Cognitive Quit Smoking

I had to do an ABC tonight on the fly. When I was running out the door
to my exercise class - which, by the way, I will NOT be able to walk by
the weekend I think - I was feeling a bit anxious because I knew that I
was going to have to go through the typical 4-5 classes feeling and
looking like a fool because I don’t know the routines. I then
remembered that when I used to take Jazzercise classes years ago, I
always smoked a cigarette on the way to the class. Then I remembered
that after exercising, I would pat myself on the back and have a smoke,
kind of like a reward for getting through the workout. I had a feeling
that the thought of the smoke would be pretty strong tonight so I
worked out a quick ABC on the way to the class.
A = Event - Going to a new exercise class tonight. Am feeling a bit
nervous since I haven’t participated in an exercise class in years and
I know it’s going to be hard on me due to the extra weight I’ve gained
and my breathing is still not that of a non-smoker. When I’m done, I

know that I’m going to be thinking of having a smoke since that has
been my exercise reward for many years.
B = Beliefs.
1. I’m going to be feeling a bit dehydrated and hungry after the
workout since I will not have had dinner. I could go to the local
yogurt place and have a yogurt. Yum, that sounds good.
2. I could go home and have dinner with Mike and Corey. I’m going to
be hungry and it’ll be a good time to catch up on the day’s events.
3. I could have that smoke. It’s always been my reward for just about
everything I have accomplished. I have to remember, though, that one
of the reasons that I have decided to start exercising again is because
I stopped smoking and am starting to get my breath back.
C = Response
#3 is unacceptable since I choose not to smoke any longer and it
defeats the whole purpose of my starting to exercise again. #1 sounds
good but I think that I’ll leave that for another night since #3 would
be the best thing to do for tonight not only for me but for the family.
And that’s just exactly what I did. What was so great was that I
didn’t even think of the smoking until long after I was home!!!
- Cat

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2003 at 6:31 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.