Grumpy A-holes (quitting cigarettes/ nicotine products) (Part 1)

Love the numbers!! :heart_eyes::+1:

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Joining this group later this month…have a quit date set! Wish me luck!

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Man not having cigarettes for me is gonna be so hard because for me drinking, and smoking went hand in hand is there anything I can get on to quit the urge for cigs?

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This might be of some help. To you too @vaariesga Cliff! All success to you both!

The Quit Kit, written by a member of a quit smoking forum that no longer exists but was a big help to me.

The Quit Kit

Repost by GrammaX6

Welcome Newbies! Ready to quit? Then you need a Quit Kit!

It isn’t a matter of just slapping on a patch or chewing some nic gum. Every behavior you can think of is tied to your smoking. We smoked because we were happy, sad, mad, hurt, tired, sick, bored…etc. You need to replace those habits. Take a day to make a plan.

We call it a Quit Kit. It can be anything you want. Get creative and really think about it. Some things folks have used is nicotine gum. You can buy regular gum the same size, color and flavor so you can go back and forth between the two. If you are using the patch, make sure you have an extra patch in the office, in your purse, or in your wallet, for those days when you have forgotten to put one on in the morning. It happens more than you think! Have lozenges available for those high stress / high craving times.

Have some Red Vines to ‘smoke’. Or cut up a straw into thirds…especially during high trigger times like driving. Sometimes it feels good to just hold it if you are accustomed to always having a smoke in your hand. Grab your favorite CDs or tapes to put in your car so you can put one in and sing out loud. My favorite was dancing and singing at the same time. Your brain cannot do a third thing, so thinking about smoking just disappears.

To keep your mind and hands busy, go to Michael’s or some other craft store and look for things to do. Buy something that interests you; rug hooking kits, scrap booking stuff, or Christmas stocking kits for the grand kids. Or, get some coloring books and colored pencils or felt tip pens. Stained glass, floral, tropical fish or Native American motif coloring books are available everywhere now. They make you want to do a good job. Dora the Explorer would make me want to scribble on her face. LOL!

Make a list of everything that needs to be done, or you want to do around the house. Go through each room and write down everything from cleaning out drawers and closets to painting, rearranging or redecorating. Same with the garage and yard work. Once you have your list, break it down into 5-15 minutes segments so nothing becomes overwhelming.

Make baggies of crunchy foods to satisfy your mouth so they are at work and handy to grab. Carrots, celery, chex mix, pretzel sticks (you can hold those like a cig), gum, etc. They need to be ready to just grab at any given time.

This is important!!! The Three Post Rule: When you are craving and really shaky, post and click the “I’m craving and need some help” box. Wait for at least 3 response posts before you make a decision to purchase cigarettes or to smoke. Most times, you will be fine once you read the posts (keeps you from dwelling). If not…post again and wait for 3 more.

Once you have all these things figured out you will be well prepared to handle anything and you don’t even have to think…just look at your list… Keep 1 copy at work, 1 at home, 1 in your purse or wallet, 1 in the car.

If you did one day, you can do 2. If you did 3, you can do one more. No future tripping. You can’t do a darn thing about tomorrow until it gets here. Today is a good time to quit but if you feel you can’t, then take tomorrow to put together your Quit Kit and quit the day after. Don’t set a quit date out there for 2 weeks, 1 month, etc. All you do is make yourself crazy in your head by stressing over that date. You know you can do this.

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Day 507 smoke free. It can be done friends, pack and a half a day for twenty years, never again … NOPE

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I am 50+ days alcohol free and have tried cutting out my 3-5 a day cigarette habit but have reset twice since I set that intention. It has been helpful to read everything on here and realize that my addict brain just wants the behavior regardless of the substance. If I need to reset a timer on here I will always choose cigarettes over picking up a glass of booze. Still smoking for now, but hopefully not forever. Thanks for listening.

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The smoking quit starts tonight folks…wish me luck!

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5000

I get so focused on be free from opiates, I forget that I’ve been nicotine free for a while now. I’m amazed how much money I’ve saved.

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Here is the best advice I can give you. NOT ONE DRAG That is what it eventually worked for me. I tried to quit so many times and always failed. I realized that the reason I was failing was because I would cheat. A cigarette here, a drag there, it always ended the same way, I never quit. When I decided to tough it out, it worked. After the 2 weeks it was all mental. If you treat this like alcohol/drugs I think it will help. Ine is too many and a thousand is never enough. You can do this!

NEVER CRAVE ALONE

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That is my plan. I’ve been successful so far with my alcohol quit based on the same idea…not a single one. That is my mindset and I am feeling good so far (12 hours in) and I have good support in place too!

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523 days without nicotine or smoking anything, which, if you could smoke it i pretty much did. After an enjoyable meal I still have to remember to stay strong. Sweet numbers and savings @Wunderbar also always like your never crave alone tag
Keep fighting friends :v:

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If I could only use one thing I learned from rehab it was that. I was destined to fail if I was only accountable to myself. Having others to talk with has helped my stay clean. And congratulations on 523 days. That is something to be proud of especially since nicotine is so terribly hard to quit.

NEVER CRAVE ALONE

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There were some difficulties yesterday, but no cave and wke up feeling good about today. Not sure if anyone has read Allen Carr’s Eastway, but it was a gift and I’m reading it. Definitely has a good mindset to it so far, gives me something to focus on in the evening too.

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Allen Carr sure helped me. Even though I read after I quit. Indeed it helped creating the right mindset to be done with stupid smoking forever. Hang in there Cliff. Doing good. NOPE (my variant of Not One Drag Ever, Not One Puff Ever!)

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Still hanging in…really with a positive mindset…these 3 days have been easier than I anticipated…hopefully that keeps moving forward!


tuis

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I’m watching this thread. 70+ days alcohol free and I have decided that cigarettes are next. I’ve set and re-set my counter for cigarettes 5ish times since I started the app. I’m on chapter 1 of Alan Carr’s book and the next time I set a day counter for cigarettes it will be the last. Keep going all! I’ll be joining you soon and will need accountability. :heart:

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I’m sheepishly coming back… Ended up caving when I saw some friends. I planned to listen to Jason Vale but of course he said you can smoke through and be ready to have your last cig. So I bought some, saw my friends and then never listened when I got back. Addict logic :roll_eyes:

But the last couple of months I have been really thinking about it and I am back to it. My smoke free date now lines up with my alcohol free date.

I have all the tools at hand and know there is support here. Have this thread bookmarked. Got Jason Vale to listen to which I think will be like Allen Carr. Going to indoctrinate myself as a non smoker again!

And this time I will check in here if I have a craving or thought about smoking. I don’t want to relapse. I finally feel like I have stuff to live for.
Being smoke free doesn’t guarantee I will get to do it all but it helps stack the odds in my favour. It isn’t about giving anything up or just avoiding negative outcomes. It’s letting go of something toxic that is holding me back and letting myself be the happiest, healthiest version of myself I can be.

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Hmmph well my morning wake up self is a bit annoyed at my 1am self for soaking all my tobacco in water and chucking it out. But also quite proud of her. I have set up a few extra milestones this morning - first wake up (done) first meeting, first bus stop.

As has been has been said,just got to say no to the first one! My morning smoke is definitely my most ritualistic. Need a new morning ritual. Have been meaning to get back to meditation for a while now so maybe that could be it. This morning though am posting here and having breakfast a bit early. Got most of my morning planned out so should keep me busy enough.

Got some friends coming round later. I think I will need something to keep my hands busy.

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Coming up to 11am so nearly through the morning. Friends might not be coming round after all. Which really is a relief as they are the bfs mates more than mine. But I do tend to be quite sensitive to (perceived) rejection at the best of times. Nicotine deprived it is amped up a bit! At least I can recognise it for what it is.

Today is definitely going to be a very snacky day.