Kicking the cigarette habit

[whichwayisup]

I need to pick a stop smoking date. I don't wanna do it on Jan 1st - That's too cliche for me!

 

I'm scared to quit but it's something I NEED to do.

 

Yup B4R, try again tomorrow! I feel for ya!

[dropdeadlegs]

I'll vouch for alpha. He's helped me many times and I trust him. He's a straight shooter, and speaks honestly. Some may not like it, but tough sheeyt.

 

You're assuming alot here. Maybe if you stopped and got to know him abit like I have and others, then maybe you'd feel differently.

 

I need to hear the opinions of those I respect and cherish. Straight shooting is quite okay with me. You do that yourself, and I believe I have applauded it. Again, first opinions are usually pertinent for me. I have been known to change my mind, but admit it takes awhile.

 

He pissed me off when I first joined, I actually think he's cool now. A bit forward, but cool.

 

Thank you too for your added thoughts. I need the info apparently but will certainly continue to form my own opinions. I have seen what I have seen but am not beyond changing my opinion.

[Pyro]

Yes, Riddler, they do support my decision to quit. Both have discussed possibly quitting too. My daughter does TRY to keep the smoke away, but I can still smell it. It is hardest to deal with in the early mornings. I don't live with my boyfriend and only see him every Friday and sometimes at other times over the weekend. Since there has only been one Friday, it's hard to know how things will play out. When we were out and about he did smoke twice, but we were in his truck and I would never tell someone what to do in their vehicle/home. I did joke that he must be trying to kill me with his second hand smoke. He rolled the window down further and I joked that now he was polluting my oxygen supply. We both laughed it off. He spent the night at my home Friday night and he smoked 3 cigarettes between 6pm and 9am. That seemed to me like he was trying not to, but I did allow him to do it in my home.

 

I guess what I meant in my previous post is that I will be around cigarettes a lot and that won't make quitting any easier. It's easier to tell yourself "I will not go to the store and buy a pack of cigarettes" than it is to not grab one thats laying there...but such is life and I must be stronger than my compulsions/addictions to have any self respect.

 

Well I wish you and your daughter the best of luck.

 

If I was your BF, I wouldn't even be smoking if we were in the car together. I would try my best to keep it away from you until you have more of a grasp on quitting smoking, but that is just me and my two cents.

[blind_otter]

I'm reading a cognitive behavioral primer called "Feeling Good" by David Burns. There's a section on quitting smoking.

 

He says:

 

1. Make a list of 10 positive consequences for quitting.

 

2. Visualize yourself every night before you fall asleep in a nice, relaxing place. The beach, a meadow, whatever floats your boat, and imagine every muscle in your body relaxing and melting. Visualize every detail of the lovely scene as you allow your body to relax.

 

3. Now visualize yourself in the scene as a nonsmoker and repeat your 10 positive consequences for being a non-smoker.

 

Supposedly this is a visualization trick that can help motivate you to stop smoking.

 

I'll let you know in January......man I feel like I need a cigarette now.

[Rooster_DAR]

I'm reading a cognitive behavioral primer called "Feeling Good" by David Burns. There's a section on quitting smoking.

 

He says:

 

1. Make a list of 10 positive consequences for quitting.

 

2. Visualize yourself every night before you fall asleep in a nice, relaxing place. The beach, a meadow, whatever floats your boat, and imagine every muscle in your body relaxing and melting. Visualize every detail of the lovely scene as you allow your body to relax.

 

3. Now visualize yourself in the scene as a nonsmoker and repeat your 10 positive consequences for being a non-smoker.

 

Supposedly this is a visualization trick that can help motivate you to stop smoking.

 

I'll let you know in January......man I feel like I need a cigarette now.

 

Just another social engineering trick to earn a dollar from a distraught consumer like you and I.

 

[blind_otter]

Just another social engineering trick to earn a dollar from a distraught consumer like you and I.

 

 

Actually, this book is the best primer on CBT that I've ever encountered. And I even bothered to get a BS in psychology so I've read a lot of psych books.

 

My therapist gave it to me. It's not technically worded, but the explanations on faulty thinking patterns and refuting faulty logic in your head are very clear. I recommended the book to Ripples, and she has reported that she likes it as well.

 

It's an excellent, if very lengthy (over 600 pages) tome.

[dropdeadlegs]

Actually, this book is the best primer on CBT that I've ever encountered. And I even bothered to get a BS in psychology so I've read a lot of psych books.

 

My therapist gave it to me. It's not technically worded, but the explanations on faulty thinking patterns and refuting faulty logic in your head are very clear. I recommended the book to Ripples, and she has reported that she likes it as well.

 

It's an excellent, if very lengthy (over 600 pages) tome.

 

Crap. My library doesn't carry that one. Is the author David D Burns, MD? They do have a book by this guy titled "When Panic Attacks..." and that one looked interesting to me too. It sounds like the chapter on quitting smoking may be applied to lots of other behavioral issues too. Nicotine is not my only problem, I think I rely on alcohol too much as well, and I think that has a lot to do with my anxiety issues. I love self help and psychology. They are both so interesting to me. I only wish I could afford therapy on a long term basis. It should be a required health care practice for everyone in my opinion, yet many insurance companies consider mental health very differently than they do physical health. For the most part it's my mental un-health that makes me physically ill!

 

Oh, and I should state that I smoked a cigarette today. It made me "high." I had forgotten that they do that in the beginning. That's probably why I started in the first place. This may sound weird, but nicotine sure "moves the mail", if you know what I mean. The effect was immediate. There must be some scientific fact behind that....

 

WWIU, everything I read beforehand indicated picking a date was very important. I chose one about 30 days out because I needed time to absorb the date fully. My first date was too soon and I didn't make it through the first day and just gave up. I did pick a new date within a week and chose the day my kids went back to school after the Thanksgiving holiday because I didn't want them to see me toying with the idea of hanging myself daily (just kidding.) The last time I quit I was a terrible emotional mess for weeks. This time has been easier than that, but still I faltered.

 

B4R, I hope today IS a new quit day for you!

 

Good luck to all three of you. Oh and you too Rooster! We could have the LS former smokers support group meet daily! I could use the support.

[blind_otter]

Crap. My library doesn't carry that one. Is the author David D Burns, MD?

 

The very same!

 

 

It sounds like the chapter on quitting smoking may be applied to lots of other behavioral issues too. Nicotine is not my only problem, I think I rely on alcohol too much as well, and I think that has a lot to do with my anxiety issues.

 

It can help with a lot of other issues. There's a chapter on depression, one on anger issues, one about anxiety, all with practical exercises included to help you on your journey. I love this book!!

 

I love self help and psychology. They are both so interesting to me. I only wish I could afford therapy on a long term basis. It should be a required health care practice for everyone in my opinion, yet many insurance companies consider mental health very differently than they do physical health. For the most part it's my mental un-health that makes me physically ill!

 

Wow, DDL, I could have written the above paragraph word for word. I totally agree 100%.

 

Oh, and I should state that I smoked a cigarette today. It made me "high." I had forgotten that they do that in the beginning. That's probably why I started in the first place. This may sound weird, but nicotine sure "moves the mail", if you know what I mean. The effect was immediate. There must be some scientific fact behind that....

 

Yes, nicotine increases gastric motility. Some of us are totally dependent on that morning cig, if you know what I mean, and the gum just don't do it.

 

The last time I quit I was a terrible emotional mess for weeks. This time has been easier than that, but still I faltered.

 

Join the club, man. I tried to quit when I went to Europe for a month. The traveling was so nerve wracking that I became an uber bitch and gave in and bought a pack of european cigarettes. Man those are strong.

 

Good luck to all three of you. Oh and you too Rooster! We could have the LS former smokers support group meet daily! I could use the support.

 

I could, too, but I'm still officially allowed to smoke for 3 more weeks. Urgh.

[dropdeadlegs]

Well I wish you and your daughter the best of luck.

 

If I was your BF, I wouldn't even be smoking if we were in the car together. I would try my best to keep it away from you until you have more of a grasp on quitting smoking, but that is just me and my two cents.

 

That is so noble of you, and I agree that I would do the same, but then again if we were ALL perfect us perfect ones wouldn't shine so brightly, now would we?:D

 

Thanks a bunch for your neverending support. Your such a good friend.

[Pyro]

That is so noble of you, and I agree that I would do the same, but then again if we were ALL perfect us perfect ones wouldn't shine so brightly, now would we?:D

 

Thanks a bunch for your neverending support. Your such a good friend.

 

Thanks. I do my best, and no not all of us can be perfect.

 

I read that you broke down and had a smoke today?

 

I can imagine that not everyone were able to quit the first or second time that they tried.

[dropdeadlegs]

It can help with a lot of other issues. There's a chapter on depression, one on anger issues, one about anxiety, all with practical exercises included to help you on your journey. I love this book!!

 

Take your three weeks! That's fine.

 

Wow, I gotta get that book. It might cure me of ALL my defects! I bet it's at Amazon...I posted elsewhere on this site that I have dealt with anger issues and somehow I managed to do that on my own and boy am I a better person for it. To now think that I didn't even recognize that I WAS angry is downright hysterical to me. But depression, anxiety....I still have lots of work to do.

 

As for therapy, I have had multiple therapeutic episodes in my life and have learned so much about myself. It is a personal journey I would give just about anything to continue on a full time basis. It seems that when my insurance was good enough, I just couldn't afford the time, and when I have the time, well I don't have insurance. But I am at a point in life where I definitely want to change things about myself that I don't like - I want to be the person I envision myself as. Physically fit was supposed to be my first step, but I felt that smoking was kinda in the way of that, so I stepped back and re-prioritized. One side of my brain wants it all NOW and the other side recognizes that baby steps are actually building blocks.

 

Thanks for the info. I have written down the name of the book and will get it with my Christmas money. 600 plus pages doesn't scare me! If I have all this time to post on LS I certainly have time to read!

[bluetuesday]

yeah, never been a smoker or indeed a quitter.

 

just wanted to add an off-topic vouch for alpha, who i find pretty universally funny and irreverent and screwy. just what this place needs more of, IMO.

 

[dropdeadlegs]

I read that you broke down and had a smoke today?

 

Yes, but it was a "slip" and I'm back riding on that wagon again, just fell off for a moment. Not even exactly sure what brought it on. I haven't been feeling 100% this week (not sick, but not well either) and for some reason I found the cravings unbearable. I suppose smoking has some "comfort" issues for me.

[dropdeadlegs]

just wanted to add an off-topic vouch for alpha, who i find pretty universally funny and irreverent and screwy. just what this place needs more of, IMO.

 

 

Voucher noted. He said he had many who would vouch for him and he surely does. I am not beyond eating my own words and may have to do so. My first impressions have on occasion been wrong.

 

Thank you for your input!

[Pyro]

Yes, but it was a "slip" and I'm back riding on that wagon again, just fell off for a moment. Not even exactly sure what brought it on. I haven't been feeling 100% this week (not sick, but not well either) and for some reason I found the cravings unbearable. I suppose smoking has some "comfort" issues for me.

 

Alright, but no more "slips". You can't quit if you are going to "slip".

 

Hope that you feel better.

[blind_otter]

well I say, don't beat yourself up too much about the secret cig. We all fall short of our goals sometimes and to be too perfectionistic just leads to low self-esteem. Be proud that you've come this far, and renew your conviction.

[dropdeadlegs]

well I say, don't beat yourself up too much about the secret cig. We all fall short of our goals sometimes and to be too perfectionistic just leads to low self-esteem. Be proud that you've come this far, and renew your conviction.

Perfectionsim...another of my personal character flaws. If I can't do something perfectly, I may not do it at all.

 

I don't have many women friends in my real life. (I don't have many friends at all, just lots of acquaintances.) Mostly because I perceive women (not me) to be in some kind of competition with each other. There are so many lovely women on LS that I would really love to have in my real life world. I don't know where "the swamp" is, but if I find it I will be sure to look you up!

 

You are on my list of the most wonderful women on LS!

[Rooster_DAR]

Mostly because I perceive women (not me) to be in some kind of competition with each other

 

Funny you should mention that, from my perspective that is also how I observe it.

 

Anyway, I just cracked open a Modelo so that triggered my cigarette urge, now it's time to light up.

 

Cheers!

[dropdeadlegs]

Funny you should mention that, from my perspective that is also how I observe it.

 

Anyway, I just cracked open a Modelo so that triggered my cigarette urge, now it's time to light up.

 

Cheers!

Modelo? I am so behind the times. Educate me.

[Pyro]

Modelo? I am so behind the times. Educate me.

 

Look at my profile pic. That is an ice cold Modelo from the fine people of Mexico.