The Secret To My Success?

Maybe it was the sticky notes

I have really had a pretty easy time of it I think. I read a lot of the posts in the forums on the quit for life web site and think how much easier it has been for me. I am not sure why but I am grateful. I know part of it is that if I set my mind to do something I do it. I plan and create a process that I stick to no matter what. The process for this was simple. I had seven days to ween myself off of nicotine so that when I hit my quit date I was only dealing with the behavioral and emotional part of the addiction. I used the sticky notes program on my netbook to keep track of my smoking each day in addition to the tools on the web site.

 The sticky notes appealed to me because they were right there every time I was on my computer. As far as cutting back on my smoking each day I found I nice little thought process that helped a lot. Every time I would reach for a cigarette I would ask myself if I really needed the nicotine or if it was just what I was used to doing right then. If I thought about it and decided I didn't really need to smoke I didn't. There was really no pressure because I knew if I really felt I needed it I could smoke. I found as the days went on I needed them less and less. As you can see from the picture of my netbook screen it happened pretty fast. I had actually quit two days early. This brought up another thought. If I was able to quit on the dosage of Chantix that I was currently taking then what was the point of increasing the dose on the eighth? I decided not to. On the eighth when I got to the 1mg pills I got out my pill splitter and split them in half so that I could stay at 1mg a day. This is not to say that I never think about smoking because I do. It just doesn't really get to me because I know that when it comes right down to it I don't really want to. The thought passes rather quickly and I move on just fine.


I think the next use for my sticky notes will have to be to help me keep track of my new diet. changes to my eating habits. Turns out that while I have done very well on the blood sugar thing I have now been dealt the family cholesterol card. I now get the challenge of kicking the fast food habit and learning to eat low fat/cholesterol foods. So, time to set my mind to it, make a plan, create a process and stick to it no matter what.