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Yeah, I agree. I come from an irish family as well... so there really is no avoiding drinkers unless I never speak to my family or friends again! But, I couldn't agree more about drinking making you nervous. Nervous that you will compromise your will, etc... say 'screw it' then regret it later. So... this weekend I did have a few beers on both friday and last night. I was around cigarette smokers - but it was easier than i thought. Like you said, I really make it a point to not think about this, not tell everyone "i've gone one week without smoking!" etc etc. To me, the more of a big deal that gets made of it > the more I think about it > the bigger chance there is of me submitting to those thoughts/urges. I would rather just act like I've always been a non-smoker. Much easier.
So, on that note... thanks for the insight.
You've got it. Yes!
You've really caught on to this and will be successful.
Always remember that you will no longer allow something so unhealthy and filthy to control you. And you are worth far more than those disgusting cigarettes. You want to be healthy and cigarette smoking is beneath you.
I drank a lot of water and fluids. To this day I must always have a beverage with me, even in the car. It's medically needed, anyway, since I have kidney issues. But I get antsy without something to drink.
And in the beginning I ate what I wanted and when I wanted. An unhealthy snack, something sweet, got me through some rough moments. And they are only moments. They quickly pass. But smoking elevates your sugar level - to put it very simply - and something sweet relieves this. Surprisingly, I lost weight. I had a lot more energy - probably nervous energy - and I burnt everything off. I'm 20 pounds lighter than when I quit over two years ago.
Be strong. You're in control of your body--not cigarettes. If you don't do yoga, you might try a session or two. Deep breathing really helps kill the desire to smoke.
I know it seems a bit silly, but my friend put play-doh in their bag in the little container it comes in. Everytime she wanted a cigarette she found she got twitchy in her hands which annoyed her heaps, so she would pull out the play-doh for something to put in her hands. She also found the task of trying to make something distracted her from her urges a bit. Not saying it worked entirely, she still has one here and then, but it definately helped. Also it would get under her nails and sometimes pieces dropped on her clothing and got mushed under her shoes! Plus its play-doh so of course everyone wants to play with it!
I was a very heavy smoker. I smoked two to three packs each day and I did successfully give up about thirteen years ago.
I had tried and failed numerous times over the thirty years that I had smoked. Many times I tried cutting back. Just having one puff and putting out the cigarette, saving and relighting it for another puff. I tried the gum, toothpicks and candy. Nothing seemed to work.
First; my wife successfully quit and I had to listen to her for a year before I made my final move. I also had a persistent cough and sometimes coughed up blood. Very good reasons to quit smoking!
I focused on my motivations. I sat my date - New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight. I got rid of all the cigarettes and all of the butts. I had one patch. I tired to figure out how many dollars in taxes our government was making form my smoking habit. I thought about what I could buy for myself - if I did not smoke.
The first three days were the worse. I would use the patch only until my urge subsided. Then I would remove it and wait until the next urge. Don’t get me wrong; even though the first few days are the hardest - there are weeks, months and even years that you can regress.
Key times are very important. If you are used to having a cigarette after a meal - that is a key time. If you are used to having a cigarette at break time - that is a key time. If you are used to lighting up with a friend - that is a key time. Try to do things different.
I lost some friends and I gained some friends when I gave up smoking. We did not share the same things in common (especially smoking). I thought my smoking friends smelled bad - as time went by. I always thought non-smokers were just being finicky when they said that I smelled bad (when I smoked).
Our house and automobiles are a lot easier to clean. I have not had the persistent cough for many years and I feel better. I have put on some weight - but have kept it under control to this date.
My father tried the nicotine gum - but we felt that he became addicted to the gum.
You've really caught on to this and will be successful.
Always remember that you will no longer allow something so unhealthy and filthy to control you. And you are worth far more than those disgusting cigarettes. You want to be healthy and cigarette smoking is beneath you.
I drank a lot of water and fluids. To this day I must always have a beverage with me, even in the car. It's medically needed, anyway, since I have kidney issues. But I get antsy without something to drink.
And in the beginning I ate what I wanted and when I wanted. An unhealthy snack, something sweet, got me through some rough moments. And they are only moments. They quickly pass. But smoking elevates your sugar level - to put it very simply - and something sweet relieves this. Surprisingly, I lost weight. I had a lot more energy - probably nervous energy - and I burnt everything off. I'm 20 pounds lighter than when I quit over two years ago.
Nice. Thanks again. Yep - I'm 100% clear, not a puff. It's been 1) toothpicks, 2) nic gum (very rare, less than one piece a day). Getting to the toothpicks, and away from the gum was CLUTCH for me because it's 1-weening me away from nicotine 2-giving me something to do with my hand.
The biggest thing I found, when cravings get tough? NEVER DWELL. Move on, move fast, think something, do something, don't smoke. boom, done, next day.
I'm actually a professional at quitting, I am just starting to quit for my 100th+ time now.
Some advice, working out really helps, keeping a healthy lifestyle, this is how I go the longest without smoking.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you have to make sure you rest well, and get good amounts of sleep. Lack of sleep leads to stress which leads to serious cravings.
I don't know your age or your life situation, but a good thing to do is find a hot girl who doesn't smoke and know that you can never smell like smoke around her and try to hook up with her.
Don't drink, good god don't drink. I think every time I start smoking back up it is due to buying a pack when I'm drunk and the "just finishing it off the next day". It is near impossible to control your inhibitions from smoking when you're drunk, just lay off any kind of drinking for at least a month.
Hope it helped, I might sound very unsuccessful from quitting and I know I start back up often, but I do quit for extended periods of time, it is very hard but very possible.
Congrats for even having it come to your mind and good luck, you'll need it
I quit smoking 20 years ago; prior to that I had attempted to quit many times, but the problem was that I enjoyed it too much and really didn't want to give them up. So in order to make it work for me, I had to first brainwash myself into hating cigarettes and everything associated with them.
After focusing on all the negatives of smoking, it took about six months for me to be ready to toss the last pack in the trash and not look back. And during that time I was slowly reducing the amount of cigarettes I smoked each day.
For me, being so mentally against smoking, walking away was easy; I never had one desire to smoke again, nor had any withdrawals.
One thing I made sure of was that I didn't put down other smokers; had been around too many self-righteous ex-smokers and couldn't stand them. Nor did my being around people who smoked make me want to smoke again.
It took me three tries(years apart) to finally quit smoking and I smoked for only about ten years(I started late).
I decided the cost was getting crazy expensive and smoking was causing me health issues, I quit cold turkey, for the first few weeks or so when the urge would hit I would eat something, after a while the urge was less and less until it was gone completely.
When quitting you need to figure out your "triggers" whatever they may be and stay clear of them 100% if possible.
It helped me that there were no smokers at home and I could avoid the smokers at work, it helped we moved into a house where there had never been smokers.
Now I can be around smoking and it doesn't bother me at all, just like it was before I started smoking.
Burgler, Katie, Trackwatch, CA4Now..... nice thanks for posting up! I'm in a good place, still not one puff. Not gonna be.
I would have agreed on the drinking thing about a month ago... but instead - I used it as a test. I figured that if I could get by a night of drinking and not want a cig... then s#!t, the rest is EASY. So for Burgler and Trackwatch - it may seem counter-intuitive (someone out there must know what i mean)... but since I quit, I have purposely gotten right next to all my triggers right off the bat. I love a challenge and the reality is I didn't want to change my lifestyle, who I hang out with, the rhythm of my day. I just wanted to eliminate cigarettes. I went in mentally prepared and figured that if I could knock those difficult mountains out right off the bat, the rest of the quitting process will be a stroll in the park. So far my method has proven successful and a lot less difficult than I expected. So, I've continued my social drinking (& my herbal relaxation protocol), continued hanging around the same friends, family etc. The only activity that's different now is instead of a marly menthol light in my hand it's a toothpick.
So that's where i'm at on that one. As far as "find a hot girl who doesn't smoke".. interesting point but they type of women i date always seem to be renegade types (smoking comes w/ the territory). So w/ the woman I'm seeing now, she goes outside for a cig.... I go stand next to her and enjoy my balcony for it's beautiful view instead of the 5 minutes of nicotine satisfaction that I used to associate with every single balcony I saw. lol. I make sure and never judge or portray that look of disgust toward smokers, even though I am on the other side now.
Feels good to have quit! I don't consider myself out of the woods yet, but the more I act like I am - the better chance I have. Anyone who's struggling.... my only words of advice at this point - IT'S ONLY AS DIFFICULT AS YOU WANT TO MAKE IT.
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