Whenever I am driving around, or when I am sitting at the house doing nothing, that’s when you crave them the most. is it just out of habit?
Smoking is such a hook on so many levels, isn’t it? So to stop smoking cigarettes, you might have to change your habits on top of dealing with the nicotine addiction.
If you think it’s really NOT the nicotine, then try a candy cane. You can still inhale (air) deeply and mimic the act of smoking with the candy cane. Or get hooked on vitamin water or something. Just substitute one activity that you can do while driving safely. If you’re just sitting around the house, that’s easier–you have to stop the desire when it crops it, and you can do like five push ups when you get the crave. Do them slowly and breathe deeply. I found when I was trying to quit that if I could get past that initial urge, I was fine till the next urge hit. I ate those hard red & white peppermints, and drank ice cold water to put a taste in my mouth that was absolutely horrible to my idea of what would taste good with a cigarette. I was a coffee and cig person, so the candy & ice water combo was just not something I wanted to have with or before a cigarette. Another idea is to get one of those squeezy things that weight lifters use to develop their grip. You could have one in your hand while driving, and one in each hand while sitting around the house. Squeeze and breathe your way through the urges. It will get better if you just don’t cave. Hope that helps.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Boredom is a powerful trigger to smoke, Justin. Boredom typically is accompanied by other negative feelings as well such as loneliness, depression, sadness, and anxiety. All these emotions can pack a heavy blow to the new quitter.
Obviously, avoid boredom for now as much as possible. Stay busy. (I played a lot of video games to keep me and my fingers busy. <g> I also got outside more.) If you find yourself bored now (since you can't smoke) use this extra time to your advantage! Go get those things done you've put off; get that recreation you've wanted; etc. By your own admission, you now have extra time so use it doing something better than smoking.
Other than that, understand, you will have moments of boredom for the rest of your life. Sooner or later you will have to face that trigger and kill it by being bored and yet choosing to not smoke. Do that enough and your mind will replace the smoking thoughts with a non-smoking reaction as its second nature when faced with boredom.
I've faced boredom many times in my 4 years of not smoking, and never craved because I killed that trigger early on. I learned what I know from this Yahoo Group. I always give them a plug because they teach to stop and be done with it for good. Here's their link if you want to try them out:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NicotineBusters
(Tell them Daisy sent you. <g>)
References :
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NicotineBusters
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Try to get more information regarding some ways to stop smoking at my profile.
References :