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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Dec-31-05, 09:27
Lisa N's Avatar
Lisa N Lisa N is offline
Posts: 12,028
 
Plan: Bernstein Diabetes Soluti
Stats: 260/-/145 Female 5' 3"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Michigan
Default Dealing with triggers

For those that are unfamiliar with the term, by 'trigger' I mean encountering a situation where your subconscious has been programmed to receive the substance you were addicted to. Even though you are no longer physically addicted, encountering a 'trigger' can set off thoughts of smoking that are quite powerful. Triggers can be things like people, places, smells, holidays or even certain foods or drinks. It only takes one successful time overcoming a trigger to defeat it forever.
How each of us deals with our triggers is probably different; some may choose to ignore them, others may choose to deal with them head on. Whichever way you choose, it may be helpful to share how you deal with them so others can benefit too. Here's a few of mine:

-When I encounter a trigger, I tell myself, "I used to smoke in this situation, but I'm choosing not to now".
-Take a deep breath and remind myself why I chose to quit (hint...I like breathing more than I liked smoking)
-remind myself that there was nothing about smoking that I really enjoyed once I examined it honestly
-tell someone (usually my DH) that I'm having thoughts of smoking. Often just saying it to someone else is enough motivation to not give in.
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  #2   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 06:19
camaromom's Avatar
camaromom camaromom is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,280
 
Plan: Atkins/lowering cals
Stats: 187/143.6/135 Female 64
BF:35.2/ 20%/20%
Progress: 83%
Location: Lafayette, IN
Default

Hey Lisa, can I get you to follow me around for a few days. I'm trying to quit, but I'm not quite there yet. I ended up having 3 cigs yesterday, and I had to have 1/2 a cig this morning. That darned morning cig is the worst to give up. But hey, I'm trying right?
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  #3   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 10:07
MargoP's Avatar
MargoP MargoP is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 247
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 237/218/155 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 23%
Location: Louisiana
Default

hey camaromom

They say keep trying till you quit. Yea the first cig is the one that is missed most I think for most quitters. Not taking that morning one sets the mood for the rest of the day.I know how hard it is. I found drinking out of a straw was very helpful for me and breathing deep. Deep breathing is suppose to simulate
the feeling we get when we inhale. I wish you the best of luck. I know you can do it.

LisaN

I did and do the same things you listed. My triggers are few and far between now. So when I have the occasional one I know what to do. focus on something else and breathe deep.

Best to all!

I have quit for 9 Months, 2 Weeks, 3 Days, 10 hours, 11 minutes and 39 seconds (292 days). I have saved $1,224.52 by not smoking 7,310 cigarettes. I have saved 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 9 hours and 10 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 4/11/2005 11:55 PM
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  #4   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 11:26
BlitzedAng BlitzedAng is offline
{{{Kickin Ash}}}
Posts: 9,233
 
Plan: Atkins 1972
Stats: 223/190/160 Female 5ft8
BF:OUT OF CONTROL
Progress: 52%
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Default

Quote:
-tell someone (usually my DH) that I'm having thoughts of smoking. Often just saying it to someone else is enough motivation to not give in.


Thank God Im not alone.. I feel better sometimes just talking about it. I feel it helps me keep my quit. DH says, "Ohh well you must have been smoking again or you would'nt be thinking about it." That hurts to be honest and I told him so.. He has been quit a year longer than me and claims to never want to smoke ever again. Good for him.. But I just wanted to say thank you for posting this.. Helps me feel like Im not alone.

Angel
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  #5   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 12:30
camaromom's Avatar
camaromom camaromom is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,280
 
Plan: Atkins/lowering cals
Stats: 187/143.6/135 Female 64
BF:35.2/ 20%/20%
Progress: 83%
Location: Lafayette, IN
Default

Thanks for all the replies. This sure isn't easy. I NEVER should have restarted after I quit the last time. I'm trying really hard, I'm just so darned cranky and irritable (oh wait, that is how I normally am). Actually it is much worse than normal.
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  #6   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 13:21
locarbbarb's Avatar
locarbbarb locarbbarb is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,732
 
Plan: <1250 cal - Flexitarian
Stats: 243/199/130 Female 5'3.5"
BF:57%/Ugh/22%
Progress: 39%
Location: Phoenix,AZ(sun's surface)
Default

Hi guys!

I quit smoking so long ago (31 years ago), and I just did it cold turkey, so I really have no advice for you on handling triggers just now. What I would like to contribute is something I came across as I was researching my inability to sleep when my carbs are lower than 50 or 60 g a day.

Here is what I found. At the very least, it would help explain why you feel as you do, especially when following a low-carb diet. Also, I'd like to add, and you probably know this already, that nicotine is an addictive substance, so you have one challenge right there. And if that wasn't enough, here is another. I'm sorry, but at least now you know what you're up against. HTH

Quote:
More about Serotonin: from Link

Why some foods make you feel good..
Do you ever find yourself sitting on the sofa with a bar of chocolate when you're feeling stressed, bored, or just lonely? Or find that you get cravings for certain foods—such as cookies, bread or pastries—even when you're not hungry?

Many people turn to food for reasons other than physical hunger. They put this down to a lack of discipline, get very "down" on themselves, and then eat even more so they feel better again! This is a little like getting a flat tire, jumping out of the vehicle, and shooting out the remaining three tires.

What they don't realize is that these cravings could be due to a drop in the levels of serotonin in the brain. In fact, some studies show a direct link between obesity (due to overeating) and decreased brain serotonin levels.

Serotonin
Serotonin is a type of neurotransmitter known as a monoamine. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that send messages from one nerve cell to another. In short, a neurotransmitter helps different parts of your brain "talk" to each other. Without adequate levels of serotonin, you'd probably suffer from depression, sleep disorders, and various addictions.

Some overweight people with low levels of serotonin feel almost compelled to eat more. Once they get their carbohydrate "fix", serotonin levels rise and they feel better again, albeit temporarily.

It might also interest you to know that nicotine increases serotonin levels. Nicotine withdrawal has the opposite effect. This is one reason why people who quit smoking find that they rapidly gain weight. They're trying to get their serotonin "fix" from food instead of cigarettes.

The food you eat has the potential to raise or lower your serotonin levels. That's why the ingredients of a meal have such a powerful impact on the way you feel after you eat it. To understand why, you need to know a little more about an amino acid called tryptophan (pronounced trip-toe-fan).

The protein in the food you eat is made up of "strands" of amino acids. Your body can't make serotonin without the help of tryptophan. If you were to eat just tryptophan by itself, then it would enter the blood, flow into the brain, and raise serotonin levels.

Tryptophan requires the use of a transport molecule to cross the blood-brain barrier. Several other amino acids "compete" for this transport molecule. And whole foods contain other amino acids besides tryptophan. The presence of these competing amino acids (tyrosine, phenylalanine, valine, leucine and isoleucine) can inhibit the transport of tryptophan into your brain.

That's why eating a food high in tryptophan (such as cottage cheese) is not the best way to raise serotonin levels. Tryptophan is present in foods in relatively small amounts in comparison to these other amino acids. According to some estimates, as little as one percent of the tryptophan in your diet actually crosses the blood-brain barrier.

Carbohydrate
Richard and Judith Wurtman, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have shown that meals high in carbohydrate can actually help tryptophan to enter your brain [3].

When you eat a food high in carbohydrate, your body releases insulin. Insulin helps to clear the competing amino acids from your blood. However, insulin has no effect on tryptophan. Consequently, once insulin has cleared the competing amino acids from your blood, tryptophan is free to enter your brain.

The link between serotonin and sleep is one reason why some people feel tired after eating a high-carbohydrate meal. It also helps to explain why foods high in carbohydrate are often described as "comfort" food.

Dr. Albert Stunkard, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks that people with an almost uncontrollable urge to raid the fridge late at night are doing it to help themselves sleep by boosting serotonin levels. If you've ever wondered why dieting affects your mood, low serotonin levels could be the explanation [4, 6, 7].

The drop in tryptophan appears to be greater in women, rather than men. For instance, researchers from the University of Oxford found that just three weeks on a low calorie diet significantly reduced both tryptophan levels and the ratio of tryptophan to competing amino acids in a group of 15 men and women [1]. Despite a similar drop in weight, the decline in tryptophan was greater in women than men.

In other words, women appear to be more vulnerable than men to a diet-induced reduction in serotonin levels. This could be because estrogen levels are higher in women than men, which can increase the number of serotonin receptors in the brain.

There are also genetic variations in the serotonergic system (specifically, the 5-HT2A receptor gene) shown to affect both food and alcohol intake in overweight people [2]. This means that some people will respond in very different ways to the same diet.

One solution to the problem of low serotonin levels is to include some kind of high-carbohydrate cheat meal (as opposed to an entire cheat day) in your diet once or twice a week. Complete instructions on how to do this are available in Lyle McDonald's A Guide to Flexible Dieting: How Being Less Strict With Your Diet Can Make it Work Better.

Based on research into rigid versus flexible dieters, as well as both the physiological and psychological reasons that dieters so often fail, A Guide to Flexible Dieting offers a solution to the problems that face dieters in the real world.

In A Guide to Flexible Dieting, you'll learn how deliberately breaking your diet (in a controlled fashion) can make it work better in the long run. Free meals, structured refeeds and even a full diet break (where you take a full two weeks off of dieting) are all discussed and explained in detail. Click here to download the book.

References
1. Anderson, I.M., Parry-Billings, M., Newsholme, E.A., Fairburn, C.G., & Cowen, P.J. (1990). Dieting reduces plasma tryptophan and alters brain 5-HT function in women. Psychological Medicine, 20, 785-791
2. Aubert, R., Betoulle, D., Herbeth, B., Siest, G., & Fumeron, F. (2000). 5-HT2A receptor gene polymorphism is associated with food and alcohol intake in obese people. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 24, 920-924
3. Wurtman, R.J., & Wurtman, J.J. (1995). Brain serotonin, carbohydrate-craving, obesity and depression. Obesity Research, 3, 477S-480S
4. Goodwin, G.M., Cowen, P.J., Fairburn, C.G., Parry-Billings, M., Calder, P.C., & Newsholme, E.A. (1990). Plasma concentrations of tryptophan and dieting. British Medical Journal, 300, 1499-1500
5. Greiwe, J.S., Holloszy, J.O., & Semenkovich, C.F. (2000). Exercise induces lipoprotein lipase and GLUT-4 protein in muscle independent of adrenergic-receptor signaling. Journal of Applied Physiology, 89, 176-181
6. Schweiger, U., Laessle, R., Kittl, S., Dickhaut, B., Schweiger, M., & Pirke, K.M. (1986). Macronutrient intake, plasma large neutral amino acids and mood during weight-reducing diets. Journal of Neural Transmission, 67, 77-86
7. Wolfe, B.E., Metzger, E.D., & Stollar, C. (1997). The effects of dieting on plasma tryptophan concentration and food intake in healthy women. Physiology and Behaviour, 61, 537-541


I, personally, have tried the one 'free' meal a week (in fact I had one last night - I don't make it too 'free'!) I think I've got my carbs at a sufficient level each day to not need this, though. And I noticed a slight increase in a desire for carbs the day following such a meal. I included this info because that is what I found on the web site.

I do not want to go around recommending to you to go off your plan! It is just what they recommended. I trust you to use your own judgment, as YMMV.
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  #7   ^
Old Sun, Jan-29-06, 13:32
Lisa N's Avatar
Lisa N Lisa N is offline
Posts: 12,028
 
Plan: Bernstein Diabetes Soluti
Stats: 260/-/145 Female 5' 3"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Michigan
Default

Quote:
It might also interest you to know that nicotine increases serotonin levels. Nicotine withdrawal has the opposite effect. This is one reason why people who quit smoking find that they rapidly gain weight. They're trying to get their serotonin "fix" from food instead of cigarettes.


This may be part of the reason, but something that a lot of quitters also don't know is that nicotine also affects blood sugar levels and when you quit, it can cause blood sugars to become untable for the fist 2 or 3 days until the nicotine has completely cleared your system (another reason to avoid nicotine replacements as they keep the nicotine in your system longer and therefore contribute the the blood sugar instability for longer).
Unstable blood sugar levels in the first few days of a quit can trigger sweet cravings, but after the first 72 hours, it's not the lack of nicotine causing your cravings.
As for the serotonin connection, that is usually back to pre-smoking function within 2 weeks of being nicotine free.
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