Today is my QUIT day!

Posted September 12th, 2012 by olivegreen
Hello all. I'm pretty new here. I've created a plan to quit my picking and my quit day is today, September 12th. I've followed a "how to quit smoking" guide written by a minimalist/zen teacher and I believe it will work. I have a system of rewards, supports, and motivation typed out and ready. I have some plans for how to curb my urges, and I've been spending a lot of time leading up to this preparing myself and talking to myself about how wonderful this is going to be. I've tried to quit before many times with no success or short-term success only. I'm ready to be done with this. I'll be posting as I go, and would love to hear from any of you that have any tips or suggestions, or encouragement!!! Thanks :)
‹ You mean I'm not alone???? I'm stopping ›
On October 10th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Oh, and I found my rock!!!!!
On October 10th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Hi all. I'm in better spirits now than I was in my last post. It looks like we've found a place to move to, a wonderful place that I'm very excited to own. But, we'll be closing on our house in November and that means we have to move by then. I can't say I'm prepared for this much work! I had a bit of a breakdown yesterday about all of it, where I thought to myself, "why not go back to picking and try to quit again after we move?" I will never condemn a smoker or alcoholic who fails to quit ever again. I do understand the difficulty of it, now. (To some degree, of course.)
On October 8th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Well, it's been tough lately. I'm sore and stressed from getting our house ready to sell. AND, to top it off, when our house sells, we'll be homeless. We have to find a place to buy or rent in about one month. Yikes. That's exciting and terrifying for me. And I lost my rock. I feel like I'm mentally too busy to continue to try to quit as hard as I did when I started. I know that's probably a huge excuse. In any regard, here I am.
On October 3rd, 2012 olivegreen said:
Hey guys, I'm still here and quitting every day. The stress is getting to me. We now have 20 days to get our house ready for a home inspection. That means a lot of painting and wall repairs. It's stressful and I'm finding myself picking more frequently than before...but stress has always been a huge trigger for me. I have gotten my smooth rock out again and am carrying it around with me. It helps. haha, I guess I was hoping that after 3 weeks, I would be completely over it and done. BUT that appears to NOT be the case. I'll keep on keepin' on.
On October 4th, 2012 Emmi said:
Olivegreen, It will take longer then 3 weeks as this is somthing you have done for a long time, I think keeping your rock in your pocket is a good Idea, it means it is always there when you need it, Just remember, You have so much to do to prepare your house, you dont have time to pick :) Your doing GREAT! keep up the GREAT work :)
On October 8th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thanks! What's funny is I actually lost my rock somewhere. I think it might show up in the washing machine! I have no idea where it has gone. :( xoxo
On October 5th, 2012 twiggy said:
Olivegreen, The Rock is a great idea. When I quit smoking I didn't know what to do in the car. The motion of hand to mouth..i felt lost. An oral fixation. I started twirling the ring on my ring to preoccupy my hand and chew gum for my mouth. It's crazy how mindless forms of habit do have a huge impact on our behavior. And we don't even realize we are giving into the habits at first because they've become second nature. The worst thing we can do is give up. You're doing great and you'll overcome this.
On September 28th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thank you all for your encouraging comments!! :) I'm looking forward to a nice weekend with family, but weekends are tough for me because I really don't have time (with a 2 1/2 year old son) to get on this forum on the weekends. (I sneak some time at work...!) It may sound odd, but writing my thoughts on this forum is a huge support for me.
On October 1st, 2012 Emmi said:
The only time I can get on here is at work, Haha, Im glad this forum is helping :) And I hope your weekend with the family was lovely :) Good to hear your progress is going well to :) Keep it up Hun :)
On September 27th, 2012 olivegreen said:
You know, I'm familiar with the concept of not saying something because you could jinx it. Perhaps I should have NOT posted yesterday at all! All of a sudden, we have someone interested in buying our house. We've been trying to sell for 2 months with not even a looker. So we frantically cleaned the house last night and my nerves were up. Anxiety is a big trigger for me and I had a hard time not picking. Sheesh. Oh well, I'm not feeling defeated. I'm back to working on quitting today. Has anyone heard the song "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson lately? I heard it yesterday and i think it's a really applicable song for all of us here! :)
On September 28th, 2012 reaching.higher said:
haha that song fits perfectly!great job on your progress and continue pushing forwward!:))
On September 27th, 2012 Emmi said:
Congrats on the house situation :) And today is a new day to continue the progress you have been doing, Picking from anxiety is my down fall too, I can completely understand where your coming from, these little set backs are reminders of why we want to quit so badly. Keep up the good work :D
On September 26th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Happy two week anniversary to me! I'm happy to report that I've been managing this process well with exception of a few setbacks here and there. I am fortunate to have started quitting during a relatively low-stress time in my life (not pregnant, same old job, not arguing with my husband) and I'm hoping this trend continues. It's been 15 years of picking up to now, and I've never been this committed to quitting. I don't feel embarrassed about my scars, and actually showed some nicely healing ones to my husband the other day with pride. He was happy with my progress, too, which boosts my confidence. I'm ready to be done with this.
On September 27th, 2012 Emmi said:
Happy Two week anniversary!!! Yay!! Keep up the amazing work!!!
On September 27th, 2012 olivegreen said:
:) Thank you :)
On September 27th, 2012 arkag said:
This is so amazing! I am so proud of you. Keep up the awesome work.
On September 27th, 2012 olivegreen said:
:) Thank you!
On September 24th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Here I am again, a week and a half into quitting. I can't believe how often I'm still mindlessly picking. But, it's decreased! So, I feel like I'm on my way. I have to be very careful not to let myself pick even once, or my urges to pick become extremely higher. Thank you to Emmi for suggesting exfoliating gloves for my bumpy skin. I'll have to try those. Still proud of myself, I am, just trying to be mindful of myself all the time. I tend to let my mind wander, and when that happens, inevitably so does my hand.
On September 25th, 2012 Emmi said:
I know the feeling. But you will get there :) Your skin will be better in no time! :) keep up the good work :)
On September 25th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thank you!! Same goes to you, Emmi! :) xoxo
On September 24th, 2012 Arati said:
good work Olive. :-) Just keep at it no matter how many times you slip. Less picking is better than lots of picking!
On September 25th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Isn't that the truth? One less pick each day, eventually there will be no picks at all!!!! :)
On September 24th, 2012 skreed29 said:
i have been reading your posts around the forum today and they are really nice and inspiring (: even though they arent directed at me they are helping me get through a stressful day, so thank you. you are so on the right track and i admire you, and cant wait to hear(soon!!) that you are totally free from picking (: (:
On September 25th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thank you, what a nice comment! (I always wonder if I comment too much...!) Hope your day today is less stressful! :)
On September 18th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Tomorrow I will have been on my plan to quit for one week! I'm very excited to be getting this far along. This is probably the longest stretch I've ever gone. Don't get me wrong, the urge to pick is still highly there. I have noticed though that I am more "still," less agitated and squirmy in general. My cuticle skin looks great! I never realized my nails could look so nice. I didn't even realize how much I picked at them. I've isolated three situations where my urges are the greatest: on the toilet (picking my thighs), when putting my son to sleep (scalp/arms/legs), and when driving (anywhere I can reach). It's helped me to recognize these time frames because I can be more prepared to help avoid the "craving." I'm still having trouble dealing with the little bumps and inevitable scabs as my hands run over my face and body so frequently looking for them. I'm working on stopping that behavior too. Tough work, this is.
On September 18th, 2012 skreed29 said:
im so glad to hear you are making progress (: i was pick free for a week and then had a small relapse last night, im proud that i was able to stop myself before it got too out of hand but also dissapointed because it was a setback ): and youre right. this is hard, really hard. its nice to have support through it from people who are on the same page, though ! we can do this !
On September 21st, 2012 olivegreen said:
Huh, you and I must be running on a similar course! I had a setback this morning (trying to wake up in bed) but it wasn't too bad either. This is like a viscous circle, because the scabs I have now are so tempting to pick. Thanks for commenting, you are so sweet! :)
On September 18th, 2012 olivegreen said:
I should mention that my thighs and upper arms are always bumpy--I have some type of skin condition that makes these little raised bumps. It is VERY difficult not to pick at them as they will never go away and it's a constant picking attraction!
On September 19th, 2012 Emmi said:
I have these as well. I know how difficult it is not to pick, I find exfoliating gently and a good moisturizer REALLY helps :)
On September 21st, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thanks for the tips! What do you use to exfoliate?
On September 24th, 2012 Emmi said:
I use exfoliating gloves, you can buy them in your local supermarket. There really handy, while your in the shower, use the gloves with soap, I prefer to use a soap free wash (I have a reaction to soap) but what ever you usually use. Just remember to be gentle. :)
On September 24th, 2012 Emmi said:
I use exfoliating gloves, you can buy them in your local supermarket. There really handy, while your in the shower, use the gloves with soap, I prefer to use a soap free wash (I have a reaction to soap) but what ever you usually use. Just remember to be gentle. :)
On September 17th, 2012 olivegreen said:
This is day five, and the weekend was tough. Without being here on this forum and reading my quit plan, I found myself picking a lot. I have a lot of brand new skin, which is very exciting, and a few very pronounced scabs which are making me want to pick really bad. I'm staying positive, but this is very hard.
On September 14th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thought I'd share my quitting plan: MY PLAN TO QUIT PICKING MY QUIT DATE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2012 Don’t start right away. Allow time for planning and preparing. MY REWARDS: Day 1: splurge for lunch Day 2: donut and coffee Day 3: Special drink splurge Week 1 (Hell Week): Trip to Greenhouse and pick out a cactus or pot for cacti Week 2 (Heck Week): Family day at the park with lunch or dinner out Month 1: Manicure Month 2: New outfit or shoes 6 Months: Weekend trip somewhere fun 1 Year: SHAVE MY HEAD! 2 Years: Get my special tattoo MY SUPPORTS: Juston, Mica, Mom & Dad, forums HOW I’LL CURB URGES: PUT IT OFF!!!! 1. Breathe. 2. Stretch. 3. Self massage or serenity rock. 4. Take a brief walk. 5. Text Juston. 6. Post on the forum. WHAT IS MY MOTIVATION TO QUIT? 1. Be a healthy mommy. 2. Make Juston proud of me. 3. No more embarrassing scabs. 4. No more getting caught/ fear of it. 5. My mind will be free to think of important things (or nothing at all). 6. Live a positive life. 7. Help others quit on skinpick.com N.O.P.E. NOT ONE PICK EVER! *If failure happens, plan and prepare for a few days and then try again. *Think positive.
On September 14th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Day 2-complete!! I'm feeling empowered and strong today and have caught myself picking and stopped myself right away. I keep having "phantom" itchiness--I'm using the pads of my fingers to itch these spots. Today I treated myself to McDonald's breakfast for my success! At one week, I'll be taking a trip to a local nursery to pick out a cactus as a reward. Isn't it ironic that I would pick cacti as my favorite plant? haha.
On September 13th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Day 1 complete! I have caught myself picking mindlessly a lot over the last 24 hours but have controlled the intentional picking well by massaging my own hands or focusing on a task. I am excited to start this journey! I'd love some encouragement! :)
On September 13th, 2012 little-love said:
Hello :3 I am glad to see that someone else is trying to quit this too! I am into my second week and I am doing really well! During the first few days I did pick because these are the first few days when the skin is being left to heal and i had flaky bits and what not but it got easier to leave them alone as they were healing. I took photos and kept a diary of the healing process to help me see that my skin gets better if i leave it alone. Now im in the second week and its becoming easier to leave spots as they are or to let people see me with a spot or two and its actually not that bad. I always thhink of one of my friends who has bad skin but is absolutely beautiful all the same and i don't see spots when i look at her i never notice them. I am trying not to worry about how i look all the time. its making me a much happier person :0) looks arent everythign i keep telling myself. hope that helps and good luck x
On September 14th, 2012 olivegreen said:
Thank you for replying and for your kind words!! I'll be so excited to be at 2 weeks "clean." :)
On September 28th, 2012 howdoistoppicki... said:
Thank You for sharing ur progress and being real to when u have to start over. You have such a great positive attitude and hope to see more post of your progress. I think its something I need to do as well. Its like a drug to me & I pray one day after almost 30s years of picking I will be able to stop. Hugs & Prayers <3
For information on the skin picking disorder (Dermatillomania), symptoms, causes and treatment methods, get the Complete Guide to Skin Picking Disorders.