Alright...step aside...I'm a behavioral scientist.....I'll handle this! Har har har.
I know heroin addicts that haven't kicked smoking yet. It's a REALLY powerfully addictive drug for many reasons. You might want to consult with a doctor about meds like welbutrin or patch/gum if you're a heavy smoker.
C'mon man...everybody does it!
Where you can't hang out in front of the mini mall and shoot smack, you can smoke a cigarette, so it's WAY more socially acceptable. So you're going to have a lot of opportunities to fall off the wagon. Once you decide you're a non smoker, avoid settings where you normally smoke.
But that's everywhere!!!
Ok...so if smoking is so much a part of your life then you need to eliminate places and setting where you smoke a little at a time. I started out by picking three times a day when smoking wasn't a complete necessity. So right after breakfast went, then the mid morning smoke....eventually trips in the car went out..then the after dinner cigarette. Eventually, I quit smoking at home, at work and at band practice. My last one was several months ago...mid april when I was really sick. After 20 years I finally kicked it.
RELAPSE???
Yes...you may relapse...you'll be out with friends, maybe at a bar or at work and you'll slip. Don't beat yourself up over it. Relapse is part of recovery. Sometimes a higher thinking individual just needs to prove to themselves that they are in control and they take a smoke and afterward think...."what awful tasting shit. Why did I foul my breath with that?" Where the 12 steppers say that you are powerless to control it (and this is true) sometimes folks just have to take some time away from a drug and then try it again to realize how unpleasant it really is.
Kick the Habit with a little Lefty Vibe!
Look at it this way. Big tobacco is bad. All us screwy leftists think that any big company is bad. Why do you think we bitch about Starbucks when their coffee tastes so good? Why do we suffer through microbrews and organic foods when there's no hope of fighting the big corps? Why do we slather our ears with that horrid indie rock? Because it's spitting in the eye of capitalist pig corporate america!!! So don't smoke as some nice hippie way of telling big tobacco to fuck off. "Hell no! We won't blow (or inhale)!" "We shall oh-vah-come!" "English out!" ok...I'm losing my train of thought but you get the point. Declare your independence from the tobacco corporates forever!!!
Finally...remember this: WATER...the miracle drug!
Nicotine decreases the amount of acid your stomach secretes following a meal...
sooooo...
When you quit smoking, your body is still dependant on nicotine to control acid....
soooo....
around mealtime you'll get a craving that also ends up as acid reflux, heartburn or indigestion.
Sooooo....take an antiacid along with a large glass of water....over a few days...ween yourself off the antiacid tab and keep drinking the water. From now on...when you get a craving, get a glass of water. It lowers the acid:food/water ratio in your stomach, gives you something active to do during a craving, satisfies the oral fixation, soothes the esophogas, regulates breathing and it's good for your digestive/excretory tract.
Don['t forget to become a militant anti-smoker and piss off your friends who still smoke.....it's part of the fun.
Good luck!
PRH
