Cognitive Quit Smoking

I did a post, hit the ’send’ button, and my machine decided to shut
itself down. Grrrr!
I just wanted to touch base and say hello - and express my thanks.
I quit on April 3rd ( I think it was - somehow I don’t seem to need
to count those days any more). It’s been one heck of a ride The
difficult part was acknowledging the quit depression and taking
steps to deal with it, but that fog and confusion is well behind me.
I’m here because I was prepared to do the work and think about
things differently, and also because of the unstinting support I’ve
received, notably from Steve, Pam and Cat. Please take up Steve’s
offer of one on one chat - talking ‘live’ is a great help and
support.
So - my thanks to the ‘oldies’ - but to everyone for sharing their
quit experiences. This place is the best Carla

Hi Julia,
I’d like to reply to the last part of your post first…
“… forgive me if I’m causing controversy here.” You aren’t. I think
this is a wonderful discussion for which I’d like to thank you. What’s
more, it’s a discussion about intellect and emotion, the two central
players in a quit, if not in life.
” Just tell me to shut up and I will!” Nope, no one will say that to
you, and certainly not me. I set up this group in hopes that people like
you would participate.
To get back to intellect and emotion, Julia you raised a very important
point, that “Logic and reason don’t mean much to (the feeling) part of us”.
We tend to allow our feelings to determine our responses to most everything
that has a ‘feeling’ element to it. Which is mostly why I consistently
chose to light up a cigarette. My feelings, and particularly my desire to
address those feelings, always took precedence over what I ‘thought’ I
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Hi all,
Did anyone do an experimental ABC for an event on Monday or today? Did
you notice anything different in which options for response appeared most
reasonable? Did you find it easier to opt for nonsmoking options when you
had the situation preplanned? Jeff? Leslie? Sharon, Ellen, Liz? Did anyone
try to preplan an event? Karen, you tried to be more aware of your
driving triggers and found that being aware helped with your last road
trip. Have you tried to set up some plans for more routine day to day events?
What was my smoking habit? I believe it was very simple pattern of
behavior whereby some part of me became aware of some sort of physical
sensation, equated a cig to the immediate relief of that sensation, and lit
up or wanted to light up. Each was a separate instance, and DID NOT need to
have its own unique reason. Put 20 of those instances together and I’d have
said I had a pack/day smoking habit when actually, I’d simply responded to
20 sentient moments in exactly the same way. If you smoked 2 packs/day,
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Hello Gang,
I did great during my road trip. Much better than I every thought. I did
catch myself digging in my purse for a cig, this was all habit and not a
conscious thought. I had to laugh at myself. Saying over and over, silly
woman you don’t smoke. I did learn drinking through a straw can cause
serious “association” desires. For now I will carry bottled drinks.
I drank Dr. Pepper 99% of the time during my years as a smoker, Dr P and
cig, breakfast of champions.<G
of an association. It triggers a desire to smoke from habit.
BTW did any of you guys receive less than desirable reactions/support for
your smoking and non-smoking friends? My smoking friends all have the same
chorus, please don’t become one of those pompous non-smokers. My
non-smoking friends really don’t get why I think quitting is such a big
deal, you know you just quit. I understand the “co-dependent”/addict
dynamics so know part of this has to do with I am moving out of my role as a
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Cat, congrats on your 9 months…I hope Robert will be smoke free also to
help celebrate your one year. bobbie

Doing the what ifs saved my skin (and my quit) many times in the early
days of my quit. Mine were usually around work, and what if my boss winds
me up and I think I need a cig to calm me down, or what if I get involved
in a long interview and get so stressed out dealing with the client that I
need that relief a cig can give me?
I work in an office, and interview people looking for a change in career
direction. I also have a boss who could bore for England, and uses 1000
words when a dozen would do. As a smoker I pretty much had it down to a fine
art, either timing the length of my interviews pretty carefully so that I
could nip outside or into the cleaners storeroom for a crafty smoke, or
pre-arranging for someone to ring me in the middle of Marks monologue to go
take an urgent phone call so that I could nip out and get my fix.
So, I set about thinking what it was I was actually feeling emotionally and
how that translated itself physically when I thought only a cig could help.
I realised that Id be feeling butterflies in my stomach, be breathing
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Jeff:
You are SO on the right track. I, too, am a coquitter. I’be been FREE for
going on 7 months now (can’t believe it). I still read the posts here daily as
a support mechanism (guilty for not posting). In my opinion, Steve is up there
with the saints that are written about. Anyhow, yesterday I was with a smoker
pal and had some wines. I gave up the alcohol with friends like you for about
four months and as with everything else, I am cautiously progressing back to
some of my old behaviors (without cigs). My friend yesterday really wants to
quit and I felt sorry for her situation (I remember being enslaved). When I was
initially quitting, I obnoxiously printed out the whole cogquit site and other
special things and 3-ring bindered it and read it as my bible. I took it out of
the bookshelf today to share it with the above-mentioned friend. Paging through
it, a few of my favorite lines:
— The deep saense of lasting comfort and calmness that awaits you after
your quit is probably beyond your comprehension. (Wow, is that the truth)
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