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Quit The Cigarette Habit.
I never believed I would be able to break my smoking habit. It seemed like I was continually waiting until the stress in my life was at a better place to begin to stop and of course that did not happen.I used my smoking as anxiety reliever and I just didn't know what smoking control could do. Please note that "Smoking Control" is a branded product of the NOXO company. I was fearful of gaining weight and it seemed like every time I stopped smoking I replaced eating with my smoking and as soon as I saw a weight gain over eleven pound I was once again smoking.
So, I was sure I was going to have to find a behavior to oust my smoking or other ways of dealing with anxiety. At work instead of taking a smoke break I would use some smoking control. In the mornings instead of a cigarette with my hot drink I ate a healthy breakfast instead of my usual morning meal of a cigarette and coffee. After eating instead of a smoking I took a little walk or worked out or read a book. In the car I listened to books on tape or music that took my mind off normal times in the car when I would smoke.
It was not easy but I started doing other activities and habits for times when I would usually smoke and I started using smoking control. When I decided that I had to break the smoking habit I began with a list of pros and cons for my decision to smoke or to quit. In other words what I was getting out of smoking and then the cons to keeping with my smoking habit. As expected the pros far outweighed the cons. The monetary and health cost of a smoking habit makes the decision to go on one you cant really defend in any sense except for the fact that as a smoker this is a habit that you delight in.
After I made my checklist I hung this checklist up on my bathroom mirror and also on my refrigerator door. I wanted everyday to see my motivation for changing my behavior this helped quite a bit since ending smoking is a declaration one has to make daily day by day. When you quit smoking you have to suppose some times when you may fail but in the past when I messed up I just accepted failure and started smoking full steam ahead but this time if I slipped and bought a package of cigarettes or smoked only one I bummed from a buddy I allowed myself forgiveness for not being perfect and started right back up.
The moment I saw my weight go up I made sure to exercise more and not to replace eating with smoking. I also rewarded myself by pampering myself with something I regularly wouldn't do for myself. Maybe by a splurge on shopping or a moving picture I wanted to see a nice dinner a cup of coffee just something I enjoyed to remind myself that smoking wasn't the only fun thing for me. I can't say I still don't think about having a cigarette from time to time and perhaps always will yet I also remind myself that what you save is money your health and generally just feeling superior. Your clothes don't smell like smoke your hair does not stench of smoke you can taste the food you eat. You can also put the bucks you would have used for buying cigarettes into a saving account and watch it add up.
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