Cognitive Quit Smoking

Well, I’m finally into my quit ~ day 3 now I wrote out all my
foundation statements back when I decided to quit. They are:
FOUNDATION STATEMENTS are a set of statements that are ALWAYS true
regardless of what emotions I may be feeling at the moment.
DO I WANT TO BE A SMOKER?
No. I do not want to be a smoker. I have no desire to spend my life
smelling like I just came back from a visit to hell. It’s a dirty,
nasty habit. My clothing, my breath, and my hands STINK!!! from
smoking.
HAVING STATED THAT “I DON’T WANT TO BE A SMOKER.”, CAN I THINK OF ANY
EXCEPTIONS?
There are no exceptions. I used the excuse that I enjoy tobacco to
cover for the fact that I failed previous quits. I was lying to
myself and others. That was my back door. I am now closing it for
good. When I really think it over, I can find no sensible or viable

reason to smoke, and no exceptions. There is nothing good about it.
AM I PREPARED TO STAY AWARE OF THESE PERSONAL TRUTHS AND STAND BY
THEM REGARDLESS OF HOW ROUGH I MAY FEEL AT ANY POINT IN THE FUTURE?
Yes. After seemingly endless failures in my attempts to be smoke-
free, I am now, finally, prepared stand by my personal truths,
regardless of my situation. If I am feeling rough, logically and
spiritually I should be praying, not smoking.
AM I PREPARED TO DEAL WITH HEALTH ISSUES AS THEY ARISE?
Yes. I am enlisting the help of my family doctor. Any changes in my
physical being will be dealt with. Since I have quit before, I am
aware of the changes my body will go through. Weight gain is not a
serious issue with me. I am aware that I will at first gain weight,
but as time passes and my body exits detox, I will lose some and
eventually balance out at the weight I am supposed to carry. As time
passes, I will begin to feel better and better. I will eventually
reach a point where I am feeling MUCH BETTER WITHOUT SMOKE.
I make it a point to re-read them often. I also have my lists made,
but in excel spreadsheet format. They are laid out just a bit
different, but mostly like everyone else’s that I’ve seen.
My biggest difficulty was defining the physical sensations. They
appeared to be a blur of sameness, mostly because physical reactions
are very limited… muscle tension, breathing, heart rate, etc.
I also have had a lot of trouble defining the reason to light up. My
biggest sin was lighting up out of pure habit, not for any “need”
other than “because”, and about every 15 minutes or so. I averaged a
pack and a half a day, and probably burned up as many as I actually
smoked.
Okay, now to the point of this whole post:
It occured to me that most people are smoking like fiends up until
their quit date, then dropping to zero nic intake (or altering the
addiction from cigs to patches, gum or whatever).
I have quit so many times since 1986 that I believe I’ve got it down
to a science. Here’s what I do (I hope this helps somebody out there
that wants to quit):
The day I decide to quit, I start tracking on paper the time I smoke
each cig, stretching the time between with each new entry. You will
stress, because the less you smoke, the more detox you suffer, but
overall it’s really worth the effort. Prayer also helps ~ a lot!
April 3rd, I chose my quit date (30 cigs that day), and following is
my countdown to Q-Day:
April 4th, 13 cigs (detox begins here)
April 5th, 11 cigs
April 6th, 10 cigs
April 7th, 7 cigs (bitchy & irritable today)
April 8th, 10 cigs (oops, gotta do better!!)
April 9th, 8 cigs
April 10, 6 cigs
April 11, 6 cigs
April 12, 4 cigs
April 13, 3 ~ April 14, 3 (shoulda been 2)
April 15th I quit for good. wooo hooo!
This strategy, even though it’s hard to do at first, gets detox
underway early, without driving you nic crazy in the process.
I don’t suffer depression, anxiety, or any of the other stresses of
the “cold turkey” quit with this method. And since I’ve already
basically laid out my ABC’s in my lists, I just have to keep my hands
and mouth busy to stay quit for that first couple of days. Typing and
candy works great (I just got all my teeth pulled last month, so
sugar is okay). The money I am saving on smoking is going to buy me a
brand new smile!
Since you have to get on with your life, the changes you make to
accomodate your non-smoking needs comes a little more gradually also.
Gradual reduction of nic “weaning” is a much less stressful process,
and you don’t end up altering your addiction to nicotine substitutes.
I had the option of patches (free thru my insurance), but find I have
no need for them.
I know too many people that have given up cigarettes for the nic gum,
or lozenges, and are now permanently addicted to those instead. It’s
very sad the way companies take advantage of a smoker’s weaknesses
that way.
This “cogquit” site is the best I’ve seen. I pray that someone
reading this post will benefit from my experiences right along with
all the other great information posted here.
God Bless y’all!
Joanne

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 at 8:18 pm 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.