Hanging in there
I think I am about day 14 without ciggies. We are on school holidays here, which I love, I love when the kids are home and the routines are out the window, so I haven't felt much pressure yet. I am very thankful for this. I am taking things one moment at a time. I rewarded myself with smoking but I am also constantly doing things, so a ciggie was a way to stop for a sec. So I am making sure I still stop, I still sit for a coffee, I even make myself a sandwich or something so that I have a new reward. A new reason to sit and stop for a minute. I'm sure it will take time for things to be unconscious, not so orchestrated. But it was the same slow process of having a ciggie here and there that led to the addiction. Hopefully I can undo the addiction with the same process.
Hi NiCo,
We just have to relearn ways of doing things.
I'm finding days where I barely think about
smoking and other days where I crave. It
takes time, but we are going to nail it!!!
Hi NiCo,
Congrats on 14 days! You mention that you take cravings moment by moment... Taking them moment by moment has been the best strategy for me. I have been quit for 110 days today. I have been telling myself that just as long as I can get through this next minute, hour, day, etc., without smoking nothing else matters. I don't put stress on myself if I have to allow myself to cancel plans or skip planned tasks. One of my big triggers for cravings is studying. I had originally planned to start an online course at the 6 month quit mark. I didn't want the stress of studying before that milestone. I am now confident enough in my quit that I have registered and started the course now (3 and a half month mark). I will keep the same strategy as I have had... if I find the cravings are getting too much I will put the books aside for as long as it takes. Nothing is a better accomplishment than keeping quit.