Quit day July 10 (tomorrow) quick question

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

13 Replies

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nsd_user663_20558

6 years ago

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

nsd_user663_20978

6 years ago

hello and welcome you have come to the right place for all the A,B,C you need

in answer to todays question yes you will feel happy again it wont be immediate, its tough at the start but with this forum and the knowledge you will gain by reading peoples experiences it will make that tough time easier

and little by little it gets easier and easier then one day you will find yourself advising the new ones here [and that wont be as long as you think] and then you know you have crossed a bridge then and you gradually build on this until not smoking if far more enjoyable than smoking ever was

i smoked for 25 years was a true hardcore addict believe i enjoyed it and needed it and rewarded myslef with it and here i am a year and a half down the line and my eyes are open i see smoking for what it really was a trap that stopped me doing so much limited my life beyond belief i wouldnt go places as i knew i wouldnt be able to smoke there, i shooed my kids upstairs to play so i could smoke, i spend a big part of my life at my back door puffing away

Now i go where ever i want when ever i want, i never shoo my kids away [a big regret tears in my eyes writing that bit] i have so much time to do everything now and above all i am happy, happier than i ever was as a smoker

you just have to break the triggers and each time you do something and dont smoke you break that trigger and then next time you do that activity that trigger will be weaker and weaker each time until you will do it without thinking about smoking

you can do this

boo

nsd_user663_49670

6 years ago

Hi Russ

I'm a new quitter myself - day 2 now.

Like you I just took smoking for granted and automatically associated it with certain situations. A perfect example for me would be just now when I've just had a coffee break. It would have been a normal reaction for me to reach for a smoke at just the mention of this if I wasn't determined to quit. Thinking about it though, and reading some of the excellent advice that's available on this site has made me realise that smoking had just become a habit for me, and not one that I'm really sure gave me the enjoyment or satisfaction I thought it did.

I've been a smoker for 20 years so I don't expect it will be easy to change my habits and adjust to life without nicotine. I was one of those people who would panic if it was getting late and I suddenly realised I might not have enough cigarettes to last me until the shops opened the following morning.

I think quitiing's all about 'mind over matter' and keeping a postive outlook - after all it is our decision to get our lives back and not be a slave to nicotine anymore.

It shouldn't take long to get used to it if we really put our minds to it. I'm trying to think of the benefits to be gained from quitting - better health (my smokers' cough already seems to be easing and I've only been quit for 2days) and more money to name but 2.

I know you'll get lots of advice and support from everyone on here so "Good luck for tomorrow" and keep posting.

Evie

nsd_user663_50109

6 years ago

U don't notice untill u quit how much smoking takes over ur life.. When I was smoking before I went out or to work I had to spend a good half hour rolling my fags for the day.. Counting how many I had for work and to make sure I had snug to last me.. Doing the same on a night out too.. If I was going on holiday or a day trip.. Planning my day so I no when I could smoke for example if I was going on train making sure I had one b4. And knowing we're I could smoke. I even had set times to to smoke like I would ran my kitchen then it would be fag time.. It's bin hard to break from my habits but I'm getting there.. And it's bin terrible some days as I got made redundant from my job so all I did was smoke to fill up my day.. But since iv quit iv started uni again and took up garding using the money iv saved on plants..

nsd_user663_20558

6 years ago

Threw the last five away - WAY TO GO RUSS!!!!

Oh, it IS much more enjoyable without fags. Admittedly, this feeling doesn't happen overnight. For some it's a revelation, for others, something that creeps up on them. A lot of us spend a while feeling like there's something missing from our lives, that we've lost something. But eventually we all wake up and smell the coffee and realise that nothing has been lost: smoking doesn't make you happier or relieve your stress or alleviate your boredom - it's just something you happened to do at the same time as experiencing these states of mind. And the freedom from that cough and stink and cost and fear for your health is ... oh, just priceless. I can't wait for you to experience it too