Cigarett addicts always finds the tiniest reason to smoke. To stop smoking is hard and for some people it seems impossible. The problem is not the will, but rather the motivation. We will program your mind to not find those stupid small reasons to smoke.
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There are many, many methods to stop smoking available through many means including, books, videos, CDs, workshops, consultants and to download over the internet. Of the many methods to stop smoking out there, there are often very many very zany approaches amongst the more sensible ones.
My own take on quitting smoking came about after many months researching as many methods to stop smoking as I could. I came to realise over time that the most important method to stop smoking came solely from myself. The answer did not lie in a pill or a potion or some laser. The answer as to how to stops smoking comes from within. It is about having the right mindset.
Lets look at the common methods to stop smoking that most smokers will fight with several times before succeeding and becoming smoke free forever.
Cold Turkey or Willpower. This is the most obvious method to stop smoking. Get up one day and say 'no' to cigarettes. Sometimes, people take a little more time over this method and fill out diaries to identify triggers and detail when and how much they smoke. Only 1 in 20 people who try to quit using this method will success. Or to put it another way, if you try 20 times you might actually do it!
Nicotine Replacement Therapy or NRT. This is the patch, gum, microtab, lozenge, inhalator or nasal spray aid method to stop smoking. It is much vaunted by the pharmaceutical industry as a means to help smokers quit. It boasts a 10% success rate - 1 in 10 people stop smoking. However, it is often overlooked that whilst 1 in 10 stop smoking, they do not overcome their addiction to nicotine - which is why smokers smoked in the first place.
If you remain addicted to nicotine, then you are always at risk of falling back into the spiral of despair that is smoking cigarettes and consigning yourself to an early grave.
I am 100% against quitting smoking using NRT. It is not a sensible way to address the addiction to nicotine. If you want to read more of my opinion on this matter, visit my blog at: Nicotine Therapy Scam
Zyban is another of the many methods to stop smoking. The drug is also known as wellbutrin or bupropion, and although unknown exactly how, it seems to interfere with a smoker's brain chemistry and put them off smoking. Legend has it that the smoking cessation factor of Zyban was only seen whilst studying the side effects of wellbutrin, the anti-depression version of the drug.
Zyban boast about the same effectiveness as a method to stop smoking as NRT but this can be improved 50% or so when Zyban and NRT are used together. However, the use of these drugs also goes hand in hand with some form of counselling to motivate smokers to stop.
The new 'wonder drug' taking the market is varenicline or Chantix (Champix in the UK). It is reported to be able to wean up to 44% of smokers off cigarettes. Again, like Zyban, it is not know exactly how it works but is is thought to interfere with the brain chemistry of the smoker.
Both Zyban and Chantix as methods of stopping smoking come with dangers. Zyban is known to cause seizures in some patients and varenicline causes extreme nausea in up to 30% of patients. Both drugs need a course of counselling alongside the drug in order to be effective.
Hypnosis is another well known method for quitting smoking. I understand (although I am not a big fan of hypnosis) that it can achieve much better success rates than any of the previously mentioned methods. Of the methods to stop smoking that are available, hypnosis is very relaxing and involves no drugs which cannot be a bad thing.
Another method to stop smoking is the use of cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT. It can literally be translated as 'think' and 'behave' therapy. The way you think and the way you behave are examined in order to change the way you think and thus the way you react to your thoughts, feelings and environment. CBT uses neither drugs nor your sub-conscious mind.
The fact of the matter is that most people do not 'control' their lives; they just react to their emotions and feelings. If you feel down, you might comfort eat for example. That is not eating because you are hungry, it is eating to take your mind off something else.
Using CBT can be an extremely successful treatment to help people stop smoking permanently. Of the people I follow-up who have used my own CBT course, the people who succeed (and that is an overwhelming majority) not only stop smoking but actually know they will never smoke again and that is because they have a different attitude toward smoking, having used CBT.
Stopping smoking is an amazing achievement for any smoker and one that should be celebrated whichever method to stop smoking is used. Stopping smoking and knowing you will never smoke ever again can only be achieved through changing your mental attitude towards smoking, whether that be through counselling, hypnosis or CBT.
As ever, the most important method to stop smoking is to never stop trying to stop.
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. Please visit www.easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
You have been thinking that it is time to quit smoking. But maybe you have been thinking that its time to quit smoking ever since you started and you are still smoking. You know that the health benefits of quitting are incredible. Still, you are smoking a cigarette or thinking of smoking one right now. Have you examined your reasons for not quitting? Maybe you think you can not handle the withdrawal symptoms.
Try looking at it this way: Smoking cigarettes is like pointing a gun at your head. The gun will not go off until ten or twenty years have passed. The thing is that the gun will go off eventually. How many years have you been smoking? Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, forty? However long it has been, the time to quit smoking is now. Really, it was yesterday, but now will have to do. Put that gun down. Stop embarrassing yourself in public. When nonsmokers see someone smoking, they make judgments about it. Stop giving them a reason to judge you.
Not only is there an increasing social stigma attached to smokers, but the health benefits of quitting are endless. Do it now. Do not keep putting it off. You know that your body can not handle smoking without taxing years off of your life. If the financial cost has not caused you to stop smoking, then quit for the sake of the health benefits from quitting.
No one thinks that it is easy to stop smoking, but it is worth it to quit smoking and quit committing slow and painful suicide.
If you stop smoking, you will also eliminate over four thousand different poisonous chemicals from your body.
If you quit smoking, you will be able to eat comfortably in any restaurant whether they allow smoking or not. You will also not have to wait for a seat in the smoking section if the state or country you are in allows for smoking in public eateries.
If you stop smoking, you will be able to save a percentage of your income. You can put the money that you have been spending on smoking into a jar or a savings account. At the end of a year, you will probably have enough money to make a very nice purchase or go on vacation.
If you quit smoking, you will not repel nonsmokers who see you smoking or smell the smoke on your clothes and skin. Smoking is such a stigmatized habit now that you will surely see a difference in the way that the world interacts with you if you stop smoking.
If you have been smoking for many years, imagine what you have been missing out on in fragrances and foods. Maybe you do not really know what different spices taste like because your taste buds and sense of smell are overloaded with the many different poisons that are in tobacco products. If you stop smoking, you will find out what fragrances you have been missing out on. The health benefits of quitting are important. The social and financial benefits are also important. Quitting is important, but it is not easy. You will not only face the psychological struggle when you quit smoking. You will also face some physical challenges. Some of these common physical and psychological challenges are listed below.
When you stop smoking, you might find yourself feeling depressed.
When you quit smoking, you might find that you are struggling with insomnia or changes in your sleep patterns.
You might find that you are cranky, frustrated or irritable when you stop smoking.
You might find that your appetite is greatly increased, and this could lead to some weight gain when you quit smoking. If you really think that you cannot handle the physical and psychological challenges, there are various methods that people have found to be very helpful when it was time to quit smoking. Research a bit on the new and powerful methods to stop smoking.
BIO: Sig Kabai successfully quit smoking and has not touched a cigarette since. Learn more about the surprisingly easy way you can quit smoking for ever at http://endthehabitnow.com
"Stop smoking" that's what everyone says and tries to convince about to a smoker. If the smoker wants to stop smoke the first prerequisite is the strong desire to quit it. This desire can be initiated first by making the smoker aware of the adverse health resulting from smoking. This can be done many ways. The second step is making a commitment to oneself to abstain from smoking. The last step towards stopping smoking is sticking to the commitment. In other words to stop smoking the smoker has to fight against the physical addiction, psychological urge and the surroundings that promote smoking. If you are weak on any of the fronts the smoker may start smoking again.
Smoking can cause lung cancer and other types of cancer such as cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and some leukemia.
Smoking can cause Pneumonia, Emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It increases the likelihood of the heart attacks, peripheral vascular disease, and sometimes erectile dysfunction. Smoking results into bad breadth, yellow fingernails, bad smelling clothes and hair, and premature wrinkling of the skin. It increases the risk of macular degeneration. In the elderly, the most common cause of blindness is macular degeneration. In case of women , smoking can lead to miscarriage or even a lower birth-weight baby.
Leading a happy, healthy, natural and long life is the prime reason for stop smoking.
The cost of smoking both in terms of buying a cigarette and buying medicines is increasing day by day. Smoking is not allowed in public places moreover its social acceptance has diminished drastically. A smoker makes others around passive smokers and causes them unseen health injury.
Enlist the reasons for smoking and the circumstances in which you like smoking. Every situation has to dealt with a mindset of abstaining from smoking. Try to stop smoking initially for a day and then staying away from it for longer duration. Fix up that day, take out everything from you sight that promotes or tempts you to smoke. Eating and drinking habits should be changed. Consume a lot of fresh fruits and water. Relax your body by walking, going for a ride or swimming . Give yourself a good gift with the money saved from smoking. If you stop and restart smoking again think of the situation when you restarted it.
Don't get fooled or carried away by false advertising claims.
The various therapies to stop smoking are:
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)therapy reduces the urge for the intoxication provided by the cigarettes. The consumption of products containing nicotine patches, gums and sprays reduces the physical urge for the cigarette.
Overcoming withdrawal symptoms like irritability, anxiety, and lack of concentration is helped by consuming these products and pills like Nicobrevin capsules, Zyban and Chantix.
Chewing gum with nicotine is gives you a hit of nicotine when you have the temptation of smoking.
Hypnosis is one of the other therapies being practiced for stop smoking but unlike other therapies it is not a full guarantee 100% success.
Low level laser therapy takes only 21 minutes to be effective and is completely painless.
Walking helps you to stop smoking. It offers you something to do instead of thinking about smoking.
Stress is the most common reason for reverting back to smoking.
The stop smoking support group motivates you to stay away from smoking and at the same time gives you a platform to share your experiences with other about stopping smoking
The weight of some people increases a lot after stopping to smoke. This change in spite of being misleading and not applicable to all creates a fear factor in the mind of the people who want to stay away from smoking.
Take the help of your doctor too.
A combination of all of the above with the behavioral methods can ensure a greater than average success rate for those attempting to quit.
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Stop Smoking Easily and for Keeps! This article is written for smokers who have had moments of doubt, for those who have not only wanted to quit but have tried to. The article is written for those who were full of hope, who soared on the wings happiness when they felt they were about to succeed in kicking a habit they knew was hurting them. It is an article, in short, for smokers who have tried and failed to quit.
Failure is something people would rather forget. Let's look at it for a moment instead. To pretend bitter moments of failure never existed prevents one realizing that what bobs in the wake of failed attempts to quit smoking is the conviction that quitting smoking is impossible to do. There is no logic in it. Nevertheless, who hopes to quit smoking but instead of doing it experiences the let-down of failure must view the dream of living a smokeless life as a disappointment. Who is disappointed loses trust. If you cannot trust yourself to quit smoking, who can you trust? The reason you think you cannot quit smoking relates to the fact that you have tried a number of times and have failed.
Is nicotine addiction stronger than you are? If you rely on your past experience of wanting to quit and not doing it, the answer is yes! The statistics concerning nicotine addiction are downright depressing. Experts, matching the number of attempts to quit smoking against the number of successes, have concluded that addiction to nicotine is worse than heroin addiction is! This is grist for the fear that you cannot stop smoking. Why make a fool of yourself all over again? Your self-esteem is on the line, now isn't it?
No! Since you are a burned child, in every sense of the word, burned by the smoke that stings you and by your failed attempts to quit, efforts to distance yourself from a commitment to quitting smoking is a natural reaction. Rather than tell yourself, "I'm quitting today," you entertain thoughts of what the best ways to quit smoking are. After all, you can go on living with a wrinkled face, now can't you? There are stop smoking shots to consider. There are stop smoking cigarettes, ones you can puff on without really smoking. There is nicotine gum, stop smoking patches, hypnotherapy to stop smoking -- you name it, it is out there.
Psst! Want a hot smoking tip? Why not stop smoking naturally? What does this mean? To stop smoking naturally means to be a nonsmoker like you were before you started! Today you smoke; you have smoked now for quite some time. Things have changed in your life during that time. For example, there are many things, many interests you have let fall since you started smoking. Many of them are sporty things, active things, interests you developed in the days before you smoked -- things you did. The acceleration of your smoking habit modified your needs; things you loved doing before you smoked gradually gave way to sitting around smoking, drinking coffee and chatting with your friends. It is easier for someone who has difficulty breathing freely through both nostrils to smoke cigarettes while trading jokes and gossip with your pals. It is less demanding than it is to shower and dress for a tennis match.
None of this alters the fact that you are the same person you were before you smoked. Smoking has replaced some of the things you did before your nicotine addiction took hold of you; but what this means is that the changes smoking has introduced into your life are not traceable to you but to your smoking. The difference, in short, between the you who smokes and the you who did not smoke is your continually smoking cigarettes! What this means is the minute you kick the smoking habit, the you who lived and breathed before you smoked will begin to return to you. The interests you let drop in favor of having another cigarette will, like little lambs, all start flocking home the moment you stop smoking.
Let me note here that anyone who inhales tobacco smoke, whether from a pipe, cigars or cigarettes, suffers pretty much the same effects. Thus, the phrase 'smoking cigarettes' is meant to include anyone who inhales tobacco smoke.
What force moved the past efforts you made to stop smoking onto the failure list? Probably the most popular excuse people give for failing to quit is that their willpower broke down in the decisive moment. Did you will yourself to smoke? The answer is no. Willpower has nothing to do with your smoking. Therefore it has nothing to do with stopping smoking. What keeps you smoking is the fact that the body very quicly rids itself of the nicotine you take in. When the pleasure centers in your brain stem, "the brain's brain" notice a decline in the level of nicotine in your blood, it sends a neural message out, to which you intellectually respond with an incredible outpouring of excuses to redress the discovered imbalance in the levels of nicotine your pleasure centers crave since the replenishment of nicotine is what they have become used to.
In practice, this means when you have not inhaled any smoke for a while, a galaxy of sensations communicate the fact that should re-supply the nicotine that has gone missing. When people intentionally stop themselves from reaching out for their habitual next cigarette, the feeling steals over them, a shrill, insistent, "Time for another one!" feeling. To defy this call for action centers new nonsmokers' attention on the current sensations they are perceiving. "Hm-mm, my throat is dry. Oops, Isn't that a wee headache I'm feeling? What's that sensation in my lungs?" All the minutiae smoking has created in a smoker's body suddenly spring to attention like soldiers on parade, commanding every inch of a new nonsmoker's idle attention. Smokers attribute the creaks, the wheezing, the aches and pains, the cravings they feel when they stop to not having smoked for a while, when in fact what is happening is that they are coming to notice, with a new-timer's intense accuracy, the sensations smoking causes them to feel now that they are turning down new calls for a cigarette. Continual inhalation of fresh smoke masks the sensations your smoking through the years has caused. New nonsmokers notice the damage smoking has done them; but instead of calling their sensations of pain by their right names call them "withdrawal symptoms" instead.
The psychology of tobacco addiction is a tracery of evasions: smokers will do almost anything to stop themselves from realizing the extent to which their addiction has done them in; their rationalizations are the direct result of physical changes their bodies have sustained. The addicts, meanwhile, fastidiously deny every scrap of evidence of this, avoiding every thought of why smoking is bad. Why not quit smoking forever? Without anyone mentioning her breathing at all, Eleanor will tell you she is wheezing today because of the high humidity index!
She saw it on the news!
Smokers are fully capable of dealing with the myths that keep them going; what one has invented one may just as easily recognize and rid oneself of. Being conscious means knowing one's own mind; Eleanor is capable of seeing through her rationalizations because every one of them is hers. She knows the reasons to stop smoking, too...
Smokers turn on themselves the minute they stop smoking. They turn on themselves instead of noticing all the positive signs resulting from the refusal to pull nicotine, tar, chemical additives, free radicals and all the other elements contained in smoke deep down into their lungs. The reason smokers do so is it is the mainstay of keeping their smoking habit alive. Without the incredible inventory of lies smokers invent to reach out for their next cigarette, the smoking habit would die from sheer lack of attention!
The actual sensations quitting smoking brings result from your body's freeing itself of nicotine within a day. Eight hours after your last cigarette, levels of oxygen and carbon monoxide normalize. In 24 hours, your risk of heart attack decreases. After 2 days, damaged nerve endings start growing back. By the third day, lung capacity starts increasing. In 2 to 12 weeks, this increase will reach 30%. Circulation improves. Over the next few months, cilia start growing back in the lungs, bringing fewer infections, less coughing and shortness of breath with them as they develop. The greatest long-term benefit is a steady decline in your chances of getting cancer. Ten years after quitting, your chances of developing lung cancer are the same as though you had never smoked.
Smokers, in a word, lie to themselves the whole day through in order to keep smoking. Imagine what telling yourself the truth will do in place of the crazy dialog of lies smokers practice in the privacy of their rather confused minds. When a smoker coughs a pathetic, wracking smoker's cough in a public place, often sympathetic friends, or even total strangers, turn one's way and say, "Hey, you really might think of getting rid of your smoking habit. It breaks my heart to hear a cough like yours. Please think about looking after yourself a bit better..." This is as open and honest as a smoker's musings are private and twisted. "Look, she's a wonderful, rich, popular movie star and she's smoking my brand in the love scene, too WOW."
Nonsmoking is something you can do. It is not only wonderfully easy once you get the knack of it, you will start feeling better in a thousand ways from the very first day! Stopping is the antithesis of the self-torture smokers put themselves through by smoking, by working overtime pretending they do not notice the things they notice very well indeed. The trick is not admitting it, how clever!
Why not quit fooling yourself?
To smoke is to pretend you have mastery in a basic master-slave relationship. Nicotine addiction is the master over every smoker who is the habit's slave. Smokers are the habit, the means by which the habit stays alive and the victims of the habit all in one! Smokers devote their waking lives coddling their habit with a new excuse for every single cigarette they smoke.
To lie is to keep the truth to yourself. To lie is to tell the victim whatever you think he or she will believe. Lying, in other words, is a theft! Liars keeps what they know is good and offer their victims stuff they know is worthless. What is the situation, then, when you lie to yourself? You are liar and victim all in one. Stand tall. Do what you know you should have done the moment you started smoking. Quit smoking publicly and privately all in one! Quit pretending to quit when you know you can't and won't. Be who you know yourself to be and please remember, you are also a person who never smoked at all! You can happily be that way again.
I am certain the links below will speed your recovery from the smoking habit, starting with the website
Stop Smoking Easily and for Keeps!
The cost of the book will be in your pocket again in a matter of days; it is money you can spend on things that will please the nonsmoker you have become again... So get your health and money back instead of spending it on cigarettes! Quitting smoking is an immense relief in every way...
There is also a blog that will tell you more about my prize-winning book!
Thomas Mueller was born in Switzerland, grew up barefoot in summer in the wilds of Oklahoma where he received his B.A. Thomas went on to Northwestern University where he completed a Ph.D. in philosophy.
Copyright ? 2009 Thomas Peter Mueller: All Rights Reserved
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Why stop smoking? There are lots of reasons to stop smoking, some more personal than others. What we have here are 10 facts that apply to everyone who smokes. These are 10 major health problems and every single time you take a puff, you increase your risk of developing one of them. Warning: Some of these are scary. If you really don't want to quit, then don't read.
Lung Cancer
Almost every case of lung cancer in the world, 90% according to recent research, is caused by cigarette smoke. Either the victim smoked or was constantly exposed to second hand smoke.
This has to be at the top of your list of reasons to stop smoking, because the 5 year survival rate for people diagnosed with lung cancer is as low as 1%. Even in the best case scenario, the survival rate is not above 67%. In other words, most people who get lung cancer die.
So, why stop smoking? You may think that because you smoke now, you've already done irreversible damage, but the risk of developing lung cancer goes down gradually for every year that you do not smoke. After 15 years of not smoking, your risk is no greater than that of a person who never smoked.
Other Types of Cancer
One of the reasons that smokers are more likely to develop and die from lung cancer is that nicotine suppresses mechanisms in the immune system that would normally prevent the growth of cancerous tumors. Thus, smokers and those who use other forms of tobacco are more likely to develop cancers of all types than a person who does not use tobacco.
Emphysema
In emphysema, the lungs are damaged to the point that they are no longer elastic. It becomes difficult to exhale. It is accompanied by wheezing and shortness of breath and is irreversible. Even if you have been told or you believe that you are in the early stages of this disease, it is still one of the most important reasons to stop smoking, because when people with emphysema stop smoking and avoid all exposure to cigarette smoke, the progression of the disease slows down dramatically.
Heart Disease
Why stop smoking? Smoking leads to reduced blood flow in the arteries. Eventually this can lead to a heart attack. After 1 year of not smoking, your risk of developing heart disease is reduced by more than half.
High Blood Pressure
The nicotine and other chemicals in cigarette smoke increase your blood pressure. Over time this can damage the large arteries and tiny blood vessels. Eventually this can lead to one of the other reasons to stop smoking...
Stroke
Uncontrolled high blood pressure is the number one risk factor for having a stroke. Number four is cigarette smoking. Number two is heart disease, which can be caused by cigarette smoking. Why stop smoking? After only a few days of not smoking, your blood pressure will be lower, reducing your risk of having a sudden stroke that can end your life or cause permanent brain damage.
Blindness
This is probably one of the reasons to stop smoking that you have never heard of. You don't see this warning on a cigarette pack, but three separate studies all came to the same conclusion. Smokers are four times more likely to become blind because of age related macular degeneration than non-smokers.
Macular degeneration is a severe and progressive condition in which the central vision is lost. It is one of the most common causes of blindness in the elderly. Why stop smoking? Former smokers, those who have quit, have only a slightly greater risk than those who never smoked.
Alzheimer's disease
The rate of mental decline is five times faster in smokers than in non-smokers. If you have any family history of Alzheimer's or other neurological conditions, this should be one of your top reasons to stop smoking now, unless, you want to be a burden to your family or simply forget them.
Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and other Auto-immune Diseases
Lupus is a chronic disease that causes pain and inflammation. Eventually there can be tissue damage throughout the body. Why stop smoking? Current smokers have an increased risk for the development of lupus, but for those who have quit, there is no increased risk.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and sometimes disabling disease characterized by painful, swollen joints. Scientists have identified several genetic risk factors for developing RA. Smokers with one of these genetic risk factors are 16 times more likely to have rheumatoid arthritis.
Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis are classified as auto-immune diseases. Because nicotine impairs the proper function of the immune system, cigarette smoking can increase your risk of developing either one of these auto-immune diseases. Studies concerning these facts were published recently in the Journal of Arthritis and Rheumatism.
Men's Reasons to Stop Smoking
Infertility, erectile dysfunction and prostate cancer have all been linked to cigarette smoking.
Women's Reasons to Stop Smoking
If you are a woman who smokes, you have an increased risk of infertility, an increased chance of miscarriage, an increased risk of giving birth prematurely, giving birth to children with low birth weight, giving birth to children who have colic and losing your child to SIDS.
Why stop smoking? If the reasons to stop smoking mentioned here are not enough, visit the American Lung Association, look at pictures of what smoking does to the lungs, visit a nursing home and look at the damage smoking has done to people's lives. You can and you must quit, for yourself and for your loved ones.
To learn more about how to quit, please visit the Stop Smoking Blog, a resource for those who wish to quit, written by those who have.
Patsy Hamilton was a health care professional for over twenty years before becoming a health writer. Currently she is writing a series of articles about how to stop smoking. Read more at http://www.stop-smoking-blog.com
If you are reading this post, you are probably one of many people for whom question ‘how to quit smoking’ has not been answered yet. I used to be in your shoes, and as a former chain smoker I know what you are going through. You know that stopping smoking is very easy…you’ve been probably doing it 20 times a day.
When I made the conscious decision to quit smoking I realized that physical addiction to nicotine is just one part of the equation. Mental dependence on the whole ritual of smoking is much harder to overcome.
I don’t want to bore you with all the gory details of my struggle, but after being on quit smoking products like nicotine patches and gum for over a year with mixed results I stumbled upon something that helped me kick the habit for good. You probably heard of stop smoking hypnosis as a way that helped many celebrities, such as Samuel Jackson, Ellen Degeneres, Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore and Ben Affleck among others, to quit smoking. Being skeptical and desperate at the same time, I decided to give it a try. Instead of fighting nicotine addiction with other nicotine products, why don’t I try natural stop smoking aids and quit smoking hypnotherapy?
So I listened at least 10 times to the very same full length Stop Smoking Hypnosis Sessions, performed by certified stop smoking hypnotherapists Jesse Berg and Steven B. Schneider, that we now offer you for free. And here I am – smoke free for the last 11 months.
When we acquired distribution rights for this Stop Smoking Hypnosis CD, we were thinking of ways to make it available to everybody. We also wanted people who really need it to use it without spending a penny. A friend of mine suggested a compromise that allows you to access these full length Free Quit Smoking Hypnosis sessions after completing one short survey of your choice, which unlocks content for 48 hours. I understand that for some even this is a burden, but I believe it’s a win-win situation because it strengthens your commitment to Stop Smoking For Good.
Before you dive into this, I need to warn you that your commitment to quitting smoking is required. Of course, you can casually check out this hypnosis for smoking cessation to see if it’s right for you, but to get the real benefit You Must Want to Stop Smoking. Period.
Please read all the useful stop smoking tips and advice on this site. They will help you define your quit smoking plan, find answers to your questions regarding different stop smoking methods, and demystify stop smoking hypnosis for you.
I hope you’ll have the same results as I experienced after several stop smoking hypnosis sessions. Hypnosis to quit smoking works, so please give it a try. It’s free and the only thing to lose is this nasty habit. Start Your Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy Now!!!
To Your Success!!!
J.K.
© 2009 – 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
As we have seen in part one of this article (Why Stop Smoking - the downsides of smoking), there are a myriad of reasons why you might not want to smoke. However, it is important to recognise the benefits of stopping smoking and how this can have a positive effect on your health status.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #8: It is never too late to stop. Research has shown that after the age of about 35-40, every year of smoking reduces life expectancy by about 3 months on average. If you can quit before then, statistically, you risk little chance of a shortened life expectancy.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #9: People who smoke suffer from regular bursts of hypertension (high blood pressure) as a reaction to smoking. The nicotine triggers an adrenalin rush in the body that constricts arteries, speeds up heart rate and increases blood pressure.
When you stop smoking you stop putting your body through these stress cycles and research has shown that blood circulation around the body improves significantly within about 3 months of quitting.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #10: When you smoke, carbon monoxide in the tobacco smoke is absorbed into the blood stream. This gas locks itself onto the red blood cells, which should only carry oxygen in, and carbon dioxide out of the body. As a result of the carbon monoxide hijacking the red blood cells, the bloods efficiency is reduced by up to 15% in a smoker compared to that of a non-smoker.
When you stop smoking, your body starts fixing the blood by prizing the carbon monoxide off the red blood cells so that they can work properly. Within 2 days, your blood will be in full working order and tip top again!
Why Stop Smoking Reason #11: When you smoke, every puff of smoke causes damage to the cells and tissue structure of the lungs. Some of this damage is repairable, some is not.
When you stop smoking, the damage that is repairable will be repaired and the damage that is not repairable will not get any worse. This is important for diseases like emphysema that are irreversible so stopping smoking will stop the progress of the disease.
Smokers who quit will notice great improvement in their lung function with substantially less wheezing and coughing. (The wheezing and coughing is caused by mild bronchitis that all smokers suffer throughout their smoking lives.)
Why Stop Smoking Reason #12: Anyone can see the difference between someone who has been a long term smoker and some one who hasn't. When you stop, your appearance will improve as your body cleans itself of the toxins that have been ingested through years of smoking. Your skin will become more radiant and will lose its greyish pallor. Wrinkles may become less pronounced and you will look healthier.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #13: Statistics show that people who stop smoking reduce their risks of cancer. Risk of lung cancer will be half of that of a smoker after just 10 years off the cigarettes. Risks of other cancers will also reduce rapidly with time.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #14: Smokers run a high risk of heart attack but quitting smoking reduces these risks dramatically. After just 1 year, a smoker who has quit will have halved his or her risk of suffering a fatal heart attack, compared to someone who continues to smoke. After 15 years, there will be no noticeable difference in risk between an ex-smoker and someone who has never smoked.
Tom Dainty is a Quit Smoking Therapist and author of The Quit Smoking Bible, a cognitive behavioral therapy approach to quitting smoking. His work is only available from http://quitsmokingbible.com
Stop Smoking Strategies written by a pharmacist. This 54 page ebook includes multiple strategies and a step by step action plan to guarantee success.
If you’ve tried every commercial stop smoking aid and all have failed you, there might be a surprising reason for this. Sure, maybe these products just aren’t very good, but there’s probably another factor in the equation: If stop smoking aids haven’t worked for you, maybe you just weren’t ready to quit yet.
Self-Sabotage
I know it can be infuriating when someone claims to know more about your own thoughts and feelings than you do. But when it comes to addiction, many of us simply aren’t attuned to our own inner workings. This is just a basic symptom of the illness.
With smoking, many people who take actions to quit do so not because they want to quit, but because they think they should want to. There’s a lot of pressure to quit these days, and family and friends can add extra pressure, but some people just aren’t psychologically ready to make the plunge. So, they prolong the process with repeated half-attempts to quit, failing over and over until they’re truly ready.
In other words, many smokers want to want to quit, but they don’t want to quit. They are too concerned about quitting smoking side effects. They keep asking questions like “what happens when you quit smoking” or “can you function normally after you quit smoking”? Or they are browsing various quit smoking resources and trying numerous stop smoking products without true mental commitment to quit. In short, they are engaged in self-sabotaging the effort of quitting smoking.
If you’ve tried and failed many times, then you might recognize yourself in what I’m saying. Maybe you took certain actions so that it would appear to all the world that you were trying to quit, and maybe you even believed on some level that you where trying—but deep down, you planned to fail.
Quit Smoking Aids = Self-Sabotage Aids
This is the real purpose of quit smoking aids like nicotine gum and patches. Sure, a small percentage of people may actually have success in quitting with them, but mostly these products are the greatest thing that ever happened to smokers who, consciously or unconsciously, aren’t ready to stop.
Think about it. If you truly want to quit smoking, this means you want to be done with nicotine, right? You want to purge it from your system, end the addiction, and never come into contact with the evil chemical again. So, if you truly wanted to quit, why would you keep dosing yourself with the very substance you’re trying to stop using? It just doesn’t make sense.
The only logical conclusion is that gums and patches aren’t quitting aids so much as nicotine substitution products to give people a temporary break from smoking.
Alternatives to Stop Smoking Aids
When you’re ready to quit for real, you’ll want nothing more than to swear off all nicotine and to go cold turkey. But since going cold turkey is just about the most difficult thing in the world, there are other, non-chemical stop smoking aids to help you get through it.
There are professionals who can help you quit. For example, therapists who specialize in addiction can help strengthen your resolve, and things like acupuncture or stop smoking hypnosis programs can have surprisingly positive effects. These are typically considered “alternative” treatments by the mainstream, but they can be amazingly effective for anyone who has a real desire to slay the nicotine monster once and for all.
© 2009 – 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
Soon to be the worlds most successful quit smoking book. The most powerful strategies you have ever seen.
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E-Cigarettes For Quitting Smoking?There’s a lot of things wrong with smoking—the smell, the yellow teeth, the coughing, the social effects, and, of course, the cancer. But one thing that smoking has going for it is the sensation. While it’s not for everyone, many of us simply enjoy how it feels to smoke. We like the perfect size of a cigarette, the soft warmth of the inhalation, and the sense of comfort and calm that it gives us. For as long as we’ve known about the harmful effects of cigarettes, smokers have dreamed of the possibility of a safe and clean type of cigarette without the carcinogenic effects, the noxious smoke, or the lingering odor. But we knew that this was just an unrealistic fantasy. After all, without these negative things, smoking wouldn’t be smoking.
But what if the best way to quit smoking were to keep using cigarettes, but without the smoke? Are these smokeless cigarettes possible, or just a fairy tale?
Electronic Cigarettes
"Green Smoke" Electric CigarettesThanks to the magic fairy dust of technology, we now have e-cigarettes. In case you’re not familiar with them, e-cigarettes (aka electric cigarettes or electronic cigarettes) are a growing field of products that all have one thing in common: they simulate the cigarette experience, without the smoke. In other words, here are the mythical smoke-free cigarettes we’ve been dreaming of.
When I first heard about e-cigarettes, I was skeptical. I thought they’d be expensive, that they wouldn’t work right, and that the sensation would be completely different from real smoking. I hate to say it, but one of the things that makes smoking so great is the smoke—so how could a smokeless cigarette possibly compare to the real thing?
When I actually tried e-cigarettes, I found my skepticism was at least partially justified, but with a caveat. Yes, the sensation is not the same. There’s no smoke, and at first you do miss it. But after using e-cigarettes for a while, you stop missing the smoke so much, and you start appreciating the advantages. You feel better, you cough less, and you’re able to “smoke” anywhere you want.
It may not be as good as the real thing, but it’s a step in the right direction.
E-cigarettes as Quit-Smoking Aids
E-cigarettes usually aren’t promoted as quit-smoking products by electronic cigarette companies, but some people do try to use them this way. They seem custom designed for this purpose insofar as they allow people to get their nicotine fix with no smoke and without the negative side effects of quitting smoking. It certainly has worked for some people, but the results have been mixed.
Basically, if you want to quit smoking permanently, the most important thing is to end your nicotine addiction. Obviously, electronic cig doesn’t help you to do that. So if you choose to quit this way, you may be facing a long-term e-cigarette addiction to replace your smoking addiction. And as long as you’re still putting nicotine into your body, there’s always that chance that you’ll relapse into smoking whenever you have a bad day or a weak moment. Check out some withdrawal strategies to get rid of nicotine dependency completely.
So, yes, e-cigarettes can help to stop smoking, and it’s definitely worth trying. But they’re not going to end your nicotine addiction, which will leave you vulnerable to relapses until you cut it out entirely.
© 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
God Did For Me What I Could Not Do For Myself
I don't remember exactly what day I started smoking cigarettes, but I do remember the day that I quit smoking as if it were yesterday. At about ten years of age, started acting cool like grown ups with a couple friends by acting as though we smoked by rolling up dried lawn grass from backyards and the Merrill Park in the Jeffery Manor at Chicago, Illinois. We also tried smoking dried tree leaves rolled up inside notebook paper, typing paper, old Chicago Transit Authority transfer fare paper, torn pages from a phone book or whatever was available. Trying to imitate my father, cousins, other adults, movies stars, soldiers, cowboys, musicians, tough guys, bad guys, good guys and any other heroes who smoked cigarettes. I guess it was cool and glamorous when they inhaled/exhaled smoke in their lungs. It made them look smarter and in control. I did not know how to smoke at all. I just puffed and coughed from the burning sensation that I felt in my chest and lungs. It was awfully painful! One day a friend stole an open pack from his mother and we tried to smoke a real cigarette. I think it was either Benson & Hedges or Virginia Slims cigarettes. By the way, we learned that a cigarette is also called a "square". We almost got busted because my friend's mother found out her cigarettes were missing and it seemed like trouble was coming fast. Somehow I dodged that bullet. If you ask me today, then I wish I had been busted so I could be punished. And back then we used to get beatings for disobedience and doing wrong. Today it is called child abuse. I think that is what's wrong with this world today. Spare the rod; spoil the child. I needed a beat down just on GP alone.
Time passed and I learned to smoke the real McCoy, cigarettes fresh out the pack or crush-proof box! Newport brand cigarettes, an attractive green square shaped pack or box with the upside Nike swoosh on the front label and the surgeon general's warning on the side, to be exact. Twenty, filtered menthol cigarettes, jam packed with nicotine, tar, embalming fluid and couple hundred more flavorful low-dosed toxic deadly poisons. I learned to hold the cigarette like a real man should. I held the square between my index finger and middle finger with a slight curve on the pull, like a cool way of holding a pool stick at a speak-easy pool hall, tavern, bar or a club. I was cool at 12 years old. Stunting my growth and development already. It took me a couple days to learn exactly how to inhale smoke without choking. And of course, I did choke. I got light-headed and dizzy in the beginning of my 24-year life sentence as a smoker of cigarettes. That light-headedness made me feel relaxed after enjoying a refreshing cigarette. Oh, I did not discriminate in the beginning. I smoked many different brands without prejudice. For example, Kools, Marlboroughs, Salems, Players, Camels, and Viceroys (the brand that helped to give my dad emphysema and cancer), oh well, whatever, never mind. Put it this way, if you had a cigarette, I would probably smoke it without hesitation. I was cool, calm and collected, an in control smoker. I mean I was bad, the best of the best, top cat, cool, can you dig it man. (So I thought)
Always coughing up cold. Spitting hockers ranging from off-white to yellow, to tawny, to brown and green, orange and red and the occasional black hocker. Sometimes getting a solid chuck that resembles a broken sunflower seed that stank worse than Rex the dog's breath on a hot and humid day in Maywood, Illinois in the month of July. Cigarettes were cheap to buy back in the day. I mean the early 1980's when I started smoking. They were more or less about 75cents a pack. I heard in the military, they were about $7 for a carton of 20 packs of squares back then, in the early 80's. It just didn't cost that much to kill yourself back then. Now the cost of living is high and the cost of dying is higher. My oldest brother and I used to hang out at a friends house. There we were enabled to smoke, drink and listen to loud music in his basement. At home, we hid our bad smoking habit by sticking our heads out of the bathroom window while smoking cigarettes. We used air fresher and aerosol hairspray to kill the smell of cigarette smoke. Who were we fooling? One snowy evening, in the winter of 1982-83, my brother and took a walk down the avenue where we lived, to smoke cigarettes. My mother, for some reason, open the door, looked down the street, just as my brother was taking a few hearty drags, on a freshly lit Newport 100 cigarette. She came out the house and saw him smoking. I almost got busted that day because I was just about to pull my cigarettes out my pocket. Well, just say that eventually I confessed to my habit of smoking around that time also. My mother told us not to smoke around her or in her house, period. She was very disappointed in us but she knew that it was basically nothing she could do because we were big young boys and officially addicted to inhaling nicotine, tar and about 400 other low dose poisons.
Shortness of breath, bad colds and flu symptoms, yellowish (coffin) fingernails, eyes looking lowly and dimly lit up were signs of the unhealthy aspect of smoking cigarettes. What a drag after taking so many drags. Clothes and hair stinking like smoke. Holes burned in clothing. I apparently loved cigarettes and it was a marriage of convenience that kept us together as one. And for 24 years it took its toll on my life and me. Nicotine controlled me and I was not the wiser. A friend once told me that with every pull of smoke I took, 5 seconds was taken from my lifetime. My rational answer was, we are all gonna die from something, you'll never know what or how. Enough said for the glory of smoking cigarettes.
While visiting an elder near Green Bay, Wisconsin in about the spring of 1984, I remember eating an authentic home-cooked Polish dinner for the very first time. We ate Polish sausage and sauerkraut and some kick ass horseradish. It was the bomb! I was about 14 years old at the time. I had a girlfriend. She didn't smoke. I use to always brush my teeth, use mouthwash, chew gum, and use a breath mint or spray or something before I kissed her, if I smoked. It really wasn't right, to be honest. I mean, my smoking. But I denied the truth about it. Back to Green Bay, the people I was visiting found out that I was a young boy smoking cigarettes, after trying to hide it and cover it up from them. I remember, Joseph a man I love and respect like a father, telling me don't be a hypocrite and admit that I smoke. It felt like a weight was lifted off my chest after telling the truth. Yet, I still smoked. So, I asked Joseph's father, Gramps, did he smoke? He said "yes, but he quit about 15 years before our conversation." I asked him "how did he quit?" He said, "he just stopped." And that, "when it is time for you to quit, then you will know it and just quit for good." I had a fresh addiction to nicotine flowing through my veins and I craved for a cigarette after that delicious meal. I thought to myself, "easier said than done old man". That meeting with him has stayed with me ever since.
As time went by, year progressed. The same thing, I smoked after eating food, drinking alcoholic beverages, drinking coffee, drinking soft drinks and especially drinking highly caffeinated colas. I smoke when I felt happy, sad, upset, or just to be smoking a cigarette to have something to do like people who play baseball, a past time. Even when someone ticked me off, when problems and trouble came up, before and after relieving myself, I had to smoke another cigarette. That is the plain truth. And it's somethen rong with that pickture!
I remember trying to quit off and on with no success whatsoever. I would quit a day or two, a week or so and "bam!" I was back at it again, "Smokin'!" It was off to the races again, baby. Addicted to nicotine. You see, as the years went on, I became allergic to dogs, cats, dust, pollen and grasses. I later developed bronchitis. I wonder did smoking have something to do with my developing these health problems. Hmm. I wonder... Well, anyway, I'm in my mid-30's. I am now a little older and I believe a tad bit wiser. I no longer need to look cool, act cool and think that I'm cool, in order to be cool. Sometimes in order to be cool, you have to be uncool. You will surprise your friends and confuse your enemies. I felt like Pavlov's dog when it came to smoking cigarettes. I also began to remember when my mother use to say that "I do not want to use anything that has that much power over me." Yes, she was right and basically said " I am powerless over cigarettes." Until I realized the truth in that statement, I would probably have smoked for the rest of my natural life. It is not so much as the physical dependence of nicotine or cigarettes but the mental dependence caused by my thinking and the force of habitual thinking and acting upon the thought of physically craving nicotine. And the best way I could get my nicotine fix was to fire up a cigarette and inhale the smoke. If I do not pick up the cigarette, then I will not smoke.
A few months ago, one night I had awakened very early, like 3am. Immediately, I got the thought to write down all the pros and cons of smoking cigarettes. Besides looking cool, which is a lie, I could not find one good reason to smoke cigarettes. I have some pretty good reasons why I should not smoke, though. I came up with over 35 reasons. Here are some reasons why I should stop smoking cigarettes from the top of the list.
1. Stopping smoking now reduces your chances of getting throat cancer, lung cancer, emphysema, asthma, allergies, bronchitis, colon or stomach cancer and other serious health problems.
2. Pregnant women reduce the chances of having miscarriage, or a child born with birth defects.
3. Cough less and have fewer colds and flu symptoms.
4. Breathe better, more freely and easily.
5. Outlook on life will improve.
6. Run, walk and climb stairs with less effort.
7. Smile wider with brighter eyes.
8. Mental keenness and alertness improves dramatically.
9. Hair, skin, teeth and fingernails smell and look better.
10. You will save a lot of money.
Just read the side of a pack of cigarettes. It comes with a grave warning. Those are the consequences you get for smoking. I know because my biological father died of throat cancer and emphysema. Yes, he smoked cigarettes, suffered the consequences and died prematurely. God rest his soul. One day, while I was talking with a good friend about his recently stopping smoking cigarettes. He made it sound easy and in fact it is. First, let's look at the score. The price of cigarettes have recently gone up due to city/state excise taxes in Illinois for health cost/benefits, the military budget, and lot of other things. It costs $7 for a fresh pack of cigarettes at many stores in Chicago. But the true cost is of smoking is one human life at a time. Many cities have now imposed ordinances that ban smoking in public facilities even outdoors. People are aware that second hand smoke causes cancer and emphysema just as well as inhaling/exhaling the smoking gun, firsthand. So it is becoming more and more socially unacceptable to smoke. Ahhh, the pressure...
Well, Charles, the good friend of mine that I mentioned told me that he stopped smoking with the help based upon his realizing that he too is powerless over cigarettes and that his life was unmanageable as far as the time and effort put into smoking cigarettes. And only a Power Greater than himself or I call God, could remove the mental obsession of a nicotine fix or shall I say smoking cigarettes. Also, he did not mention that he feigned or had nicotine fits or a bad attitude associated with many smokers because there were basically none. In fact, when I finally quit. I had only two big cigarette cravings that I could really remember. The rest was just my choice and desire not to smoke at all, which God gave me to remove it, Himself. "God did for me what I could not do for myself!" Also, my good friend Charles told me that he just picked a date to quit smoking "cold turkey". No nicotine patches or nicotine gum because the problem is not the patch or the gum, the problem is the person smoking. You don't need a crutch. Besides, you are only taking the thing that you are trying to remove, "nicotine". He said that after two days, the cravings went away. It was just that his desire not to smoke cigarettes had outweighed his desire to smoke cigarettes. Also, believe that a Power Greater than yourself or God can restore your thinking to sanity. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Sanity is knowing and believing and acting upon the truth that you cannot successfully smoke cigarettes without grave consequences. When you realize that you are powerless over tobacco or smoking cigarettes that means that you surrender the belief that you can beat a cigarette's power to causes death to yourself and others. You have no power over cigarettes whatsoever. So stop fighting the cravings and let them go right past you. Stop anticipating how you will act upon stopping smoking. Try exercises such as jogging, cycling, or swimming. Read a book; write a short story or poem or two. For example, enter a poetry and writing contest such as Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest http://www.dreamquestone.com. It is a great avenue to share your thoughts, feelings and dreams with the world. It helps to take you outside yourself. Just don't think about smoking and don't try to figure out how God works. God works in mysterious ways. So make a decision to turn your will and life over to your Higher Power, as you understand Him. That means that every morning you wake up, during the day when you feel like smoking a cigarette and before going to bed turn your will and life over to the complete care and abandon of God as you understand Him. Give yourself completely to God. You will see a change. You better believe it. He will direct your paths to quitting smoking cigarettes one day at a time. Take a deep breath whenever your feel an urge to smoke. And if you really want to stop smoking, you will understand that when a craving comes to you, you are powerless over it. And to just let it go by you instead of being strong and trying to resist something you cannot resist by yourself. Let it go and let God have it. Let God handle it. If He brings you to it, He will walk you through it. You will see the results, one day at a time. In the long run, you will be smoke free and healthier. For more info on stopping smoking please visit the following websites:(God Bless!)
· http://www.americanheart.org
· http://www.dreamquestone.com
Andre West smoked cigarettes for 24 years and was imprisoned in his own mind to suffer what most smokers deny. He came to believe that he is powerless over cigarettes and smoking was compromising his life. By the grace of God, he no longer has the desire to light up a cigarette and is here to tell you why.
If you’ve been trying to quit smoking and surfing the web to find the best stop smoking methods, you might be feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of stop smoking products, programs, methods to stop smoking, tips for quitting smoking, and smoking cessation aids that are out there. It’s a little hard to quit when you keep wavering between options and don’t even know where to begin. So, if you want to have success and to stop smoking now, the most important thing is to choose one and stick with it.
Cold Turkey
For anyone who truly wants to quit, cold turkey is the simplest and most straightforward method, but it’s also the most difficult. You have to be ready to face several days or even weeks of pure misery, but this is equally true of most stop smoking methods.
But you can do things to make it better. For instance, you can quit smoking with a spouse or a trusted friend, which gives you an instant support network that keeps you strong and determined even through your weak moments. You can also take some time off work to barricade yourself inside, or you can just go out into the wilderness on a long camping trip, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy is supposed to help you quit smoking by delivering nicotine to your body through alternatives to cigarettes. Nicotine gum and the patch are the two most well-known types of nicotine therapy, and both can be bought over the counter. There are also lozenges, nasal sprays, and inhalers.
The problem with these stop smoking products is that they only address your smoking, while leaving your actual addiction unaffected. And since they just don’t provide the same type of satisfaction and the pleasurable routine of cigarettes, these products rarely work for people who aren’t ready to quit.
Hypnosis to Quit Smoking
Smoking hypnotherapy, which can be done either through a hypnotherapist or on your own at home, is one of the most effective stop smoking programs. Rather than only dealing with the symptoms of your addiction, it gets down deep into your unconscious mind and alters your attitudes toward cigarettes and smoking. You can quit smoking for free with the smoking cessation hypnotherapy sessions offered on this site.
Pills and Natural Remedies
A few prescription antidepressant drugs—namely Zyban, Pamelor, Chantrix, and Aventyl—have been approved by the FDA to help people quit smoking. Of course, the problem with these pills is that you have to deal with doctor visits, copays, and side effects, and then there’s no guarantee that they’ll work.
Many people reported excellent results using natural stop smoking aids for nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Among the most popular stop smoking products of this kind are Miracet and Smoke Deter.
Acupuncture and Laser Therapy to Stop Smoking
One is low-tech and traditional, and one is high-tech and new, but acupuncture and stop smoking laser therapy operate under the same principal. Both are designed to help you relax while also releasing the same type of brain chemicals that nicotine stimulates. They’re applied at specific pressure points that are thought to produce the greatest effect. The main problem with these stop smoking methods is the cost. Both can range into the hundreds of dollars.
Professional Consultation
Finally, there are people such as addiction treatment specialists and stop smoking coaches who can help you get to the bottom of your addiction issues while also assisting you in a planned method for quitting. Sessions with these advisers can cost a lot, and many insurance companies don’t cover this type of thing, but they’re great as a last resort for anyone who doesn’t mind spending money to beat their addiction.
Before you start spending money on analysts, please try first to quit smoking for free and check our Stop Smoking Therapy corner where you can read therapist’s notes and deal with the mental side of nicotine addiction.
© 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
E-Cigarettes As Stop Smoking Aids?In case you haven’t heard of e-cigarettes, they’re these ingenious little battery-operated devices that allow you to “smoke” without actually smoking. In place of traditional tobacco, these smokeless cigarettes use a nicotine solution made of propylene glycol or glycerin, both perfectly harmless substances that happen to contain nicotine.
Without fire or smoke, the substance is vaporized and drawn into your lungs, giving a sensation that is very similar to that of actually smoking. There’s no tar, no yellow teeth, no bad breath, no bad smell, and there are far fewer harmful chemicals and toxins.
Advantages of Electric Cigarettes
Here are some of the reasons to try electronic cigarettes:
You’re tired of being demonized for something that is essentially a personal choice.You want to boost your social and dating life by getting rid of that smoke smell—which some people apparently don’t like.You want to be able to “smoke” in more places—bars, restaurants, hotel rooms, airplanes, even at work.You’re almost ready to quit smoking, but you’re not fully there yet, and you want something to reduce your cigarette cravings.You like smoking, but you don’t like the unhealthy side of it.If any of these things apply to you, it can’t hurt to give e-cigarettes a try. In fact, since e-cigarettes are safer than normal cigarettes, not trying them is what will hurt.
And let’s not forget another important advantage of e-cigarettes—they’re fun! It’s always funny to see the look of shock on people’s faces when they catch you smoking in, say, the work breakroom, an airport terminal, or a smoke-less bar. Within 5 seconds, the look on the person’s face goes from outrage, to confusion, to comprehension. It makes a great conversation starter.
Why are E-Cigarettes Banned in Some Countries?
"Green Smoke" Electric CigarettesThis at least partially explains why health organizations around the world have falsely stated that e-cigarettes are not safe and cannot help people quit smoking. In reality, electronic cigarettes were invented barely 5 years ago, and any organization that gives them a bad rap is just shooting from the hip.
If you want to know the truth, ask people who use e-cigs regularly, and most will say that they feel better, are less addicted, and don’t suffer the usual side effects of smoking.
Quit Smoking with E-Cigarettes
Any electronic cigarette company is legally barred from promoting their products as quit-smoking aids, but plenty of anecdotal evidence says they can be used for this purpose. In fact, there are thousands of newly smoke-free people who would probably take issue with the idea that e-cigarettes can’t help. I’m one of them. Check some electronic cigarette forums to get other opinions on the subject.
With e-cigarettes, you can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine you put in your body by changing from a regular formula to a light formula, then to ultra-light, and finally to nicotine-free solutions.
Give yourself a 3-month timetable, and stay on each level for one month. By the time you get to the end of your ultra-light stage, they’ll hardly be any nicotine left in your body, and quitting will be easy with very little withdrawal.
And that’s it for my opinionated electronic cigarette review.
© 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
An effective technique to stop smoking once and forever. The author provides step-by-step instructions that guarantee success. High commission to partners, additional promo materials and support available!
Let’s get one thing straight: Quitting smoking is not going to be easy. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. So it’s time to stop searching the internet for miracle stop-smoking products, and face up to the fact that this is going to be a challenge. But if your spirit is strong, and if you truly want to quit, you’ll get through it. You’ll even come out stronger.
Bracing Yourself
If you haven’t yet accepted the difficulty of what you’re about to do, you might want to take some time to think about it. Step away from the internet—with all its chaotic noise and mixed messages—and take some quiet time to have a conversation with yourself.
Say, “Self, we’re going to do this, no matter what it takes!” Try to bring yourself to a point where you feel this sentiment deeply. Make no more half-felt promises. It’s time to know, with no uncertainty, not only that you’re ready to quit, but that you are going to quit. No more doubt.
Once you have that out of the way, it’s time to look into ways to stop smoking—various quit smoking methods and products for nicotine replacement, herbs, hypnosis, patches, therapy, etc. I can’t recommend any single quitting method, as you have to make this decision for yourself. Different things vary in effectiveness for different people, and you have to determine what you think will work best for your body and your mind.
Nicotine Replacement is Not the Answer
But what I can say is this: 90% of the time, nicotine replacement therapy doesn’t work. I’m talking about quit-smoking products like nicotine gum, patches, lozenges, nasal sprays, and all the rest. I don’t want to knock these products, but let’s think about this for a second. If you’re trying to end your addiction to nicotine, why use products that just fill your body with more nicotine? Does this make sense? That’s no way to make a clean break.
Too many people make the mistake of thinking that the most popular stop-smoking products are also the most effective. It’s simply not true. Nicotine replacement products are so popular because they’re brilliantly marketed and very easy to get. Plus, they’re perfect for people who want to look like they’re trying to quit smoking but who are not actually ready to do so. In other words nicotine gum and patches are an effective and relatively painless way to fail, for anyone so inclined.
Going Nicotine-Free
If you’re truly ready to face up to this challenge, you’ll go nicotine-free right off the bat. Depending on how you choose to quit, you may invest in herbal products to quit smoking, or you may use things like stop smoking hypnosis, acupuncture, meditation, or therapy.
All of these things work. They may be more painful than using nicotine replacement products, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Pain is just the first stage of healing, and you’ll never heal from your nicotine addiction if you don’t steel yourself for a week or two of hard times. After all, there are worse things in the world. So just think of all the benefits you’ll get from quitting, and know that every hour of every day brings you one step closer to being free to live a long and nicotine-free life.
© 2009 – 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
This article is not about taking the moral high ground and preaching about the benefits of giving up smoking. It is just a simple article about what worked for me - a 47 year old guy who had been smoking for over 30 years and ended up on 60 cigarettes a day. I reckon if I can do it then perhaps this article will help others to seriously consider giving up.
How many times have you tried to stop smoking? If you are anything like me you stopped, (at least temporarily), because you saw something on the TV, a friend had a stoke, you were short of funds or... there are umpteen reasons why people give up and then start again as soon as the initial "scare" has worn off.
As I said, I was smoking 60 cigarettes a day and was well and truly addicted.
You've heard everybody going on at you about why you should stop smoking. Generally the worst people are those who have given up smoking themselves and have set out on a personal crusade, (although it sometimes comes across more as a vendetta), to banish every last trace of smoke on the entire planet.
I advocate a more reasoned approach to stopping smoking. The only important factor in the whole process is YOU.
It is absolutely NOT about...
** doing what somebody tells you to do.
** doing exactly what they have done to stop smoking.
** feeling awkward and guilty around people who do not smoke.
When Is The Right Time To Stop Smoking?
The reason why people stop smoking and then start again is simply because they were not ready to stop at that time.
I thought things through for around 3 months before I finally took the plunge and even then I told everyone that it was only a first step I was taking to stop smoking and I would take it just one day at a time - I found this took the pressure off me so that if I did start smoking again I would not appear to be a "failure".
Remember that smoking is a very real addiction. It takes over your whole life. You probably find that whatever you do revolves around when you are going to have the next puff. Whether it's working in the office, in the garden or whatever... your mind is always thinking about stopping what you are doing to go and have a smoke.
Don't feel guilty about this... as I said it's a very real addiction.
Just as an aside, (at least in the UK), there are more and more doctors who will point blank refuse to treat you for smoking related illness if you are a smoker.
Personally I think they are sick. Far better to refer someone for counselling, (which honestly does work despite my initial skepticism about having someone pry into my habits!).
My counsellor, Doreen, has been marvelous right from the word go. Low key, does not pry, no shock tactics, no lectures... just a very informal chat about the best way for ME to stop smoking.
Doreen put me on patches and gave me a little puffer as I call it, (a nicotine inhalator to be posh), and assured me that at no time would these be suddenly taken away after 3 months or whatever.
A controlled amount of nicotine into your body to take away the urges does you absolutely no harm at all. The real danger is from the smoke going into your lungs. I don't know enough to be technical here but if nicotine is causing the addiction and you can have as much nicotine as you want for as long as you need it, in the form of patches or whatever, then it's all good news for us.
I'm not saying you won't get cravings once you decide to stop smoking but the cravings in my case were normally associated with certain habits. For instance I would associate smoking with coffee. A cup of strong sweet coffee with 5 or 6 cigarettes was pure heaven. I still miss it now to be honest but I normally drink tea and if I do have a coffee I always have my little puffer for a quick blast.
Also remember that the urge to smoke only lasts a minute or so. If you can think about something else for a few minutes, (I know it's easier said than done), but the urge really does go away.
Whilst researching the Internet for some facts before writing this article I became so despondent about the "advice" from the so called experts I decided to just sit down and write as I feel from a personal viewpoint.
One of the snippets of "expert" advice was to make a "Stop Smoking Contract" and have your family and friends sign it. I mean, give me a break will you... If this is not putting pressure on someone trying to stop smoking I don't know what is.
Another expert gem was to plaster No Smoking signs all over the house and around your workplace. Great if you need a constant reminder about smoking.
The whole idea is to gently, in your own time, get away from the habits and thoughts associated with smoking.
I certainly feel better for stopping smoking. Apart from the huge amount of money it saves me, my legs are not tired all the time and I generally have more energy.
In conclusion I would say that in your quest to stop smoking make sure it is what YOU want at a time that is right for YOU.
Go and see your doctor to refer you to a counsellor before giving up. Be honest with the counsellor... If you smoke 80 cigarettes a day then say you smoke 80 cigarettes a day. It is self defeating to say you only smoke 10 or 20 or "about a pack a day".
When YOU feel the time is right to stop smoking then do it but not before. Don't let anyone pressure you into stopping.
Remember, if you don't succeed the first time, (although if you have prepared yourself then there is no reason not to succeed), this is not a failure. It is a huge first step you have courageously taken to stop smoking.
Ade Martin used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day and finally found the way to give up once and for all. 2 years later he has still kicked the habit with minimal cravings which are easily managed.
Stop Smoking Article
This is the first part of a pair of articles on why you might want to consider stopping smoking. All the aspects explained here are the negative points you should understand about smoking. The second article (Why Stop Smoking - the upsides of quitting) focuses on the improvements in health that have been found in people who stop smoking.
It is well known amongst smokers and non-smokers alike that smoking is bad for your health. Cigarette packets carry terse warnings explaining the health risks associated with smoking but this article explains them in some more detail than can be found on a cigarette packet to help you rationalize your decision to stop smoking.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #1: Smokers are 8 times more likely to contract lung cancer from tobacco smoke largely caused by the plethora of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
More than 85% of lung cancer found in women and over 90% of lung cancer found in men can be directly attributed to smoking. It is the single largest cause of death in smokers.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #2: Smoking is responsible for 80% of all deaths caused by emphysema and bronchitis.
Emphysema is a disease where your lungs lose their elasticity and it becomes impossible to exhale properly. The result is that your lungs become hyper inflated. To understand what that feels like, take in a deep breath and then without breathing out, take in another. That second breath is what every breath feels like when you have emphysema!
Bronchitis is a disease where the airways in the lungs become inflamed and so reduce the flow of air through the lungs. This makes it difficult to breath and reduces the effectiveness of your lungs. Most smokers suffer from mild bronchitis throughout their smoking lives, manifesting in wheezing and a smoker's cough.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #3: In the US, Canada and the UK, over 460,000 people die every year from smoking related diseases.
I want to frame that in really stark terms for you to understand the enormity of the number. That is the equivalent of a 9/11 attack every other day! It is the same as 3 jumbo jets ploughing into mountains every day! It is more than the equivalent of 2 Hiroshima's and 2 Nagasaki's a year!
The idea that it won't be you is a very risky approach to take. The chances are it very probably will be you!
Why Stop Smoking reason #4: One third of all cancer deaths can be directly attributed to smoking, despite the fact that only a quarter of the population smoke. In general your chances of contracting cancer are about 50% greater if you are a smoker than if you are not.
Cancer treatment is painful and once you have had cancer, you are very likely to contract it again, even if your initial treatment appears to be successful.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #5: Women who smoke are likely to bring forward their menopause by 2 years on average, as a direct result of tobacco.
Men who smoke have a higher risk of impotence as a result of the toxins found in tobacco smoke affecting sperm production. The peripheral vascular disease caused by smoking is also likely to damage erectile tissue in the penis leading to impotence from an inability to achieve an erection. I don't think any man would think that is a price worth paying for anything, let alone smoking!
Why Stop Smoking Reason #6: Smoking causes peripheral vascular disease as a result of high blood pressure and narrowing of the peripheral arteries. The result is that blood flow to the extremities (hands, feet, legs and arms) becomes reduced. The long term effect is poor tissue condition followed by tissue death. The only treatment is amputation.
Why Stop Smoking Reason #7: Women who smoke can cause serious damage to their unborn child. The foetus becomes addicted to nicotine and the growth of the baby is interrupted and altered from the toxins found in tobacco that in turn find their way through the mothers blood stream to the baby.
Women who smoke during pregnancy should expect low birth weight babies and the child will likely suffer from reduced health in the early years of their life.
In part two of this article, I shall explain some of the positive reasons to why you might want to stop smoking, rather than just explaining these negative effects of smoking on your health.
Tom Dainty is a Quit Smoking Therapist and author of The Quit Smoking Bible, a cognitive behavioral therapy approach to quitting smoking. His work is only available from http://quitsmokingbible.com
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What if I were to tell you that there are huge companies making billions of dollars off Americans’ smoking habits? You’d think I was talking about the tobacco companies, right?
Wrong. Yes, the tobacco companies make billions helping people kill themselves. Everyone knows that. But then there’s also those companies, which shall remain nameless, that make billions peddling faulty, ineffective quit-smoking products. I’m talking about nicotine patches, nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges, and all the other nicotine replacement products.
These guys may not be quite as evil as the tobacco companies, but they’re accessories to the crime.
You’re Addicted to Nicotine, not Smoking
When you’re addicted to smoking, it’s not the cigarette that you’re addicted to. It’s not the routine, the flavor, or even the tobacco. What sucks you in and keeps you a loyal customer is the nicotine—that insidious little chemical that slowly turns your soul into a charred lump of coal. But you probably know how addictive is nicotine.
Tobacco companies know that it’s all about the nicotine. That’s why, for decades, they’ve been pumping more and more nicotine into their products, making new breeds of tobacco that yield more of the addictive stuff. This is no whack-job conspiracy theory. It’s all been documented.
So, if you want to quit smoking, what you’re really going to have to do is say, “So long, nicotine!” End the abusive relationship once and for all.
Nicotine Replacement Products Keep You Addicted
The people who make quit smoking aids like nicotine patches and gum have a little trick up their sleeve, and it’s so genius that they don’t even have to hide it. What they do is keep you addicted, and they trick you into thinking that this is a good way to quit.
In reality, stop smoking patches and nicotine gum aren’t designed to help you quit. That would go against the interests of the companies that make them. For them, the ideal situation is for you to use their product for a while but fail to stop smoking in the long run. And when you relapse, they want you to think that it’s your own personal weakness, and that it has nothing to do with their products being faulty.
Think about it: If you succeed at quitting, will you ever buy nicotine replacement products again? Of course not. If these nicotine products actually helped you quit, it would be like a shampoo company making a product that keeps your hair clean forever. It would be a nice product, but that company would soon lose all its business.
In short, for these companies, helping you quit smoking is just bad for business.
Don’t Believe the Hype
Talk to all the smokers and ex-smokers you know, and ask them if they’ve tried nicotine replacement products. Out of everyone who says yes, 90% will say that these products didn’t work.
So why do people still buy them? It’s because, up until now, we Americans have always been suckers for advertising. All a company had to do was make a few polished ads and have nice packaging that made bold claims, and we’d lay our money down for whatever they were selling.
Those days are gone. Now, we see through the phony advertising practices of sham nicotine products. You need help with nicotine withdrawal, and not to feed your nicotine addiction.
Make a statement: Quit smoking with hypnosis. Go cold turkey, and do it right. Recruit friends. Just don’t become a victim of nicotine conspiracy, unless you like paying money for nothing.
© 2010, Stop Smoking Tip. All rights reserved. No republishing allowed. If referencing, please provide link to this post.
