The Giving Up Smoking Thread!! Part 2

maccababe

we are all doing wonderfully well. Have reached day 21 which im quite chuffed with. still having times when i would really like a cig but am thinking about them less. love the idea that each day my body is healing itself and i don't have to find money for fags.
maccababe

little_lily

Just wanted to post that I've reached the three month milestone today!!! I quit on December 3rd and haven't touched a cigarette since!

I know that when I was in the first few days/weeks of my quit I found this thread incredibly helpful and so just wanted to say that if anyone is just starting out on the journey or thinking about quitting - IF I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

I smoked for the best part of 25 years and though there have been REALLY tough moments over the last three months, I have got through with the help of the wonderful people here and my very dog-eared copy of Allan Carr!

In my experience, the hardest bit was not the nicotine withdrawal but undoing all the smoking habits I had picked up over the decades. I have had to re-learn so many behaviours and almost re-programme my brain to accept that I can get back from the school run and not have a fag, walk the dogs and not have a fag, have a cup of coffee and not have a fag, turn left at those traffic lights on the way to work and not have a fag, finish the ironing and not reward myself with a fag...

The first two or three times of doing each and every activity without smoking were so hard, but gradually my brain does seem to be getting the message. So, for example, the first thing that I did every day once I got back home after the children were dropped off at school was to make a coffee, sit on the back doorstep and have a fag. I was COMPLETELY lost for the first few days and felt that something so big was missing from my life that could never, ever be replaced. Well guess what - now I have replaced that routine with a new one involving a cup of tea and loading the washing machine and I honestly never give the 'school run fag' a second thought.

The more time that passes, the fewer things I have to face for the first time as a non-smoker, the fewer 're-programmming' moments I have and the easier the whole thing gets. I still have to do the first summer holiday, the first getting off a plane, the first BBQ but if i can crack the school run one, I know I can crack anything!

I do have to say that the whole anti-smoking mindset in the UK has really helped me. In the last few years, it has become SO embarrassing to admit that you smoke and SO difficult to enjoy a cigarette outside the home. More and more of my friends had given up and at parties or in pubs, I felt totally humiliated having to go outside, usually on my own to indulge. Ten years ago, if I had gone out for a meal with a group of ten friends, 7 or 8 of us would have lit up, in the restaurant, between courses without batting an eyelid. Being the last smoker in the group and having to shiver in the rain whilst trying to keep your fag dry does make it almost impossible to justify the habit!

I am still waiting for the magical moment when I can say that I have gone a whole day without thinking about smoking but it happens less and less often now and, when fags do pop into my mind, I don't want to lie down and weep uncontrollably or rip anyone's head off. I feel a tiny bit sad for a moment and then it's gone.

And I remind myself every day that withdrawal symptoms can't kill me but that nicotine almost certainly will.

Come on - we can ALL do it

TismE_3

:T :T :T :T KEEP IT UP !! :T :T :T :T

I will be joining you all on saturday, i am a little scared of failing, but i'm gonna give it my best shot!

Tisme x

little_lily

TismE - I know exactly how you feel. As I counted down to quit day, I felt that I might as well become a nun because I was totally convinced that I ould never possibly enjoy a party or a meal out or a glass of wine again without a cigarette.

But that is the trick that nicotine plays on you. Think of all the millions and millions and millions of people who have never smoked - they are all perfectly capable of enjoying meals and parties and wine without cigarettes, aren't they? Your non-smoking friends don't wander around moping and feeling that they are missing out on something, do they?

Tell yourself over and over and over again that you ARE NOT GIVING UP ANYTHING. You are ABSOLUTLEY NOT making any sort of sacrifice. What you are going to do on Saturday is to stop smoking, nothing more, nothing less. You have two or three tough-ish days as the nicotine leaves your system and after that, it really is all in your mind.

Try to think of one non-smoking friend and, when you have a craving, picture that person. In my case, I always thought of my sister who has never smoked a fag in her life. Did she have to light up a fag before she made a phone call? Did she look miserable if she couldn't have a fag with her glass of wine? Did she look sad and depressed because she couldn't light up after a meal? No - she lives her life perfectly happily and contentedly without cigarettes because she is a non-smoker. And, one day soon, that will be you. You will re-programme first your body and then your mind and you will be a non-smoker.

It may take a little time, but you WILL get there. And it will be SO worth it!

Sue-UU

Well done WHWD, you're going well.


Stroppy, rather than "eating like a pig" try filling up with water and eating clementines or any sort of orange, by the time you've peeled them you're not half so hungry, especially if you've had a glass of water before! You're certainly sounding very positive indeed and are seeing all the great things about quitting, keep as strong as you are now and you'll do well - and excellent news about not using the inhalater!!

Great news Tom!!! Thai boxing and jujitsu are really good to get rid of any frustrations and will certainly stop you putting weight on!

Congratulations Cira and good to see you on here! :T You've done brilliantly, I hope you're really proud of yourself. So sorry to hear about your Dad, very sad indeed.

Congratulations to you also earwig, you did it then!!!! Fantastic news!:T

Good to see you again Feedum and many congratulations indeed!!!:T

21 days ALREADY maccababe!!!:T You're doing wonderfully and keep reminding yourself of the healing body as it's true!!!

Many congratulations on getting to that magical three months Lily!!!:T:D I know there were times when you struggled like mad, especially at first but look how wonderfully you came through!! I'll bet you're so very, very proud at what you've achieved. Keep coming back every so often to update us, it's great for moral. Did you ever come clean to the family? Great advice to Tisme too!!

Don't think too much about failing Tisme as you'll put far too many negative thoughts in your mind to begin with. Think of all the positives, focus on them and write them down. Take all the wonderful advice on board that Lily's given you, great ideas!

All the very best to you ALL, you can all do it - you KNOW you can!!!

Sue

whathavewedone

Had my teeth cleaned yesterday at the dentist and they are all shiny and new again.

Last night was much less difficult. I had a couple of glasses of red wine and enjoyed them without smoking!

I woke up at about 3am and couldn't get back to sleep for some reason but I don't feel all that tired or grouchy - probably because I've gone to bed at 8.30pm for 3 nights on the trot!

I've made a real effort to be cheerful when oh gets in. I realise that previously I've been deliberately grumpy in the hope that he will say oh well come on then lets get some cigarettes and then I can abdicate all responsibility for failure because it's his fault.

Littlelily everything you said struck a real chord with me. I'm guessing you're about my age. The only friends of ours that still smoke are single and have no children. All the others have given up.

You are so right about all the firsts. Do you think there's ever a point when you can really consider yourself a non smoker as opposed to a smoker that isn't smoking?

TismE_3

Thanks for you kind words.

Im am determind to quit, I'm worried because i've failed so many times in the past, something really stressful always seems to happen whenever i decide to quit last two times my dad died and then my grandad died, both within days of my quitting!!

Took a phone call yesterday from my half sister to say she'd booked us into see a solicitor, my uncle has been holding back on the last part of our inhertitance (sp) for almost three years, so im expecting a big family battle real soon.

Im going to have a good chat with the new leaf lady and hope she can give me some hard core nic replacement!! and im still going ahead with my quit!!

Tisme x

ameliarate

I haven't actually given up, I am on a weeks reduction in readiness (that's how I think of it), so I have cut down so far by 50% and today, hopefully, a further 25%. But, is it normal to have little voices in your head asking you questions like, well what are you going to do if you can't sleep and you can't a have a fag, or what are you going to do on holiday if you can't have a fag (quite ridiculous).

I swear it is like there is a little person in my head telling me that there is no life without fags.:mad: .

phillipsdj

Hi all, congratulations on your continuing or upcoming quits!

LittleLily, many congratulations on achieving such a significant milestone:T . It continues getting even easier from here!

TisMe, best of luck for Saturday! This is the best decision you will have made in a long time - in terms of finances, health and much, much more! Stay positive and if it gets hard at any point, read through this thread again and (hopefully!) get inspired again!

As for me, I realised today that I have almost reached the 5 month mark and I really don't miss it all! My fear was that I would turn into someone who couldn't stand to be around smokers but this isn't the case at all - I don't understand WHY they smoke, but I can manage to spend time with them!

According to the quit meter I have saved just over £1k since quitting and although I don't have a lump sum put away, I no longer have any debts and this £1,000 has helped enormously with that!

Keep up the good work everyone, you're doing amazingly!

stroppy

Hi everyone,
Ameliarate I know exactly where you are coming from with the little voice....My tactic now is to think how wonderful will it be to be able to do all these things without some stinky horrible cigarette getting in the way,and keep thinking it over and over again until the niggling voice has gone.works for me.
Day 3 and im feeling so pleased with myself I could cry...this is the longest I have been without a cigarette since I was 13....Im nearly 32.
The difference being this time I really wanted to give up,my house stunk,I stunk,my chest hurt,I felt like a social leper,I was smoking more and more,my kids hated me smokin,I was embarassed i smoked,couldnt go to pub any more as i hated not being able to smoke inside,and a hundred more reasons!
I still know I have a long way to go but if I fail this time I know I will never do it,have really had to brainwash myself... as in the past when ive tried ive managed to make myself so miserable ive given up after a few hours.
Still not touched the inhalator since day 1 and know if i can leave it alone all the nicotine will be out my system within a day or two.
I have been reading whyquit.com quite a lot and its really helped.
Ive been a slave to nicotine for so long I cant wait to escape now.....:cheesy: