Tips for Gaining Freedom from Nicotine Addiction

[babs609]

1. It's not as hard as you think. Once you begin to be honest with yourself and to look at the facts about smoking, it will become a pleasure to remove this addiction from your life.

 

2. Square off with your smoking habit. Look at it and size it up.  Ask yourself exactly what it is doing for you; then ask yourself what it is not doing for you. You can begin with your hair and work your way down to the tips of your toes. It is a medical fact that smoking affects every organ in the human body in a harmful way. 

3. Look at quitting cigarettes as giving yourself a gift-a very big gift.  You are giving yourself a better quality of life and, very possibly, a longer life.  You are giving yourself a healthier body.  You are giving yourself more self-esteem. Wrap all this in a package and took at it for the gift it really is, then "Go for it!" 

4. Set a date. Make a commitment. Give it a try.  Remember, it is alright if you don't succeed at first. Just keep trying. The only way you can lose 
is by ceasing to try.

 

5. Don't look at it as if you are giving up something. This makes it seem too much like a loss. What you are really doing is tossing something out of your life that has done you harm and doesn't belong here anymore.  You are throwing away pure garbage. No longer are you going to allow your 
lungs to be a resting place for nicotine and tars.

 

6. Always keep a positive attitude.  After all, this is one of the most positive things you've ever done. Stay away from negative people and worrisome situations.

 

7. Quit for yourself. Even though your family and loved ones will benefit tremendously from your quitting, it is you that will benefit most.

 

8. Treat giving up smoking with the respect it rightly deserves.  Become willing to go to any lengths to remove it from your life.

 

9. Look up the word 'nicotine' in your dictionary and write down the definition in big letters: "A poisonous alkaloid used as an insecticide.' 
Put it where you can see it.

 

10. Don't say "I'll take my chances' and continue to smoke. They are not ours to take. We didn't give ourselves life and we don't have the right to 
"take our chances" on giving it away. 

 

11.Don't fool yourself by saying you have too many pressures in your life right now to give up cigarettes. If you are smoking, this in itself is a pressures very great pressure. Every day is a gamble and your life is at stake. By getting nicotine out of your life, other things will become 
easier to handle. You will feel better about yourself and you will have more energy. You will have accomplished something more meaningful than all 
the money and material objects you could ever acquire. You will have given yourself what no one else could give you. You will no longer have the 
pressure of being a smoker.

 

12. Don't use the excuse that you might gain weight to justify your continuing to smoke. Even if you do gain a little, the fact that you will be more active and will get more exercise should counteract any weight gain. Remember, overeating, not stopping smoking, causes weight gain.

 

13. Plan to do things that will keep your mind off smoking. Sometimes our minds can be our worst enemies. They will tell us that we need a cigarette 
for just about any reason that is handy at the time. 

 

14. Quit smoking one day at a time and think only about the part of the day you are in. "I am not going to smoke before noon." "I am not going to 
smoke before three o'clock." Sometimes just do it one hour at a time. This is a lot easier than trying to quit forever.

 

15. Don't subject yourself to smoky situations. If you do come in contact with someone who is smoking, just say to yourself "He HAS to smoke.  I no

longer do"  and walk away.

 

16. While you are quitting. Look at it as an investment. Once you have quit for one hour, you have invested this hour in becoming a healthier 
person. Now, invest one more hour Continue to add to your investment hour by hour. It will grow and become more valuable as the hours go by. You 
will begin to see and feel the rewards from this investment more and more. Protect and guard it just as you would a treasure.

 

17. Start being kind to yourself, It is the beginning of a new way of life for you and you are the most important one there. Treat yourself with 
respect and love and, remember, you are no longer filling your system with poison every few minutes. Breathe the clean air and breathe it deeply. 
Smell the different and wonderful fragrances. Begin to spend time outdoors close to nature. Many new sensations await you.

 

18. Don't get too angry. If we are angry, our minds tell us we need a cigarette to cope. Until your mind learns that it doesn't need a cigarette 
to cope, try to avoid situations that might be setting you up. Avoid certain people that may bother you. If there is a lot of tension at work, try to get a few days off. If you can't get some time off, quit smoking on a long weekend. Avoid, as best you can, things like getting stuck in traffic. Use a lot of caution. Anger can be very destructive.

 

19. Don't get too hungry. It is amazing how our minds will tell us that everything's wrong when all we really need to do is eat.

20. Don't get too tired. If we are tired, it is easy to become irritated and when we get irritated our minds will tell us that a cigarette will help. Our overall resistance becomes weak and it is easy to say, "Oh well, I guess I'll smoke."

 

21. Don't get too lonely. It is good to know some people who are going through the same thing.  

 

22. You can remember these four things by the word "HALT." Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. If you feel you need a cigarette, check. Make sure you are 
not experiencing any of these.

 

23. Don't get too bored. It is hard to just sit and not smoke. Keep busy. Find things to do that you enjoy. Bike riding, hiking, swimming, exploring 
new places, trying new restaurants. This is the time to indulge yourself.

 

24. Have something to fidget with. We are accustomed to holding a cigarette; being without one might leave our hands at a loss. Get a small 
rubber ball or a yo-yo. Paper clip, rubber band.

 

25. Have something handy to put in your mouth. Life Savers are good, or any slowly dissolving candy. Beef jerky and lollipops help, too. Avoid 
fattening foods like cookies. They don't last long and they fill you up. Experiment while you are still smoking to see what will relieve the 
craving. If Life Savers work, then stock up. Just a note of caution: don't use this type of substitute on a long-term basis.  I preferred to keep 

healthy snacks handy such as carrot sticks, celery, nuts, fruit.

 

26.  Nicotine somehow doubles the rate by which the body depletes caffeine. This may make some jittery.  Reducing caffeine by half usually helps.

 

27. Don't drink alcohol while you are quitting. Once alcohol is in your system your defenses will diminish greatly.

 

28. Remember that the discomfort you experience in the first 2 weeks will definitely come to an end and you will never have to go through it again.

 

29. Remember, every minute you were sucking on cigarettes they were sucking on you. They were sucking the very life out of you. Don't let them have anymore.

 

30.  Remember, it is the first cigarette that gets you started. It takes only one. This is the one you don't have. You can always put off lighting that first one for a little while. Don't fool yourself and think you can start and stop at will. You can't. Many people have tried this and gone on to live the rest of their lives never to experience freedom from nicotine again. :)

[babs609]

tips for newbies!

 

:)

[Doreensfree]

Good post for our newbies..

[Stewie]

Top notch post lad well done! Great reading...

[Boo]

Excellent post.  Needs to be bumped up regularly.

[Doreensfree]

Bump

[Boo]

Bump for the newbies.

[Doreensfree]

Bump for our newbies 

[Doreensfree]

For all our newbies !!

[Lilley]

17 minutes ago, Doreensfree said:

For all our newbies !!

 

This is a great post - thanks @Doreensfree

Edited March 17, 2021 by Lilley
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[jillar]

bump for all our guests  

[KEL]

@jillar @babs609Thank you!

I was wondering what I was missing and realized I hadn't checked in with QT today. Here is this amazing post to remind me of how grateful I am that I am not smoking today. Just for today.

A dear friend dropped by for coffee this morning. He smokes. We used to smoke together-notice the tense.

He went out on to the porch, asking if it was okay to do so. I had no temptation or judgment; just so glad I no longer had to engage.

And who knows? Maybe he will consider quitting. One can only hope.

Everything here is TRUTH but the thing I keep realizing lately is that IT IS EASIER NOT TO SMOKE.

Once we get past the initial withdrawal period (which is usually challenging unfortunately), it becomes easier and more peaceful to live a life without smoking. We are not constantly negotiating with ourselves which is bloody exhausting. And, at least for me, there aren't the high-highs and low-lows. Instead, there is a steadiness which I now see (DUH) is because I am not in constant withdrawal as I was when I was smoking.

Hope whoever is reading/lurking and still smoking will jump on board!

Happy New (Smoke-free) Year to everyone.

K

[Doreensfree]

High five Kris ....for not engaging with your past smoking companion...

I hope he saw it is possible to quit ....

I'm proud of you .......you won that battle ...

[jillar]

I'm really happy that you had no desire to join your friend @KEL, that's when you know for sure that you have your forever quit  

[Gus]

Thanks for bumping this @jillar! Excellent tips that are extremely helpful. And ‘way to go!’ @KEL!