Post by judyb on Apr 4, 2018 12:42:02 GMT -5
Day 13
Coffee drinking and smoking go together in the minds of many smokers like the proverbial horse and
carriage -- so much so that some cigarette quitters feel they must renounce coffee also. But adding
the stress of giving up coffee to that of giving up cigarettes can be unduly traumatic. Most cigarette
quitters would just as soon postpone caffeine withdrawal, perhaps till the grave.
However, you might as wee be advised to cut down on the quantity of caffeine you're taking in.
Smokers metabolize caffeine faster than nonsmokers. In one test, caffeine levels went up 46 percent
after smokers quit smoking--while still drinking the same amount of coffee. This could account for
some of the irritability and nervousness attributed to cigarette withdrawal.
So add some decaf to your usual coffee brew, and if need be, alter your rituals. The after-breakfast
cup of coffee causes many recent ex-smokers to grieve for their after-breakfast cigarettes. Have that
second cup of coffee (maybe decaf) but don't sit around with it. Stroll in the garden. Strum the old
guitar you've stowed in the closet. And this is an excellent time to write in your journal--where you
can express those feelings you're no longer trying to extinguish with smoke.
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Day14
Two weeks smoke free! You're feeling like a real nonsmoker now, not even thinking about cigarettes
for big chunks of time. You may still have bad moments, very likely in the evenings when you're tired
and your defenses are low. It's a good idea to acquire new routines to get your mind off sinking into
an easy chair with a cigarette. One couple who quit together now each evening take a stroll together.
You may need to find things to do with your hands: Set up a picture puzzle, do the ironing, bake
bread, groom the dog, sew, take up needlework, make a model airplane, pull weeds, or practice
your golf swing. One ex-smoker started making a replica of the Vatican from a cut-out book. "It's
incredibly soothing," she says. "I methodically cut, fold, and glue, and the Vatican rises before me."
Michelangelo didn't smoke. If he had, at the age of eighty he could hardly been hanging from the
Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling painting the frescoes.
From: www.amazon.com/Meditations-Surviving-Without-Cigarettes-Wanning/dp/0380769166
Coffee drinking and smoking go together in the minds of many smokers like the proverbial horse and
carriage -- so much so that some cigarette quitters feel they must renounce coffee also. But adding
the stress of giving up coffee to that of giving up cigarettes can be unduly traumatic. Most cigarette
quitters would just as soon postpone caffeine withdrawal, perhaps till the grave.
However, you might as wee be advised to cut down on the quantity of caffeine you're taking in.
Smokers metabolize caffeine faster than nonsmokers. In one test, caffeine levels went up 46 percent
after smokers quit smoking--while still drinking the same amount of coffee. This could account for
some of the irritability and nervousness attributed to cigarette withdrawal.
So add some decaf to your usual coffee brew, and if need be, alter your rituals. The after-breakfast
cup of coffee causes many recent ex-smokers to grieve for their after-breakfast cigarettes. Have that
second cup of coffee (maybe decaf) but don't sit around with it. Stroll in the garden. Strum the old
guitar you've stowed in the closet. And this is an excellent time to write in your journal--where you
can express those feelings you're no longer trying to extinguish with smoke.
---------------------
Day14
Two weeks smoke free! You're feeling like a real nonsmoker now, not even thinking about cigarettes
for big chunks of time. You may still have bad moments, very likely in the evenings when you're tired
and your defenses are low. It's a good idea to acquire new routines to get your mind off sinking into
an easy chair with a cigarette. One couple who quit together now each evening take a stroll together.
You may need to find things to do with your hands: Set up a picture puzzle, do the ironing, bake
bread, groom the dog, sew, take up needlework, make a model airplane, pull weeds, or practice
your golf swing. One ex-smoker started making a replica of the Vatican from a cut-out book. "It's
incredibly soothing," she says. "I methodically cut, fold, and glue, and the Vatican rises before me."
Michelangelo didn't smoke. If he had, at the age of eighty he could hardly been hanging from the
Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling painting the frescoes.
From: www.amazon.com/Meditations-Surviving-Without-Cigarettes-Wanning/dp/0380769166