I woke this morning to my 69th day of quitting.
There really is no magic bullet to quitting smoking that I have found. The problem for me is not the nicotine withdrawal - that was over pretty quickly, but the "habit" itself is a constant wolf at my door. It became very clear to me during a day of high stress when I told my husband I HAD to have a cigarette. I was a real mess. He did get me some cigs - but the amazing thing was, it didn't make things any better or any worse. It was just a cigarette "action" from a half century of smoking. I didn't beat myself up about it, although I did tell myself that I was being weak. Admittedly I am going through a huge amount of change all at once. I gave up sugar and carbohydrates at the same time in order to lose weight. So I have put myself into a hugely stressful situation. I have lost 9 kilos in 9 weeks though, which I am certainly proud of. I did rather set the bar a bit high for myself, but here I am, 69 days smoke free (bar one ciggy) and 9 kilos lighter. I have 38 kilos to reach my goal. There is no getting away from the fact that it is a struggle to change long established habits, so I am still only taking one day at a time and living through that. I do hope everyone is coping with the process and I wish you all good luck on this journey we are all on together
The fact you are working on weight loss while quitting is very inspiring, It also sounds very hard. Keep up the great work!
Hi everyone, thank you for all the praise. I don't deserve it but it's nice to read. I don't know how to overcome the "habitual" ingrained triggers of smoking so if anyone has any ideas, please give me a shout. Somehow it's different from eating junk food, because that is a sort of conscious decision, but the thought of having a cigarette is triggered subconsciously, like Pavlov's dog salivating at the sound of a bell!!! This little community we all belong to is SO comforting. Thanks to everyone for just being there.
Dolly, don't worry about putting on weight just now. Wait till you are feeling confident in not smoking before you change your diet. I would recommend though that you just cut out one thing that is fattening at a time rather than go on a "diet" as such. For instance, if you make a sandwich, instead of using two slices of bread, use one and cut it in half. Alternatively, if you have two sugars in your coffee, cut down to one and a half, then one, then a half. There is no time limit on these changes, so be gentle on yourself. You are doing so well.
AndyW, yes, at first it was hard, but now that I have no sugar in my life, and almost no carbs, it has sort of become "ok". It's this "one day at a time" thing I think that helps me. I am not depriving myself in real terms, just substituting fattening stuff for protein and vegetables and a bit of fruit, nuts and plain Greek yogurt. Once, I did have a chocolate biscuit and it was yummy, as usual, but I called it a treat in my mind - not part of my everyday life, like it used to be. My husband buys heaps of junk which I do ignore these days. How are you going?
Hey Red, your message just drips of common sense and I thank you for it. And you are right - I have to take the habit by the shoulders and really shake it out of my system. The celery thing I am already doing (growing bunny ears in the process though). I have to ingrain the "NOT WANT" attitude and am doing that from this moment on. Again thanks Red.