The Vegan Challenge - Backstory: Quitting Smoking

I always thought it was silly to try to exercise, eat healthy and get-fit, or go green being that I was a smoker. Smoking damages your lungs, it's full of chemicals that are poisoning your body, it creates tons of toxic wastes, trash and the smoke pollutes the air. It's like riding a bike while smoking. Why would someone be doing something 'healthy' like riding a bike when smoking is just so unhealthy? Smoking was not only poisoning my body, but it was poisoning my mindset by being an excuse to be unhealthy in all areas of my life.

I would get into these mindsets of "I hate smoking, I really, really want to quit." and then I would try to.
I tried: The patch, the gum, quitting cold-turkey, smoke-timer (weaning), homeopathic pills, Smoke-Away, hypnosis tapes, the "grapefruit" method, mint-inhaler, chewing gum, affirmations... and more. I would read pamphlets and sign up for support groups and all sorts of things, but it really never lasted and nothing ever 'worked'.

I had family, friends and co-workers succeed overnight after visiting a hypnotist. I was really interested in trying this but I was always strapped for cash (in fact I rolled my own cigarettes because it was cheaper.) And I was afraid that like the patch and the gum... if it failed, it would just be 'another' waste of my money. However this is my 'recommended' method now. Because of the VARIETY of people I've known who've quit this way and the lack of side effects. If you are thinking of quitting... please give this a try. Check for one who gives a refund guarantee! (Some also give free follow-up sessions if the first doesn't stick.) Borrow the money if you have to. If there's a guarantee and you don't quit, you can get your money back to pay the loan back... if you DO quit, you'll be able to pay it back with the money you no longer spend on cigarettes.

I quit with Chantix. It worked for a friend and it turns out my insurance would pay for it. The side effects were very worrisome so I made sure to let my close family and friends know what to look out for and that they not only could, but SHOULD step in and say something if they noticed anything while I was taking it. I had a prescription for 3 months. By the end of the first week I had quit smoking and by 6 weeks I KNEW I was going to be a non-smoker for life and I couldn't handle taking the pills anymore so I stopped.  Those 6 weeks were rough, but not because of cravings. I swapped cravings for sleeplessness, depression, the worst flu-like symptoms I'd had in a long time, irritability, and mood swings. It wasn't ALL horrible, but I definitely don't ever want to go through that again. Still it was ABSOLUTELY worth it and if I ever started smoking again (I won't though) I WOULD go through that again to quit! After that 6 weeks of 'hell' I kept thinking "Gee! That was easy! I wish I had known about that stuff sooner!" Chantix really worked for me, but I still recommend hypnosis before trying this. The side effects really turn me off of it. Still worth it though!

Since then there have been some realizations:
1st I was totally unprepared for my mouth healing. Being a smoker damages your soft tissues, your tastebuds, and your sense of smell. You kind of "know" that when you're a smoker, but really... you don't. I had to live on starlight mint candies while my mouth healed and I got used to the taste of my mouth again. W-E-I-R-D!!!

2nd I was totally unprepared for the real taste of foods. I "knew" quitting would change tastes, but I didn't expect it like it happened. Turns out those super cheesy Doritos that I loved taste really nasty when you can actually taste them. Other things that I "liked" before I now LOVE because they taste so much better than I even knew!!! It was kind of an adjustment though as just about everything tasted different to me with very few exceptions. The one thing I miss the most is spaghetti O's I used to love those and they taste HORRIBLE now! Maybe they changed the recipe but yuck!

3rd Smell. Okay again smokers "know" they don't have a great sense of smell. I was more overwhelmed by taste than I was with smell except for finding out just how TERRIBLE smokers smell. Even light or casual smokers. I am STILL embarrassed how bad I smelled as a smoker and didn't even realize it. It is disgusting! I'm shocked how bad it is! and SOO thankful that I don't ever have to not know I smell that bad ever again. Now when I smell bad, it's okay... because I can smell it too, and I can do something about it. :)

4th What smoking does to you. I think most smokers are probably like I was. You "know" some effects of smoking, like cancer and how many thousands of chemicals are in a cigarette, how you can't taste or smell well. You're likely to get emphazema, chronic bronchitis or 'smokers cough' among some other things. But really... I think smokers (and I know I was guilty) CHOOSE to ignore most of the information because ignorance is bliss. You don't want to hear about it because you already feel guilty about smoking and you don't WANT to feel guilty about smoking. You just want to be left alone to smoke in peace without worrying about the side effects. But... OMG... I had no IDEA some of the things that could happen to you. You can get weird diseases you've never heard of before like: Neuralgia, Leukoflakia, Buerger's disease, artherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis, tobacco amblyopia etc. One of those (I think it's Buerger's) results in you having to cut of your extremities like your fingers and toes and then your feet and hands one pieces at a time kind of like diabetes. Who knew? You can go blind, get pneumonia, erectile dysfunction, become sterile... and smoking kills more people than illegal drugs, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides and HIV COMBINED every year!!!!! Most of this I learned AFTER I quit. There's probably all sorts of other stuff I just don't know about. Man am I glad I quit!!!!

I know this post is really long. But smoking is just STUPID. Pretty much all of my family has quit smoking. My boyfriend quit when I did and a good neighbor friend quit after seeing us do it too. So that's really awesome! Unfortunately both of my boyfriends' sisters still smoke. After we quit they made such a big stink about how ex-smokers get so preachy and how they don't WANT to quit, they LIKE smoking etc. etc. That we felt they were MAD at US because we quit!!!! It was really frustrating. So I'm taking the opportunity to rant here instead. I love my "sisters" and I really hoped they would want to quit too. (I know their families were hoping so!) So it really made us sad that they reacted like they did. I still have hope though and maybe someday they'll decide to quit and when they do we'll be ready to help support them! In the meantime though, I'm telling you, whoever you are... do it! There are will-powerless ways to do it if you've tried before. Once you're smoke free you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!!!!!