The Quit Smoking Report Ezine

The Quit Smoking Report 6/23/98

Brought to you by QuitSmoking.com
http://www.quitsmoking.com

Hello,

What do you want out of your next cigarette? Have you given
it much thought? If not, think about it for a moment....I'll
wait....Okay. Did you actually think of something you wanted
from your next cigarette, or was it hard to come up with
something important?

Chances are, if you have been smoking for a while, that you
give very little thought to what you want from your next
smoke. You just do it. It's routine. You don't give it a second
thought.

Let me challenge you now to

GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT.

Before your next cigarette hits your lips, think about what you
want (or at least expect to get) from your next one. Do you
want to relax, feel better, wake up, get "regular", think more
clearly, look cool, etc. ? Before you smoke--think. Don't live
your life by accident. Live it on purpose. Examine everything
you do. Why do you do them?

Think.

Think about today. Think about how what you do today will
affect you 10 years from today.

You know smoking is bad for you so I won't tell you all the
bad things that happen when you smoke. I just want you to
think about your next cigarette before your smoke it. If you're
going to smoke, smoke it ON PURPOSE. You better Think
about your purpose for smoking. Chances are you smoke now
for purposes you never intended when you first started.

And that's a lie to yourself.

====================

SMOKER'S STORIES

Athena (aproimakis@sprynet.com) writes:

Hi Fred, just writing to share my story. I am a 20 year old
smoker and I've been smoking for three years. My friends and
I made a New Year's resolution to quit this past year, but I only
lasted a week. Since then I have gone back to smoking and I
have started cutting back slowly. I've gone from a pack a day
to under one cigarette a day. I feel this is the best way to
quit. Not cold turkey. By reducing your intake of the nicotine
you are adjusting your needs for cigarettes. I have ordered the
e-z quit cigarette and my quit date is set for the 21st of this
month. I know how healthy I will feel once I quit all the way,
because just by cutting down I have felt more healthy and
energetic. I'm sure to keep you updated, I plan to beet the
addiction.

+++

Now here's a plan! from YS (mrcadillac@compuserve.com):

This is how I went from three packs a day to NONE
...overnight!

I was born in Scotland in 1939 and started smoking at the
age of five, when my brother and I found our dad's army
rations in a closet at home; he was a non-smoker but kept the
cigs for post-war socializing. We quit when these rations were
depleted, that is over a period of about 6 months.
Around the age of 10 I started to kipe small change from
my Mom's purse to feed the vending machines on the railroad
station platform opposite my school (this was in Switzerland,
where my family moved after WW2). My Dad sent me back to
school in Scotland in '51; there I found I could buy two Wills
"Wild Woodbine" for a penny at the corner tuck shop. I started
smoking again big time in 1955.
The habit stuck and I smoked regularly until the birth of
my son in December 1973; a baby daughter was added to the
family in 1975.
From 1956 thru 1973 I gradually increasing my intake
from 2-3 cigarettes a day to full two packs.
At New Year 1973, I resolved to quit smoking. It should
have been the first and last time.
Unfortunately, at a party in 1978, I foolishly accepted a
cigarette. Within two weeks I has back up to a pack a day and
within three years I had hit three packs a day. That was more
than I had smoked before I had decided to quit in 1973! BTW,
at that time I weighed around 150 lbs.
Call me a "heavy smoker". I smoked filter and non-filter
brands as well as chiroots and the occasional cigar (never liked
the pipe). I even enjoyed those filterless French "Gauloise
Bleue", which really taste like burning camel hair and cow pie.
I drove my poor wife crazy, especially by smoking in bed
and hiding the cold butts under the bed instead of disposing of
them to clear the air a bit. Sometimes I wonder what made her
stay by me!
My New Year resolution of 1985 was to quit smoking for
good ...and I did it!!!
I had planned two weeks vacation at home to "get me
through the ordeal". I told all my friends I was "going into
hibernation" for three weeks. No socializing, no partying, no
office, no stress.
This is how I did it:

1. On December 31, 1986 I deliberately smoked about five
packs, stubbing out my "last" cigarette at midnight.

2. Next morning, Jan. 1, I could not face another cigarette
...at least for a few hours, until the fire on my tongue and in
my throat was extinguished.

3. When the urge for the first cigarette of the day came along,
I drank a pint of water and went for a mile walk.

4. Whenever another urge came along, I drank another pint of
water and went for another walk.

5. By the time I had 8-10 pints of water in me, I didn't feel
like smoking...or walking any more.

6. Simultaneously, I quit drinking coffee, tea, booze, caffeine-
infested drinks and eating all spicy foods for three weeks. I
lived on a rigorous diet of tap water, fresh fruit and some
greens ...with very little or no seasoning.

7. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck for the first three
days (ask my wife, a non-smoker, who helped me through the
ordeal!)

8. I felt an unpleasant tingling up and down both arms most of
the time, and often snapped at my poor wife and kids.

9. Going back to work after two weeks was the hard part, as
many of my work colleagues were smokers.

10. I held out for one more week. After that it just got easier
and easier with each new day.

11. I willed myself into hating smoking and shunned smokers
and smoke-filled public places. I became the world's worst
"former smoker". I can't stand the smell of tobacco smoke any
more. I tend to insult people who smoke. It's my way of
convincing myself, every day, that I will never smoke another
cigarette... Life is beautiful again.

In summary: the first three days are the worst! You
really need to "keep control" and drink a lot of water (perhaps
it helps to "wash" the Nicotine out of the system?). The next
two weeks are tough but bearable. After three weeks the
"pangs" gradually disappear and you can live with yourself
quite comfortably.

The flip side: I began to enjoy food again ...and lots
of it. I have put on weight gradually over the last twelve years
and now weigh...200 lbs!
My New Year resolution for 1998 is to shed 30 of the 50
lbs I have put on and try to get back into the coat and pants I
wore at our wedding in 1972!
Guys and gals, take it from me, kiss a non-smoker and
taste the difference!

YS - A convert (currently in his 60th year)

+++

Kulette (bsoliman@mozcom.com) sends this sobering
message:

Dear Fred,

I am not a smoker but i have a story to tell. i am from the
Philippines.

my neighbor at the subdivision where we live died of lung
cancer because her husband smoked in their house.

she was 42 and she complained of dizziness so she was taken
to the doctor for diagnosis. she never coughed, she weighed
120 lbs. she ate well, but her dizziness puzzled the doctors. she
was referred to eye doctors who prescribed glasses but after 6
different eye glasses, her dizziness did not go away. a few days
later she woke up totally blind, and still dizzy so her family
took her to the hospital. they could notfind anything wrong
with her body so they did a city scan on her and they found 3
tumors on her brain 1 1/2 inches long about an inch wide. they
did a brain surgery on her and she was able to see again, but
they discovered that the tumors came from her lungs, and since
she is not a smoker and did not cough, the last thing they did
was have her x-rayed. the x-ray was just part of the hospital
routine

when she was taken in as an emergency patient. the cancer was
stage 3 and she had 3 months to live. she died after 3 months.

the husband who was working in Saudi Arabia blamed himself
for smoking in bed. he never believed that second hand smoke
will kill his wife.

i hope whoever reads this learns immediately before they kill
any of their household members with second hand smoke.

your stories will be forwarded to friends who can not quit
smoking.thank you and GOD BLESS YOU!

====================

QUESTIONS
Here's some questions from subscribers. Help them out by
emailing your suggestions.

James (Jim991681@aol.com) is looking for suggestions:

Hi Fred!
I am almost 17 years old and I have been smoking for
almost three years. I am not sure if I want to quit. I want to
quit because I want to feel healthier, but the thought of
doing the normal things I do in everyday life without
smoking sounds scary.
Anyway I was wondering if you or anyone else had any
suggestions.
Thanks a lot!

+++

David Ferrari (f3159961@bohm.anu.edu.au) needs help when
around other smokers:

I am actually a non-smoker (I quit almost a year ago)
who can't say no when there are other smokers around. For the
fisrt six months of being a non-smoker I was fine. At the
moment if I'm not around cigarettes, I can go without for
weeks on end and not even think about it. However when with
smokers, or whenever I know that there are cigarettes nearby, I
crave.
Have you any advice which could help me?

+++

Robin (rruffler@megatech.co.uk) has a dilemma similar to
David:

Dear Mr Kelley

Thank you for your email with the stories & tips. I have given
up so many times that I have the first part, the actual quitting,
down to a fine art ( I once managed 6 months) and I find it
fairly easy, when I don't drink. Once I have had a few drinks
then everything goes to pieces. My will power goes and with
all my friends smoking I find it very hard to not ask them for a
cigarette. I believe I have 3 choices. Make sure my friends do
not let me have a cigarette, dump my friends that smoke for
ones that don't, or not drink so much that I cannot control the
urge. So I have had to give up again on Sunday after about 5
cigs between Friday and Saturday night.

Any tips on what others do to get around this?

+++

====================

Thanks to everyone who sent me their story/questions/comments.
I will continue to publish the emails in future issues.

Do you have an inspiring quitting story? Tips? Hints? Scary
stories? Questions? Comments?

Send them to:
mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com
I'll share as many comments as I can with the other subscribers
of this email list.

I hope to hear from you!

====================

You can find additional helpful quit smoking tips and information at http://www.quitsmoking.com/quitinfo.htm

While you're there, take a look at our products page at
http://www.quitsmoking.com/products.htm for some helpful
quit smoking tools.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time, MAKE SURE THERE IS A NEXT TIME,

Fred Kelley

QuitSmoking.com
Phone: 770-346-9222
Fax: 770-475-5007
Web: http://www.quitsmoking.com
Email: mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com

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© Copyright 1998 Fred H. Kelley
This email may be freely distributed and forwarded
as long as the entire email remains intact.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or professional therapist.
The information included in this email is my opinion and the
opinions of the people sending in their comments.
Fred Kelley and QuitSmoking.com make no warranties,
either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the
contents of The Quit Smoking Report.

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