The Puzzle!

The truth is.....most of us will not admit to the real reason why we will not quit smoking.

Some of us say it is because of the withdrawal symptoms we will have to face if we quit.

We all dread them because of the terrible scarce stories we have heard from people who have tried to quit before.

Or from our own memories, when we tried to quit and failed in the past.

This fear is also re-enforced by our culture which bombards  us with images and beliefs which seem to to emphasize one sole message: 

When you give up, you'll face terrible withdrawal pains. Your body will scream for mercy - for nicotine. 

You will be miserable, angry - even violent until you beat this nicotine monster.

 

 RUBBISH! RUBBISH !   

IF you only get one thing from our course, please realize this: All the above horror stories are false.

The actual PHYSICAL withdrawal symptoms from nicotine are so MILD  most people will not even notice them! 

And for those that do, it will be less than the slight discomfort you would feel from a light head cold!

THEY ARE CAUSED BY YOUR REACTION TO THE FACT THAT WE CAN'T SMOKE.  

This is such an important point.

There is no PHYSICAL pain when you quit smoking. 

You will experience no physical agony when you decide to stop. 

When you fully understand this, you will look forward to that day that you will smoke that final cigarette and become a non-smoker for life.

Can you accept this truth ? 

Don't worry at this stage if you can't - we will be devoting all Lesson 3 to this vital aspect of giving up. 

At  this point, just accept it as a working but very exciting possibility!

Drop all your old thinking about smoking  -and open your mind to these new, exciting possibilities.

Not Withdrawal Symptoms, Then What Is It?

So if it's not fear of withdrawal symptoms, what then really keeps us hooked to smoking ?

Some of us believe that it is enjoyable ? Others believe that it gives us  confidence and a sense of courage. 

Another great myth is the belief that smoking relieves boredom........

Weight Gain .....and smoking 

Any increasingly disturbing trend is the belief that smoking can be used as a slimming aid. 

This is based on the belief that if you quit  smoking you are BOUND to gain weight. 

This is not true. 

If you adapt this new psychology of non-smoking, you need not fear gaining weight. 

Yes, it may have happened in the past when people tried to give up smoking through Will-Power ALONE.

To quit smoking, these people were told to use all their willpower and try to take their mind off their 'desire to  smoke and 'do' something else- ANYTHING. 

They were told to eat snacks or nibble this or that -  ANYTHING to keep them busy and their minds off smoking.

Why did they want to eat? 

Because the 'feeling' or the 'hunger' for a cigarette is very similar to the 'feeling' you get when you are hungry.

And so, in the past people ATE in the mistaken BELIEF that by eating, they could satisfy this feeling for a cigarette and that it would help them keep their minds off smoking.

But of course, it didn't work.

And the MORE the craving to smoke came back........ the MORE they ate in the mistaken belief it could help them.

That is the historical origin of this belief that if you quit smoking you must gain weight..

I am always amazed by how many people are still convinced that weight gain is an absolute by-product of giving up smoking as if you can't have one without the other.

Yes, I accept there was some validity for it in the past.

But the CAUSE was not quitting  smoking but HOW they went about the process.

We are going to deal specifically with this issue throughout the course -- so beware of any tendency to continue to want to smoke out of fear of gaining weight.

It is just another false belief.