Search and Replace – Quitting Is Not Only About Loss

August 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is my personal montage to smoking – my deep thoughts on why cigarettes can take over the mind and body…

While laying on your back smoking, white puffs of smoke float up like harmless clouds in a clear blue sky. You shape your mouth in to a tight circle and tap on your cheek with your thumb and forefinger, Voila! You have blown a smoke ring. Your friend lying next to you laughs and tries to blow some smoke rings as well. Engaging in the ritual of smoking is one of the oldest tradition and one of the biggest allures of smoking. Of course, what we know today is that those puffy clouds that attracted us to smoking are not harmless. They are more harmful than acid rain. They are deadly. Nevertheless, the culture of smoking came before the concept of cool or rebellion commonly associated with smoking today. The culture of smoking is as old as the culture of humanity itself. Such a culture is difficult to break, even with the knowledge that this time honored tradition is deadly.

If you handed a cigarette smoker a loaded gun and said, “shoot yourself” (or your child, spouse or pet), they would not do it. Cigarette smokers do not want to die. They want to smoke. What makes the dangers of smoking so difficult is that the harm is usually not immediate and often cannot be seen. One ex-smoker confessed that it was not until she saw herself aging so much faster than her nonsmoking friends that she got up the courage to finally quit. As soon as she could physically see it, the fun was over.

If seeing is believing for you, take time to search the web. Real people, real stories and real tragedies are being shared like never before. What you see should not have to be looking back at you in the mirror.

Quitting smoking is a life change choice that each smoker must make for themselves. It is a choice to get healthy. Once you are moving in that direction, why not go all the way? The money you spend in a year on cigarettes might even add up to a gym membership! Natural devices are available to help ease your transition from one life style to the other. Herbal cigarettes, for example, are one device that people use as a stepping stone to quitting altogether. Other herbal supplements thought to satisfy smoking cravings come in the form of capsules, teas, lozenges and sprays. As you take away the use of cigarettes you should look for ways to fill the void left in its wake. Adding herbs and tinctures that will heal the damage smoking has caused is a healthy and satisfying way to replace the rituals that inevitably crop up around smoking.

The Internet not only gives us information but also resources. The National Cancer Society has set up a toll free hotline to answer questions about what quit smoking program would work best for you. At 1800-QUIT -NOW, trained counselors are available to coach you through the initial planning stages for quitting and will help you set up a quit date. There are also online support groups and chat rooms for those having a hard time jumping in with both feet.

You are not alone in smoking: you are harming yourself, those around you and the environment. Nor are you alone in quitting; reach out and see.

Sorry for my rant – I really wanted to get that off my chest.

 

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Never Look Back: Quit Smoking for Good

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

How I quit Smoking.This post is about my journey and how I quit smoking for GOOD….

A lot of smokers find it incredibly hard to quit smoking, and even if they do manage to quit when times are good, as soon as there’s any stress or hardship in their lives, they go right back to their old habits. Quitting smoking is really hard, and many smokers wonder how to quit smoking forever. There are a few options, and they revolve around your goals and your initiative.

Get Serious With a How to Quit Smoking Forever Plan

One way to get yourself off cigarettes for good is to work your way down slowly. Rather than quitting cold turkey and feeling the harshest of withdrawals, try limiting your daily cigarette intake. And rather than just randomly deciding when to smoke and when not to smoke, put together a plan.  I did this with mixed success, and eventually replaced tobacco cigarettes with electronic cigarettes.

Smokers who do this often set goals. They will have a calendar that identifies when they want to quit completely and they will have a slow decrease planned between now and then. For example, you could plan to cut your smoking in half in two weeks or a month. Depending on how much you smoke now, your time frame will be different. If you smoke 10 cigarettes per day, and you want to get down to five, maybe one cigarette per week is enough. Just getting to the point where you never go over a certain number might be challenging.

Having a plan and making it work will require that you are patient with yourself and that you are serious about succeeding. If it feels like you’re going too fast, slow down the process even further. Aim to be smoking just a few cigarettes per day and each day try to lengthen the amount of time between cigarettes. Many people have decided that this is the only way to quit smoking forever. When you are done, you will have broken the nicotine addiction and you’ll be out of the habit of smoking and taking breaks all the time.

Get Help From Alternatives

Another way to quit smoking forever is to find an alternative that works for you. Some people just need that nicotine fix, and nicotine patches or gum will work just fine. The idea with those alternatives is that you slow down your nicotine intake and eventually stop using them. Not everyone finds this any easier than quitting smoking, so be cautious.

The alternative that is getting more and more attention these days is electronic cigarettes. While they are still not approved as a nicotine alternative, plenty of people are using them as just that. Smoking ecigarettes may not be good for you, but it is better for you than smoking tobacco. No tar and no additives, just flavor, nicotine, and water vapor, and maybe a glycerine or other non-toxic additive.

I’m a walking, talking example of someone who has quit cigarette smoking for good.  Sure, I smoke electronic cigarettes, but do you know how much better I feel about myself?  There is no more TAR, no more ash, no more nasty breath.  These products are unreal.

Electronic cigarettes can also be purchased without nicotine, so if you really just enjoy inhaling something warm into your lungs, maybe you can quit smoking tobacco forever and switch to something less damaging.

That’s my story, and hopefully if I motivate one person to follow the path I took, I can call this electronic cigarette website a success.

 

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Is a Substitute the Same as Quitting Smoking?

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For many people, the answer to that question is: yes. Smoking cigarettes is very bad for your health and everyone is well aware of that now. There are plenty of deadly diseases and conditions that are exacerbated or caused by smoking tobacco, but there are also a lot of minor health problems that result from smoking. If you want to know how to quit smoking forever, but you haven’t been able to do it any of the normal ways, it may be time to think about a substitute to cigarettes.

My last blog post spoke of quitting smoking.  Today, I’m talking about how to use a substitute for cigarettes as a method of quitting.

Nicotine Delivery Systems

One way that many people quit smoking is by using an alternative nicotine delivery system. Nicotine patches, gums, lozenges, and electronic cigarettes all deliver nicotine without the tar, smoke, and chemicals that are contained in tobacco cigarettes. The problem with nicotine is that it is highly addictive, so if you do switch from tobacco to another nicotine delivery system, you might find yourself addicted to that instead.

Many people feel that substituting a non-smoke method of nicotine delivery is as good as quitting. Or perhaps they are convinced, through experience, that this is the best they will be able to do. Some people are incredibly enthusiastic about using electronic cigarettes as an alternative, because they allow the smoker to still inhale warm “smoke” into their lungs. The “smoke” is actually water vapor that is infused with nicotine. There are surprisingly few additives in electronic cigarettes, and although there haven’t been conclusive studies, they seem like an obviously better choice when compared to tobacco cigarettes.

Beware of Snacking, Consider Exercise

If you are hoping to substitute something food-like for cigarettes, beware. You can easily gain a lot of weight in a short time by switching from smoking to snacking. A much better alternative is to start exercising instead of smoking. Some people learn how to quit smoking forever by going for short walks each time they want a cigarette break. They speed walk around the block to work off some of their agitation and the exercise gives them a bit of an endorphin rush to help them through the cravings.

There are many apps and aids out there today that will get you from being a couch potato to being a runner. You may want to try a different approach to exercising rather than treating it as punishment for wanting a cigarette.

The great thing about exercise as a substitute for smoking is that exercise increases your metabolism and releases all kinds of positive hormones that make you feel good. You can build your confidence and start feeling great about yourself in a natural way, rather than because you’re getting that nicotine fix regularly.

Take it Slow

For most people, cold turkey is not how to quit smoking forever. Instead, consider making a schedule or plan that details when and how you will slowly cut down on the smoking and increase whatever else you’ve got in mind as an alternative. If you want to switch in a hurry, consider an alternative, like electronic cigarettes or nicotine gum.

 

 

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How to Quit Smoking Forever

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When smokers entertain the thought of quitting, they tend to have a few simultaneous reactions. Fear, anxiety, hope, disgust, and relief are all common and don’t seem to be mutually exclusive. On the one hand, many people believe that their lives would be better and that they would be healthier if they quit. That initiates good feelings when a smoker thinks of quitting. On the other hand, smoking is an intense and difficult addiction to kick, so feelings of fear and anxiety are also completely natural.

If you want to know how to quit smoking forever, you should figure out what it is about smoking that keeps you hooked. Some people are just addicted to the nicotine. An alternative, like nicotine patches, nicotine gum, or electronic cigarettes, offers a way to get that nicotine fix without the carcinogens, including tar. Some people prefer ecigarettes because it also gives them the sensation of smoking; they inhale something warm into their lungs. It’s just water vapor infused with nicotine, but it gives a similar comforting feeling.

And that leads to the people who are psychologically addicted to smoking tobacco. Smoking is a great way to take little breaks throughout the day. In modern society we spend so much time working, socializing, and dealing with other people that we rarely take time out for ourselves. There’s a lot of pressure to stay focused. But smokers have an out – taking a cigarette break is still considered perfectly reasonable.

So if you enjoy smoking because it is a little ritual for you, a break from your otherwise hectic life, then just getting nicotine or even breaking the nicotine addiction will not be enough. There are plenty of people who find that nicotine gum or nicotine patches do not satisfy the craving for a cigarette, because what they want to do is actually smoke. For those people, switching to an electronic cigarette can be much easier, because it allows you to go through the same routine while getting the nicotine fix.

You can also buy ecigarettes that do not contain nicotine, just water vapor and a little flavoring. Electronic cigarettes are not an approved quitting smoking method, but that doesn’t mean some people haven’t been able to quit by slowly using lower and lower nicotine levels and finally switching to nicotine-free ecigs. There are plenty of people who will tell you that making the switch to ecigarettes makes them feel healthier, and there are many people who have used electronic cigarettes to break their nicotine addiction.  I just made a post about how to find the best e-cigarette product, for anyone interested.

Of course, smoking is a complex addiction and if you really want to know how to quit smoking forever, you may need to check out other options. Many people find that the best way to really do it is to commit to a schedule of slowly reducing your cigarette smoking. Create a plan, with a calendar, and aim for specific goals, like smoking one less cigarette per day each week. It may be slow, but slow and steady tends to be foolproof.

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Quitting Cigarettes Cold Turkey: Is it Feasible?

June 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

Many people debate over the cold turkey method of quitting smoking.

Today I shed some light on this method and share my insight and try to help you quit forever.

Quitting smoking methods range from slowly reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke every day, to switching to a smoke-free alternative like electronic cigarettes. One of the least popular methods is quitting cold turkey. Cigarette addictions are complicated, and stopping smoking altogether can be a shock to your system that is hard to deal with.

Physical and Psychological Addictions

If you are addicted to cigarettes, you are probably addicted both physically and psychologically. The physical addiction has to do with the nicotine, and getting over a nicotine addiction is sometimes painful. However, the nicotine can be out of your system in as few as two or three days. Quitting smoking methods focus on getting you to reduce your dependence slowly. But quitting cold turkey is asking for all the withdrawal symptoms to hit you in just a couple of days, and then the nicotine side of things is taken care of.

The psychological addiction is much harder to break. Whether or not you realize it, smoking is a ritual. Going outside, taking a break, satisfying a craving, giving yourself a treat, no matter how you describe it, smoking is something you do for yourself on a regular basis. The satisfaction you take from lighting up and inhaling the warm smoke is tough to get over. In fact, most smokers, even those who have been non-smokers for 10 years or more, will say they still crave a smoke.

The only quitting smoking methods that help with both sides of addiction involve replacement of the nicotine and the ritual. Nicotine patches, nicotine gum, or electronic cigarettes can replace the nicotine. And electronic cigarettes also replace the ritual of inhaling warmly. Many people find that they can switch to electronic cigarettes with no trouble at all, and they find that there are a number of benefits, from not smelling like smoke anymore to saving money.

Who Can Quit Cold Turkey

Some people find that the only way they can truly convince themselves that they are quitting is by throwing away their cigarettes or smoking the last one in a pack and not going back to the store for more. The reasons why this works for some people and not others is complicated.

For some smokers, the trigger is personal. Getting pregnant or finding out that your wife or girlfriend is pregnant can be a life changer in many ways. As a result of all the other changes in life, quitting smoking may be more manageable. Smokers find that quitting smoking methods haven’t worked in the past, but once they have a baby to care for, their priorities change and they are happy to sacrifice their comforts and vices.

Others start to hack and cough that nasty, scary smokers cough. They suddenly become painfully aware of the negative health effects of smoking in a way that advertisements and warnings couldn’t teach them. Quitting smoking methods that may have failed in the past are suddenly easier to handle, including quitting cold turkey.

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