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Lisa the Goatgirl

Lisa the Goatgirl

I'm all things, and so are you
Staff Alumni
SF Supporter
#941
#941
Lara_C said:
Does the craving ever stop completely? There's so many triggers it seems a constant struggle to resist. It's been 3 months since I quit, and I know if I can't resist the first one, I won't resist the second, the third......
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I think for me, one of the things that helped best with the cravings was to actively remind myself of the unpleasant parts of smoking that the addictive part of my brain causing those cravings chose to forget. Like the taste, or the various ways i'd accidentally burn myself, or when i'd get that gross residue on my lips.

It also helped to actively keep in mind the fact that in the long term, smoking again will just be another reason to beat myself up, and as a result will leave me feeling worse overall. It's the same thing that helped me to quit SH.
 
Walker

Walker

Admin
SF Social Media
SF Author
SF Supporter
#943
#943
Lara_C said:
Does the craving ever stop completely? There's so many triggers it seems a constant struggle to resist. It's been 3 months since I quit, and I know if I can't resist the first one, I won't resist the second, the third......
Click to expand...
I'm nearing 2 years and I'll tell ya, I don't think about it on the day-to-day. I do think about it when I'm stressed out but that's about it. I can get past it. You can do it -- it only gets easier from here
 
Lara_C

Lara_C

Staff Alumni
SF Supporter
#946
#946
Cynic Goat said:
I think for me, one of the things that helped best with the cravings was to actively remind myself of the unpleasant parts of smoking that the addictive part of my brain causing those cravings chose to forget. Like the taste, or the various ways i'd accidentally burn myself, or when i'd get that gross residue on my lips.

It also helped to actively keep in mind the fact that in the long term, smoking again will just be another reason to beat myself up, and as a result will leave me feeling worse overall. It's the same thing that helped me to quit SH.
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I'm actually finding it hard to remember how yukky smoking made me feel unless I really concentrate on the feeling of deeply inhaling the toxic fumes .
Walker said:
I'm nearing 2 years and I'll tell ya, I don't think about it on the day-to-day. I do think about it when I'm stressed out but that's about it. I can get past it. You can do it -- it only gets easier from here
Click to expand...
I recently spoke with a 70 year old who still gets the odd craving after 40 years since quitting. He told me he goes somewhere he is sure he can't smoke, like the swimming pool *hiya
 
Lisa the Goatgirl

Lisa the Goatgirl

I'm all things, and so are you
Staff Alumni
SF Supporter
#947
#947
Lara_C said:
I'm actually finding it hard to remember how yukky smoking made me feel unless I really concentrate on the feeling of deeply inhaling the toxic fumes .
Click to expand...
Yeah, exactly. That's one of the major ways the addiction manifests, it makes you block out all those disgusting parts of the habit, and only focus on the nice bits. It does get easier to recall those negatives with practice though, and it can become a habitual response to those cravings in time, that helps to resist them. It also helps to try and recall some of the especially unpleasant experiences you've had while smoking, because those can be harder to forget.

It did take me a while to get the hang of myself. One thing that also helped, hopefully you won't have to use this one, but something to maybe keep in mind just in case, on the few occasions early on where my will would break and i'd smoke again, i'd make a point of memorising the whole experience as i was smoking. How much it was taxing my lungs. The unpleasant tingling in my lips. Standing there in the bitter cold instead of staying in my nice warm house, doing something better with my time.
 
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Lisa the Goatgirl

Lisa the Goatgirl

I'm all things, and so are you
Staff Alumni
SF Supporter
#950
#950
Lara_C said:
Actually it would probably work because the only way I can actually enjoy smoking is banishing the thought of how disgusting it is .
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It's funny, i suspect this is the case for a lot of people, but i think it has to come from a genuine willingness to remember those things to make people stop.
Because i'm wondering, was anyone else ever put off by those pictures of cancerous lungs and stuff they put on packs of cigarettes and tobacco? Cos i found those always just annoyed me if anything...
That just felt like when you sit down to eat a bacon sandwich and someone starts going on about all the sodium in it, and the health benefits of going vegetarian. Like maybe that's true, but right then i don't care, i just want to enjoy my sandwich.
 
Lara_C

Lara_C

Staff Alumni
SF Supporter
#951
#951
Cynic Goat said:
Because i'm wondering, was anyone else ever put off by those pictures of cancerous lungs and stuff they put on packs of cigarettes and tobacco? Cos i found those always just annoyed me if anything...
That just felt like when you sit down to eat a bacon sandwich and someone starts going on about all the sodium in it, and the health benefits of going vegetarian. Like maybe that's true, but right then i don't care, i just want to enjoy my sandwich.
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It must come down to the power of self deception I think. I used to eat fish a lot but one day out of the blue I suddenly became acutely aware I was eating dead flesh and it wasn't pleasant. I can't eat fish since that day on, and am now mostly veggie (bar kfc for some reason)
 
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