First Week, Nicotine Free

[Sazerac]

Hello QTrain,

 

What helped you through  your First Week without Nicotine?

 

 

 

For me, it was:  

 

Watching The Clock and seeing 'craves'  lasting a shorter and shorter time.

                     

Breathing purposefully.

 

Satsumas. Water

 

Saving the daily money for a pack of smokes.  I kept it in a big jam jar and watched it pile up.

 

 

 

Jumping Jacks , Dancing Wildly.

 

House Cleaning.

 

Determination and Desire for Freedom.

 

I 'discovered' Joel Spitzer's  videos.

 

Daily Quitting Lesson Guide

 

 

I had a suspicious (show me) attitude but, was quickly chastened

and ultimately enlightened.

It was during my First Nicotine Free Week,

watching Joel,

that I started to educate myself about Addiction.

Denial was no longer my modus operandi.

I started to face reality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Still winning]

I just posted this elsewhere, actually seeing smokers really helped my quit like this:

When you have to, really watch them smoke. Mentally note how there's a "catch" in their throat and then a cough. Remember, they are inhaling poisons and chemicals (70 of them proven as cancer causing!) with that cig. Also note they do not look blissfully relaxed, they are not smoking cause they are lovin it - they are smoking because they are a nicotine addict and after 20 minutes from putting out the last cigarette, the craves are beginning and get bigger until you remedy it with yet another fix of nicotine, complete with chemicals and poisons. 

 

Ice cold water

A list of all the reasons I didn't want to smoke

clicking my fingers

Posting all over the board

NOPE shuffle - switched from foot to foot shouting loud or in my head Nope

A mantra - "For milly and I"

Hard boiled cough sweets (I just like them lol)

Dancing

Nobbys chilli peanuts! SOOOOO good, averaged 3 packs a day and then had to wean off them haha

Cleaning, specifically mopping was my big crave fixer.

Crystals, dalmation jasper necklace and a tumblestone that I would touch if I craved.

 

I needed a lot of distraction :)  So worth it though for what I have today.

 

One other thing, I found I couldn't talk on the phone...every call I would spark up, I just stayed away from the phone like others avoided alcohol. Most triggers I decided to face head on, which worked for me.

 

x

[SueBeDoo]

Eating everything and anything, mints, sleeping/really early to bed, singing, treats at the end of each day,

It's mad but I can hardly remember, I wish I had done a journal!!

[action]

Sleep... Lots and lots if sleep! (OK I was sick, but because I was asleep 90% of the time I didn't have much time to crave)... After about a week I downloaded an app which told me how my health would improve, how much money I was saving etc...

 

Sorry this is much help to most, but starting a quit when you are sick can really work!

[natalie_3]

Wow I feel great to be able to contribute in this post LOL  :D 

Water, water, water...in amazing amounts

Naps

Posting here, reading posts, all about the board

Reading and watching youtube videos about nicotine addiction

Drawing

Deep breathing, baths and relaxations techniques

The ticker that tells me how well I´m doing 

One on one conversations

[comrade simba]

Reading the literature and watching the joel videos.

[Sazerac]

:)

[Doreensfree]

Staying close to the board every chance I got....reading everything I could.....and then some....

Listening to what was being said to me....believing it....

Allen Carr....easy way.....it made me see the addiction,what what it is.....

My punching pillow ..my I pod ..

I have never considered my self as a drug addict...he made me reolize I was....

Serious health issues.....my fate was much more scarier than quitting....

[Sazerac]

:)

[ChRiSpY]

Accountability

[Sazerac]

:-)

[Sazerac]

On 9/24/2014 at 12:25 PM, Sazerac said:

Hello QTrain,

 

What helped you through  your First Week without Nicotine?

 

 

 

For me, it was:  

 

Watching The Clock and seeing 'craves'  lasting a shorter and shorter time.

                     

Breathing purposefully.

 

Satsumas. Water

 

Saving the daily money for a pack of smokes.  I kept it aside and watched it pile up.

 

 

 

Jumping Jacks,  Dancing Wildly.

 

House Cleaning.

 

Determination and Desire for Freedom.

 

I 'discovered' Joel Spitzer's  videos.

 

http://www.quittrain.com/topic/2096-joel-spitzers-quit-smoking-video-library/ 

 

 

I had a suspicious (show me) attitude but, was quickly chastened

and ultimately enlightened.

It was during my First Nicotine Free Week,

watching Joel,

that I started to educate myself about Addiction.

Denial was no longer my modus operandi.

I started to face reality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Tammy 

 

 

 

[c9jane29]

Another good read for new riders!!

 

The first week chocolate and positive self talk.

Also, I read everything I could about my addiction and found out WHY things were happening.

[Lilly]

Marmite crisps have helped me today

[Cristóbal]

In your first week, especially if you quit cold turkey, eat small meals so that your blood sugar levels do not go low.

 

 

When you were a smoker, every time you smoked a cigarette the nicotine caused your liver to release sugar into your blood.

 

When you stop smoking, your body has to learn how to adjust your blood sugar levels by itself, without nicotine. It takes some time for this to happen.

 

Because of this, low blood sugar in your first few weeks of your quit can become a physical and mental trigger and create craves.

 

Avoid these triggers by eating these small meals.

 

 

If you do have a strong crave, it is very useful to eat something very sweet immediately like cookies or candy. After 5-10 minutes, your blood sugar levels will go up, and this higher blood sugar level plus just the passing of some time, will help your greatly to manage your crave.

 

This advice is also very, very useful when a member posts a SOS message on this forum. That is always my first recommendation.

 

 

 

Cristóbal

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Cristóbal

[Sazerac]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:18 PM, Cristóbal said:

In your first week, especially if you quit cold turkey, eat small meals so that your blood sugar levels do not go low.

 

 

When you were a smoker, every time you smoked a cigarette the nicotine caused your liver to release sugar into your blood.

 

When you stop smoking, your body has to learn how to adjust your blood sugar levels by itself, without nicotine. It takes some time for this to happen.

 

Because of this, low blood sugar in your first few weeks of your quit can become a physical and mental trigger and create craves.

 

Avoid these triggers by eating these small meals.

 

 

If you do have a strong crave, it is very useful to eat something very sweet immediately like cookies or candy. After 5-10 minutes, your blood sugar levels will go up, and this higher blood sugar level plus just the passing of some time, will help your greatly to manage your crave.

 

This advice is also very, very useful when a member posts a SOS message on this forum. That is always my first recommendation.

 

 

 

Cristóbal

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kate18]

Setting a stopwatch when the craving started. It'd usually pass and I'd forget I'd set the stopwatch.

Eating something, sometimes healthy, sometimes sweets.

Posting an SOS or a pre-SOS and writing out my analysis of what I was experiencing and thinking about.

Took my dog for a walk.

Started a blog and used that for a private SOS--i.e., not something other QTers would necessarily respond to.

When craving was (is) at it's worst, it was usually at the end of the day. I'd go to bed early to fight the impulse to end the quit.

More than half of the time, I was able to be online at QT during a craving. Without this connection, I would have given up and started smoking again.

Thank you, all.

[MLMR]

Icewater. Yelling in pillow. Allowing myself to go through the crave, feel it and then after few minutes push myself to detach from it. Writing and reading everything, in hopes vital information was stored. I think it was  Walking walking walking. Around the house, during lunchbreaks, powerwalks as well as long, tiring km's. For a period of one month I put myself on tomato/cucumber/egg/nuts snacks. To prevent myself from treading one addiction for another. It worked. 

 

Vital for me was (and still is!!) 1. examination of my junkie thinking and 2. finding out what's underneath: something in me is crying for attention. What is it and can I provide it? If not, how do I handle this without smoking <- because that should be your ultimate goal here.

 

Oh and one of the angels here kept reminding me about forcing myself to look for beauty. Even if the whole world felt like there wouldnt be any beauty, like EVER, and everything was a big pile of stinky messy sadness. Thanks for that.

 

 

 

[MLMR]

Wait. This topic is about the first week. I just described my first months.

 

Slept all the way through first week. Don't remember much 

[catlover]

Sleep Sleep Sleep, eat, Sleep Sleep Sleep, eat, watch Joel Spitzer Videos, Listen to relaxation and hynosis on youtube, sleep some more, live on here educating yourself, and posting...Sleep

Edited February 25, 2019 by catlover

[Rozuki]

The first week I quit was all due to my having a stroke and being in hospital (I was yelling for the NRT patch!!) awaiting a carotid artery stenting procedure...slept when I could, played solitaire when I couldn't, drank water and did a lot of deep breathing! I didn't have any online support at all until about 3 months after I first quit....

[Reciprocity]

5 minutes ago, Rozuki said:

The first week I quit was all due to my having a stroke and being in hospital (I was yelling for the NRT patch!!) awaiting a carotid artery stenting procedure...slept when I could, played solitaire when I couldn't, drank water and did a lot of deep breathing! I didn't have any online support at all until about 3 months after I first quit....

 

And yet you still found a way to get it done   Finding a way rather than an excuse is the key to success!

[Doreensfree]

Hope this helps our newbies ..

[Sazerac]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:18 PM, Cristóbal said:

In your first week, especially if you quit cold turkey, eat small meals so that your blood sugar levels do not go low.

 

 

When you were a smoker, every time you smoked a cigarette the nicotine caused your liver to release sugar into your blood.

 

When you stop smoking, your body has to learn how to adjust your blood sugar levels by itself, without nicotine. It takes some time for this to happen.

 

Because of this, low blood sugar in your first few weeks of your quit can become a physical and mental trigger and create craves.

 

Avoid these triggers by eating these small meals.

 

 

If you do have a strong crave, it is very useful to eat something very sweet immediately like cookies or candy. After 5-10 minutes, your blood sugar levels will go up, and this higher blood sugar level plus just the passing of some time, will help your greatly to manage your crave.

 

This advice is also very, very useful when a member posts a SOS message on this forum. That is always my first recommendation.

 

 

 

Cristóbal

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ankush]

Tip: Take the daily NOPE pledge, acknowledge that the crave exists but do not submit to it.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Ankush