well after a weekend that felt like i thought of nothing else apart from smoking i have reached day 7 .
The first few days i am sorry to say were a fairly comfortable and lulled me into a false sense of security, but this weekend just gone has been a struggle. No matter what i did to take my mind of smoking it seemed to always be my next thought.
so this begs the questions
what do non smokers think about ?
when do you stop thinking about smoking ?
What did i think about before i smoked?
Is it as i am male and allegedly can only think of one thing at a time?
Do i think about smoking without knowing it ?
finally am i losing the plot and is this just a part of giving up ?
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I think the stark reality is that smoking will always be somewhere in your mind but I'd treat this as a good thing - it's a good reminder to keep you on your toes.
Early on it will be in a lot of your thoughts, easier said than done but try and fill your mind with something else!
Is it as i am male and allegedly can only think of one thing at a time?
Do i think about smoking without knowing it ?
finally am i losing the plot and is this just a part of giving up ?
Firstly well done on getting to day 7...
My opinions:
1. Non smokers think about the same as smokers apart from they are not addicted to anything so are not making excuses to get out of the restaurant to have that cigarette, instead they are enjoying the meal and company.
2. I think we will always think about smoking as we will always be someone who has smoked...I think one of the keys in being successful is accepting that.
3. I don't know...as I don't know how I thought as I have smoked all of my adult life (apart from quit attempts)
4. Yes
5. The addiction has created a pyschological dependancy and so yes sub consciously you do...help to overcome this dependacy and you will have cracked it...
6. Could well be I think this is all part of you wanting to understand
your right its trying to train your mind to something else, it will i imagine become less frequent that thought of i should be going for a cigerette etc.
Tinkerbell,
thanks for your confimation of question 4 ,
I am actually lookin forward to not thinking about it, especially losing that feeling of needing to going outside to smoke when in a resteraunt or pub or lunchtime at work etc.
To be honest I'm getting it now - I get into work for 9am and normally it's around the hour mark when I go off for a wander outside the office and have a fag or two.
And I know it's not the fags that I'm "missing", it's the fact that my mind knows that usually I'd be doing something else at this time. Takes a while to re-train
And I know it's not the fags that I'm "missing", it's the fact that my mind knows that usually I'd be doing something else at this time. Takes a while to re-train
thats exactly right,
I take it from your user name you are a football fan,
When they banned smoking in grounds for me it was a blessing n disguise. I had always smoked at half time etc and it seemed the norm to smoke in the ground especially when you could stand. I started taking my son when he was four and the people sat in front literally chained smoked the whole game making the experience basically unpleasant for him and me if i am honest. After the ban there was the option to leave the ground at half time for a fag, i did that once and stood outside with my son and i thought this is pathetic. so back to your quote , i have or had trained my mind to accept not smoking at football grounds. the reality it wasnt that difficult.
i know when your first quit smoking is all you think about but trust me after a period of time those thoughts will disappear to begin with it you will suddenly realise that you hadnt thought of a ciggie for afew hours then it will eventually turn into days :eek:
you will still get the odd craving for a ciggie but thats normally due to assocaition what your mind is thinking you should be doing as long as you can just distract your mind when your having these thought it will pass
ive been smoke free for over 14 months now and i can honestly say that i hardly ever think about smoking coming on here reminds me that i was a smoker but reading the posts from the new people that are just starting there quit and what they are going through :eek: brings some of the memories back and makes me even more determined never to let a white poisonus expensive stick be in control of my life again
so there is life outside of being a smoker its a less smellier and more healthier life
in some ways i would like to fast forward to where you are at 14 months ( im really envious and well done )
i am under no illusion its going to take a while having smoked for 30 odd years to retrain my mind but after just a few days i am becoming more aware of when i would have had a cigerette and are automatically questioning why i would want one. so something is going on inside my head
It is strange, like any habits they happen without us realising (I can think of so many times where I've lit up and had a fag but by the time it comes to putting it out I've realised I could barely remember lighting it!).
So it definitely takes much more conscious thought (at least initially) to alter that.
i never thought i would be where i am now either to be fair but as long as you are questioning why you actually need a ciggie even though its just an automatic thing to do depending on what emotions your going through at the time i found reading everything i could about the cause and effect and why do as a smoker you actually think its doing you good and say i enjoy smoking :eek:
i used to come out with so many reasons why i should carry on and when i look back now i think wtf was i thinking of its scary that smokers think the way they do my smoking friends think im so brave and wish they could stop just like that but i keep telling them that they can if only they start questioning why they smoke and everytime they think about lighting up one why they are doing it and what do they think the ciggy is going to do for them
its not going to change the situation or the feelings they are having its just like if you get a fright/shock or are upset its an automatic thing for your mind and other people to say "have a ciggy/cup of tea/stiff drink that will help but none of them actually do it just helps that part of the mind to think its coping for a very short period of time i know being a tea/coffee addict isnt as life threatening as the other two but it does make you think
i also found mediation and putting reminders on my phone one to tell me how many days ive been stopped and a couple of others to say "i dont need to smoke" and "if a craving comes keep mind and hands busy" also saying affimations every day like "i will not smoke today"
also coming on here reading and posting helped as did the wonderful people that helped me through the inital stages
its easier to stop smoking its the never having another ciggie ever again that scares most people
I still occasionally think about smoking and its been 3 years. Its not in a 'oh god I need a fag way' but more in a 'thank god I am not in that hell situation anymore' My husband still smokes so its still a bit in my face, though he is banished outside to do it, but, I never get the urge to smoke his fags.
You eventually train your mind to get on with living again.
As a non smoker, I do the same things other non smokers do. Eat, moan, drink, run around, moan, watch tv, go to concerts, moan, keep fit, moan. I just dont plan my life around smoking, I live my life. Find something to replace that 'me' time. Be it fittness stuff or new hobby or whatever, its important to remember that you have to find yourself again in all of this (bit touchy feely but important).
it does get easier. Repetition of not smoking eventually cements itself in your head, though I like to still visit this forum occasionally to remind myself on exactly what I am not missing by not smoking.
At the end of the day most of us need to temper the enthusiasm of our quits with a degree of realism. For me, it's not a fair fight as it's 4 days quit (if I don't think my other attempts) versus 15 years' smoking - so the feelings and thoughts are going to be there for a while.
So then it becomes about dealing with those thoughts
It does take awhile to stop continuously thinking about giving up smoking. I found that it ruled every concious thought I had for quite a few weeks...and I got a bit fed up with it as well!
But eventually, normal life resumes and you will start to think about other things again...it took me about 6 to 8 weeks I think - it was such a gradual thing I hardly noticed and it was only on reading this post that I remembered what I was like. One thing I do remember when I was a smoker was wondering what non-smokers do with themselves when they're bored, or waiting for a bus, or having a cup of coffee - and without consiously realising it - I am now doing all that without smoking and not really noticing or thinking about it.
Remember - it was repitition that got you hooked in the first place, so only repitition will break those associations, but it will happen -slowly but surely you will get there.
And after that stark and honest admission, it's true what Fi says...you do get past the frequent thoughts but in the early days it's mostly all about 'rinse and repeat'.
Recognise the physical or emotional conditions you are going through or they can lead to relapse. H.A.L.T. is a self-care tool where the letters stand for Hunger Anger Lonely and Tired.
Is it as i am male and allegedly can only think of one thing at a time?
Do i think about smoking without knowing it ?
finally am i losing the plot and is this just a part of giving up ?
B/C I work, I have little time to think of much, but what I am doing. When I do have time, I surf the web...view newsgroups, check e-mail, do my to-do list, check calender for up coming events etc. Its the re-learning NOT to go outside for a smoke that I had to deal with. I am the only smoker, or was, here @ my job..so its re-wiring the brain to do OTHER things that is the trick right now for me. Day 7 is today! Another groovy thing is being here! This site REALLY helps me too! ..and its ok to DAY DREAM ya know!
well i am now at the end of day 29 and writing this origional post seems a long time ago ( 3 weeks or so )
when i origionally wrote this post the constant thought of smoking was driving me absolutely loopy.
but as suggsted by other posters the constant thought becomes less frequent and apart from a couple of days in the last two weeks that i can pinpoint i no longer constantly think about smoking.
The cravings or reminders that i would normally be smoking are fairly regular but are easier to dismiss..( tell them to Foxtrott oscar works well i find ) they can be irrittating though :rolleyes:
i have changed my routine slightly each day , i now eat breakfast where i would of gone outside for the first fag of the day , or if it was raining stood in the garden shed ( go on admit it some of you have done that ) . when filling up with petrol i pay at the pump rathher than go inside the shop. silly maybe but it takes away the option.
so to answer my own questions,, yes i do think about other things and less so about actually smoking . smoking was something i did when thinking about other things .
come to think of it when actually smoking a fag i was more likely to be thinking of giving up smoking .
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