I've been watching a show on TLC called, "I Can Make You Thin." It's a little too much like an info-mercial for me but I made myself watch tonight b/c I saw that the show was going to focus on how to deal with cravings. The show focuses on food and overeating but he specifically mentioned that the techniques he teaches can be used to help deal with cravings of any kind.

He explained that we all use various unhealthy means to avoid dealing with negative and uncomfortable emotions. Those can be over-eating, drugs, alcohol or anything that makes us forget about the negative emotions even for just awhile.

The technique he said that he uses for people who over-eat b/c of emotional eating was developed by a psychologist named Roger Callahan and that the technique is basically used to reprogram our brains out of using food, drugs, etc.to cope with negative emotions. The technique involves tapping on various "energy" points on the body with the goal of re-establishing emotional equilibrium.

I have to say that I felt like an absolute fool tapping on my body and humming as I watched the show but I had been struggling with cravings for vics before the show and as silly as I felt, the cravings did seem to go away. Could have just been taking the time to do something else and distracted my attention but I'm willing to keep trying this to see how well it works. Heck, can't hurt. I don't advise doing this in public or you'll probably get hauled away or some very strange looks.

Anyway, here's the technique: (he suggested tapping about 10 times on each energy point)

- When the craving hits, rate the craving and your level of emotional upset on a scale of 1-10 - with 1 being very low to 10 being very high.

- tap 5-10 times on the bone directly under your eye (either one)

- tap 5-10 times on your collarbone

- tap 5-10 times on the side of one hand - about half-way b/t the thumb and wrist

- tap 5-10 times on the back of your hand

- tap on the back of the hand another 5-10 times but close your eyes this time

- While still tapping on the back of your hand, look down and to the right for 5-10 taps

- While still tapping on the back of your hand, look down and to the left for 5-10 taps

- While still tapping on the back of your hand, rotate your eyes in a complete circle in one direction for 5-10 taps

- While still tapping on the back of your hand, rotate your eyes in a complete circle in the other direction for 5-10 taps

- Continue tapping the back of your hand but also hum a short tune during the 5-10 taps

- Keep tapping and count out loud from 1 to 5

- Keep tapping and hum the tune again

Now, stop tapping yourself senseless and re-rate the level of the craving or emotional distress.

If it is diminished to the point that you feel you can move on and control it, YEAH. If not, repeat the process until it is.

Obviously, a lot of this is simply a distraction method to get your mind off of the craving, but, hey, if it works, I guess I'm willing to walk around with bruises from all of that tapping under my eyes and on my hands!

I'll be interested to hear if anyone else trys this and how it works or if anyone else has been watching the show. Like I said, it's a little weird but whatever helps....

Last night was the first night I had trouble sleeping but I think that is b/c of the Chantix. I really wish that stuff would start kicking in - minus the nausea and headaches.
Well, day 10. Pretty good. I can't believe I've made it this far. I really am proud of myself. Now, I need to get going and stop procrastinating. No more excuses. I think the physical withdrawals are over. I need to kick it in gear and get some stuff done at home and at work.
I have to keep reminding myself that everyday I let go by without accomplishing the things I need/want to do is another day wasted.
Let's see how today goes....

I wish I had been journaling every day so that I could keep track of ups and downs and overall progress. I think it helps to be able to look back and see how far you've come.

I cannot believe that I have made it this far. Before the past 9 days, I had not gone more than several hours in at least three years without a lortab. Even two weeks ago, I would not have imagined that I would really do this. My willpower sucks so I am really proud of myself. I must be out of my mind b/c I am also working on quitting smoking. Glutant for punishment, I guess. No, I have finally made the decision to clean up my life once and for all. I realized that I have been waiting for years for the right time to make the changes I need to make - waiting for less stress, waiting for the right man, waiting for everything at work to be perfect, waiting for everything at home to be perfect, etc., etc. I guess I finally just realized that there never is a perfect time. I am the queen of procrastination and that needs to stop. I have looked back over the past few years and looked at how much of my life I have wasted procrastinating. I'll do it tomorrow, the next day, next week, next month, etc. Not sure why but it finally hit me that we never know how many tomorrows we have left. Today may be it.

I am going to try to start asking myself every time I am tempted to put something off - "would you feel okay about leaving this undone today if you had to answer to God tomorrow?" Or something to that effect. My writing skills aren't up to par and can't seem to find the words I want today.

I am finding that through the withdrawals (which I thought should be done by now), my symptoms vascillate between the physical and mental. I've only had a couple of days where both were bad. Yesterday, I was really sad and wanted to cry all day. Today, my mood is much better but I feel really queasy and have a headache. I did start taking the L-Tyrosine and B Complex from Thomas Recipe yesterday and I wonder if I took too much L-Tyrosine today - I took 2000 mg this a.m. Oh well, at least I'm not as tired as I've been this week. I started taking Chantix to quit smoking about five days ago so I'm going a little more slowly on the smoking than I did with CT from Lortab.

I am so thankful that I found this forum. I really do believe that God led me here. I have met some really great, supportive people who have helped me so much. It is so great to know that I am not alone and that almost every person here is either going through or has gone through what I have. I am really thankful to everyone here who has offered support and encouragement. I am also really thankful to God for getting me this far.

I think today is going to be a great day and I want to check lots off things off of the "to-do" list.

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.  Earl Nightengale

Adversity is the first path to truth. Lord Byron

The best way out is always through. Robert Frost

You are a living magnet. What you attract into your life is in harmony with your dominant thoughts. Brian Tracy

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest soulds; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Kahlil Gibran

We first make our habits and then our habits make us. John Dryden

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees. William Shakespeare

Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing. William Feather

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. Pablo Picasso

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. James Allen

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the Present Moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available NOW. There is no enlightenment outside of daily life. Thich Nhat Hanh

Every achiever that I have ever met says, "my life turned around when I began to believe in me."  Dr. Robert Schuller

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose. Lyndon Baines Johnson

No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. Friedrich Nietzsche

You can't cross a sea by merely staring into the water. Rabindranath Tagore

Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes!" and hope will reappear.  Monroe Forester

This one step - choosing a goal and staying to it - changes everything.  Scott Reed

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.  Hugh White

Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.  Orison Swett Marden

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.  Reinhold Niebuhr

Somebody should tell us right at the start of our lives that we are dying.  Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do It! I say, whatever you want to do, do it now! Michael Landon

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.  Dorothy Bernard

One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things. Henry Miller

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  Anais Nin

Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.  Les Brown

What you make dominant in your mind will eventually manifest itself. Ron Martin

What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.  John Ruskin

We need never be ashamed of our tears. Chalres Dickens

Beleive and act as if it were impossible to fail.  Charles F. Kettering

We are always getting ready to live but never living. Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must take personal responsibility.  You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. Jim Rohn

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust

Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance. W. Clement Stone

...The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death. Voltaire

Focus on your goal until it burns a path into your subconscious. Ron Martin

At the end of the day, whether or not those people are comfortable with how you're living your life doesn't matter. What matters is whether you're comfortable with it. Dr. Phil

Do what you fear and your fear will vanish. Action dissolves paralysis.  Ron Martin

EVERY path may lead you to God, even the weird ones. Most of us are on a journey. We're looking or something, though we're not always sure what that is. The way is foggy much of the time.  I suggest you slow down and follow some of the side roads that appear suddenly in the mist. Real Live Preacher

Facing an unpleasant reality encourages you to change it. Ron Martin

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.  Amelia Earhart

Every great mistake has a half way moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied. Pearl Buck

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of lving every minute with love, grace and gratitude. Denis Waitley

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you. Greg Laurie

Behavior is a mirror in which everyone displays his own image. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down but the staying down.  Mary Pickford

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task; go to sleep in peace.  Victor Hugo