Rex Lee ReynoldsWhat health-nut forum would be complete without the
subject of stopping smoking? Although it's
something many of us have enjoyed, some for many
decades, or at least we have told ourselves as the bad
effects of the tobacco takes the toll on us, not to
mention the ever increasing cost.
Since the time
the white man first got here and was introduced to
tobacco by the Indians we've been puffing away like
there's no tomorrow, and for some of us that weren't so
fortunate, one day there wasn't.
From before the
1800s to the early 1960ies not much was thought about
it. Many people did it, and those who didn't had to put
up with the second-hand smoke, even in elevators, busses
and everywhere imaginable. Nowadays if you smoke you
almost feel criminalized having to step outside and
twenty feet from a restaurant. But it's something many
people still enjoy even if limited as to where they can
do it.
If someone is addicted wants to quit smoking cigarettes
there are many methods available, if they want to quit,
but they do have to want to quit before anything will
work. Not everyone wants to quit.
Probably one of
the best resources are the quitting hotlines, where
smokers can talk to understanding people on a toll-free
number. There's also the patch that allows nicotine to
be absorbed into the skin during the quitting process,
as well as a number of prescription drugs that may be
used.
Personally I never tried the hotlines, yet,
I found the patch to be useless, and I've never been
real keen on any kind of drug use, hardly ever take
anything other than an Aspirin. The patch doesn't deliver
enough nicotine for someone who has been a heavy smoker
and drugs even though maybe tested in clinical trials
have weird side effects. Putting one drug after another
never made sense to me. And no one can convince me that
chewing rather than smoking is any kind of sane
alternative. The toxins still get into the system.
But if you decide chewing as an alternative or
method of gradually easing off all together, I would
suggest the nicotine gum, like Nicorette or one of the
other available nicotine gum brands on the market and
available in your drug store. The nicotine gum seemed to
work best for me. The gum provides nicotine and the
sensation of smoking, while keeping the smoke out of
your lungs while you ease off and finally quit.
Among the two things I never thought I would ever do
are working out at a gym and stopping smoking. But about
a year ago I managed to force myself to start going to a
gym several times per week, with the emphasis
specifically on the activity of detoxification of the
body by sweating after working out.
Some people
nearly fall over in disbelief when I mention how I've
enjoyed cigarettes for so many decades. Yes, I have been
one of the lucky ones to be able to live to tell about
it. My good fortune is likely due to having been a
physically active person most my life, changing to light
filtered cigarettes many years ago, and having used very
good food supplements for many years, namely very
good Vitamin C, the powdered kind in capsules rather
than tablets that do not dissolve, and tend to pass
through the system without being absorbed.
Even
so it was evident to me that I have an addiction and
needed to do something about it. I have been seriously
envious of people who are able to quit cold turkey and
never touch another cigarette. For the rest of us the
gradual cut-down method is our alternative.
Although the support available from the quitting smoking
hotlines are appealing, I've never tried one, having
made progress on my own by using the following, and look
forward to the day when I don't smoke at all.
It
seems helpful to look back to when we first started to
smoke, times like when we were a little kid when our
parents and maybe also the grandparents smoked. When we
do that it's easy to see why someone would want to
smoke. Subconsciously smoking probably reminds us of the
comforting things of home life as a kid, with Dad
working, Mom taking care of the home, and visiting those
fun grandparents.
Then we can realize that those
times are gone, it's a different picture now with
society changing and smoking not being nearly as popular
and acceptable as it was in those fun days as a kid.
Mental image visualization seems to be necessary and
is actually a vital ingredient to the process. Whatever
we see and experience in our daily lives had to first
exist in someone's imagination. So when we think of
quitting smoking it's necessary to envision how our
life would be without the use of the cigarettes. As
difficult as it may seem for a smoker to imagine not
smoking, it is possible with a little practice, and may
require some regular practice to get a clear mental
image picture of living without smoking, in order to
bring it into a reality in our daily lives.
Combined with regular exercise, good diet, food
supplements and detoxification through sweating, I've
found the mental imaging to be a great help to me in
cutting down the smoking, and am able to envision the
not too distant future with me not smoking at all.
No extra charge for this, play it as much as you like.