The Quit Smoking Report Ezine

The Quit Smoking Report 12/15/98

Published on the first and third Tuesday of each month

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

In this issue:

<> Letter from the Editor
<> Featured Product: Disgusting Ashtray Mousepad
and Drink Coaster
<> Article: Get Your Fair Share
<> A Word From Our Sponsor
<> Smokers' Stories

You can read previous issues of The Quit Smoking Report on our
web site. Just visit: http://www.quitsmoking.com/ezine

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Hello again everyone!

Well, this is the last issue of 1998. This has been an exciting
year for me, both on and off the Internet. I won't bore you with
the details, but let me just say "thank you" to each person on
this list for being a part of QuitSmoking.com.

I hope that you have benefited from these emails and from our
web site. I look forward to the day when I can take you off this
list--when you have quit for good!

I also want to wish each person a Merry Christmas and a Happy
Hanukkah, and of course a Happy New Year! Let's make 1999 the
Great Year of Quitting! If you are making your New Year's
resolutions to quit smoking, be sure to read my article written
just for this occasion. Go to:
http://www.quitsmoking.com/tips.htm

Also, be sure to visit our new bulletin board system, where you
can read messages from other smokers who are quitting, plus post
your own messages. This is a great forum to communicate, get
help from other smokers, offer help, and simply "get it off your
chest" when the "crazies" are getting to you.
Visit http://www.quitsmoking.com/bbs.htm

I'll see you next year!

Fred H. Kelley
QuitSmoking.com

Remember, you can read previous issues of The Quit Smoking
Report on our web site. Just visit:
http://www.quitsmoking.com/ezine

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FEATURED PRODUCT: Disgusting Ashtray Mousepad and Drink Coaster
http://www.quitsmoking.com/mousepad/index.htm

Just added today!

How disgusting does smoking have to be before you quit? Try this
mousepad and drink coaster on for size! These custom-designed
mousepads and drink coasters will remind you every time you use
your computer just how disgusting cigarettes really are.

Pictured on the mouse pad and coaster are a disgusting ashtray,
filled with cigarette butts, ashes, and tobacco. It's enough to
make even the most hardcore smoker think twice about lighting
up!

The mousepad is 8.5" x 7". The surface is a washable plasticine-
type finish so it's easily cleaned. The surface on the bottom of
the pad grips your desktop, keeping it in place while your mouse
glides smoothly on top.

The mousepad is packaged with a matching drink coaster, which is
4.5" inches in diameter.

Makes a great gift! Only $11.95 for the set.

Visit http://www.quitsmoking.com/mousepad/index.htm

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ARTICLE: Get Your Fair Share

What drives the feeding frenzy each Christmas season? What makes
one or two toys the must-have, hot item, like this year's Furby?
Of course most hot products have some innate value, creating
initial demand. But what drives people to pay hundreds of
dollars for a furry toy, or a child's doll? Often the cause is
limited supply.

When you can't have something, you often want it even more.

Just about all advertising encourages you to "buy now" because
"supplies are limited." For most products, the company selling
the product can easily get or make more. For Furbies, demand
exceeded supply, causing fights in stores, and "scalping" of the
toy at ridiculously high prices.

So what's all this got to do with quitting smoking?

Glad you asked.

Did you get your fair share of cigarettes today? What drives
many people to smoke or drink heavily or overeat is a sense that
you've got to get what you can now, before it's all gone.

For example, remember the last time you had some good cookies or
candy in your home? I'll bet that if you live with other people
you felt some sense of urgency to get your "fair share" of the
cookies or candy. As the supply of goodies dwindled did you find
yourself getting one or two, more often? Before you knew it,
they were all gone, and you probably felt like you didn't get an
equal share.

This is a simple generalization, not meant to convict you, but
to demonstrate basic human nature. We all feel compelled to get
our "fair share" before it is taken away by someone else. Each
of us feels a basic desire to make sure our needs are met,
daily.

Now imagine this: Suddenly a million cookies appear in your
kitchen--all just as delicious as the ones you had in limited
supply earlier. Suddenly, your appetite disappears, and you
don't feel a need to "fight" over the cookies. Heck, they'll be
here for 10,000 years! They'll rot before you can eat them all.

I bet you don't feel like eating a single cookie now, do you?

Here's the subtle, but important point I'm trying to make:
Cigarettes are plentiful! The supply is nearly limitless. You
can have as many cigarettes as you want. The cigarette
manufacturers will be happy to make as many as you need. In
fact, according to The World Health Organization, the annual
consumption of cigarettes during the years 1990-1992 was
6,050,000,000,000 (give or take a few billion)!!

Whether it is subconscious or not, you probably feel like you
can't get your fair share of cigarettes. What happens when you
get down to the last cigarette in the pack, and you have no more
packs left? Do you panic? Do you drive 10 miles out of your way
in the driving snow to get another pack? I bet you have a story
to tell about your "search and destroy mission" to get more
cigarettes.

When you need a smoke, but can't find one, the fact that you are
without cigarettes can consume all your thoughts and actions.
However, if you know you've got a few packs or cartons stashed
away, you don't even think about it. Just knowing more are
within easy reach lets you relax and go about your business.

The next time you find yourself looking at an empty pack, just
relax! And remember: There are still trillions of cigarettes
available.

If you have made up your mind to quit and are now facing huge
cravings, just remember there are probably millions of
cigarettes within 10 miles of you. You can have your fair share
if you want, but who wants to smoke when you've got cookies
instead?

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A Word From Our Sponsor:

"The most amazing miracle has happened to me--I stopped smoking
after 62 years, using the EasyQUIT program! It was a peaceful,
rapid transition without the insanity that accompanied earlier
attempts to stop. Here I am, a new woman at the age of 78. The
cough is gone, the insanity is gone, and I feel liberated!" -
Gladys Elson, RN, MS - Dix Hills, NY
For more information visit http://www.easyquit.com

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SMOKERS' STORIES

If you can help these folks with your suggestions please send
them email.

Janine Smith <jmsmith3@yahoo.com> writes:
Subject: How I quit

Well, I started taking zyban (150mg) 1 time a day for 4 days and
increased to 2 times a day (300mg). I couldn't sleep and I was
very anxious so after 6 days went back to 1 time a day...I
reached my quit day after 2 weeks and just knew I wasn't ready
to quit...I then kept taking the zyban and bought the Nicoderm
cq patch (14mg). Being a heavy smoker, I was supposed to use
the patch with the 21mg but chose not to.

Well, I did quit on my quit day and that was 7 days ago. I was
having a lot of cues etc. the 1st 3 days and then I took the
patch off...had a bad day that day but have had very few cues
since.

Some helpful tips for me:

1) I took time off of work and remained home away from any
smokers.

2) I slept as much as I could during the 1st few days.

3) I drank tons of water..esp. every time I had a cue.

4) I ate candy, chips and whatever else I wanted to and told
myself I will do this for only 10 days.

5) every time I had a cue, I told myself that I could smoke if I
wanted to but that I choose not to.

6) for now, I have stopped drinking coffee as this was my
biggest cue to smoke.

7) I went to the mall and walked pass all of the smokers
standing outside...Phew Did i smell that bad too? Yuk!

8) I sat next to some smokers in a restaurant and watched them
smoke...I used to do this a lot...stop by a deli for a cup of
coffee and a cigarette. I enjoyed the fact that this time I
wasn't there to smoke but rather to just eat and enjoy myself
and that I did.

9) I bought the song " I will survive" and change the lyrics
around for cigarettes instead of a man...Wow, this was so
powerful 'cause I would just scream out the words "I will
survive etc...Go on now GO walk out the door..just turn around
now 'cause you're not welcome anymore etc.etc.etc. I just
raged...it was so much fun and made me feel so powerful and in
control.

10) I signed up for support groups like this one.

So, there you have it....It's been only 7 days and I have been
faced with some pretty powerful challengers like my husband
screaming at me and begging me to start smoking again just so I
wouldn't be such a [*expl. deleted]....hehehe He quit the same
day and I tell you having two quitters around each other the
first few days was hell...My husband said to me "Look, I quit
smoking, I quit caffine, I can't drink because I'm on zyban, so
if you so much as look at me cross eyed, I'll punch you in the
face!" Well, we just started belly laughing so hard and I knew
we would make it.

+++

Andrew Miller <face@McLeanConsult.ca> writes:
Subject: Quit Smoking story

This is a long one...

I've been a smoker for ten years, from the age of 13 to 23. In
1996, I was diagnosed with a brain disease called PML and told
that I would most likely not live past two months. My doctors
encouraged me to stop smoking, and I even tried several times
with no success. Just when I was about to give up, my illness
went into remission. I foolishly convinced myself that I could
then continue smoking without further risk.

In the summer of 1997, I came out of remission with a vengeance.
My disease had been aggravated by the continual smoking, but
even at that point I couldn't bring myself to put down the pack,
even in order to save my life. My best friend knew of my illness
and made me promise I wouldn't smoke else I would lose him, but
I ended up smoking regardless and lying to him about it
repeatedly for nearly an entire year. Nearly every other friend
smoked, so I was alone in my subsequent attempts to quit, which
always failed after a very short time. Over the year I was
lying (and dying...the disease progressed more slowly than
before), I accumulated so much guilt and self-loathing that I
fell into a terrible depression. I simply believed I could not
quit, and that by continuing smoking I was betraying my closest
friend and jeopardizing my life.

I became extremely paranoid and stressed that someone would tell
him I was smoking, which led me to take great pains to hide it,
even so far as involving others in the lie with me. For 6
months I was constantly looking over my shoulder when I had a
cigarette, and showering after each smoke. I would even bring a
change of clothes to work every day so I could hide the ones I
had been smoking in. Needless to say, it was a miserable
existence, but still I was unable to quit.

I finally broke down and told my friend that I had been lying to
him. He was extremely angry, and for good reason. I felt so
helpless and worthless because the smoke controlled my life. I
expected my friend to leave and never speak to me again for
betraying his trust, but instead he did something which
surprised me. He came to my home, threw out all the empty packs
of cigarettes, matches, lighters and empty tobacco tins that I
had been hiding, then told me that he expected me to go to the
doctor the next morning and get help. He even made me call him
both before and after my visit to the doctor so he could know
that I had gone.

It has been three days, and he is still very angry with me, but
every day he asks to make sure I am wearing the patch that my
doctor prescribed. My disease was cured nearly two months ago,
and I'm doing my best not to pick up another cigarette and
destroy my life all over again. It is very, very hard; but the
freedom I've felt in the last three days has been a big part of
what has kept me going; both the freedom from cigarettes, and
the freedom from having to lie and hide from my closest friend.
I want to do this for myself, but also for him, because I quite
literally owe him my life.

Andrew

+++

Doug Thuma <thuma@c2i2.com> writes:

Dear Fred,
So far so good, isn't that what the man said at the 15th floor
after falling off the 30th floor balconey? I went down to Mexico
and bought some nicerette gum and it seems to be working, but I
still need to have it around at certain times. Quitting is the
easiest thing in the world to do, I have quit about 15 times.
The hard thing is not have a cigerette right now, just put it
off for a while and see how many time you can put it off, or
even imagine you just had one of the nasty, no-good for you,
kill you slowly, best thing ever invented and snub it out. Oh,
well you probably have heard it all, I'm here to tell you I
haven't had a coffin nail in a month, and I haven't gone crazy
yet, have I?
Doug Thuma

+++

Yvonne Woo <yvonne@wooville.com> writes:
Subject: re: quitting smoking with hypnosis

Hi Fred,

I had been smoking for about 20 years (and I'm only 33!) and had
cut down to only smoking when I went out socially after my now
two year old was born. What finally worked for me was hypnosis.
The hypnosis itself was excellent but what also motivated me was
the fact that I'd invested $270 for the 3 sessions and I was
going to be d*&#%d if I was going to blow it. Another motivating
factor was developing a weight training and cardiovascular
program for myself and going 5 days a week to the gym. I joined
the gym BEFORE quitting so everything wasn't a big shock all at
once.

good luck to everyone,

Yvonne

+++

Wayne <FLR150@aol.com> writes:

My quitting story:
I am a 28 year old healthy male in pretty good physical
condition, except for the fact that I smoke. I have been smoking
this time for almost 7 years. I say this time as I was a smoker
from the age of 13 until I turned 17. I quit then because of a
beautiful relationship with the love of my life (I thought) for
almost 4 years. At the end of those 4 years that relationship
took a drastic down turn and the divorce just crushed me. I went
into severe depression and had to really seek psychiatric help
to overcome this devastation. I lost my beautiful home, my
business, and most of my friends. After I had recovered from
this tragedy, I was in severe party mode and just didn't see a
reason to quit. I exercise daily and I have a rather physically
strenuous job that keeps me active almost the full 8 hours of my
shift. But, now I have to quit smoking. I have just recently
been to see my family and my step-uncle is dying of throat and
mouth cancer from smoking. He has been through all the chemo and
surgery his already weak body can stand. This now weak and
struggling man was a hearty robust fisherman and hunter until
less than 3 months ago. Now he lays withered and passing away
without much hope except prayer. I didn't think I would ever see
myself quitting, until I saw him this way. My only hope is that
I have the personal strength and perseverance to make sure that
January 15, 1998, will be the start of the rest of my life as a
non smoker. If any of you know of ways to help me succeed please
email me back I'd appreciate the encouragement and will provide
the same.

Wayne
FLR150@aol.com

+++

RottaWiler@aol.com writes:

Dear Fred,
I wrote you about 6 months ago during one of my attempts to
quit smoking. I have started and quit again several times since
then. I remember writing in my journal back in January at the
beginning of 1998. It said "this year I will finally quit
smoking for good". Well, being December already, I figured I
better stick to it this time. Your report this week really
conveyed my exact thoughts: Next week never comes! I am using
the Nicorette gum, and to those readers out there - it works for
me quite well to take away the cravings, however, I get used to
getting that "nicotene high" from it, so be careful because you
can get addicted to it just as easily! I have also become a
vegetarian to hopefully help with not gaining weight. Deep
breathing exercises are good also, I do them while I am driving
and sitting in traffic. Most of all though, I think it is a
mental thing. Everyday, I try to imagine myself 10 yrs ago,
back in high school before I ever smoked, and how I managed to
even "survive" without cigarettes! How did I get such high
grades, do so many extracurricular activities, go to parties,
celebrate the holidays with family and relatives....all without
ever once feeling the urge to have a smoke? I think the answer
to that question is the answer to how I will stay smoke -free
for the rest of my life.

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

As this year comes to an end I wish each of you much joy and
happiness and a happy smoke-free New Year!

Won't you share your quitting story with me? It may be just the
push that someone else reading this email needs to quit
successfully in 1999.

Just hit reply on your email program, and send me your story
today!

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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, EAT CHRISTMAS COOKIES INSTEAD OF SMOKING,

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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