Becoming a Non Smoker

Sigh. Dreamraven fell off the wagon.

You fell off the wagon once, Dreamraven. If you pick yourself up and climb back again, you're still on the wagon ...

This is what I tell myself during the post-winter weight control exercise - which is never much fun, always necessary and (so far) works.

Will keep at it. At some point it will annoy me and I will stop it all together. Just feel kinda stupid for posting that I did, and then didn't.

If it helps I tried once before and fell off the wagon two or three times.
Don't know what was different this time but I have reached week 6, saved over

Agree with Sharpink. I wonder whether sometimes you need to re-enact the decisions you've made several times just to check you really have made up your mind?

I vividly remember an abseiling experience ... I knew I wanted to do it (though I'm frightened of heights) but working out how to take the last few micro-steps to get me over the cliff edge took several minutes!

LOL at least you did it. I broke a record at a grade 7 camp for the amount of time it took a trainer to get mad at a student for not wanting to absail. I won, of course. They saw me coming a mile away. lol.

I will. In the beginning I never used to tell myself I need to stop. I tell myself almost daily now. I will get fed up with nagging at myself. That much I know. it worked like that when I stopped chewing my nails as well. hmmmm iPad2... sounds interesting.

"hmmmm iPad2... sounds interesting."

it is, trying to connect it to my home network was very intersting and almost got me smoking again. Orange broadband is beyond rubbish.....my router is almost 8 years old (wannadoo) and it drops it's signal every 5 mins or so, "Orange" argue that they constantly update so it will be fine...er no it won't you IDIOTS was the reply...ok we will send you a new filter please call again if you have problems thumbsdown

The moral of the story, I stopped smoking in spite of the morons at Orange.

Dreamraven, you can too...

lol Then you have overcome the last real obstacle I think. If you can go through all that and not reach for a smoke, you've darn near done it.

In the mind Re-enacting the decision you've made V's every single cigarette smoked is the conscious mind (12%) V's the Unconscious mind (88%) Only one clear winner, the 88% of everything done 'as a smoker' V's concentrating and remembering 'as a non-smoker' - (The average smoker of 20 has smoked a whopping 6720 cigarettes in just 365 days x that by how many years the persons been smoking and you can see how powerful that 88% becomes when a person tries to stop)

That's why you may have been a little frightened abseiling, you had never done it before, the conscious mind using logic and choice says.. "throw myself over the edge holding a rope,,,hmmm...." and the micro steps was the conscious mind overcoming the natural reactions of survival with logic and reason and deciding to trust... hot sweats, fear, excitement, elation are all symptoms of overcoming stress and anxiety.. It's a rush - BUT that is a very similar rush a smoker experiences when polluting the body with all of those deadly chemicals and know carcinogens - the body goes into a similar state of anxiety and 'calming feeling' a smoker misreads is the body returning to 'not being under attack' the anxiety and stress is over.

Another way to consider the way the mind works - (for drivers) think of the first time you ever drove a car... pretty scary (for me anyway) all those things to remember, the clutch, the gearstick, where the gears are, indicators, mirrors, signals, petrol, highway code, speed limits AAAHHHHH! Yet each and everytime it is repeated it becomes easier and easier -

Now think of the last time you drove your car... (hopefully a little better) the mind has a way of being able to just do things automatically without any conscious thought (not much anyway) needed as when in a new situation - when something is repeated so many times is becomes automatic good/bad or indifferent the mind unconsciously takes it all in..

Day by day the non smoker is building one experience per day of being a non smoker V's all of those days as being a smoker - psychology explains that this is how a non-smoker can be a little jittery as really to the mind this is a new experience to the mind it has to consciously keep reminding itself of the new choice..
Then all of the routines of being a smoker are now here but as a non smoker - that can be tough, as all of the triggers that led to smoking now lead tosomething that is unknown, different - some people unconscious replace the act of smoking with the act of X whatever it might be, gum, sweets, coffee, wine, stress, anger, water, beer, sex, harder drugs etc.. (you'd be amazed how many clients I see that are addicted to nicotine gum)

Stopping Smoking using hypnosis is still the most successful route and as a registered member of the CRSST The Central Register of Smoking Cessation Therapists as the art of being a non-smoker becomes as natural breathing in and out, it just happens you don't even have to think about it

just like the experienced driver, driving the car - it can become an automatic part of your life - instantly and easily.

I agree, 7 weeks and 3 days. lots of stress and savings in excess of