Happy Holidays to you!

I’ve been away from blogging for a few weeks, but I wanted to get back and wish all my readers a wonderful holiday season. May you enjoy whatever activities you decide to do, may the weather be perfect, may your meals be delicious, and may you be surrounded by your friends.

Despite the delight of this season, holidays can also be stressful, as I’m sure you know. And smoking is just perfect for dealing with stress, isn’t it? When that nasty brother-in-law says something to get your nose out of joint, it’s so nice to go outside and have a smoke instead of popping him one. <g>

I loved smoking for that reason. I could get away from the stress of a party, or having to be “on” in a group. If I smoked I could leave the room and stand outside and “be safe.” And, of course, smokers are the coolest people. I really enjoyed all the other smokers I met on the back porch of whatever party I was attending.

I wouldn’t recommend trying to quit in these last three weeks of December! You’ve got enough on your plate right now, what with dealing with presents, travel, family, events, etc. Even if you’re alone and not involved in all that activity, it’s hard to be unaffected by it.

Plan now to quit in January. Start paying attention to why you are smoking. You might want to keep a journal and write down whenever you smoke and why. You’ll start to notice a pattern. Maybe you always smoke after a meal, or you always smoke when you get off work, etc. Pay attention to those times, and start thinking of alternative behaviors that you can do instead of smoke. Use these next three or 4 weeks to prepare to quit.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1) Who can I ask for support? Who do I trust who will let me call them any time day or night when I really need to talk to someone?

2) What is in my house that might trigger me to smoke once I’ve quit? Think about removing ashtrays, matches and lighters, dismantling favorite smoking areas in and out of your house, etc.

3) What will I do when I’m triggered? Think of alternative behaviors like sucking on a flavored toothpick, eating some carrott sticks, sugarless gum or hard candy, walking, a sip of water, a rubber band on your wrist that you can snap each time you have a craving.

4) What about nicotine replacement therapy? You might want to consider using the patch or gum to assist you through the quit. I wouldn’t recommend e-cigarettes because they will stimulate all the same behaviors that you already have with cigarettes.

E-mail me to set up a free coaching consultation, to see if maybe coaching might help you get through your first three months. We can talk about developing a quit plan that will be tailored to your specific needs. I’d love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, Happy Holidays!

Catherine