Cognitive Quit Smoking

Hello,
Today is my third day without a smoke. Physically, ABC’s & training
at the gym has helped a lot with the withdrawal symptoms but what
really keeps me going is my wish to become a mother. I’ve already
lost a baby before it was born & I’m going to do everything I can
to prevent that from happening again. I want to allow that creature
to grow inside me without poison. I do feel guilty because I think I
caused that; my ten-year smoking habit combined to a health
condition I have -lupus- is surely the reason. During my previous
quits I educated myself on that matter -& I still do & will do; if
you have any material in mind, pls recommend- but keeping an account
of my feelings towards smoking has proved to be very helpful. I just
want to get back to where I was three weeks ago that is before
relapsing- & I treat my relapse as a means of gaining more insight
on the importance of not smoking. One drag is enough to get you
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Hello quitters, (finally, it’s good to be a quitter - ha)
I’ve posted once in reply, but have not yet introduced myself.
Steve’s materials request that we do, so here goes:
I am a 38 year-old insurance broker in suburban Detroit. I
became addicted to nicotine through chewing tobacco at age 16 (all
the soccer players were doing it.) When I developed pre-cancerous
polyps on my gums, I did the smart thing and switched to cigarettes;
brilliant, huh? Actually it also coincided with a major knee
injury, which caused a misguided doctor to inform me I was finished
with sports for the rest of my life. (So, hey, what do I need nice
clean lungs for, right?) I proceeded to smoke like there was no
tomorrow, for 8 years. Then with the help of Nicorette, I quit
cold. Four years later, however, I apparently misjudged my state of
recovery. It was a simple concert and reuniting with some old
college buddies (A.K.A. smoking buddies.) I had ONE smoke that
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TIMER EXERCISES
TIME ACTIVITY FEELINGS RESULT
Day 1
7.30am cup of tea thinking of chores smoke
8.30am House work hot and thirsty drink water & Smoke
9.30am Breakfast full & thinking of chores smoke
10.30am Housework hot and bored outside smoke
11.30am Tv and Tea headache tablet &smoke
12.30pm ½ hour walk Hot and thirsty drink water & Smoke
1.30pm Salad Lunch full & sleepy drink water & sleep
3.30pm Tea & Prep dinner concentrating on preps dinner ready to cook
4.30pm Tv and water bored smoke,
5.30pm Tea & chat with hb eager to know how day went tea
6.30pm Cook & Eat dinner full & Thirsty Drink water & Smoke
7.30pm Surfing the Internet curiosity & nature calls Toilet & Smoke
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I’m hoping some of you have been working on a timer log and keeping a
record of what you’ve observed about yourselves. Taking this step
really will get you started on the cogquit programme, since its the
‘doing’ that gets results, rather than just the reading/talking. Even
if you’re not quite ready to take that final step and start what could
easily be your final quit, some structured self observation will help
you enormously to get much more understanding about your smoking
behaviour.
Have you read the timer log in the files yet - the one I pointed you
towards the other day? This cogquitter recorded details each hour,
between 10am and 10pm - and was amazed at what she discovered. She
saw that most events of the day were ’smoking situations’, but that
when she looked deeper and pinpointed what she was experiencing
physically (e.g. tense muscles, hunger) she could address the need
more appropriately i.e. in nonsmoking ways. This is the work that
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Hello,
I’m Mina & right now I’m in a rather uncomfortable situation since
it’s the third serious attempt I’m taking to quit. The last two
lasted for about four months. Contrary to what usually happens, as
I’ve heard mentioned by others, both times I went back to smoking
due to a pleasant event & not because I felt miserable. I know I
will succeed eventually, but at this very moment I feel desperate &
I don’t really know why because I really want to stop.
I found this site today & it was a relief; I’m actually “talking” to
someone about it since I’ve been smoking secretly for the last month
(that’s how long I’ve been back to it). I’ve even lost my sleep
because I have to wait for my husband to fall asleep so as to do it.
I know that I’m only kidding myself but I don’t want to re-establish
to the people I care about the image of me smoking again.
I need to calm down & give more serious thought to it.
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Hey everybody,
Steve and Pam wrote some great stuff by way of introduction into the cogquit
program. When I found this site I was an emotional wreck, I was quit for a
couple of months or so and struggling.
I just wanted to pop in here and tell you that this program works very well. I
did the homework, the timer exercise, my lists, and ABC everthing about to death
(lol). I did some one on one chats with Steve at other times with Pam. Make use
of all of this. Ask questions. Learn to listen to your body, the timer will
teach you this. Work it for all its worth.
I don’t stop in much anymore, quite frankly not smoking isn’t really an issue
anymore. I haven’t had an urge to smoke in a very long time.. This just works so
well.
ion quit nearly 21 months 12/1/02 quitdate how many days? don’t ask I’m clueless
lol.

If you want to quit once and then get on with life, listen to the message
in these posts.
Our UK Pam wrote:
We’re addicts for as long as we’re physically addicted to nicotine, but once
we’ve gone through the detox process - however we choose to do that - then
any urges to smoke come from the behavioural aspects of our smoking habit.
Over the years we learned to connect a smoking response to all the subtle
physical sensations (which we were barely aware of) our bodies experienced.
Why? Because the physical symptoms of anger or fear, for example, closely
mimic the symptoms of withdrawal from nicotine. eg tense muscles, shallow
breathing, churned up stomach We learned that a smoke would ‘help’ ease
them when we were nicotine deprived, and quickly put a smoking response in
place when those same physical sensations appeared as a result of emotions
such as those I mentioned.
By doing the timer exercise we get a lot more adept at identifying just what
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Tommy, good for you! I am reading these e-mails and wondering when the heck
I will do my own quitting and getting moving with this. It helps to read the
emails but that is still passive for me and I need to DO IT… just like Nike.
Linda

When you learn the cogquit you won’t have to ‘hang in there’ you will find
that you like taking control of your life deciding when or what you are going to
do and how.
I agree with this so much. And I know I have not succeeded in a quit because
I haven’t done the work to learn how to handle my emotions and stresses. Is
there something everyone does to make sure they work on their stress and
anxiety? Its so easy to just give in. My negative mind is already saying deep
breathing isn’t going to cut it.
Thanks
sheila

Hi Yeah, me too. I’m a pharmacist….. smoking for years now… it is awful. I
want to quit also, but find it hard to spend that time needed to do the
smoking list that you have to do (every hour?) in order to realize what it is
that
is triggering the smoking…… and to get rid of the automatic response of
smoking. I am 51…… sad by my inability or trouble getting going on
this…. I quit once for 3 months with the patch on….. never touched ONE, but
that was years ago, and now I feel like I am up against a wall.
Help!
Linda