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Stay on your guard!

You should receive this e-mail about 15 weeks after your quitting date.
 
Hello!

It’s now been 15 weeks since you quit smoking: that’s amazing! And yet, you might still crave a cigarette at certain times. This is normal: smoking creates a very strong dependency and the urge to smoke can last for a long time.

What matters is STAYING ON YOUR GUARD! Remember that the best way to maintain control is to say no, even to just one cigarette or just one puff. Tell yourself that the craving lasts only a few minutes, and use the experience you’ve gained in recent months to outsmart it.

 
 

Your strategies

Understanding why
Tip of the week
We’d like to suggest a little breathing and autosuggestion exercise to help you get through your recurrent cravings to smoke:
  • Breathe in through the nose, filling up your belly first, then your chest, lifting your shoulders slightly. Complete this full breath smoothly, staying relaxed and without forcing.
  • Hold your breath for three seconds, staying as relaxed as you can.
  • Breathe out slowly through the nose, gently pulling in your belly at the end of the exhalation to empty your lungs as much as possible. As you exhale, repeat in your mind, “I am relaxed. The urge to smoke is gone.”
  • Repeat the exercise at least five times and then breathe normally, through the nose.
 
     
 

Your strategies

Put YOUR winning strategies into practice: drink water, breathe deeply, take a walk, leave the table, call your sponsor or teammate, brush your teeth, chew gum, squeeze a stress ball, etc.

Choose an anti-stress from the Loft’s “vending machine”. The page is in French, but many of the games are in English.

Remember the advantages of living smoke-free and the disadvantages of being hooked on cigarettes. To quell your urge to light up, read the facts and figures about tobacco.

  
 

Understanding why

When you have a sudden urge to light up, take a few seconds to observe your thoughts. Become a spectator of what’s going on for you and accept it without judgment. Try and discover what sparked this urge in order to be able to deal with it by some means other than smoking.

  • Is it the place, the circumstances or the people around you that are causing you to crave a cigarette?
  • Are you looking for a source of pleasure?
  • Are you more stressed than usual? Uncomfortable?
  • Are you feeling discouraged, angry, sad, bored...?
  • Are you worried about weight gain?
  • Do you feel deprived of something?

You can write down your observations if this helps you to see them more clearly. Writing or drawing in your diary is always a great way to distract yourself when cravings arise.

You can also talk to your sponsor or teammate, or even with other members of the on-line community, who are experiencing or have dealt with the same things as you:

  

Have a great week!

The Quit to Win! Challenge team
www.quitchallenge.ca
 
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