Your Stop Smoking Blog

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Enhancing the quality and length of your life by quitting smoking is a worthwhile effort. It is definitely not an easy task, but it can be accomplished with time and patience. To quit smoking successfully, finding out what your options are. Knowing where to go for help is a wise first step. Quitting smoking is the best move that you can make for your health and the health of all of those around you. Just about everyone knows by now that smoking causes diseases that shorten your life or those that may even end it. Diseases such as lung cancer, throat, esophagus, bladder, and kidney, and pancreas cancers are some horrible things caused by smoking for a start. Not to mention some leukemia, stomach, and cervix cancers, and newly added by the Surgeon General is pneumonia. People who smoke are more than three times as likely to die due to heart attack as non smokers. Smoking is a major risk factor for a disease that narrow the blood vessels that transport blood to the limbs and muscles called peripheral vascular disease as well as the disease that causes some strokes.

If that‘s not enough to convince you to stop smoking, let’s look at your appearance. Premature wrinkling of skin, chronic bad breath, discolored fingernails and hair, and an increase risk of macular degeneration a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Smoking over the age of thirty-five if you are a woman can put you in a high risk group for stroke, heart attack, and blood clots of the legs, low birth weight of babies and miscarriages. But the hopeful portion of this message is that if you decide to quite regardless of how long you’ve smoked or how much, quitting will help you to live longer. In as little as twenty minutes after quitting smoking the heart rate and blood pressure drops and in one to nine months following quitting smoking, circulation in your hands extremities and lung function increases. Shortness of breath decreases and your lungs begin to function properly, cleaning the lungs and removing mucus that causes infection. Fifteen years of non smoking and your risk of heart disease is that of non smoking persons. These benefits can be obtained from quitting smoking even if you are suffering from a smoking related illness already. Smoking is less socially accepted now more than ever. Smoking bans have been placed in just about every workplace in the nation along with airports, public buildings. Even friends may insist that you not smoke in their houses or cars. Some people may even find dating more difficult because of a bad smoking habit. So the social impacts of not smoking will probably change your life for the better if you quit.

If you have a family, that is another great motivation to quit smoking. The main reason is that the secondhand smoke could pose serious health problems for others who do not deserve such things. You should also consider what kind of role model you are being to any small children that you live with, whether they are your own kids, siblings, nieces and nephews, or any other relation. You may be living with kids who look up to you as an authority figure, and if you teach them that smoking is alright you will feel very guilty later in life.

Some of the many new products used to help an individual to stop smoking are really very effective. Counseling services, reading materials, medicines, and patches are all widely available and have produced some amazing results. Educational materials alone may be the best beginning start to an attempt to quit because once you know what kind of damage you are doing to your body the prudent and reasonable person will definitely see that it is the very best thing to do. However, it has been documented and researched that the highest success rates occur when a combination of methods are used simultaneously. Take the time and do it for yourself and your loved ones, quit for life.

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How can you quit smoking? Deepak Chopra details step-by-step instructions for curbing smoking habits in the long-term, which include feeling the adverse sensations of smoking and listening to your body as it rejects those sensations.

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Quitting smoking cigarettes can be a trial for many people be it their first attempt to stop smoking, a second time, a third or even more it is never easy. These 3 tips on quitting smoking cigarettes focus not just the everyday things that you need to do to not give in to the cravings but also the big picture to help you get over smoking for good by a change of mindset that is essential to stop smoking.

1. Dealing With Cravings
The first challenge confronted by men and women looking to quit smoking cigarettes is the cravings that hit when the body is demanding nicotine and also the psychological urge to smoke for its comforting action built up over years of smoking. While there are patches, gum and plenty of other aides that can help none of them will stop you smoking for good without the key facet of breaking any addiction which is WILLPOWER!
This does not mean that you just need superhuman willpower to sustain yourself through periods of intense withdrawals and cravings but without the belief that you can and will succeed it makes it all the harder. Apart from this there are some tricks to fighting cravings you can use when they hit which are usually simply ways to distract you until they pass. These cravings do not usually last longer than 10 minutes and are usually only 5 minutes long according to research so when you fee the tell tale withdrawal symptoms try doing one of these things:

Immediately do something, clean up your desk, clean up the house … busy yourself instead of sitting there thinking about the nicotine cravings which only makes it worse.
A mental trick that many use to great effect is to imagine a tennis match in your mind. Sounds silly right but the steady back and forth actually has an effect of calming and applying a steady beat for you to concentrate on … try it!
Exercise, not a full workout but have a 5-10 minute light workout you can do at home or in an office even if you head is pounding or you feel nauseous doing something to get the body’s feel good chemicals pumping will help.

2. Making a Plan
The key to making the foundations of willpower work for you is by having a plan to quit smoking cigarettes for the short term and the long term. It is advised you should even write these down with your goals and aspirations so that they are firm and not changeable like goals you keep in your head that can ‘change’ when things get tough.
If you plan to quit cold turkey, set a date that you will quit and make that date the time you throw out all your smoking paraphernalia like lighters, any remaining cigarettes, tobacco, rollups or whatever! Even dry clean your clothes to get the smoking smell out of them to make a clean break.
If you plan to reduce your smoking over time makes sure you have a daily or weekly plan of how many cigarettes you are allowing yourself to smoke and do not break it! in fact write it down every time you have one and check it before you smoke another. Then every day or week reduce that amount until you have a date where you have no smoking days left and you quit for good!
Goals can only be achieved if we have them set down and monitored or they just become dreams and like dreams can slip away when we wake up.

3. Change of Mindset
Lastly to achieve these tips on quitting smoking you must have the binding that allows you to do accomplish them because you WANT to accomplish them. While you may believe you need to quit smoking now do you want to quit or do you feel regret or longing. Do you feel forced to do this or can you not wait to give up the habit?
This is the question that will ensure long term success and a healthier life as a non smoker rather than a quick foray into that world and a retreat back to smoking and nicotine addiction. You must change your mindset and believe all the great things that come from being smoke free and that when cravings hit you do not see the easy way out by smoking but only see this as a speed bump on your journey because your DESIRE to quit smoking is greater than your desire for instant relief!

If this is your goal and you want to end this unhealthy habit for yourself and your family click below to find out more methods and tips on quitting smoking that have helped thousands of people stop smoking cigarettes to be smoke free, healthy and breathing easy!

http://www.kick-addiction.com/nicotine-addiction/treatment/

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www.onesessiontoquit.com.au feel free to give them shit…lol…

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www.mindpowermastery.com Please subscribe to my channel. If you’ve ever felt like you wanted more out of life, like you suffer from lack of concentration or stress, you won’t believe this amazing story… Quantum Mind Power Morry Zelcovitch the morry method brainwave entrainment

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Jon attempts to quit smoking, so for inspiration he interviews a little boy for tips on kicking bad habits. We get to see a cute and tender side of Jon. ***WARNING***There may be some explicit language and/or images depicted. This clip is NOT intended for minors.

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Have you ever wanted to quit smoking and convinced yourself than you are destined to smoke cigarettes the rest of your life? Have you ever tried to quit and gave up halfway thought the day or that same night? If you think that quitting smoking is just impossible, I would read on.

It truly is not as hard as you may think. Take it from a true one packer a day smoker or better on some days. It was like a true friend to me that I couldn’t let go. I have smoked a good thirty to thirty six years of my life. I’m not quite sure when I started smoking. I quit one time about ten years ago for a week. The big mistake I made back then was to ask a friend for a smoke so I could see what I was missing. That was a big mistake! I was back full time again and tried several times since and failed on all attempts except the last attempt.

Quitting smoking for me was always like a ritual that I attempted two or three times a year. The excuse was always the cost of cigarettes. Never did I complain about the possible ill effects that it could possibly have down the road. Sure I was aware everyday about how bad it was. I heard it on the news every day on how the smokers were getting the boot in restaurants and buildings. The worst people to smoke around were the non-smokers that quit smoking. I know, my wife quit ten years ago. I smoked outside come rain, snow or blizzard. I hope as a non-smoker I never get like that.

I was not a very pleasant person to be around when I attempted to quit. I’m sure smokers know how short tempered one can get, when one has not had a cigarette for a while. Every morning I attempted to be a non-smoker, I set myself up for failure by having a coffee and shortly after breakfast I ran around outside hoping to bump into someone who smoked. I always had a nic fit around lunch and dinnertime, only to give in to the craving over and over again. I did not last a good part of a day. I just about gave up trying to quit. I was convinced that I was going to smoke the rest of my life. I thought I was hooked for good, until one sunny afternoon around 3:oopm I had my last cigarette while I was washing my jeep.

Everybody tells me that I was ready. I really don’t know if I was ready. What I do know is there are several key things that I had to do to give it up completely, and I am not really sure of the one key thing that kept me a non-smoker two months later. I know that one of the key things that helped was telling myself once and a while that I was a non-smoker even when I knew I smoked. I would not say it out loud if people were around me that knew I smoked. They would probably think I was losing it. I told myself that I was a non-smoker for about two weeks prior to quitting. Self-preparation you may want to call it. I truly knew that I wanted to quit. Maybe I was ready.

That sunny afternoon I had one cigarette left which I smoked halfway through washing my jeep. I told my wife that I was not going to buy any more that afternoon. She heard me say that many times before. She told me to give a try and purchase some later and not to be hard on myself for a least trying. Again she repeated it was okay to buy some later. I think my wife just about gave up on me quitting as well.

The other key thing to do if you are attempting to quit is to learn how to procrastinate. That same afternoon I kept putting off buying cigarettes until bedtime. Bedtime came and it was too late to go to the store. I put it off until the next morning.

Morning came and I convinced myself that I was a non-smoker. I decided the other key thing to do was invite my weaknesses. I had coffee, which they say you shouldn’t do. I almost stopped my brother-in-law from coming over that same night because he smoked. I told my wife to have him come over, but he had to smoke outside alone. I thought about it for a moment and decided I was going to stand outside and watch him smoke. They also said not to drink beer or alcohol when you’re attempting to quit smoking. I bought myself a six-pack and drank and watched him smoke. That was the very first day. I finally quit and had no craving the next day. The nic fits were gone! The cravings were gone! The grumpiness from not smoking was gone! The wasted dollars on cigarettes was gone! It was like being born again.

The one key goal on quitting smoking for me was to convince myself a couple weeks before, that I was a non-smoker. Quitting halfway through the day was the other key thing to do. Think about that for a second. The day for me was not as long as it would have been if I quit first thing in the morning. When you quit in the morning, you have approximately 16 hours to go before you go to bed and forget about it. I quit at 3:00 in the afternoon with only 8 hours until bedtime to forget about it. It was half the amount of time to put everything to rest. I had a 16-hour jump to get the nicotine out of my system before the morning. Quitting in the morning was always tough before, because smoking and a cup of coffee was always an enjoyment for me.

The last key thing to do was just learn to say no for the remainder of the next day. The craving was not as bad as it was on other days that I quit. It must have had something to do with the time I quit. The craving was not as bad as prior attempts. The next day I could not understand why I smoked all that time. The addiction is finally gone and I do not want to pick up that cigarette to see what I am missing!

Just convince yourself that you are a non-smoker for approximately two weeks.

Finish that last cigarette half way through the day when you are doing something that you enjoy. Make sure you are in a good mood!

Do not tell anybody that you’re quitting. Just tell them you are not buying any for the rest of the day.

Learn to procrastinate for 6 to 8 hours, which shouldn’t be too hard for some of us.

Face all your weaknesses that you think will put you back on the smoking train.

Say no for one day! Say no for one day! Say no for one day!

Day three will set you free!!!

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One of the greatest concerns smokers cite about quitting is the fear of gaining weight. As such understanding how to quit smoking without weight gain is an important message to understand for any would be quitter. Luckily, there are several ways you improve your chances to quit smoking without weight gain.

Separate the feeling of hunger from a craving for a cigarette. The increased appetite associated with quitting smoking is often actually a craving for a cigarette. When you get a craving to eat, think very consciously about that feeling and make sure it is not the craving for a cigarette. You should have already come up with several strategies for dealing with cravings in order to get you through your quit attempt.

Quitting smoking can be a little hectic on the mind as your emotions are shredded with cravings and a desire to smoke. It’s as if the only thing you can think about is a cigarette. A common result of this is that smokers turn to food as both a comforter and as a substitute. The end result is that biscuits, chocolates and other sugary or salty or fatty snack foods fill your day. Be strong and keep to the 3 square meals with a small snack between each meal of a piece of fruit.

Keeping busy is an excellent way to help take your mind off quitting smoking. To keep your mouth busy, drink water frequently or chew gum (not nicotine replacement gum though!). Drinking water will mean you will need the bathroom more often but it will help ‘cleanse your system’.

You should also try to keep your hands occupied as not smoking, particularly at social occasions where you normally would, can be difficult. Keep a pen or pencil to hand, or have some ‘worry beads’ or a coin to thumb. Another alternative is a wrist expander or stress ball. When time permits, do crossword puzzles to keep you mind occupied with something other than smoking.

The pressure of quitting smoking can be very difficult and this explains why so many fail to quit smoking so many times. A useful method for helping you with your quit and taking your mind of cigarettes and food is to write as many positive statements concerning why you want to quit smoking as you can. Keep your list with you at all times and keep copies where you will see them regularly like on the fridge or at your workplace. Examples of statements you could use include:

· I have stopped smoking for good, not started eating instead

· I quit smoking for all the right reasons and eating wasn’t one of them

· I promised myself I would never smoke again – I didn’t agree to eat instead

· I am not going to die young for cigarettes or get fat either

· I am in control of my cravings, not the other way round

· I swat cravings like I can swat flies and I only eat when I am hungry

· My life is too important to smoke or get fat

· I love myself too much to quit my quit

· Only losers quit and I’m no loser

· Quitting is for winners, smoking is for losers

Finally, exercise is an obvious way to quit smoking without weight gain after you quit. It goes without saying that exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle so rather than taking the elevator, take the stairs. Do some gardening; take up swimming or jogging or the gym. Use the money you save from smoking to pay for your gym membership.

Exercising gives you the opportunity to take your mind off your cravings and from food. It rewards you with greater energy levels and better sleep. You will improve confidence and commitment by continuing to keep a plan going that includes quitting and exercise.

Another health benefit of more exercise is that it will also improve blood flow and help towards de-clogging arteries. Just remember to start off easy and then build up but always stay safe. If you have not exercised for a long time, it is advisable to seek advice from your doctor before starting on a program of exercise.

Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.

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Do you want to stop smoking cigarettes? I don’t mean your wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend, mother/father, or doctor wants you to stop smoking.

Do you want to stop smoking?

If you do, then I can help! If you’re just trying to please someone else, don’t bother. Quitting is very, very hard to do, and doing it because you want to is the only way you’re going to be able to do what it takes to quit.

Some background… I smoked like the proverbial choo-choo train for about 20 years. Not “I didn’t inhale”, or “One cigarette every now and then”… I mean “chain-smoking, if you can’t smoke there, I don’t want to go there”, 2-3+ packs a day, smoking. See, I smoked before the “non-smokers revolted”. In those days, you could smoke on airplanes. You could smoke at work. (In fact, the CFO at one of the places I worked had a (humorous?) sign that read, “This is a smoking area. Please smoke. If you persist in non-smoking you will be asked to leave.” So I could chain smoke, even at work… no waiting for “a smoke break”. You could smoke in restaurants, too. And I did.

Later, I became an independent computer consultant. Somewhere around 1991 companies started restricting smoking. I began to have a tough time with some of my clients. After about 45 minutes in a non-smoking meeting, I would agree to just about anything… if they would just let me take a quick break (this was not a good negotiating tactic).

I also found that I didn’t really enjoy smoking any more. I just had to smoke. I was addicted to smoking cigarettes. And the coughing that came with it didn’t make me feel better either. I made the decision that I was going to quit.

There are many reasons to quit.

- You will have more money for things that you do enjoy (cigarettes are expensive!).

- You will not stink to your non-smoking friends (yes, I know you can’t smell it, but they can).

- You will get your sense of smell back (I didn’t even know mine was gone until a few weeks after I quit, I started smelling things again. What a pleasure!).

- You will be healthier. (I am told that after 10 years, an ex-smoker’s lungs are about as healthy as a non-smoker’s).

- If you’re a lady, maybe you don’t want to develop those wrinkles around your mouth.

- Ultimately, you will feel better, have more energy, and live longer.

You may have other reasons…

If you really want to quit, for your own reasons, I can tell you how I did it, and how you can do it, too.

Some of the things I will suggest are the exact opposite of what others say to do. I am not a doctor, or a psychologist. I am not giving medical or psychological advice. I am just telling you what worked for me. I quit on Saturday, Feb 22, 1992 and I haven’t had more than 6 cigarettes since. (I had those with my Mother when my Dad passed away).

Ready?

Step 1: You have to decide that, this time, you are going to do it. “There is no try, there is only do, or not do”. (I thought that was an ancient Chinese proverb, but someone told me it came from Star Wars). Regardless, either decide you are really going to quit, or don’t put yourself through the pain of trying.

Step 2: Decide on a nicotine-containing product to help you with the withdrawal. There is a real physical addiction to smoking, and you should get help with that. I used the Nicoderm patches. In those days, you needed a prescription for them. It was a 10 week program. The large size for 6 weeks, the medium size for 2 weeks, and the small size for 2 weeks. The patches have the advantage of giving you the nicotine without you doing anything that reinforces the habit (chewing the gum, “smoking” the fake cigarette, etc). At the same time, it gives you the mental strength to know that you are only fighting the mental habits (which is no small feat), not the physical issues too. If you have questions about this one, ask your doctor.

Step 3: Decide when you are going to quit. I purposely decided on Saturday at noon. I could smoke as much as I wanted until then. (And believe me, I did! I sat in a chair and smoked and smoked until noon.)

Step 4: On the designated day, throw out all cigarettes, except for one unopened pack. You don’t need them anymore, right? So, throw them out. The one unopened pack is to remind you that this is a choice that you have made. No one is making you quit, it is your own choice.

Step 5: Keep it a secret. This is where I differ from most people who would give you advice. To me, keeping it a secret gave it power. While inside my head I would be screaming “I need a smoke!!!”, on the outside I would play a game. “Would these people notice that I am not smoking? I mean, how could they not? They never saw me without a cigarette before!” I was surprised how long it took most people to notice. If they did notice, I would very casually say, “No, not right now… “. That kept the game going. It was powerful!

The other reason to keep it a secret, is that well-meaning, non-smoking friends will try and encourage you. They mean well, but they really have no idea what you are going through, and so their advice seems hollow and useless. Maybe that’s just me…

Step 6: Do not allow the internal argument about smoking. When you quit smoking, you will almost certainly begin to have internal dialog, usually depicted by the devil sitting on your shoulder talking to you.

It goes something like this:

devil: “A cigarette would sure taste good now, wouldn’t it?”

You: “Yes it would, but I’ve quit smoking and I’m not going to have one!”

devil: “If it would taste so good, then why not?”

You: “Because I want to feel better.”

devil: “Oh, so you feel a lot better now, huh?”

You: “Actually, no, I feel like @#$%^*!”

devil: “Just 1 cigarette will make you feel better. You can cut down… then quit.”

You: “Well… I guess 1 wouldn’t hurt”

To me, this is the single most important step, and it’s the reason that I call this the “Nancy Reagan approach”. Ms. Reagan started the slogan “Just Say No!” Please don’t dismiss this as just a shallow slogan. Hear me out.

You must not allow this inner conversation to take place. If you do, there is a very good chance that you will lose. What I did, and what I suggest that you do, whenever this conversation starts in your head, immediately just say the word “No!” and force yourself to think about something else. Do not let that conversation begin. You will have to do this many times… that devil (a.k.a. your habit) is very persistent. And it will come at you when you are the weakest. Just say “No!”

Step 7: Make the rule for yourself that “Anything goes, as long as it’s not a cigarette.” You can eat, run, exercise, take a vacation, swim, drink, watch tv, shop… anything as long as it’s not a cigarette.

One thing I did was to eat sunflower seeds in the shell. That kept my hands and my mouth busy. I also took my family to the lake for weekend vacations… boating, walking… etc.

Looking back, I really don’t think I could have done it without this rule. But I have to be honest… for me it did have one undesired side effect. Since I mostly used eating to compensate for not smoking, I gained weight. Given the choice, it is a trade that I would make again, though. I watched my Mother gasp for air, unable to breathe properly for the last three years of her life (it’s like drowning very slowly… a very unpleasant way to go) because of cigarettes.

Maybe you can make this step work for you without the weight gain… or work on the weight issue after you’ve quit smoking. The point is… you chose to quit smoking, whatever it takes.

OK, that’s it. After you get through the hardest part (for me it was about 10 weeks), life begins to get good again. One day, I noticed that I could smell things again (and I found out why people say that smoking stinks). And food tastes better. And I could go the distance in long business negotiations. And I will more likely live long enough to play with my grandchildren (if I ever have any).

Good Luck! If I can do it, You can do it!

See you in the non-smoking section!

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I made this tree for this gal I fancy cause i WAS so proud so quit smoking and I know how hard it is to quit, as i was once a smoker myself. SO anything positive while your body’s chemicals are in stuck in this distorted, limbo like state is great and the Quit Smoke Tree was born.

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