For me the toughest cigarette(s) to crack we're the ones I smoked in the car. I would chain smoke on the way to work, on my lunch hour, and one my way home at the end of my work day.
I cracked it by having a collection of almonds, and candies in the center compartment to get me through the rough patch. I also forced myself to keep going out for a drive at lunch and walking around the mall. I am the type of person that can't avoid things for awhile and go back later unscathed because I identified that the minute I went out for lunch after avoiding it for a long time would start the withdrawl feelings all over again. After I started saving some money my trips would involve purchasing things at the stores to have something tangible to show for the money I spent.
It always bothered me that I spent that money everyday for cigarettes and had nothing to show for it.
Mr Q
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 8/4/2008 Smoke-Free Days: 421 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 10,104 Amount Saved: $3,157.50 Life Gained: Days: 46 Hrs: 22 Mins: 39 Seconds: 48
For me, the toughest cigarette to give up was after a meal when sitting back and sipping a glass of wine. To get over it, I avoided other smokers initially so that I could just enjoy the glass of wine and not break down on the smoking front! It's easy now in the UK since all restaurants are smoke-free.
I thought the hardest was going to be the first one of the day with my cup of coffee, but that turned out to be the easiest. Funny, eh?
Great question Pen.
Lizzie
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 4/23/2003 Smoke-Free Days: 2351 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 35,265 Amount Saved: �8,816.25 Life Gained: Days: 248 Hrs: 23 Mins: 30 Seconds: 26
I'm with the boys here for the most part! I thought going into this journey that my favorite cigarette was probably going to be the one I would want with a beer after work! I definitely didn't want to give up that beer just to quit smoking!
That's why I treated my evening beer as my reward for making it through the day smoke free! I wanted that reward more than I wanted to smoke!!! Great motivation if I do say so myself!!! Anyways, I did stay away from bars for quite a while, too!
I thought the first one of the day was going to be a problem, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! Oh, and the after meal cigs were a bit tough, but all I had to do was keep my mind on the reward and I was all set!
Jim
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 3/5/2008 Smoke-Free Days: 569 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 14,225 Amount Saved: $2,347.13 Life Gained: Days: 96 Hrs: 10 Mins: 44 Seconds: 2
Those cigarettes when driving were the toughest. I just had to pop some gum for the first month or so. After that, the cravings stopped in the car.
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 4/3/2009 Smoke-Free Days: 173 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 2,595 Amount Saved: $1,297.50 Life Gained: Days: 18 Hrs: 22 Mins: 46 Seconds: 28
For me the hardest one was the one I lit just after waking up with a great cup of coffee. I avoided coffee for the first month and I drank a cranberry juice instead, and I also changed the place for my new ritual.
I missed it for quite a long time. But it was easier than expected to let it go.
Have agreat evening
Marivi
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 1/23/2009 Smoke-Free Days: 243 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 3,645 Amount Saved: $364.50 Life Gained: Days: 27 Hrs: 16 Mins: 14 Seconds: 17
Good post Pen :) I guess i would have to say the first one of the morning, but then i smoked so much around everything i did, Yea must have been that morning one, got me coughing and gagging , and getting me ready for the rest of them to flllow for the day LOL :) Tresa So glad to be done with that mess My Milage:
My Quit Date: 8/8/2002 Smoke-Free Days: 2603 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 62,472 Amount Saved: $10,932.60 Life Gained: Days: 338 Hrs: 2 Mins: 45 Seconds: 16
It is a good idea to determine what your weak points are. Knowing what triggers you to have a craving or put you at a high risk allows you to make a strategic plan for dealing with them. You can make yourself a list of things to do when encountering one of these moments and keep it handy.
Members, continue to share your strategies to get through those pesky weak moments.
If I tell you´ve I´ve remained celibate for the last 30 days in order to avoid a trigger, have I made it sufficiently clear which cigarette I enjoyed the most? lol.
I´m addressing my trigger situations one by one. I´ve stayed out of the pub for the last month which is quite a sacrifice for me. I love watching live sporting events in my local but I´m just not ready to have smoke blown in my face yet. I enjoy a cold beer too much to consider an alcohol free future, plus I love the social aspect of the pub so its something I´m going to have to come to terms with sooner or later. Last weekend I bought myself a six pack from the supermarket and enjoyed a few cold cans on Saturday evening. I munched on peanuts and sunflower seeds to keep my fingers occupied and I passed this basic test with flying colours. I´ll do that for a few more weekends in an effort to weaken the bond between smoking and drinking. With any luck I´ll trick my brain into accepting that cold beer does not equal chain-smoking.
My after lunch cigarette with a coffee was about the only other cigarette I enjoyed on a regular basis. A large reason for giving up was that I simply wasn´t enjoying smoking anymore. My wife and I actually had our quit date set for August 31st, but we were so fed up with smoking we brought it forward a week. I can say with a certain amount of conviction that I´m not missing the rest at all. I used to chain smoke on the drive to work and I really thought doing that "smokeless" was going to be tough. But I told myself that I can´t smoke on a plane, on a bus or in a taxi, so let´s imagine all forms of transport are now smoke free, and it wasn´t as tough as I thought.
Good thread. I think at times I try to block out that I ever smoked, which somehow seems wrong. This is quite good therapy, I did smoke, I did enjoy it once, now I´ve grown up a bit.
Have a great day everyone!
Steve
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 8/24/2009 Smoke-Free Days: 30 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,050 Amount Saved: �157.50 Life Gained: Days: 4 Hrs: 7 Mins: 16 Seconds: 27
