You Think I'm Crazy, Don't You? Meet Some More Whackos…

 I’ve begun posting on a very popular “Smoking Cessation” forum.

I espouse the contention stated in the title of this blog and my comments are ignored by everyone but a couple of other loonies that share my conviction.  I’m not sure if they don’t believe me or they just don’t want to let go of the myth; after all, the myth (”Everyone knows how hard it is to quit smoking”) provides them an excuse if they fail. If they fail at something that’s easy they’re left with the reality that a) they’re a wuss, and b) they’d rather play Russian Roulette with heart disease or lung cancer than quit smoking.

In order to bolster my credibility and further convince you that quitting can be easy, I’ve enlisted the help of some others who’ve discovered “the truth”. Read what they have to say about their quitting experiences and please stop calling me names behind my back!

“No withdrawal pangs, just a feeling of relief that I didn’t have to smoke any more, and that it wasn’t going to be hard at all. All the smoking triggers that I worried about — car trips, after meals, phone calls, stressful times at work or at home, leaving work and lighting up, having a beer at the bar — none of those things triggered the urge. The urge is gone.”

“Any slight twinge I felt would be welcomed as a healing pain. Tobacco companies have spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars to CONVINCE you that quitting is hard, uncomfortable, and torture. My healing pains were very slight, short lived, and welcomed after I understood the mental score. I no longer smoke and life is TRULY improved. I know it is scary to picture yourself as a non-smoker attending the usual smoking occasion (pubs, socializing, lunch breaks, relaxing, etc). But, trust me, you do not have to suffer a slow death to enjoy normal life. EVERYTHING is better without nicotine and tobacco, EVERYTHING.”

“Easy as pie!”

“It really is easy, I have not gained any weight, I was not evil, it really went smooth, I promise.”

“The hardest part was before I quit, of being afraid to quit. The quitting wasn’t even hard, in fact, it gets more joyful every day that passes, unlike when I quit before. I was slightly physically uncomfortable for about 2 days (similar to that feeling of getting a cold) then it was gone. It’s been over a month now and to be honest, I don’t know exactly how long because I haven’t counted and I don’t really care, there’s no struggle or internal strife or the need for a “reward” by celebrating anniversaries or whatever. It’s just done. It’s like I never smoked. And it had been 15 YEARS of smoking and being convinced that I would smoke till the day I died!”

“I crushed any remaining cigarettes in the pack and threw them out. I just plain stopped smoking. That was 15 months ago. No withdrawal. No cravings. You can be around smokers and not want one. Simply seeing cigarettes or smelling them doesn’t make you want them.”

These snippets were taken from reviews on Amazon.com of Allen Carr’s “The Easy Way To Stop Smoking”. If you need more convincing that it’s easy to quit smoking there are several hundred more testimonials here:

Book Revues on Amazon

5 Lame Excuses Smokers Give For Lighting Up

I smoked cigarettes for a lot of years, more than I can bring myself to admit to. So when it comes to giving reasons, or should I say “making excuses” for continuing to suffocate myself, I am a pro.

I’ve met smokers who claim not to believe the overwhelming evidence that smoking is hazardous to your health. There are some that believe it but are willing to risk painful death rather than quit. And there are smokers who just don’t ever think of such things; Mammy, Pappy, Gramps and Uncle Bubba all smoke so why shouldn’t they? But these people are rare.

The vast majority of smokers realize they are using a six-shooter with three bullets chambered

…to play Russian Roulette. But when asked (by others or by
themselves) why they continue this dangerous game they give reasons like, “It relaxes me” or “Because Uncle Bubba, Gramps, Mammy and Pappy do.” The word “reason” implies honesty, facts and rationality. None of those are characteristics of the explanations smokers offer for continuing their habits; what they call “reasons” are actually “excuses.”

Following are the five main excuses smokers offer for why they smoke and, as you might expect, my sarcastic rebuttals to their pretzel logic.

1) “It looks cool/sophisticated/rebellious.” James Dean looked cool; so did the Marlboro man and the “Rat Pack” guys. But that was 40 years ago when fins on cars and poodle skirts looked cool.

When was the last time you saw someone sucking on a ciggie and thought, “Wow! That dame looks really cool!” It doesn’t look cool, it looks pathetic. Ditto all that for ‘sophisticated’. Rebellious? Sure, I’ll give you that. But as soon as you come to grips with your true identity it’s time to give ‘em up.

2) Peer pressure. That and #1 are why most of us started; our cool teen-aged friends convinced us that we needed to smoke if we were going to be ‘in’ with their crowd. But you’re not a teenager any more, you’re a grown-up- start acting like one and lose the fags.

3) “It’s an oral fixation.” Stick a pencil in your mouth, or a straw, or a toothpick (love that look!). Or stick a cigarette in your mouth—just don’t bother lighting it.

4) “It gives me something to do with my hands.” Pick up a pencil, or a straw; heck, pick up a cigarette—but just don’t bother lighting it.

5) “It relaxes me.” Take a few deep breaths like non-smokers do when they get tense. Stretch. Take a walk. Say a prayer. Meditate. Call your doctor; they make pills for that and your medical insurance pays for them.

There are plenty of other excuses for smoking but they’re as lame as the ones above.

Bottom line is this: there is one reason, and one reason only why you
smoke—you’re a drug addict! See ya’ next time with more encouraging and enlightening “It Was Easy For Me to Quit Smoking” banter!

What “The Myth” is and Why It’s Perpetuated

"We all know how hard it is to quit smoking," declared the TV host.

(I thought that an odd statement from a man who I'd heard profess that he'd never smoked himself.) He then introduced his guests, three recent quitters who'd appeared on the early morning show five months prior and, in front of their families an millions of viewers in TV land, dramatically tossed their cigarette packs in the trash. Now they were back to speak of their progress.

Much to the disappointment of the skeptics out there all three were able to confidently label themselves "non-smokers." One had quit with the help of the nicotine patch, another used Chantix and the third received acupuncture therapy. Then came the bombshell burst that, despite its potential percussive power, went unheard.

"On a scale of 1 to 10," the host asked, "how would each of you rate the difficulty of quitting?"

"4," said acupuncture.
"Yeah, that would be about right," proclaimed the patch. "I'd say 4."
"1; it really was no big deal," stated Chantix.

Then the show's chief medical expert was asked to comment. She congratulated them for their successes but cautioned that they would have to be wary because of the high incidence of relapse during the first year; thanks for the vote of confidence, Dr. S. Within minutes she had a scathing email from me demanding that she stop perpetuating "the myth." Three guests had declared in front of millions of people that quitting smoking was no big deal!
The myth states that quitting smoking is akin to living the rest of your life with a pain similar to giving birth to a rosebush.

Following are three reasons why I believe this lie is perpetuated.

#3. It gives the unsuccessful quitter an excuse when he fails. "We all know how hard it is to quit smoking," he proclaims. "Of course we all know," agree his disappointed supporters.
#2. In the unlikely event the quitter succeeds it gives her unparalleled bragging rights. "Hey! Did you hear that I quit smoking?"
"Holy shit, that's unbelievable! I climbed Everest last Spring wearing Speedos and wooden shoes and thought that was tough. But you quit smoking? That's unbelievable; we all know how hard it is to quit smoking!"

And finally, the #1 reason that the myth is perpetuated is...

Because we tend to get what we expect in life. If we believe the car salesman will cheat us we look for evidence to support that belief. If we believe a certain ethnic groups will act in a certain way we will find reasons to be right. If we believe that performing a specific task, like quitting smoking, will be difficult, our brain will demand that belief be validated.
I came to believe that quitting would be easy--and I got just what I expected.




(If you'd like more information on the power of beliefs in creating our reality, please visit
this page on my website, "A Personal Growth Journey.")
The Power of Beliefs

Cognitive Dissonance (!)

Or in plain English, "mental conflict". It's what makes it so hard for you to quit. Allow me to illustrate:

"Here's a really sharp pencil; I'll give you a dollar if you run it 6" into your thigh."
"Are you out of your freakin' mind?"
"Okay; how about $100?
"Take a hike, you jerk."
"Tell you what; I'll give you $1,000 to stab yourself with this pencil."
"$1,000? Nah, I don't think so."
"3 million dollars to stab yourself--that's my final offer."
"Gimme that dagummed #2 Ticonderoga!"

Here's what happened.

I started by offering you a great deal of pain for very little reward; while you'd have liked to earn the dollar your brain, anticipating the pain, said "no way!" There was a mental conflict; the money looked good the pain did not. As our conversation continued the pain/pleasure balance began to shift so that the greater the reward the more willing you became to consider stabbing yourself with the pencil.

When I offered you $1,000 a definitive "no" became an "I don't think so." The conflict (dissonance) was getting pretty heated at that point--

I could tell the pain/pleasure scale was pretty evenly balanced. Then I took pleasure over the top and the anticipation of pain became almost irrelevant. Now let's look at how cognitive dissonance is sabotaging your efforts to quit smoking.

Here's the quitter's mindset:

"This is going to be so freakin' painful! Weeks of withdrawal pangs that feel like an impacted tooth followed by years of longing for the return of my dear, dear friend "tobacco". Brain hears that and says,
"Hold on now; what's the payoff for all this pain we're gonna have to endure?
"Payoff?" quitter asks, "There ain't no dagummed payoff, at least none I care about as much as smoking!"
"Ain't gonna happen," brain replies. "Go buy a pack of cigarettes and make us happy again!"
"I can't do that! If I start smoking again I'm gonna die!"
And a new dissonance is born!

You're thinking of nothing but pain, sacrifice and suffering. How could quitting possibly not be agonizing?

Have you ever heard of the "Law of Attraction"? It's all the rage in personal growth circles these days and it says that whatever you think about is what you draw into your life. With that in mind, how do you think quitting would feel if you adopted this mindset?

"I am so glad I'm quitting.

I'll be healthier, live longer, get to watch my kids and grandkids grow up and stop feeling like a leper when I smoke in public!" Brain hears that and says,
"That sounds cool, lots of pleasure in store! But what's the payoff? There's gotta be some pain in there!"
"Yeah, there will be some minor discomfort for a few days, "pangs" they call them. But my friend Jerry said he was so thrilled to be a non-smoker that he barely noticed them."
"Won't we miss our cigarettes forever more?"
"Hell no! Truth is, there was not one single good reason why I smoked. And when I started paying attention I discovered they smelled and tasted terrible, and I hated myself for being a smoker. And besides, non-smokers don't miss smoking."

Now might that not be a mindset at least worth considering? Pleasure outweighs pain, dissonance disappears. It sure would make quitting easier, wouldn't it?

If you're ready to quit smoking today Click Here!

8 Good Things That Begin To Happen Right After You Quit Smoking

Within 20 minutes after you quit smoking some real nice things begin to happen to your body and they continue for years.

These are testament to the incredible resilience of the body that you are treating so poorly by sucking in some 6,000 chemicals every time you smoke. (I sound just like an obnoxious ex-smoker, don't I?)

1. 20 Minutes After Quitting - Your heart rate drops.
2. 12 hours After Quitting - Carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
3. 2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting - Your heart attack risk begins to drop. Your lung function begins to improve.
4. 1 to 9 Months After Quitting - Your coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
5. 1 Year After Quitting - Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
6. 5 Years After Quitting - Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker’s 5-15 years after quitting.
7. 10 Years After Quitting - Your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s. Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.
8. 15 Years After Quitting - Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker’s.

Note: this info comes from the: 2004 Surgeon General’s Report—The Health Consequences of Smoking

These, of course, are in addition to the less publicized but equally important benefits, namely: fresher breath, whiter teeth, improved golf game, more/better sex, admiration of friends and family and a raise at work. There are plenty more, trust me, but I’ll leave you with the joy of discovery after you become a non-smoker.

Ready to quit smoking? Click Here!

3 Fears That Prevent People From Quitting Smoking

I've thought long and hard about why it took me so long to quit smoking.

I knew all the reasons I should but things like "premature painful death", "$4/pack x 1.5/day x 365=$2190 x how many years = $staggering", "don't kiss me your breath/clothes/hair/feet stink", "cough, cough, wheeze, wheeze, hack, hack" were not enough to make me stop. Why? I was scared.

 

So now I'm stupid and a coward. What exactly are we afraid of? Here are three things.

1) Loss: I'd spent nearly 40 years with cigarettes. They had been my constant companions except for a couple of agonizing periods when I was an ex-smoker (not the same thing as a non-smoker, but that's another topic) waiting for my inevitable return to smoking. How could I possibly live the rest of my life without my friends? Who would calm me when I got nervous? Who would comfort me when I was sad. Who would share my joys and triumphs? What would I suck on after a meal, or sex, or the first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night, or at 3 in the morning when I couldn't sleep, or 20 times a day for no good reason at all?

2) Pain: We all know how hard it is to quit smoking! Even non-smokers and babies and cloistered nuns know. In fact, science has shown that this universal knowledge is coded in our DNA. We know that the withdrawal pangs are going to be like deep, vicious stab wounds and that they will not let up until we are one poke from bleeding to death. And we will be left with disfiguring scars to remind us for the rest of our lives of the terrible ordeal we suffered then and continue to suffer today.

3) Failure: We already live with guilt for smoking; it's stupid to do so and we feel terrible for acting stupid and risking our lives for this stupid addiction. The thought of failing and taking yet another chink out of our already shaky self image just isn't worth the risk. I already feel guilty for smoking. If I quit and fail I'll a) add an additional guilt and b) look like a loser in front of my friends and family; hey, is that a third guilt?

Here's the reality of becoming a non-smoker (did I mention that it was easy for me to do?).

1) You will think about smoking hundreds of times a day at first; those thoughts will diminish with time. And when you do you will remind yourself that you are a non-smoker and that non-smokers consider smoking to be a foolish and reckless habit. You would no more light up a cigarette than you would attempt to light up and smoke dog poop. Your new attitude will be reinforced by the joy you feel for being a non-smoker.

2) Seriously; I felt so good about being a non-smoker I don't remember having a single moment's discomfort during the withdrawal period (all nicotine will have left your bloodstream within three days, by the way). No grumpiness, edginess or depression either. As Carr says, withdrawal pangs are about as uncomfortable as being a bit hungry. And being a bit hungry leaves no scars.

3) Failure is only failure when you resign yourself to the undesired result. In the unlikely event you decide to relinquish your non-smoker status and start smoking again (I can't imagine you making that choice!) evaluate what you've learned from your experience and decide which of those labels you want to wear for the rest of your (possibly short) life.

There is no inherent pain in quitting smoking.

Any pain or discomfort comes to the table via your preconceptions. You can do this; it's easy! Click Here!

Nicotine Replacement Therapy Lesson 1: An Overview

The theory behind Nicotine Replacement Therapy (henceforth referred to as “NRT”) is simple, if not a bit inane.

The idea is to wean the smoker off of smoking, the delivery system of the drug to which they’re addicted, by supplying them with that very same drug using a different delivery system.  That’s kind of like saying “We’ll cure your cocaine snorting addiction by providing you with hypodermic needles to inject it.” But regardless of the seemingly contradictory nature of NRT it is accepted by many medical professionals as the most effective way to quit smoking.

There are quite a few different types of NRT but I’m going to reduce them to these:

1) Nicotine Delivery Systems: gums, lozenges, inhalers, p atches, and nasal sprays. Each of these remedies does the same thing, delivers nicotine, but in a different way. It’s kind of like different brands of the hypodermic needle mentioned above. Effectiveness* varies, but studies show that using one of these products will double your chances of being smoke-free after one year over someone who uses no NRT. That’s a whopping 17% success rate, by the way.

2) Pills: There are 2 biggies in the pill category. First is bupropion, most often marketed as Zyban or Wellbutrin. Bupropion is an antidepressant and while no one quite understands exactly how it helps smokers, it has been shown to reduce irritability, restlessness, anxiety, cravings and the depression (duh!) that often accompanies a quit. Effectiveness? 20 out of 100 smoke free after 1 year.

The (relatively) new kid on the block is varenicline, trade name “Chantix.” This medicine binds with nicotine receptors in your brain and blocks them so that when you smoke the “pleasure” is not there. Think of eating your favorite food every day for dinner; eventually you’d get tired of it and the pleasure would be gone. 23 out of 100 users will still be smoke free on their anniversary date.

3) New Age, Do-It-Yourself and Cold Turkey: People will try anything to quit including, acupuncture, hypnosis and chaining themselves to the couch for 30 days (I read a book where a lady actually did that). Some people quit by switching to other forms of tobacco  ingestion; pipes, cigars and everyone’s favorite, stuff you have to spit out. Effectiveness varies but like other forms of NRT it is generally dismal.

While this article may seem somewhat uncomplimentary to NRTs one must bear in mind that a 20% success rate means that out of a million people who try, 200,000 become non-smokers. Keep in mind also that it typically takes more than one attempt to succeed, so of the 800,000 “failures” there will be many who join the 20% rank at some point in the future.

And speaking of the future, that is when I will be revealing the single most important step you can take to become a non-smoker; but I gotta get you ready to recieve first.

Stay tuned!

Semantics: "Ex-smoker" vs. "Non-smoker"

I will use these terms as this blog unfolds and I need for you to understand what I mean by each of them. These are not universally accepted definitions, by the way. They are mine, and I define them only as a means of distinguishing one from the other—you will see they are very different people.

A non-smoker is one who has the mindset of someone who has never smoked.

She does not crave a cigarette when she gets nervous or scared, nor does she feel a need to smoke after eating or having sex. She may or may not be judgmental towards those who do smoke; either way, she neither needs nor wants cigarettes any more than you or I may need or want a robin’s egg omelet. This is the mindset that one who is contemplating quitting smoking must adopt if she is to be successful in her efforts.

An ex-smoker is a person who no longer smokes cigarettes but retains the mindset of one who does.

He proudly boasts of how he was able to summit the treacherous mountain peak of smoking cessation while slapping a nicotine patch on his arm and putting a pinch of snuff between his cheek and gum. Even if he uses no nicotine withdrawal aids the ex-smoker still craves a cigarette with a cocktail, a cup of coffee, when stressed or at any of the other times that used to trigger an urge to smoke.

The most significant difference between the “ex” and the “non” is this: the “ex” is at least 5 times more likely to fail in his efforts to quit. Admittedly, statistics for the effectiveness of different stop-smoking techniques are all over the board but I want you to consider this:

The ex-smoker believes he has given up something he loves.

He finds that painful and his brain will do everything it can to alleviate that pain. And what might that be? A return to smoking.

The non-smoker feels no pain, only gain.

She has adopted a belief that she does not smoke and has neither need nor desire to ever do so again. And that belief is reinforced every day she remains smoke free. It’s all in the mind.

Quotes to Consider:

"I used Skoal to quit smoking, as I figured that it was the lesser of 2 evils. I quit Skoal by using the nicotine gum, and found it quite do-able. The gum didn't work at all for me when I tried to quit smoking. I think it is a similar oral sensation to chewing snus, and that's why it worked in that scenario."(That's pathetic!)

"I quit cold too. In my case it simply took a change of mindset to think of myself as a non-smoker, not a smoker who was *trying* to quit"(That's the secret!)

How Dare I Suggest... Part II

So with the help of Allen Carr's book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" I became a non-smoker for the first time since I was an acne-plagued teenager. Two things I can't stand being called are "stupid" and "sucker"; Carr called me both.

I was stupid for doing something that I knew was killing me

...and sucker for believing the propaganda the tobacco industry had fed me.
I began to internalize the reality that the cool, suave and rebellious high school boy with the cigarette dangling from his lips would not look nearly as cool lying on a hospital bed with a catheter attached and an oxygen tube dangling from his lips.
I also began feeling stupid for believing that quitting was as painful as water-boarding.

The myth promised three agonizing days to withdraw from the nicotine addiction, then countless years of pining for a reunion with a dearly beloved friend. What I got was three days of withdrawal pangs that hurt as bad as being kinda hungry and reminders 10,000 times a day that it was time to light up. But I didn't want to; I was a non-smoker now!



The reminders began diminishing by about 2 per day and now that I’m two years smoke-free I think about cigarettes only occasionally. But I still have no desire to smoke one. On my one week anniversary something occurred to me that eight days ago I would have thought impossible. I turned to my wife as the lightbulb lit and said, "Holy cow! I quit cold turkey!" And you know what? It was easy!

How Dare I Suggest That It's Easy to Quit Smoking? Part I

Because I did and it was. I heard about a book titled "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. The title was preposterous but like the allure of a "get rich quick" scheme I was sucked in and ordered it. I'd researched it first and found hundreds of reviews on Amazon.com, all but a handful of which praised it as nothing short of the Second Coming of Christ. Carr told me to continue smoking while I read the book--he'd let me know when it was time to quit. No patches or nicotine gum would be tolerated, nor would chewing gum, thumbs or lollipops. I finished the book, put it back on the night table and then smoked a few hundred more cigarettes.

I picked the book up a few months later; "Think I'll read the last few chapters again," I told myself. The next morning, July 2, 2007, I sat on the porch with my last Marlboro Light and told it exactly how I felt about it.

There were lot's of CS-ers and MF-ers, some GDs and a tear or two. When I'd sucked every last bit of poison from it I threw it on the ground and smashed it like an effing cockroach bug. And that was it--I was a non-smoker.