Quitting smoking TODAY!

Hello,

Congratulations and good for you on quitting smoking!! I quit last August so I'm coming up on my year anniversary. Here's what I did when I first quit..I kept a lot of carrots and celery sticks around and munched on them when a craving hit. I also chewed a lot of gum and sucked on lifesavers and candies like that. I also took advantage of one of the local hospital's smoking cessation therapies. I met with a counselor once a week and talked to her about my cravings and how I handled certain situations without lighting up..one of the things she recommended for me to do was use one of those little stress balls and squeeze that when a craving hit..that helped a lot when watching TV or talking on the phone. This might sound weird but I also got flavored toothpicks which helped while driving or while online.

Anyway, best of luck to you and Congratulations :happy:

Edited: duplicate post.

I quit 13 days, 4 hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds ago... but who is counting right? That's 132 cigarettes i have skipped and $38.67 i have saved.

my two cents on quitting. you have to decide if you really want to quit, not kind of want to, not quit because your family wants you to but that you dont want to be a smoker anymore. if you cant say that you want to quit then dont try, might as well enjoy it until you decide enough is enough and you want to give it up. Sounds like the OP wants to quit so you got that part covered.

like most everything else in life, it is mostly if not all mental. the mind can tell or teach the body to do anything but the mind can work against you if you arent completely committed.

think ahead and think about what success will look like. for instance, when is the toughest time to not have a cigarette? for me it is right after a workout. think about that time and think about it smoke free. you will need something to occupy yourself then and peeling and eating an orange works great for me. it occupies my hands and something about the citrus and natural sugar helps dull the physical cravings and oranges are good for you. good combo

change your routines as much as possible.

do you smoke in your car? have it detailed, that little extra incentive will help, you dont want to waste all the money you just spent making your car nice.
do you smoke in your house? get a maid service to come in for a couple hours and rid the house of the smell etc

feel like you dont have money for those two things? how much did you spend a week on smokes? you will have the money by the time the credit card bill comes as long as you dont buy cigarettes (yet more motivation)

do your parents know you smoke? if not then schedule a bunch of time with them or someone else who you cant or wont smoke around for whatever reason.

i dont tell people good luck since luck has nothing to do with it (and if you think you need luck then dont try to stop), it is all about deciding for yourself, deep down, without reservation, that this is something you want to do, then thinking about what that means and what it will be like to not have a break at 10a to go outside work or to not sit on your front steps after a meal or whatever your rituals are.

Two things work for me under all circumstances, I am currently 9 days sober. But, I quit smoking over a year ago. I do a couple of things. First, I keep a pack around the house. This is to teach me how to have them available, but nto smoke them. It makes me feel in control and powerful over them. Second, I start demonizing them. So, I start calling them names, not out loud, but in my head, I think of how disgusting they are, how they are killing my body, how they are just stupid. Then I think about the tobacco companies, and how they have the last laugh at making everyone addicted, and I know that I am stronger than those @$$holes. I fill my heart with hate and disgust. I have to do this. Laslty, I changed my habits. Smoking is very habitual in nature, meaning that you smoke after a meal, you smoke during this time and that time. It's very oriented around activities, so you have to fill up that time with doing something else so you don't even think about smoking. It takes 30 days to form a new habit. So, that about how long it takes to get over the habitual part of it. As far as the physical addiction...it's simply mind of matter. Demonize them. That's what works for me. That's how I am battling alcohol. It is the fu*king devil and I will not play with the devil. The end.

bump.

Great decision and congrats to you! My 4yr anniversary for quitting that habit is Oct. 11. I quit the day after my 30th birthday and I am so glad I did. The people I take care of in the hospital with complications related to smoking confirm that decision I made just that much more. One day at a time, girl. You can do this!!