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By Jim Newell
For many, many years we have been told that quitting smoking is very difficult to do, that a person trying to quit will experience many different withdrawal symptoms, such as;
- Gaining excessive weight.
- That they will become nervous and irritable.
- They will experience cold sweats, or shakes.
- Will not be able to focus.
And the list goes on and on, so much so that many people do not even attempt quitting, for fear they will not be able to handle these difficulties. Continue reading Where Does the Idea that Quitting Smoking is Difficult Come From?
By Jim Newell
As stated in the title of this article, habit is only part of smoking, the other and more serious part is the addiction to nicotine. There is a big difference between an addiction and a habit!
Many habits are coupled with biological causes, like substance abuse or smoking. These are more serious than other habits and require professional help. (Smoking might not, but substance abuse does.) We are going to deal only with the habit in this article. Continue reading Part of Smoking is Habit – How to Break the Smoking Habit
By Jim newell
It is so easy to become a statistic from smoking, just follow the usage instructions on the cigarette package, and this product can kill you. If you got that kind of warning about almost any other product you would never touch it. Why do so many intelligent people continue to smoke when they know what the risks are, or do they only know some of them?
Consider the following, before your light up your next cigarette;
- Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the US and is the biggest cause of disease and death in most western countries. And the deaths from these diseases are not easy deaths, they can involve multiple organs or body systems, and there will usually be considerable pain and suffering.
- It is the leading cause of many forms of cancer and also heart disease and stroke. Many people are not aware of the added risks of heart disease and stroke, probably helped along by the elevated blood pressure that smoking also causes.
- Virtually every organ in the body is harmed by smoking and this is due to the thousands of chemicals (yes that is thousands) that are present in tobacco smoke. Medical professionals are not even sure of everything that smoking can damage.
- Many of those chemicals have been shown to cause cancer and many other health problems are caused or made worse due to smoking. Continue reading What Are the Health Risks of Smoking?
By Jim Newell
Throughout the history of the tobacco companies they have marketed their products with well thought out campaigns utilizing all of the media, including print media, the movies, television and musicians. The images of Hollywood stars and musicians smoking have had an influence on people’s decisions to start smoking. People, and especially young people, see these images, and imagine how cool they would look if they smoked.
There are other reasons people start smoking, but more often than not, it is because of the image that is created in their minds through the use of these clever advertising campaigns. They see it in the movies, on television, at concerts, etc.
In some parts of the world smoking is viewed as a “rite of passage“. Seeing third world youngsters smoking, some of them 10 years and younger, is not unusual. Continue reading Why Do People Start Smoking?
By Jill Binder
Do you do Bad Things? Even though you know you shouldn’t?
It’s not your fault. It really isn’t. You know you should stop doing it, but no matter how much you know that, and how much you try, you just can’t stop!
Everyone knows how to lose weight. Don’t eat fattening foods. Exercise. Everyone knows how to give up smoking. Don’t light the cigarette. Yet having this knowledge just isn’t enough. Sometimes even having the desire isn’t enough! Time and again I hear about people who get really close to quitting smoking. They can get all the way down to one or two cigarettes a day, but just can’t give up those last two. Many even make it all the way down to zero, but the cravings, oh the cravings! They are wretched, those cravings. Most will go back to smoking within the first few days. They can cut away most of the “stuff” that keeps them glued to the cigarettes, even not be addicted to nicotine anymore(!), but there is just something deep in their core that magnetically pulls them back in, like two lovers who know they are bad for each other but just can’t help themselves. Continue reading Quit Smoking: Why People Do Bad Things (Even When They Know They Shouldn’t)
By Jim Newell
INTENSE DESIRE: stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim.
You must first and foremost know that you want to quit, and you need to know why. It may be helpful to make a list of what you will gain or how you expect you will feel after quitting. Keep this list handy and look at it whenever you feel challenged to smoke. In other words you need to want to quit.
ACCEPTANCE OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: The state of being held as the cause of something that needs to be set right (responsibility for smoking lies with the smoker); accepts blame, fault, liability, accountability.
You have to accept that you are responsible for your habit. Yes the cigarette manufacturers made it easy for you to get cigarettes, they made it look cool to smoke, and they put advertisements in your face, everywhere they could, however you lit the flame, you could have said no. Smoking is a choice, you could choose not to.
PERSONAL DISCPLINE: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character; control gained by enforcing obedience or order, orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior. Continue reading Successful Smoking Cessation is Greatly Enhanced When These 5 Qualities are Present
By Jim Newell
Lets look at this exercise like a recipe, any good cook will tell you that a recipe can be completed without some of the ingredients called for, however the quality of the finished dish may not be up to par.
With that in mind, lets explore what is needed to finally be successful at quitting smoking.
The first and quit likely the most important ingredient is personal commitment, if you are not completely convinced that you want to quit smoking, your chances of complete and total success are limited, however if you are completely committed, your chances for success are greatly enhanced.
By Jim Newell
Notice that the title of this article says that smoking is voluntary, if you are a smoker and have tried any number of times to quit, you probably think that smoking is anything but voluntary. But let’s admit to the truth, you do choose each and every time you light up, you could just as well choose not to.
I have a good friend who is and has been a heavy smoker for the 20 years I have known him. About 10 years ago he had a heart attack at age 45, which resulted in a quadruple bypass. When I visited my friend at the hospital, he was scared half to death, he said that his doctors told him he would need to make some lifestyle changes, one of which was to quit smoking. He swore that he was at that point, done with tobacco forever…well that lasted 2 weeks, he had made a choice. This is a guy who was and still is in fairly good physical condition, his job is physically demanding, he is active in some sports, not overweight. So his major risk factor is most likely smoking, and he has chosen to still smoke. He is about 5 years younger than me and, sadly I fully expect that I will attend his funeral. So you see it really is a choice, not always a wise one, but still a choice. Continue reading Smoking – One of the Most Destructive, VOLUNTARY Things You Can Do to Your Health!
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