how to get through the morning without smoking

sporina

hi there, so with the new year here soon, i am not starting to really work on a plan to give up smoking,,,

now i am not a very heavy smoker but smoking has a very strong hold on me, psychologically,,

so the most enjoyable cigarette for me is 1st thing in the morning..

So i really wanna give up but I am so scared that I will not be able to get past the morn - so therefore i feel that i will fail immediately...

has anyone else had/have this fear?

for those of you who have given up, have you any thoughts on this?

i really do wanna give up - i was off them for 3 years - back now 3 - but i think they have a stronger hold on me this time around,,,,

thanks in advance for any advice, happy new year all, s xx

Fairdues

It's all about finding a substitute, be it something you eat, drink, exercise you take, or some other form of distraction, when you feel the urge to smoke.

That_Guy

Change your morning routine around. If it was a case of you getting up straight away for a cigarette, then maybe go have a shower first, get dressed and have breakfast.

If coffee is one of your triggers then give it a knock on the head for a little while. Maybe try green tea. No caffeine in it.

Keep yourself busy. Cravings only last for 15 minutes every single time. They'll eventually go though.

St._Andalou

I agree with changing the routine. Avoid coffee or tea if you usually have a cigarette with it.

Would you have skipped breakfast in the morning? If so, now you can enjoy a breakfast. Make a new routine.

It will take time, it normally takes about a month to break a bad habit, so stick with it. Trust me, it is definitely worth it.

milosh

It is awful but beating the physical addiction is more difficult than the physiological one. My advice is don't give yourself an excuse to fail. What you think is the physiological attachment of the morning cigarette is actually the your brain telling you that you have gone 8 hours without a smoke.

If you are planning to quit, it is not easy but take heart in the fact that you will only have bad cravings for 4 days or so and then mild ones for three weeks. Normally within a couple of months you forget that you used to have a smoke first thing or any other time. If you are really worried about the mental tie, then nicorette patches might be for you. However you will still have the 3 day battle with the actual nicotine addiction, so either way it has to be done.

Best of luck quitting. Be committed to it and you will succeed. Maybe right a log here to keep you focused.

sporina

thanks for all the replies. I am going to start getting into the mind frame now and then perhaps give up around end of jan/feb. Yeah I will have a look at the logs here. The last time I gave up I read Alan Carrs book and I stopped smoking half way through the book. But I was really mentally prepared than. I need to really mentally prepare myself now.

I do not know if I agree with substituting nicotine - i think i need to realise that I do not need to smoke for x, y reasons. I think that if i treat it as something i need to substitute, i will always see it has being of something important. I need to not want to smoke. End of. I hate that I smoke - and i work in healthcare so I know all the consequences.

Ah it will be soo good to take my lunch break without having to run out for a smoke in the rain, wind etc. i am gonna read threads in this forum now as part of my preparation. Thanks for all the good luck. Dam cigarettes.