Quit Smoking

...will be my 3 month anniversary. I will mark this goal done then. I seriously have forgotten about smoking. It’s so weird. I see it on my list or someone randomly cheers it and I say “Oh yea!” I’m quitting smoking! What a wonderful feeling!!

I’m so grateful!

Glad to report… no signs of a struggle over here : ) I’m so glad I’m over that hump!

Writing here reminds me that I don’t want to go through this again… the quitting part sucks…. the staying quit is great.

January 1st was my first day off of NRT. The patch was soooooo helpful. Stepping down gradually made this so much more tolerable. By the end, you are on a 7mg regime which is ultimately like smoking 4 cigarettes a day. Easy. Like cake. Done. Well… that’s how I feel today : ) I will admit. The first three days off NRT felt yuck… no doubt… but it was soooooo much easier than going from a pack a day to cold turkey. I give everyone who does this major major major kudos and credit for being STRONG! Good for you that you could do it that way!!!! So today, I walked past someone who was smoking and about ten minutes later I said to myself “Hey! You didn’t even think about smoking by that guy!!” lol …. sure…. but I did 10 minutes later! lol I feel good. I’m happy. Once again, the best decision I have made for myself and I NEVER want to have to go through this again!!

So, I’ve now been off the step 3 patch for two days…. it’s been a little rough. I’ve been going through some withdrawal symptoms… I have really jam packed my schedule full of things as one of my distraction tools. It has certainly helped significantly.

I’ve been working on talking myself through the withdrawal as well… I start out by acknowledging exactly how I feel… what it is like… I allow it to happen… I breathe deeply and try to focus on the compassion I have for my body having to go through these feelings. The feeling passes. Sometimes it is gone for hours, but sometimes, these cravings repeat themselves VERY rapidly … I can make it through tho…. this technique has been working well.

At the end of the day I will be 58 day smoke free.
Tomorrow will be my first day patch free!
So January 1st marks the last day I am in-taking any form of nicotine!

GoalGeek (www.goalgeek.com) wrote a great article on being prepared for the potential obstacles. http://www.thechangeblog.com/achieve-your-goals/#more-1127 … I always focus on what I have to do to achieve the goal. I’ve never actually made a plan for the potential obstacles!!! Forethought. I like it… so I’m going to do it now… The following is based on the article…. such a useful tool for ANY goal really…..

“What could potentially and totally threaten the accomplishment of our goals? “

GOAL: Quit Smoking/Being Patch Free
THREATS: Stressful situations, being around other smokers, being in the environment that reminds me of smoking, physical withdrawl symptoms…

CONFRONTING THE OBSTACLE: “How can I arrange my life in such a way…” that I don’t fall prey to any of the threats?

- Avoid unstructured time with friends that smoke for 30 days. I won’t just “hang out” with R or D or J without some sort of activity to keep me occupied.
- I won’t hang out in any of the places that remind me of smoking (for about 30 days- I hear that is the rough estimate of time it takes to implement change)
- I will buy fresh ginger to chew on if when I get cravings…. also anything flavored with cinnamon I hear is good for physical withdrawal
- I will give myself plenty of extra time for sleep as I know withdrawal can cause sleep disruption
- And here is a list of activities that I can do instead of smoke: go for a walk by the beach, play the guitar, call a friend, do yoga, meditate, revamp my goals, write down 3 reasons I don’t smoke anymore….

Thanks for the article GoalGeek! Another great one!

I’m stoked about this. Seriously. I’m sad I had fallen off the wagon a couple of months ago. Fell off for 6-7 weeks. It was a tough time… but I’m glad I regained my clarity and also learned coping skills that will in the future, hopefully prevent that from happening again.

Hope everyone out there is doing well and achieving this goal! Hang in there! WE CAN DO THIS!

Cool deal! I’m going to mark this “done” at 90 days. Things have been going quite well with this goal. I completely forget to put on my Step 3 Patch on Saturday. It wasn’t until late that I realized… something was awry… I was antsy and anxious… withdrawal… sigh…. so I know what I have to look forward to when step 3 is over… it’ll be a tough couple of days but nothing like it would have been if I went cold turkey. The difference? On Saturday… I didn’t even think twice about smoking… sans patch, I was thinking “What’s wrong? Why do I feel this way?” As opposed to “I NEED A CIGARETTE!” : ) I had no idea what that weird nagging sensation was all about?! And it was mild… not CLAWING at me as it would had I went cold turkey. So… good news… I’ve been reprogrammed!! And I’m tapering off my nic addiction. I’m happy at this success!!! : )

I’m very grateful to be at this point. It wasn’t until 10:00 tonight when I got home and this guy was smoking outside of my complex that I had my one and only thought about smoking… I never smelled such a glorious smell!! It was like home baked cookies! Or the smell of a warm fire!! : ) lol What a crazy controlling addiction this is right?? To think that cigarette smoke smells good and to think comforting thoughts when you smell it! YIKES!! But of course I reverted right back to thoughts about what my poor beautiful little lungs must have gone through! Inhaling SMOKE instead of clean crisp air to send clean oxygenated blood to all the parts of my body. So mean to do to them. They are precious… and all the cells in my body rushing around to clear out all the nasty toxins…. I know this is not what I am supposed to be doing to my body… I’m thankful for another successful day at being smoke free!

Another day that thankfully was free of the obsession of smoking : ) Yeah! I feel great. No turning back now!

Today was extremely successful! I found myself in a place of gratitude a lot today… especially for not feeling the compulsion to smoke. Good day : )