Cognitive Quit Smoking

I have been reading the posts, and think I have the right idea, but
have been wrong once or twice before, lmao.
the “A” is what is happening at the moment that I want to smoke,
the “B” is my alternatives, of what I can do in this situation,
including having a smoke, and the “C” is the course of action that I
decided on,
is this the basic “ABC” model that I need to work on?
stupid question I guess, but I realy want to understand and make it
work.
thanks \
gord

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2002 21:03:02 +0100 (BST)
From: Serena <serendipity3212000@…
Subject: Hello
A friend of mine directed me towards this group, and so I’ve recently
joined. I havn’t posted yet, but will do so soon. I quit a few weeks ago,
and am really having a tough time of it - I’m hoping your method is going
to be the one that works for me too. I’ve been reading your site and the
groups posts, and am very impressed with how supportive the group is and
the common purpose and thinking you share.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
best wishes,
Serena

Hello Everyone:
I have been a smoker for at least 33 years. I have tried to quit only
once and I made it a couple of weeks with the help of hypnosis and
meditation tapes, but that was a long time ago. Now, I am in a
position where it is mandatory to quit as a condition of employment.
I knew this going in and I really do want to quit and have wanted to
off and on forever.
I am scared!
I haven’t set a quit date yet but it’s going to have to be very soon.
That is where I’m at today.
Glad you are all here. Will keep you posted as to progress.
Wish me luck!
Don

Hi everybody,
I need help with an ABC. Here is what is going on.
In July I applied for a job as a cake decorator at a specialty ice
cream store, no experience necessary, they would train. I was told
during my second interview that I had a “natural ability” and was
hired.
I have been working part time for the last six weeks, their sales
have increased, I have kept their case full. This morning while
scanning the classifieds in the employment section of the newspaper,
I see the same ad that I answered in July. There is no other store,
they are advertising for the position that I currently have. I have
been told that I am doing a good job, I got a raise this past pay
period. They are not busy enough to hire another decorator. I feel
like they are going to replace me.
The ABC here….
(more…)

This is the title of a thread at a smoking cessation board I
occasionally poke my head into, which has provoked a bit of
discussion recently: there are those who are realising they dealt
with emotions by reaching for a smoke (but who haven’t yet looked a
bit more deeply into it) and the ‘its just a bad habit, what’s the
problem’ camp. I very rarely post there these days, but today I
couldn’t resist it…..
” I think many don’t recognise that quitting smoking is about much,
much more than simply getting off the nicotine addiction. If that
were the case then far more than the reported 7% would make it
beyond the first year. If it were just ‘breaking the habit’ then
eventually it would sink in - and the quit success rates would be
higher.
Start to tackle the behavioural aspects - the way we connected
smoking to most of the things that came our way during the course of
(more…)

to start living life as a non-smoker.
I am sure I will be here quite a bit. I have listed the reasons I
want to quit smoking and most of the reasons I smoke, I dont think I
could list them all. I have some generic ABC’s written down, but I
am sure that I will need some help with them particularly this first
week.
I have gotten alot of great information from this site while I have
been preparing to quit.
Bye for now,
Julie

Well it certainly has not been EASY but around noon today I passed my
2 week mark. So when *does* it get easy? It feels like the second I
decided to quit my life got incredibly surreal. Last night I got
home after having been out all day to find that my apartment had been
burgled! Front door had been kicked/knocked in and exactly ONE item
was removed - my Palm Pilot, which I rarely use anyway. I was still
freaked as shit (pardon my French) as I went through every room and
looked in every closet to make sure they were not still here. (I
live alone.) I called the cops, then I started calling friends just
to try to get some kind of safe feeling. The cops came (and went)
fairly quickly then a friend arrived. She had offered to put me up
at her place for the night but I decided that I’d rather stay put so
she came to me! The very first thing I said to her when I saw her
was “I want a cigarette!” This is one of my friends who I never
really TOLD I’d gone back to smoking when it happened almost a year
(more…)

Hi Dayla - thought I’d join in here. You said :-
No, I don’t think smokers are necessarily angry people. I think smokers
experience a range of emotions, just as the same as exsmokers and
neversmokers. Smokers have spent their smoking lives responding to anger -
or other strong emotions - by grabbing a packet of cigs, lighting up and
puffing away. With cognitive quitting we’re learning how to look at the
consequences of those strong emotions, listen to what our bodies are telling
us, and take action that meets the need of the moment. Learning how to deal
with emotions and their physical effects in an appropriate nonsmoking way.
I think Anita demonstrated her growing awareness of this incredibly well in
her lists she posted the other day, in which she said
This is an extract from my webpage about my quit, which seems to fit in here
:-
“I said at the outset that I used to think quitting was just about weaning
myself off nicotine, and didnt appreciate that it was much more than that.
(more…)

Hi all
I’m in week 2 of my quit now, and so far so good. I’ve been
following all the discussions here with a lot of interest -
especially about the lists. What I have been slow to get round to
doing is to make my own lists which Steve has been gently cajoling
me to do recently. I really could see the point of doing them, knew
I needed to simply sit down and write/type them out. So, another
little shove and some more really helpful explanation from Pam this
morning has moved me to write - so here goes.
(btw, I did read up the Lists folder, so its not all original though)
Firstly I looked at when and where I smoked, as Steve suggested.
OK - I seemed to smoke wherever and whenever in the course of the
day ie, soon after waking up, with the first cup of coffee (and the
second), getting ready for work, driving to work, break times, after
lunch, on the way home in the car, talking on the phone, working on
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I was chatting with Kim this past week and I asked her if she’d heard of
HALT. She had not, so here you go, Kim, and all other newbies:
HALT = Do not become overly or excessively Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or
Tired.
Respect and nurture your HALT system. You will be vulnerable mentally,
physically, and emotionally during the next one to three weeks as you
battle the nicotine in your body.
Hungry
By no means miss or skip a meal. A well nourished mind and body is
crucial for maintaining a clear mind and resistance to cravings.
Drinking water will help to fill the void when you know you aren’t
really hungry.
Angry
You may well find yourself short tempered for a while. Recognize these
moments of rage and anger for what they are.
(more…)