Welcome!
Your Piper is precious! I just know he/she will be a good support system for you when you quit.
Understanding the addiction and having a PLAN going forward will reduce the anxiety of quitting. Get busy learning and preparing, and I think you may actually start to look forward to this journey! You will do this one day at a time, so don't be looking further ahead than that.
An important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. I was amazed when I learned that the stress reduction you feel when you ingest nicotine is caused by the brain receptors calming that have gradually built in volume jonesing for their next fix! I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: Nicotine and Your Brain.
To better deal with the habit part of the addiction, change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try coming here to read, then getting cleaned up and dressed, taking your shower and THEN your coffee! .
After you have eliminated as many associations as you can, you need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), play a computer game, find comedy routines on YouTube (Robin Williams and Tim Conway are a couple of my favs). Keep a cold bottle of water with you. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged.
Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas (you won't be able to do all, but hopefully you will still find it useful):
101 Things to Do Instead of Smoke - EX Community
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
