Smoking is the strongest addiction, and hardest to shake. I’ve only smoked for 5-6 years, and I still cannot get myself to where I don’t have any relapses. The struggle is real….
Stresses of daily life and taking care of finances, its hard to not want the stress relief. When I get overwhelmed with anything, my first action is to have something in my hands and inhale. I’ve used vaporizers, awful cigars and the cheapest and nastiest cigarettes I could get my hands on, but the nicotine is what my body is really after.
I’ve developed an allergy to the adhesive to patches and couldn’t use those. The vaporizer only did good with nicotine in it, and the more I cut the nicotine down, the more I wanted to strangle my poor husband for absolutely no reason. So to spare him, I would every now and then sneak a couple of puffs here and there just to get me through the week.
Upon a lot of research, I have finally found a few things in reach that has actually helped a lot. But I also have to be willing to put the effort into it as well, not wanting to “quit” sets me up for more relapses. Later, I will go over the pros of not smoking that I have noticed that helped a lot.
The first thing that has helped a lot, is I always have to have my hands busy. Either cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, or even playing my husbands video games (when he gets bored from not having his Xbox because his monster wife has taken over and started cracking out on it, he actually deals with the trash!! One of the huge pros). Skyrim and Elder Scrolls for the win!
Candy, suckers and sunflower seeds. I have to have sugar free because of being diabetic, and they’re not overly sweet like regular candy and suckers. Sunflower seeds now days come in a wide variety of flavors, like BBQ, Ranch, Bacon (my fave), etc.
Straws! When you get something to drink, use a straw! It mimics the feeling of sucking in on a cigarette. Along with eating small meals as well, it helps curve both appetites.
Brushing your teeth! If you have clean and minty teeth, why would you want your now bad breath smelling like a cigarette?
Find a peaceful spot where you wouldn’t smoke, like in a certain room you never smoked in or prefer not to, cleaning your car so when you drive, you won’t want to make it smell like smoke, etc. Air fresheners help me a lot. And if its too hot or too cold outside, I’m not standing out there to burn up or freeze just to smoke a cigarette. Due to our landlord being stern on not smoking in the house we rent (which is completely fine with me!), we don’t smoke in the house. So that helps a whole, whole, whole lot!
Put a $5 bill away that you might normally use to buy a pack. Or however much you spend. And if you have a debit card, try going to the ATM more often so you will have cash, and put the cash away in a jar or lock box so when your anniversary, birthday, Christmas, or just a You Day comes along, look how much you have now that you would have spent on either a pack of cigarettes or vape juice if you are trying to quit vaping as well.
Caffeine makes quitting even harder. You might get a caffeine withdraw headache like I do, but I have noticed a big difference, especially Mountain Dews or coffee. Caffeine for some people might help them stay awake during the day and you might not be as sensitive to it, but I have noticed that I tend to drink more of it when I’m staying away from cigarettes, which in turn makes me super jittery and hyped up, which is sometimes confusing to nervousness for me. So if I think I feel nervous, I always think about smoking and it all goes down hill for me.
Support system! Super important. If you don’t have family members supporting you and telling you how proud they are that you haven’t smoked in a whole day, whole 2 days or a week, try going online and find a support group. You’re not alone, there are millions of people going through the same thing you are, so they understand. Even if your spouse, or family members don’t understand how hard it is to quit or the struggles it causes, you can also create your own. Remember that $5 you put back last week when you were tempted, but didn’t? Did it more than once and maybe have $35, $45 put back now? Get a face mask! A new cologne! Mani/Pedi! That’s gas money for a trip to the beach or the mountains! Outfits, shoes, powertools!!!!!!! Spluuuuuuuuuuuurge! Possibilities are endless!
Avoid those who don’t respect you enough to take it outside or to warn you when they are about to light it up. Avoid the people who tell you that its a waste of time to quit, or ones who try to get you to have “just one”. Those are dangerous! Even if its your cousin, mother, sister or brother, STAND YOUR GROUND! And I will tell you the pro of that later.
Notice when you get frustrated or angry. Step away, sista (bro). If you are getting frustrated or angry at something or annoyed, if there is a way, step away. Take a bathroom break for 5 minutes to collect yourself. Drink ice, ice, ice cold water if it is available. Breathe for a few. Anything you have to do to get yourself calm and talked out of the anger of frustration, make sure you pay attention to your thoughts and try to block the negatives one. Hardest thing seriously to do on the planet! But you know what? I bet you will feel so proud of yourself for talking yourself down, when other people don’t have that kind of will power!
Remember your reasoning for not wanting to smoke anymore. Either for your health because maybe you can’t breathe, your children are getting sick, you want to save extra money for a house or a new phone, you want to live longer, to feel better… Don’t forget your reasoning for wanting to quit, and don’t let “just one more” outweigh your progress you’ve accomplished so far. That “just one more” could be the kick start to your never ending habit. Personally, I want to be there to have children and for my husband. Nothing makes me more happy than to make my husband smile when I roll over and give him kisses (without the smoke breath, he haaaaaaaaates it), or let the dog in the room for us both to jump up and down on him. My husband is my motivation and reason I want to quit. I want to be there to hold his hand when our hands are wrinkly and to share his dentures so I can get my portion of my corn on the cobs. To see my kids finish high school and college and pay for our nursing home…. (Just kidding, they will not be in charge of that).
Avoiding alcohol. Bummer. I know. Good thing I can’t tolerate it, BUT upon research I have found where people have cut down the alcohol because it takes away your self-restraint, how can you tell yourself “not today, cigarette!” if you aren’t fully aware of the reasoning you had for quitting, or that money you put back. Yeah, probably not the best. I have seriously cut the wine, and it helps a lot.
PROS of QUITTING!
I can BREATHE!!!!! The biggest difference I have noticed, I feel like I am getting more air in my lungs. I don’t have a cough in the middle of the night, or ever, anymore. My nose isn’t as stuffy as it usually is, and a lot of that nasty mucus is gone.
My skin feels smoother. I never really thought about it until I started looking for differences. My skin isn’t as dry even in the Winter anymore. My teeth aren’t as yellow and I can finally see them getting white with my same whitening tooth paste that I thought was just a fluke. I can smell my favorite detergent better because there isn’t anymore smoke attached to the inside of my clothes. My car smells less dingy. I actually notice that my shampoo scent isn’t covered up anymore, and it smells fabulous walking through walmart.
I can walk faster without being so winded!! I may not go to the gym every week, but man, even those tredmills winded me! I get through the store a lot faster to dodge the crazy shoppers as well. My husband even says I’ve been talking a lot faster, which is sometimes frowned upon while he is sleeping… oops.
I can go out to eat more often. Granted, my husband and I are always going back and forth between where we want to eat, but fortunately for us, we aren’t picky.
I can concentrate a little longer. It takes two weeks for nicotine to fully leave your system. And after that is done and as long as I have either a sucker or my sunflower seeds, I noticed I get a lot more done here lately. Without asking my husband for help. As much as he is very happy about that….. he still needs to take out the trash. I haven’t forgotten, buddy.
My husband kisses me more often. Yeah, I’m a sucker for kisses (sorry guys). But get used to, he is so appalled by the smell, he would give me a quick kiss before he leaves for work and thats all she wrote until the next morning. I don’t blame him though. I hate it when he eats Chipole sauce. Yuck.
If you have any pros or cons about smoking, let me know! Need a support system? Let me know!!!!!
