingness, determination and a commitment are also necessary! I would like to suggest a pledge group where many of us go to make a promise not to smoke, it helps strengthen a quit! Here is a link to it!

http://community.becomeanex.org/pg/forum/topic/8265780/march-into-march-with-a-spring-and-a-hop/

Please join us!

I Won't Quit on my Quit!

[misty_dawn]

Welcome! 🙂 You've joined an awesome community. 🙂 Stay close and blog, blog, blog..

[Giulia]

8 days.  Cool.  You've already passed your one-week Milestone.  You're obviously doing something right.  Keep doing it.  And read as much as you can get your eyeballs on in here.  Addiction tends to dissolve in the light of truth.  Because addiction is in part made up of lies and excuses. 

You've already quit.  You're DONE.  You're free.  All you have to do now is maintain it.  You do that simply by never taking another puff.  (Said with a whisper... trust us - it really does get easier.)  But you have to hang in until that "easy" happens.  You willing?  Say yes.

[deefree]

Hi Tina

you sound really brave, that even though you have not suceeded sometimes that you keep trying, that says a lot about you,  so hang onto that feeling.

Only smokers know that feeling of being scared about taking the leap of faith into the unknown but you will suceed this time. Be Strong...

Keep it up girl..  remember its your life for living.

XXX

[Kimshine]

Welcome Tina,

Great advice above and also great reading above. Do educate yourself with the reading provided. This is a great community with a wealth of information and support for you. Stay close to the site, especially in the beginning of your quit. You are a non smoker already, congrats on your 8 days freedom. You really can do this! It's as easy as never lighting another cigarette again.

[Connie55]

Us ex smokers know that the feeling of fear,anxiety or that sense of loss is really just the addiciton talking to try and fool us into lighting up just one more time. The reason we say NOPE (not one puff ever) on here is becasue we understand that smoking is a nicotine addiction. And an ex smoker can not take even one puff of a cigarette just like an alcoholic cannot take just one sip of a drink. Treat this issue the same way and never touch it again and you will absolutely be successful. I cannot emphasizes enough the need to read the materials to gain the tools to beat this thing. You are 8 days in and it will certainly get easier day by day but it is not without it's challenging moments in the early part of your quit. Find something else to do for about 3 minutes when a crave hits you and then it will pass.