Easy Way to Stop Smoking
- 19th Jul 2007
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- Family
Hopefully today has been the first day of the rest of my non smoking life….
I have always been a smoker really, off and on… stop for a period of time then start again. It was the conference scene that got me heavily back on the cigarettes from all the late nights in the bar talking search. Now that the smoking ban has arrived in England, as of July 1st, I really felt it was time to do something about it… plus Becky (wife) wanted to pack in and the kids were hassling us.
For the last couple of weeks we have been trying using the normal willpower method of giving up but it is so easy to start again, blaming stress at work, the fact it helps me concentrate and relaxes me. It just wasn’t working but it was just so hard to give up… but is it really?
Ages ago (the previous time we packed in) Becky bought Allen Carr’s book “Easy Way to Stop Smoking”, but bought it after we had stopped and we never needed it. So we dug it out last night and Becky read it - I just got the important sections to read - and today I am a non smoker. I haven’t given up smoking ( as that would mean I was making a sacrifice which instantly makes it harder to stop ) but I have freed myself from cigarettes and the nicotine.
Allen Carr used to smoke 100 a day for thirty odd years, and stopped 23 years ago. He did die last year of lung cancer which had been caused by his smoking but if he hadn’t of stopped he would have died much sooner. The way he explains why it isn’t difficult to stop smoking blows away all the myths about the withdrawl symtoms and the breaking of the habit. You just have to think of yourself as being free from having to smoke cigarettes, and that really it’s all a matter of breaking the addition that you have to nicotine.
You look back and think why didn’t I do this sooner and how stupid I was to start smoking again after I had given up previously. So word of advice, don’t do patches or gum or any other costly treatment.. just get the book.
Oh one good thing is that you can smoke while you read it!
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Dave…you should try Champix to quit smoking…as a matter of fact, I have an affiliate link for it…it is… :.)
Seriously, I do know enough about the product that many people are doing quite well with it. But, congrats on quitting via the Allen Carr book.
I wish you tons of luck, Dave. I quit smoking on March 29th, of this year. (I blogged about it…url linked above if you are interested). In any case, I did it the willpower way. Just quit. On June 3rd, I smoked one…and got so sick, it was easy to not do that again. So, it’s going on 4 months for me now, and I hope you get there too. And just FYI, I smoked at least 3 packs a day for the last 30 years or so. Some days were 5-packers. So…it can be done, and any way you get it done (books, willpower, patches, whatever)…just do it.
Best of luck!
Dave
You have to really want to stop, that’s the key I think.
Feeling you ought to just isn’t enough and that’s why people fail.
If yo actually enjoy the act of smoking thenn oly the financial cost or fear of premature death and illness will stop you !
If you really want to stop then you can - my father did, many I know have.
I though continue to smoke, I enjoy it so much. I never feel that I ‘need’ one - just enjoy those I do have.
Good luck with it
Phantombookman .. this is a common myth that most smokers have and I did too. I used to convince myself that I did enjoy smoking but then you start to think about what it is you are doing, the taste and the smell and it starts to put you off. The EasyWay method explains how our brain / body convinces us that you like and need to smoke so that we get the next nicotine fix.
The worst preaches about stopping smoking are the ex smokers ;)
Hi Dave,
I was lucky and quit during a period of time when my life was changing anyway. I moved and changed jobs at the same time as I was dumping my girlfriend. It was also near New Years Eve 2000 and I needed a good resolution. I had tried to quit before but wasn’t able to because almost everyone I knew smoked. It was imposable to resist with everyone around me still smoking. I also LIKE smoking so it was very difficult for me to quit. I’m so glad I eventually did it though.
Go to youtube and search for “Australia quit smoking anti-smoking ads” If those don’t motivate you to quit, nothing will.
sounds like me and beer.
running or something like that can make it easier too, start running and it really highlights how bad smoking was messing you up.
good luck, it’ll be worth it.
I’m smoking a cigarette at this very moment :(
Buy packs of gum.
I used to smoke Camels and Marlboros every day and spent 24/7 in pool halls filled with smokers to my left and smokers to my right. But once I started chewing gum I never picked up another pack again. Withdraws or temptations while people were smoking all around me? I didn’t feel a thing. And I have tried quitting before and it was tough man. I’d get irritated during the day and I’d walk to the local gas station at 3 in the morning to buy a pack to get my fix, telling myself its my last pack, but then I’d be going through one pack in like 2 hours.
I never had to go through that crap when I picked up chewing gum. I didn’t even have to try to quit. It satisfies the same oral fixation without addictive chemicals getting in your body. Like they say, when you want to stop a bad habit, don’t go cold turkey, replace it with a less harmful habit.
I gave up 4 and a bit years ago by cheating: I bought a soft-top car. Try smoking with the roofdown at speeds of -DELETED- !! :-)
But it worked brilliantly. Still haven’t gone back to them, even though I feel like it at times.
Go for it Dave!! I wish you all the best and I’m pretty sure you’re strong enough to stop :)
I have stopped smoking a few years ago and when I look back it was very easy. I had a few drawbacks when I smoked a few on parties or even started to smoke again for like a few weeks or so. But then I got over it and right now I can go out and get drunk and whatever (like really heavy ;) and I still don’t smoke.
I’m pretty sure you can do this too. When I stopped smoking I started to go running. This stopped me from smoking because I feared I jeopardized my development by smoking cigarettes.
I had a professor that was in the military and was told he needed to stop smoking or he would die. To quit, he ate a cigarette, which was the most disgusting thing ever, and never smoked again.
As for the gum, I know an addiction counselor that stopped smoking for months then started chewing the gum, which got him back on cigarettes.
As a non-smoker, I’m thankful for the smoking ban and not for any health related reasons. That next day after being at a bar, bowling alley or some other smoke filled area and that stale cigarette smell that comes off your hair in the shower is the worse.
Don’t know if you remember Laisha, an SEO from years back. She was a drug addict for nearly everything. She said quitting smoking was more difficult for her than quitting heroine. I wish you all the luck. If you need to use a patch, don’t feel like you are weak. Nicotine is a very difficult drug to quit.
Good luck.
Allen Carr is the daddy. It’s four years since I read his book, and had me last fag - not wanted one since, can go out with my mates who are all smoking drink beer and not even think about it. That book is one of the few I can say genuinely changed my life for the better. And by hardcore smoker, I mean the roughest, toughest roll your own nasty stuff. Tried everything before that, managed will power for a year, but I was always miserable. My whole mindset changed after reading Easy Way.
Once you read it, you hear all those little lies you deluded yourself with from people who are still smokers. The gum, the patches, the inhalers - all a waste a time. It’s like he says - it’s like treating addiction to heroin by taking heroin. We all know what a big con much of the pharmaceutical industry is - nicotine replacement another big waste. Just be a non-smoker. It’s that simple… :)
Nothing worse for going on about it than us non-smoking ex-smokers.
“Oh one good thing is that you can smoke while you read it!” - LOL
I keep putting it off, tomorrow never comes……………..
Same here. I got the book but never managed to find the time to read it. Good luck with it Dave!
Nice work man!
welcome to the world of being able to taste stuff
Good luck Dave. I hope you live long enough for my grandkids to listen to you on Strikepoint.
Good work on knocking the snout on the head.
I packed them up 9 yrs or (3 stone ) ago.
Teach yourself to hate the buggers - just makes its easy.
See them as something you miss and you’ll begin to yearn for them. See them as what they are ” a dirty smelly anti scoial life destroying off putting money wasting testament to being dumb” and it just makes it all a little easier.
Good luck with it.
I have found the smoking ban has made it worse, I quit about 6 months ago, but I am now back smoking again. Mainly due to the fact there all my mates were constantly either going for a fag or coming back from having a fag. And the couple of non smokers were just left sat at a table whilst the smoking relay was going on.
I’m going to try again in a couple of weeks.
I stopped smoking last year, in October. I’d tried lots of times before that, but the last time … well, it was trivial. Not an effort. No problem. And I’ve not had a single puff since. What was my secret? Exactly the same book.
Dave, sounds like you’re going to do fine. From this point onwards it’s all cake. I actually wrote about my experience on my own blog (my fitness one, not my web dev one): http://www.geek-fitness.com/2007/07/03/stopping-smoking/
Dave, given the fact that tobacco is the best antidepressant known to man, either your own depression has lifted or you’re taking a handful of prescription antidepressants at ten prices.
But now that you’ve quit smoking, let’s hope you’ll find something else to be obsessed about.
the worst thing about stopping is the amount of time you’re going to have to fill and after the initial couple of weeks of feeling well pleased with yourself it gets incredibly boring - and that is the danger time. I stopped 15 years ago with the help of patches and gum and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done BUT the best thing is I don’t have that horrile smokers mouth - the one with all the tiny little wrinkles round the lips and the horrible yellow skin and fingers and I’ve still got both legs - not my best feature but I’m quite attached to them - but the absolute best thing is my husband - who stopped 18 years ago - didn’t die a couple of years ago when he had a terrible bout of pneumonia ‘cos if he still smoked I would have been coming home from our holiday in Florida a not so merry widow and spending all my time taking our 12 year old fishing - which I hate
so if the vanity angle doesn’t work and the possible health implications don’t swing it try thinking of what life would really be like without your partner or your legs!
Dave I smoked a pack a day for over a decade and tried to quit dozens of times over those ten years. Sometimes I lasted only a day, and other times I lasted several months - but I ALWAYS started again because I ALWAYS felt like I was depriving myself a “treat”.
This book you are talking about “How to Quit Smoking The Easy Way” was the last book I ever read about quitting. That’s be cause by the time I finished it I had smoked my last cigarette.
That book was one of the best things that ever happened to me because it helped me reframe the way I think about smoking. Smoking wasn’t “relaxing” me in times of stress. Smoking was the CAUSE of my stress, and a cancer stick merely brought me back to normal for a few minutes before the withdraw symptoms started coming back and stressing me out again. When you QUIT smoking you feel “normal” all the time so it’s always like you just had a smoke.
Hard to explain the way Mr. Carr does so just read the book if you want to stop and hopefully you’ll get the same result as me.
Everett
Sorry to mention it…but how’s the no smoking going Dave? I was a long time smoker, and gave up. I found after about day 4 withdrawal much easier. After 6 months of non smoking I can understand why people say “once a smoker always a smoker”… not easy.
Just to update you … it’s Day 6 of being a non-smoker and it’s going well. I get a little crazy in the evenings but apart from that it’s working for me. The Allan Carr method of thinking has been the best way I have found so far to kick the habit. Still got a long way to go but I think I’ll manage it.
forgot to mention in my previous post - don’t know why I’m ‘anonymous’, can’t get used to this new fangled medium - an added benefit of stopping smoking is the superior smug ‘yeah I used to smoke xx fags a day, gave up xx years/months/days ago, hardest thing I’ve ever done, but ya know it’s worth it’
to the poor souls who are still struggling with the evil weed (while quietly and sneakily trying to get a lungful of the yellow nicotine)
stopped smoking last friday and its driving me up the wall..argh! feel so sorry for my poor kids as im bitting there heads off at the slightest thing.
I’ve been thinking shall i just have a cig and chill out?
When does the cravings ease?
Hi Dave Elaine and Anonymous et Al,
Picked this up on Google Alert, have you found that - sooooo useful!.
Congratulations on giving up smoking.
There is no doubt that the Alan Carr method is effective however many people stuggle with cravings having given up this way.
Strangely Alan Carr himself gave up using hypnosis however he never recognised that hypnosis is the only way which, when used together with NLP, takes away that struggle and therefore the risk of slipping back.
We are currently producing a CD/MP3 download which will help those who have given up successfully by whatever method but still experience cravings or the desire to smoke - it really doesn’t have to be that way.
If you would be interested in receiving details of this new track based on the work we do here at the Bridgend Private Clinic and produced by Hypnotic Voice of the Year 2007 - Bee Milbourn, please drop me an e mail and I will send details when production is complete.
Then Elaine you will have no need to say “Once a smoker always a smoker”!
Best Regards
Anthony Bennett
Smoking Cessation Consultant
Bridgend Private Clinic
PS As for Champix Todd Mintz - Do you know how long that takes? How much it costs? and have you seen the side effects? Our methods are one two hour session, drug free and have twice the success rate. For a risk free solution why not try a solution that doesn’t have the potential for harm.
Thanks Dave. Just ordered the book. I need it. Good luck!
I quit by using the cold laser which is a form of acupuncture. Although there is no scientific evidence that it works I know lots of people who quit by using this procedure. Best of all there are no drugs, no side effects and you leave the treatment feeling relaxed and not having a crave to smoke. The pharmaceutical industry does not want the laser to get approved nor get any positive publicity. because it will effect their business if the public finds out about this hidden benefit to smokers who want to quit.
Good luck Dave! Allen Carr’s EasyWay was the only one that worked for me after 20+ years of smoking. I figured it was either me or the nicotine monster,(addiction)- that simple. Don’t believe all the hype in the TV ads about how hard it is and that you need nicotine replacement to quit. That’s just another nicotine trap. You just have to kill the nicotine monster, by cutting of its supply. The benefits are well worth the cravings which lessen after a few days and aren’t that bad anyway.
Anonymous, three days and you’re on the home straight. Hang in there, it’s worth it.
To anyone who has given up and failed, each time you fail you know your enemy a little better and your chances of succeeding next time increases. Don’t give up giving up!
Hi just to say I have been given up 3months today it wasnt too bad the 1st month but now it is getting a lot more difficult tried some nicotene chewing gum 2 weeks ago but it made me think about cigs more I think the gum /patches etc is just another company cashing in us unfortunate people
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I had been a smoker for 16 years and not just cigarettes. I was a habitual marijuana smoker, I would smoke at least 8 joints a day as well up to 10 cigarettes. Since reading Allen Carrs book I have stopped instantly with next to no withdrawal symptons or cravings/pangs. It has only been a few weeks since I stopped but those are the hardest, or so I thought. I have more energy and loads more money in my pocket. I have convinced several of my friends to quit also and my example is leading the way. I owe it all to Allen and I am absolutely gutted he is no longer with us so that I may thank him personally. If his wife ever reads this I would like her to know that he has changed my life for the better and every day I am a non-smoker is down to Allens brilliantly inciteful breakdown of nicotine addiction and how to overcome it. I will be forever in his debt. If you are strong of mind there is nothing you can’t achieve.
Well you should watch this video about a smoking experiment, maybe it helps you http://www.smoking-video.com
Hi Dave. I smoked for over 10 years. I had tried everything to stop - the patch, the lozenges, the “willpower” method - nothing worked. I inadvertently came across Allen Carr’s book online one day and saw that it had rave reviews at Amazon so I ordered a copy. I haven’t smoked a cigarette since the day I finished the book. I highly recommend “The Easy Way To Stop Smoking” to anyone who wants to quit for good.
How are you getting on, Dave?
Ok, I too quit a month ago and keeping in mind that it’s actually a discusting habbit, helps me a lot. However, the cravings are bad, really bad. Cudos to everyone that manages to stop smoking :)
I’m starting to feel like the only smoker left. Except that is when I get together with the family. Four generations of us the other month crammed like sardines into a smoking shelter built for 10 people.
I have tried to give up, but last time my GP prescribed ZyBan and it sent me spiralling into a depression that nearly killed me. This has pretty much made me reluctant to let me GP even mention the word ’smoking’ again. The side effects of this stop smoking wonder drug are horrendous. In fact,when on holiday in Malaysia a few years later I met a guy who’s father had worked on the clinical trials of it in Australia - he had one word to say about Zyban - ‘Evil’.
Abolsute respect for anyone who gives up - but it’s not for me.
Congrats. Funny thing, i also quit after 20 yars of smoking, in 1979. I didnt have a book, but basicly the same way. I just had to convince myself I wanted to be a non smoker more than a smoker. Used mental images of stiking my toung in a dirty ashtray any time the urge hit. Have not had a smoke since. Thank god.
Hey Dave,
You misspelled “addiction” above. In your 3rd to last paragraph you say “addition that you have to nicotine.”
Anyways, nitpicky, I know. I smoked for years, and even coupled that with chewing tobacco at the same time (a dip and a smoke going at once) so you can imagine me trying to quit. Of course, going out with friends who smoked didn’t help matters either. Finally, I just chose a week, way in advance that I would officially quit forever. I whittled down my smoking in the month prior to this week to only 3 a day. When the week came, I locked myself in my house, didn’t talk to anyone, and just white-knuckled it. I didn’t work or do anything stressful, and pretty much just watched movies and ate sunflower seeds.
17 years later..still free! I have never felt better! I am in agreement that gums and patches don’t work for most people.
Thanks for the great blog subject!
Dave
How are you getting on, Dave?
(This sentence added to fool duplicate comment detector :) )
The best way I have seen to stop smoking was when my wife stopped. My dad took her out on what he calls a trust me night.
So we get to the first pub and she starts drinking and smoking 3 pubs 5hr later he has got her to smoke 40+ fags and 3-4 bottles of wine she was ill for the next 3-4 days and lost the craving and never smoked again
So if any of you are in Rugby or Coventry will get my dad to help you to if you want.
http://www.smokersangel.com worked for me as I suffered from a lot of stress and anxiety and I used their recommended hypnotherapist to help me with this. I think may smokers have deep rooted causes which makes them light up and this site was et up to help people by giving them alternative treatment choices instead of doing it alone or using patches which merely juest feeds your nicotine addictions. Smokers angel also list acupuncturists, EFT, Bioresoance and gives discounts in using their recommended therapists! Good luck to all! K x
sorry excuse some typo errors above!!!
I know it sounds silly, but what worked for me was learning to forgive myself. In the old days I’d break down and have a cigarette and feel guilty for going back. Then I learned to stop, truly enjoy the smoke, not feel guilty at all, and then promise myself I’d try to do better next time not hating myself if I didn’t. Guess what? I don’t want to say I stopped since I still have an urge (like a recovered alcoholic who who always a recovering alcoholic) but I don’t smoke anymore. For me not succeeding was all about guilt.
I quit smoking 4 months ago and I still feel like I lost my best friend. I am eating my way through it but I hope that soon all of this will pass. It is the hardest thing I have every done but it will be worth it. Good luck to everyone and may we all stay smoke free.
im 17 years old im quitin smoking im using nuffin i believe will power is the best way to do sumfin .. its ur mind .. remember use ur mind not any1 elses. every1 who wants to give up smoking .. go for it! every1 can do it ur family have faith in you im sure best of lucky
I am on day 4 of not havinga cigarette and the craving of the nicotine monster is raging. does it get easier and when?
Just finished the book and a packet only cost 33 Pence here, smoked 80 a day and just stopped, no problems, no stress, non of the flipping out. Will buy many copies as presents in Russian for my local workforce GREAT Book
Well i recomend hypnotherapy, i went when i was dithering between smoking and not smoking. I decided to give it a go and 4 years still not smoking, i still get cravings for about 2 seconds but i aint stupid enough to have one.
I wonder if she can help me with SEO???
I am 20 years old and I have been smoking since I was in my 3rd year of highschool (13-14 yrs i think)… Now Im at university my habit has shot up from 10 a day to 20! Its disgusting and I will deffo be buying Alan Carrs book… yesterday I read his little book about his life! I give up smoking everyday and then cave in again… I hate the fact that I am addicted! I think its revolting.
Good luck to all new non-smokers! stay strong!