Sunday, July 12, 2009

Quitnet.com Tip of the Day

The quitnet.com Tip of the Day:

Snacks to Keep You Busy

When you feel the urge to smoke, have a snack that keeps your hands and mouth busy. Buy a bag of shelled peanuts to eat, so that you have to work at shelling each nut. Do the same with sunflower seeds. Make a big bowl of popcorn, a good low-fat snack. Practice catching pieces in your mouth.

I am Doing Better

It has been roughly 36 hours since I have had my last cigarette. It has been a bit of a struggle. But I think I am doing okay. I have read that the cravings come and go, but sometimes I feel like it is a constant craving. The 'nicotine monster' wants to be fed. I will do my best to ignore him.

We went to a block party yesterday. I found myself looking around for someone smoking a cigarette. Strangely, I did not see 1 person smoking. I thought that was very weird. There must have been 30 or 40 adults there and I did not see a single one of them smoking. Maybe it was because most of them had kids and either did not want to smoke around their kids or had quit smoking altogether because they had kids.

We have a baby shower this afternoon so we will see how that goes. I know that there will not be any smokers in our group. But it is at a banquet facility so there might be someone there outside our group that smokes. I know that I should not smoke at all, but will 1 cigarette kill me?

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Not Quite There Yet

Okay, so I have a bit of a confession to make. I have not quite quit smoking yet, but I am trying. I did intend to quit on July 5th. But on the morning of July 6th I was on a plane heading down to go through my dad's things. I did not bring any cigarettes with me. I thought I was doing good. I don't recall having a craving, but I did find myself buying a pack of cigarettes at the gas station that was right next door to our hotel. So I smoked the pack throughout the course of 3 days. I had the last one at the airport waiting for our flight home. That was going to be my "last cigarette". The morning after I got back home, I had to go to work. Again, I had no intention of smoking. But the cravings became too great. I went out in the early afternoon and bought a pack. I do not bring it home with me. It stays at work. The first night wasn't so bad because I knew I would be back at work the next morning and could have a cigarette then. But now that it is the weekend, I have to wait 2 days to get back to my cigarettes.

Maybe it will be a good thing. Maybe I won't be craving them by the time I get back to work Monday morning. But that might also be a bad thing. What if I am not craving them, but they are there? I don't think I will have to power to throw them away. I guess I will have to see what happens Monday.

Right now I need to focus on getting through the weekend. Just take 1 day at a time. That is all I can do. If I keep thinking about having a cigarette when I get to work on Monday morning, it will drive me crazy! So I need to find other things to keep myself occupied today.

Wish me luck!

Quitnet.com Tip of the Day

The quitnet.com Tip of the Day:

Relaxation Is Easier Than You Think

Consciously relaxing your body and mind is really helpful, not just in the early days of quitting, but as a way of dealing with stress in your life from now on. Relaxing can be pretty easy to do, once you get the hang of it. Simply close your eyes and breathe naturally, picturing your breath as it flows in and out of your body. You may want to imagine your breath filling your body with energy, and then pulling all tension out with it as you exhale.