Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Would you like to stop smoking?

 

Many smokers will answer "yes, of course" to that question and some will actually figure out a way to do it. Others will leap right into it ("I'm gonna go cold turkey"), quit for two or three days, and then explode when the cravings overwhelm them (I've been there and I know.)

Or how about the one day hypnosis classes? I see these advertised all the time so they either work or they're making lots of money for the hypnotists.

I'm a 73 year old guy. I started smoking when I was 17. I managed to stop a few times along the way, but for the most part I was a regular smoker all those years. One pack a day, regular as clockwork. First thing in the morning, jump out of bed, stick a ciggie in my mouth. It was part of my daily routine, and the thought of being without cigarettes panicked me, so even though I knew I needed to quit, I kept putting it off. Does any of this sound familiar?

I knew all the reasons, and I'm sure you do too: nasty cigarette cough, stinky car, stinky clothes, roughly $1800 a year up in smoke. And even though I knew all that, it never seemed to be enough to make me actually stop smoking.

Well I finally found the answer in a book called "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by a guy named Allen Carr. I read all the positive reviews (there are now over 700 800), and even though I was still skeptical I bought the book. When it arrived I leafed through a few pages and promptly put it on the shelf. I ignored the book for a whole year while my cigarette cough continued to get worse.

One year later I finally succumbed and I started reading the book. I read a couple of chapters every night. I continued to smoke as I read the book (the book tells you to do it this way). After a couple of weeks of following this routine I just stopped.

I'm not a psychologist and I can't begin to tell you why this book is so effective, but it is.
 
I will confess that I was highly motivated to stop, and the book just reinforced that motivation.

It's now been almost 8 years since I quit smoking and to this day I'm amazed at how easy it was and how well it worked.

For those who are still hesitant, go here to Google Books and read the preface to the book (page 11).

Hey, Ashton Kutcher did it, and so did I. There's no reason you can't too.

CLICK HERE  for more info on "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking".

Neill Phillips is a happy ex-smoker (Yes Really).

Neill Phillips - EzineArticles Expert Author 

Friday, September 3, 2010

Quitting Smoking Benefits

I'm going to assume that you're reading this article because you'd like to quit smoking.
But more than that you'd like to know that the results are worth the effort. I'm sure that you already know the answer, but I'll try and do my best here to reinforce your decision.

I'm a 69 year old guy. I started smoking when I was 17. I smoked steadily, with two breaks (one of which lasted 5 years, believe it or not) until March of 2009. I knew I had to stop or I wasn't going to be around anymore. I was motivated and I found a way to do it.

You may be convinced that quitting smoking is a huge physical and emotional ordeal.
Well, truthfully it can be. It was for me the first two times I did it, but this time I found a better and much easier way, which I'll share with you shortly.

First let's talk about quitting smoking benefits.
That's why you're reading this, right?

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Quitting Smoking Benefits - The Good Stuff starts now!

Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of positive changes that continue for years.

- Your blood pressure starts to go down.
- Your pulse rate drops (My resting pulse has dropped from 84 to 62 since I stopped).

- Your blood circulation begins to improve. This is actually one of the biggest quitting smoking benefits of all. Smoking constricts (makes smaller) your blood vessels and capillaries, which means your heart has to work harder to get blood and oxygen to those places in your body where it needs to go. When you stop smoking your veins and capillaries begin to relax and open up, which lowers the work load on your heart, which is why you'll experience a lower heart rate, lowered risk of heart attack, lower blood pressure, and higher energy level. The quitting smoking benefits go on and on.

8 hours after your last cigarette:

- The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal (the bad stuff is going away).
- The oxygen level in your blood increases to normal (the good stuff is increasing).

24 hours after your last cigarette:

- Your chance of having a heart attack begins to decrease (I've been told this is a big plus).

48 hours after your last cigarette:

- your damaged nerve endings begin to regrow
- your ability to smell and taste begins to improve

The first and most noticeable quitting smoking benefit that I personally experienced was that my cigarette cough, which was terrible before I quit, was almost totally gone after three weeks. Three weeks !!! Amazing !!!

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The worst nicotine withdrawal symptoms are gone after the first month.

2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting

- Your lung function begins to improve.
- Circulation improves
- Walking becomes easier
- Shortness of breath decreases

1 Year After Quitting
- Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.

5 Years After Quitting
- Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker’s 5-15 years after quitting.

10 Years After Quitting
- Your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s.
- Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.

15 Years After Quitting
- Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker’s.

I hope you're getting the message here.

Recovery from nicotine addiction is an ongoing process. Some improvements are dramatic and happen quickly, while others will come over time.

Aside from the improvements to your physical health, your confidence will soar as you accumulate more smoke-free time. Breaking your nicotine addiction is very empowering.

A few more quitting smoking benefits:

Depending on what cigs cost in your neck of the woods, you'll save close to $2000.00 a year.

- Your car will no longer stink.
- Your house will no longer stink.
- Your clothes will no longer stink.
- You won't have to sneak out the back all the time so you can feed your monkey.
- You'll be FREE !!!

There's an additional benefit for guys, but this is a family article, so you'll have to figure that one out for yourself. Hint: it has to do with blood flow.

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Everything I've written here is true. There are thousands of websites on the internet that will give you the exact same information.

So now we come to the question of how you're going to accomplish this miracle, and why I wrote this article in the first place.

But first you have to decide...

ARE YOU REALLY READY TO QUIT SMOKING ???
Or are you still looking for excuses?

If you're really ready, CLICK HERE to find out how to quit smoking without driving yourself insane.