Coping Tools and Tips for Quitting

Not smoking sucks.  And it's great.  Some of the tips I found online that I thought would work were:

• Find a friend to quit with.  (That's not gonna happen.)
• Manage stress.  (HAHAHAHAHA...  right!)
• Clean house.  (OMG, stop!  You're killing me!)
• Detail your car.  (Now its getting ridiculous.)
• Relax fully.  (Yeah, whatever.)
• Know why you want to quit.  (But I DON'T!!!)

So basically, I was frustrated beyond belief and very few coping mechanisms worked for me.  I guess I did journal, kind of.  I'm writing here and that's something.  I seem to have lost my e-cig, another helpful tool.  One suggestion that has had a negative impact on my life while helping me to make it 45 days without a cigarette, is to avoid situations with might trigger a lapse...  talking to my friends on the phone.  I would wander around outside and talk on the phone while smoking.   I may be repeating myself, but this has had a huge impact on me.  I find that I'm isolating a LOT.  My mom called tonight to see if I was still alive.  I haven't talked to her in forever - well, a little over 45 days.

Things that helped - without the sarcasm?  I'll try.

• Eat more fruits and veggies.  I'm on a berry kick.  I always have strawberries in my house and I've found an awesome salad that I can't get enough of - chopped romaine, chopped pecans, quartered strawberries, crumbled bacon, blue cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.  I have fewer cravings for junk food, except maybe soda but I don't keep it in the house and end up drinking water.
• Do it for your health.  I'm waiting for more of those awesome benefits to kick in, like less shortness of breath.  But mainly I'm looking forward to living longer - I hope.
• Choose your reward.  While I haven't found a reward, I think this is worth putting a little energy into.  What would I use all that money I've saved on?  Well, right now I'm spending it on bills, and it's going to have to stay that way for awhile.
• To be honest, Managing stress is worth putting energy into as well, it just seems like a joke these days.  Some helpful hints to reduce stress.
• Avoid stressful situations.
• Regular massages.
•  Listen to relaxing music.
• Try yoga.
• Deep breathing.
• Distracting!  This is a fantastic tool for coping.  The list I've been looking at suggest coming up with my own list of "101 things to do instead of smoking" and would you believe...?  There exists just such a list online, though coming up with your own is likely more useful.  If you want a place to start, look here.
• Get moving.  I'm a huge baby about cold/inclement weather, so this is something I haven't been able to do yet.  Lindsay and I are going to start walking soon.  We used to do it all the time, but our schedules are crazy...  You like my excuses?  We're going to start, at the end of the month.
• Try and try again.  If I lapse and have a cigarette or (God forbid) buy a pack, I'll start over.  
• That last one reminds me of one of my most effecting coping tools...  When I want a cigarette, I imagine how my lungs will feel if I do smoke.  Awful, they'll feel terrible and I don't want to feel like that again.

Now that I've made quitting sound like tons of hard and terrible work, let me just say that I don't think about it too much.  I used to think about it a lot, even when I wouldn't have normally been smoking.  Now I think about it only occasionally: when a friend calls, checking out at Walgreens, and driving home from work on Friday evenings.

I'd like to do things that make me feel normal this summer...  read, relax among the sunflowers out back, drink some wine on a lazy weekend afternoon, and meal plan like I used to.  I started a few good books, yes I said a few.  

• The Gift of Therapy by Irvin Yalom
• Catching Fire to be immediately followed by  Mockingjay.  I read the Hunger Games a couple of years ago, but never finished the trilogy and didn't watch the movies until last week and now I have to read the rest.  
• One Second After by William R. Forstchen
• I Thought it was Just Me (But it Isn't) by Brene Brown
• I Heart My Little A-Holes by Karen Alpert
• Berried to the Hilt by Karen McInerney
• The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society by Carolyn Brown

My meal plan for this week includes:

• Chili 
• Crock pot brisket/flat iron steak with mashed potatoes
• Hamburgers with fries and salad
• Quesadillas and salad
• Enchiladas with made-from-scratch red sauce (a first attempt) and lime rice
• Burrito bowls with all the fixin's - like Qdoba
• Lindsay's lime chicken with mashed potatoes and beets
• Spaghetti and salad

There are eight menu ideas and we probably won't use three or four of them.  I always have a few other ideas in mind for quick and easy dinners, like grilled cheese and tomato soup, leftovers, or breakfast. I will make chili but we might not eat it for dinner - it will be lunches or part of snacks.  Speaking of breakfast, we have to have plans for that now too, seeing as we all eat breakfast at different times and all of us on the run.  

• Rob eats granola bars or yogurt
• Lindsay has whatever I fix her - waffle egg sandwiches, yogurt, oatmeal...  she eats in the car so it's never really messy
• I could have a sit down breakfast because I don't have to be at work until much later than the others, but I rarely do.  I also don't really get hungry until after I've been at work for an hour or so.  I try to take berries and yogurt, cheese and crackers, or even cereal with me.  Sometimes I manage to choke down something on my way to work, but if I'm not hungry, it's a lost cause.

And then there's lunch.  I used to be much more organized with lunches, especially when I was packing Lindsay's for her every day.  Now I'm hit and miss and often end up buying mine, which neither makes me feel good physically, but is painful in the pocketbook.  

• Rob packs his lunch nearly every day.  He makes sandwiches, salads, or packs leftovers.  Sometimes we buy him microwave dinners but that's not often anymore.
• Lindsay eats school lunch.  I used to pack her something almost every day, but she decided she liked school lunch better.  That's depressing.
• I can take leftovers or salads, but I like to have random stuff - cheese and crackers, jello, tea, and fruit.  Or maybe cup of soup (but not the noodle stuff, I like cream of potato and split pea that you make with hot water), salad and water.  If I remember when I'm shopping, I'll buy hummus and pretzel crisps, tangerines, and cheese.  See, random.  

Well, that relieved some stress.  I had forgotten how much I like to write, even if it is bullet point lists about food and tips to quit smoking with a snarky attitude.