Hi. Newbie here and have joined as i'm determined to stop but reckon i'll need a) some help b) some questions answered c) and probably somehere to have a moan as the one thing i know for sure is it ain't going to be easy. All half hearted attempts have ended in failure.
So if anyone can help with question 1 your advise would be appreciated. I associate smoking with enjoyment (crazy or what) and am worried that without fags i wont enjoy things as much. Or even when you do something you dont enjoy like the washing up the driver to do it is knowing when its done you can have a smoke. So the question is how do you overcome this. Not sure ive worded this to well but hoping you guys will know what I mean. thanks. In case it helps have smoked for 27years so i guess stopping is going to be a big battle
Hi Russ,
Welcome to the site. And first of all: GOOD DECISION.
Yours was a short post but there's kind of a lot to answer there so forgive me if I ramble.
You say you have associated fags with enjoyment and reward. True enough. In fact, if you give it some thought, you've spent the last umpteen years building up associations with smoking for just about every aspect of your life. Stressed? Smoke. Tired? Smoke. Bored? Smoke. Angry? Smoke. Finished eating? Smoke. Need to wake up? Smoke. Celebrating? Smoke... and so on, and so on.
So there's no getting around it. Giving up smoking is a question of breaking those associations. As most successful quitters will tell you, breaking the nicotene habit is a small part of it: quitting is a mental process.
The first few times you encounter any trigger situation, you'll have to ride the craves that come with it. The good news is that once you've been through that situation a couple of times, you start to reprogram your brain, and the craves become less, and eventually disappear. As time goes by the number of associations that crop up become fewer, and the whole process gets easier. The good news is that it took you 27 years to get to this point of subconscious addiction, but not *nearly* as long to crack it!
So a few tips would be:
1) Accept that you're going to crave, don't fear it, just take one day at a time, remind yourself what's happening. If you keep a positive attitude it's not as huge a battle as you might imagine.
2) Try to recognise triggers for what they are. Are you craving because you're tired? Thirsty? Bored? Have a nap, drink some water, go and do some weeding (or something more fun ;)).
3) Read, read, read. The better you understand what's going on, the better armed you are to cope. Use this forum for all you are worth. It's a godsend.
4) And finally (I have lots more, but I'll save it :D) just remember - NOPE - Not One Puff Ever. Don't be tempted to cave in on a bad day, just get through it and the next day will be easier. Don't try to fool yourself that you've done x number of weeks so you can easily stop again - not true. You've got to stop and mean it.
This is totally, absolutely, achievable. And speaking as someone who's come out the other side of the struggle, it's ABSOLUTELY worth it.
Happy quitting!
Helen