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Triggers


Vivianne

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So in my preparation to make this attempt a permanent and thus successful one I found this site. I like to blog, have been doing that from the moment my parents decided to listen to my pleads to get  (sloowwww) internet. My initial quit date would be the 10th, but well, you know how stuff works... you read, you post and you get highly motivated to quit sooner rather than later. 
And why not! There is nothing stopping me.. 

So I need to redo my preparation time table and get this stuff out of my system before I forget or before it gets me. 

Triggers - I've got so many of 'em

  • Being alone: I am alone a lot. My daughter is 18 and has a boyfriend and a job, so she is really leaving the nest organically so to speak. I also have a new relationship and we see each other 3 times a week. He lives in a different city, has kids and a job too so we need to fiddle our schedules to meet up (but it works, and I am happy! So yay!). Conclusion: I have a lot of time on my hands - well no wait.. I have a lot of time that could trigger a relapse.
  • Friends that smoke: Somehow I seem to have a lot of people around me who still smoke. And that is a trigger. I still wonder why it's so easy for a smoker to give a person who has quit (in my case it was over 9 months) a cigarette because it will calm someone down. I have done it, and in the past year I actually gave people a few minutes to actively decide to steal a cigarette from me - but I did still give someone that relapse cigarette (shame on me...)
  • Long car rides: I don't smoke inside nor do I smoke in the car (okay that's a lie... I have the tendency to smoke in the car on long car rides when I alone... ). To " relax"  and take the needed breaks during the trip I smoke a cigarette. And of course when the trip is over, as soon as I get out of the car.. 
  • The after-workout- cigarette: My neighbour and I are training partners, and he smokes.. when I started in 2017 I was still a non-smoker (or an inbetween-er)  and his reward after a hard workout (which is every workout) is a cigarette. He has told me about growth hormones and that is is somehow a good thing and blablabla *insert many weak pro smoking arguments* and when I relapsed I joined in. Creating a new trigger. 
  • Phone calls: Ever since the phone got wireless and, after that, boundaryless (mobile) I take my calls outside with a cigarette 
  • Sex: No need to get into this. 
  • Food related triggers: Hunger, after a full meal, etc

    Concentration span is gone.. so I am gonna leave it for now and will get back to it when I feel like writing more about my triggers.

     
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Ok, let's address these triggers as I see it:

Being alone: You have us now so stick close, there's usually someone here around the clock.

Friends that smoke: Smokers hate losing one of their own that's why they're more than happy to give you that relapse cigarette. You will get to the point that you can be around them but it's best to distance yourself from them in the beginning of your quit.

Long car rides: This is where your air cigarette comes n handy. Some use cut straws, pens, even licorice to mimic a cigarette. Mine was invisible so I never had to worry about forgetting it somewhere. It's important that when you use it you go through the motions of 'smoking' it just like you would a real cigarette. It worked great at tricking my mind into thinking it was getting the real thing.

The after-workout- cigarette: Bring yourself a healthy snack instead. You can't eat and smoke at the same time :)

Phone calls: Again try using your air cigarette or talk somewhere that you normally don't smoke

Sex: Air cigarette again or sucking on candy :)

Food related triggers: Air cigarette or sucking on a piece of candy. I was stuck on soft peppermint puffs my whole first year.

 

I hope some of these clues help you out, you can do this, after all you've done it before :)

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Thank you Jillar! Your air cigarette is quite famous by now.. I've seen it on the forum a couple of times, so I will give it a go!
 

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Oh jumping in...

Friends.....I quit in the middle of softball season....lots of me softball mates are smokers...I couldn't avoid them...I will confess to doing the 2nd hand smoking thing but I would have 1 wiff then be off....see I knew I couldn't avoid it, so quick sniff opposite side of the dugout....my rules were simple, I'd allow myself to smell it but I was not having a puff ...it only took a few weeks and U didn't even want that smell hit. But I prooved to myself I could do it.

Post workout.....expanding on Jill's healthy snack suggestion...carrot or celery sticks...you can air smoke them AND have a nice crunchy chewy snack.

 

In my early quit I had a phone app...it had a crave buster feature...this was that card flip memory game....ran for 3mins on repeat...only once did I need to go back to back to beat a crave ..see your brain can't focus on a crave when you are making it do something else. Minesweeper worked too. 

 

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You are going to go through a year of craves getting milder and also seasonal triggers.

Each trigger you conquer will change your brain and wrench your reward system away from nicotine.

The biochemistry of this is astounding and once you reclaim these receptors, they are Yours forever ! 

They will only return to nicotine if you do so, NOPE your way through.

 

This is why rewards are so important.

 

You are doing so great, have a super attitude and are ruthless in Sticks/Chicks !

 

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