One Day!

ab20

Yes it has to be taken one day at a time if you want to quit smoking. I have quit myself. But my experience is that you must not think about tomorrow and forget about yesterday. Concentrate on the present and just push forward as if each minute is a day. Tell yourself that you have lasted without a smoke for the past hour if you make it that far and only when the urge is strongest tell yourself this and then find something to occupy your mind for the next 10-20 minutes. Then when the next urge comes remember that you have done maybe 2 or 3 hours and so on and so forth. Be aware of yourself waking up earlier each day that you do not smoke! Enjoy the fruits of the not smoking by taking note of your panting levels going down as you climb the stairs. Before you know it you will not even think about a cigarette. But like any drug you must always be aware and be ready for when the weakness sets in. Especially if you like a drink. Anyway I am celebrating 7 years off them now. And even with a heart problem I can still get about quite well. Remember ONE DAY!

dollyk

I have tried everything in the world to try stop. but i never tried the one day thing;) i must say that i tend to dwell on , holidays, next week, the next party, so maybe you are right. this time i will try one day, one min at a time. what have i got to lose. i will start tomorrow, why wait till new year, or even xmas. so i will let you know if it works. thanks:D

dollyk

well so far so good, tbh at break time it was 1 min at a time

ab20

Well Done Dolly. Just explain what TBH means as I am not great at abbreviations. Keep it UP. You can Do It and then you can make others do it! Great Stuff.

ab20

I've got it THB= to be honest. Well if you got over one tea break thats great. Now you just have to forget about that (but keep it as an achievement) you know now that you done one break, don't worry about the next one until it will arrive in its own time. Get your mind active and keep busy. Let me know when you reach your next milestone. Brilliant!

dollyk

went swimming last night, first time in 20 ish years. have to say last night was a piece of piddle lol.hubby was sent to the kitchen to do his chain smoking. i got a bit anti smoking with him pmsl (pissing myself laughing ). good to have teenage kids they teach you the puter lingo. every time i though about having a cig, i just brought myself back to the moment, just the next five mins. MY god that really worked, i usually let myself think about next week, next year, forever, but im sticking with this 5 min malarky. will keep posting. BTW ive not had that panic feeling yet either for some reason ..:D
as you can tell i cant use caps lock, and i type with two fingers. might just bite off the rest , useless things lol

ab20

Well done dollyK ya good thing. So am I to understand that you have done one full day without. BRILLIANT! Now just keep the same sense going today and forget about yesterday and remember don't even thing about tomorrow or even the next 10 minutes just be aware when the urge rises inside to deal with it the way you did yesterday! You'll soon be swimming the channel! Did you enjoy waking up this morning! No horrible taste in your mouth! KEEP GOING DOLLYK! I need an update tomorrow! This is brilliant.

dollyk

ok i must state for the record, i am smoking 30ish years. have bought ALL allen carrs books and c/d . have been hypotimised (SPELLINGS ) three times. had my pressure point done by the chinise. bought the eletronic ebay cig, patches, inhallers, went to allen carrs seminar in ballbriggan, so have spent thousands. WAS EVEN ON CHAMPIX .:eek::eek::eek:.

So this is my second day of one min at a time.:) . my friends ( smokers ). just dropped in for a coffee before i go to work and i did,nt even want to join them for a drag. i dont know why , i just changed my way of thinking. usually i sit there mourning the fact that i will never again have the pleasure of having a coffee/smoke with my buddies.
This time i thought, they are only here for about 15 mins, so i get by that no problem, i didnt think of any other time except this. so im off to work, still nicotine free:P

ab20

Bully for You DollyK. Think of all that you have achieved in less than 48 hours. Now you don't want all that to be in vain do you. Now think about the €9 a day habit. €9 x 7 Days = €63. And €63 X 52 weeks = €3,276 = Wasted Money

Or think of it this way €3,276 per year could = Holiday, Home Imporovements, Nice Clothes, How many times could you get your hair done for that. These are just some of the benefits you could have.

Keep UP the great work. I believe in you DOLLYK. Once we get you sorted then I can work on others and soon we will all be running around like 12 year olds fighting fit again.

dollyk

off to work. So on a scale of 1 /10 none of my craves have reached 2.
i like this one day at a time. i have stopped anazlising everything i do and im just getting on with living. was in bed at 8:eek::eek: last night. up at 6:eek:
omg ive changed from a 3 glasses of wine and 20 cigs a night. to the gym for a half hour;) to bed early, and no i dont feel im wasting my life away, just feel im on the road to recovery ..

ab20

Believe! Believe! You are the only one who can make it happen! You're doing great! I won't be around until tomorrow. So I look forward to another update. "Rolling, Rolling, Keep those doggies Rolling, Rawhide!!!!"

phil16phil

I just wanted to say well done and keep it going. I was just thinking if you built up a following you may feel an extra incentive not to dissapoint us, might be some extra encouragement for you. Anyway just do it for youself and children.
I gave up two years ago after smoking continuously for 29 years. One reason, was I caught my 13 year old son smoking a packet he stole from me. It,s not right we not only show them bad habits but put temptation in their path also.
I found it difficult, but you should find, especially after about 5/6 days that the intervals between the cravings get longer and longer and that they pass quicker, so keep going it get easier, in actual fact you probably have the hardest bit done.

dollyk

hope so . im just going to keep going, and it is nice to have someone who has been there done that, lending a helping hand, same to anyone else who wants to quit. why wait till new year, or any other day for that matter ..;)

dollyk

:D thanks phil16phil, for the support. so far so good, had a bottle of wine last night, and id be a liar if i said i was tempted to smoke. i was,nt . not sure why but there you go. Feeling so good, the change is instant honest.;)

ab20

Well done Phil16Phil for giving the encouragement to DollyK. Dolly Well done to you for doing the hardest bit as Phil said. Now just keep the momentum going and you will soon slide into a new place that you never thought existed and as Phil said the thoughts of a S***e will soon be a thing of the past. I hope that you are getting the same feelings that I got when I initially kicked the dirty filthy habit. Soon yo will be able to smell anybody who smokes from 100 yards and you will think . . . .MY GOD WHAT A WASTE. I am just back from having the battery changed in my Defibrilator in my Chest. I have heart disease and I am not sure if it was hereditary or not but I know one thing for sure. The SMOKING DID NOT HELP. But as I said I am 7 years off them now and there is now going back. And I believe that the same goes for you DollyK. Spread the Gospel. ONE MINUTE AT A TIME!

dollyk

day 5 still going strong

timmytime

Well done dollyk for giving up smoking especially at this time of year.

I'm off them since start of September using Patches. just wondering does anyone else find themselves feeling very low after quitting? I'm worried about stopping patches in case I feel more down then I do now? It's a lot easier the longer you're off them cravings wise I find.
Hope to hear from someone.

ab20

Day 5 alread! Woosh how time flies. Dolly there is too much to lose now. You must be very proud of yourself and feeling very good. I am back home now so keep me updated.

ab20

Dolly would you be so kind as to pass on my formula to timmytime as I think he/she needs some encouragement. We are starting to gain momentum now.

dollyk

timmytime. i tried patches and everything. the thing about patches is you still have to wean yourself off the nicotine you get from them, im not feeling low this quit because i dont feel like im quitting .??????/ i know this does not make sense, but i dont think of tomorrow or the next , or even later on tonight. i just think of now , the next 5 mins and no more. nobody can stop me if i want to light up. i know this but for the next few mins i dont need to . read the o/p/ origonal poster first post. also you have to remember YOU WONT ALLWAYS FEEL LIKE THIS. you just have to put enough days in and you will have no nicotine left in your system. once that goes 72 hours or so, the cravings are all in your memories. So dont worry about quitting for good, or even for tomorrow , or xmas, or birthdays, holidays etc etc . you just have to not light up for the next five mins, then when they go do it for another 5. get it. when you think of next week , dont think of wheter you will or wont, just say to yourself , today is all that matters.

timmytime

Thanks for the replies. I'm not having that many problems with the actual quitting bit it's more the low mood. My husband is going to try quitting again in Jan after a failed attempt so we'll both be cranky heads in Jan, god love our child!

I think though we should all be very proud of ourselves as it is without doubt one of those most difficult things to do.

timmytime

dollyk, I know exactly what you mean about taking it 5 mins at a time. I used that approach in the past for losing weight. Like I'll have that chocolate bar in a few mins, it's like you don't feel you're depriving yourself, and then you end up not having the thing you crave...

dollyk

also timmytime, im taking a course of st. johns worth. had to order it on the net as they dont sell it in southern ireland, it can interfere with some medications, and as im not on any i can take it, its herbal and releases serotin , which is the happy feeling in nicotine. not sure how but you can google it ..

timmytime

Thanks dollyk, I'm on antidepressants so not sure if I could take St.johns worth.
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to have to start exercising I think, even though it is the last thing I feel like doing! I know that if I shift some of the lard I'll feel better in myself..

dollyk

lol yea , i went swimming last week, first time in years. it hard not to feel like quitting is taking over your whole life, i used to , but the key is we are thinking with a still craving mind, time is the key i think. roll on mas . 1 week today. still strong :P

timmytime

Very well done on getting to one week! That is really great.
Just got a whiff of my husbands cig smoke when I opened the door and it smelt so nice, but then on the other hand he smells horrible after smoking! It's mad how much you can smell it from people after giving up.
:eek:

dollyk

:eek: i know that feeling. why is it when we are smoking , we wish we didnt, and when we quit we wish we had,nt

ab20

Hi DollyK and TimmyTime. Lets keep focused. Nice to see somebody else joining in with some good positive chat. This is unbelieveable that a conversation about quitting started a full week ago and you are still going strong. Remember One Day. Even as I write this it is now a full week and a few hours. Lets try to build in a bit of walking maybe into the routine when things get tough. Try breathing in the fresh air and get it deep into your lungs. YOU have to believe now DollyK a week is just too much to throw away now. WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT! Keep it Up!

dollyk

today was a hard day for me, i went shopping came back all excited and just wanted a cuppa and a CIGARETTE :eek::eek:. so i mentally counted to ten and went for a quick walk. it worked. its hard to believe at moments like this that i will ever be happy without cigs. but i know it wont consume my whole life if i stick by it. its harder not to dwell on the untruth that i enjoyed smoking. I know i didnt and that i was just a nicotine addict. If i keep telling myself the truth im sure it will sink in. for a split second i thought :rolleyes: ill just have one, but i know ill never stop at one so im back to 1 min at a time ..


its great to read back over the posts, i know i CAN do it .

Plumpynutt

i haven't started to quit yet, but i will one day. my mates and i are all gonna quit at the same time, and we have devised a method. at the end of the day, you all tally up how many smokes you've had. the person who has smoked the least gets paid 2 euro by everyone else. i think its good because it means each day their is a reward on your mind for not smoking(which could also tie into the one day at a time method). and obviously honesty is the key!

just thought i'd share it, somebody may find it useful:D

Promac

Keep up the good work Dolly. And don't forget that even if you do end up having a puff - it's not the end of the world. Just starting counting again and keep going.