Help me quit smoking

John19841

Well-Known Member
So, yeah..I've never been a fan of self help books; Never. I smoked for almost 10 years, just quit for good two months ago. Let me tell you something, Read Allen Carr's "Easy Way To Stop Smoking." I know the title sounds gimmicky, like every other "do something fast and easy"; lose weight, get rich, etc. but do not let the title mislead you.

I really don't know why this book is not more well known. Just google it, you will find nothing but stellar reviews from people who have read it. It really changes your whole mentality on the subject (this is coming from probably the most stubborn person you could ever meet.)

Anyway, I cannot say enough good things about this book, but you really have to read it yourself, and follow his advice (He tells you right off the bat, not to stop smoking while you read the book.) It's been two months for me and I've tried to quit numerous times in the past, this time no withdrawals, no cravings, nothing. From the last cigarette I had, I had absolutely no desire to smoke. I knew right away that I was done for good. No hypnosis, no scare tactics, no trying to frighten you with what will happen if you don't quit.

Anyway, just read it. I have it on the comp if you don't want to pay for it, but don't exactly know the rules about saying things like that here :wink2:
 

stevetheupsguy

sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
So, yeah..I've never been a fan of self help books; Never. I smoked for almost 10 years, just quit for good two months ago. Let me tell you something, Read Allen Carr's "Easy Way To Stop Smoking." I know the title sounds gimmicky, like every other "do something fast and easy"; lose weight, get rich, etc. but do not let the title mislead you.

I really don't know why this book is not more well known. Just google it, you will find nothing but stellar reviews from people who have read it. It really changes your whole mentality on the subject (this is coming from probably the most stubborn person you could ever meet.)

Anyway, I cannot say enough good things about this book, but you really have to read it yourself, and follow his advice (He tells you right off the bat, not to stop smoking while you read the book.) It's been two months for me and I've tried to quit numerous times in the past, this time no withdrawals, no cravings, nothing. From the last cigarette I had, I had absolutely no desire to smoke. I knew right away that I was done for good. No hypnosis, no scare tactics, no trying to frighten you with what will happen if you don't quit.

Anyway, just read it. I have it on the comp if you don't want to pay for it, but don't exactly know the rules about saying things like that here :wink2:
Thanks, I'll give it my wife, along with her Mother's day presents.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I am watching the Today show and there is a segment about "E-Cigarettes" which are being touted as an alternative to smoking. The E-Cigarettes give the smoker the nicotine that they crave without the harmful effects of the tobacco. They have not been FDA approved and there is a lot of debate on both sides but Jose Canseco endorses the product so that's good enough for me.:wink2:

I am a non-smoker so have a hard time understanding the addiction and may not be the most sympathetic towards smokers so I will limit my posts on this thread per the request of the OP.
 

John19841

Well-Known Member
I am a non-smoker so have a hard time understanding the addiction and may not be the most sympathetic towards smokers so I will limit my posts on this thread per the request of the OP.

The addiction is 99% mental. Despite what you may of heard or read, or what many people believe, the actual physical addiction to nicotine is very small. Nicotine starts leaving the body the minute you stop smoking and is at its greatest effect roughly an hour after your last cigarette. After the 1st day, the physical "need" for a cigarette is basically gone. 5-10 days after your last cigarette the nicotine is gone from your system.

What does not go away nearly as easy is the mental addiction. Understand, smoking is a lifestyle. When you smoke, everything you do revolves around it. When you stop, you don't know what to do with yourself. It's fine when you keep busy and keep your mind off it, but as soon as you have down time, it's there. You don't know what to do when you get a break at work. Your so used to walking outside to have one, you don't know what to do for that 10-15 minutes. It's a way of life that you've been living for years. It's what you know, and what you know is hard to break. I liked to think of it like eating (don't start any arguments about how you need to eat to survive or whatever, this is not about that :wink2:). You just do it, it's a regular thing. Every so often you just need to fill that craving for food. You've been doing it forever (Smokers rarely can remember a time without cigarettes.) Now imagine if I told you that you had to stop eating. It really is a lot like that.

Just remember one thing: No one starts smoking saying "I'm going to get addicted and be hooked for life" They're tricky like that, you have absolutely no knowledge of being addicted until long after you are. Ask anyone who has only been smoking a year or two "I can quit whenever I want" They really do think that. And they really are wrong.
 
I am watching the Today show and there is a segment about "E-Cigarettes" which are being touted as an alternative to smoking. The E-Cigarettes give the smoker the nicotine that they crave without the harmful effects of the tobacco. They have not been FDA approved and there is a lot of debate on both sides but Jose Canseco endorses the product so that's good enough for me.:wink2:

I am a non-smoker so have a hard time understanding the addiction and may not be the most sympathetic towards smokers so I will limit my posts on this thread per the request of the OP.
I've done a little reading on the E cigs and I am seriously thinking of trying them. The nicotine is the habit forming part of a real cig, so I don't see it as a logical tool for smoking cessation, you would still be feeding the habit. The part that makes them interesting to me is that they eliminate the tars and other carcinogens so maybe they would be less harmful to your body.
The claim is that you can use them anywhere and there is no smell, and technically you are not smoking because nothing is burning. The hold back is, they are pretty expensive for just an experiment.
 

John19841

Well-Known Member
I thought about those E-cigarettes (and also lettuce leaf cigarettes) before I quit smoking. I had two big hold-backs.

Number 1. I'm not sure what exactly they taste like (The lettuce leaf ones are absolutely disgusting) I'm pretty sure though if it's an odorless "vapor" that is probably doesn't taste like anything. That leads into

Number 2. I'm pretty sure if I ad that it would just make me upset and long for a real cigarette since I'm doing nothing to rid myself of the habit. Trying to quit is irritating enough, do you really want something that is going to just be a reminder that you're not having a real one?

With that said, I still think it is a better choice than all these ridiculous gums and patches.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
What it all comes down to....you need to quit a vile habit and you don't need a 'substitute' bad habit. I smoked 48 years. I quit cold turkey.

Getting yourself out of the familiar situations where you always smoked is important. If you have your morning coffee at your computer with a cig. , then take your coffee somewhere else.

Distraction works and saves you money from buying all that other junk. I've been smoke -free since Sept., but I won't lie to you, I crave one every day, but the craving passes withing a few mins.

Good luck!
 
I thought about those E-cigarettes (and also lettuce leaf cigarettes) before I quit smoking. I had two big hold-backs.

Number 1. I'm not sure what exactly they taste like (The lettuce leaf ones are absolutely disgusting) I'm pretty sure though if it's an odorless "vapor" that is probably doesn't taste like anything. That leads into

Number 2. I'm pretty sure if I ad that it would just make me upset and long for a real cigarette since I'm doing nothing to rid myself of the habit. Trying to quit is irritating enough, do you really want something that is going to just be a reminder that you're not having a real one?

With that said, I still think it is a better choice than all these ridiculous gums and patches.
On a recent trip to Vegas, there was a kiosk in front of the Fitz selling them. The operator opened a new insert and let me try it for taste, it wasn't bad but not the same as what I usually smoke. It didn't give me the lingering taste as a cig does, but I guess one would get used to the differences. They claim that the taste is an added substance to make them seem more like the real deal. I do understand what you are saying in your #2 paragraph. If/when I do decide to try them out, I will keep you posted on the results.
 

UPSNewbie

Well-Known Member
My friends who smoke don't understand why I still have the same pack that I bought in December. I told them to quit and see what happens when you don't have at least one pack laying around.
 

John19841

Well-Known Member
On a recent trip to Vegas, there was a kiosk in front of the Fitz selling them. The operator opened a new insert and let me try it for taste, it wasn't bad but not the same as what I usually smoke. It didn't give me the lingering taste as a cig does, but I guess one would get used to the differences. They claim that the taste is an added substance to make them seem more like the real deal. I do understand what you are saying in your #2 paragraph. If/when I do decide to try them out, I will keep you posted on the results.


That's good that they taste like something. As long as they have a taste you'd get used to it. The brand you choose to smoke tastes good to you because you're used to it. No one does it for taste anyway. If people really smoked because it "tastes good" why then when you don't have a cig. and you bum one from someone, but it's a different brand, it tastes gross but you subject yourself to it anyway (just something to think about.)

Anyway, yeah...keep us posted. I'd love to hear some real world experience about those things. If nothing else, I think they would be a great thing to have around after you've quit, just to calm those random cravings
 
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