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[S634]Smoking Is A Habit

by Matthew Fischer, Mat

Quitting Smoking: How even the heaviest smokers can successfully kick the habit!

The First Time

Wouldn’t it be nice to go back in time to your first cigarette and instead of taking a drag, you put the cigarette down and say “No thanks”!! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a second chance and stop the chain of addiction before it even has a chance to start? Do you remember your first drag? You probably didn’t even like it and it may have even made you sick. Well until science comes up with a way for us to travel back into time, this unfortunately is not an option for you. But what if I told you that there is a way for you to have that second chance? Would you be interested in taking it? I am sure most of you would say yes, but express some skepticism about this second chance that I am proposing.

Dirty Little Secret

Well, first of all you know that smoking is not good for your health, but yet you continue to smoke. Maybe even your friends or your family have asked you to quit, maybe even nagged you about it and referred to cigarettes as coffin nails or remarked how you smell like a dirty ashtray. Have you found yourself having to sneak in cigarette breaks in a vein effort to hide your habit from your friends, family and co-workers? And believe me, it is in vein, everyone smells it on you and/or your breath despite the breath mints, spraying on cologne, or flapping my shirt thinking that I was eliminating the smell. I thought I was being really sneaky, but I was really only fooling myself.

Nicotine Substitutes

Then there are nicotine patches and gum that most of us have tried along with other nicotine substitutes with “substitute” being the key word here. How can you break yourself free from a substance that you are addicted to by substituting one source for another? You don’t see alcoholics substituting bourbon for vodka as a means for getting over their addiction so how can we expect nicotine gum and patches to help smokers. Sure you are not inhaling tar and other dangerous byproducts with the use of nicotine gum and patches, but these products do nothing to address the real issue and that is the addiction to nicotine.

Relaxation & Stress

Other products try to make you feel calmer and attempt to put your body into a more relaxed state of mind as another means of stopping smoking. However, people feel the urge to smoke when they are nervous just as much as they do when they are relaxed so how is a product intending to make you feel more relaxed going to help you to quit smoking? People don’t smoke because they are nervous or stressed; they smoke because they are addicted to the nicotine.

Second Chance

By this point, you probably think I have not painted a very rosy picture for you and that you are destined to be a smoker for the rest of your life. Well what if I told you that I could provide you that second chance I mentioned earlier? No, I can’t send you back in time to your first cigarette, but I can tell you about how you CAN get a second chance.

Chantix

What am I talking about? I am talking about Chantix, a non-nicotine prescription medicine from Pfizer. So who am I and what do I know about smoking anyway? I am an ex-smoker and someone who smoked for many years. I knew smoking was not good for me and yet I continued to smoke despite all of that and against the wishes of my friends and family. I tried all of the smoking cessation products, but always found myself smoking again. That is, until I found out about Chantix. It’s hard to describe how Chantix works, but the best way to describe it is that it gives you a second chance. It breaks the chain of nicotine addiction and allows you an opportunity to start a new life free of cigarettes.

How Chantix Works

Chantix is a pill, which prevents nicotine from reaching key receptors in the brain thus preventing the production of dopamine. Dopamine delivers feelings of pleasure, but the effects are temporary resulting in the craving for more nicotine. With Chantix, the short-term feelings of pleasure you receive from smoking are slowly eliminated over time. The effects are very subtle and you continue to smoke while taking Chantix until the pleasure you receive from smoking eventually disappears. Eventually smoking becomes futile and you don’t even bother to light up anymore.

Chantix & Your Wallet

I have been a big advocate for Chantix and I have passed the word on to some friends who have tried Chantix and who successfully quit smoking. Others whom I have spoken with have cited the cost of Chantix as a reason for not trying it. My health insurance company covered the cost of Chantix so cost was not a factor for me. I have researched the cost of Chantix and I put together the following scenario. We’ll assume the cost of a pack of cigarettes to be $4.50. That may be high or low depending upon where you live, but for this example we will use it as an average. I have also assumed the monthly cost of Chantix to be $100/month and that’s the cost without insurance coverage. The Chantix program runs for 3 months so lets look at the impact of cost over a year’s time.

Cigarettes per day 20 30 40

Packs per day 1.0 1.5 2.0

Cost per pack $4.50 $4.50 $4.50

3 Month Cost of Cigarettes $405.00 $607.50 $810.00

Chantix Cost $300.00 $300.00 $300.00

Total 3 Month Cost $705.00 $907.50 $1,110.00

9 Month Savings (No Cigarettes) $1,215.00 $1,822.50 $2,430.00

Full Year Savings $510.00 $915.00 $1,320.00

Wow – just look at that savings!!! Especially if you smoke two packs a day, the amount of money you save each month could equal a car payment depending on where you live.

Habitual Changes

Other feedback I have heard from smokers about quitting is the fear of their life being severely impacted by quitting smoking. They feel that smoking is so integrated into their every day lives that they fear what their life might be like without cigarettes; that morning cigarette with their coffee, that cigarette after lunch, after dinner, etc. How long does it take you to smoke a cigarette? Two, maybe three minutes? Do you really think your life is going to be that impacted by those brief portions of your day? You actually gain a few more minutes in your day if you think about it. You can go for a walk instead or just find something else to do with those extra minutes in your day.

Change is Good!

Remember change is a natural part of life and it should be embraced and not feared especially when the changes you make better your health and increase your life.

Talk to Your Doctor!

Talk to your doctor about Chantix to see if it is an option for you. Don’t let your fears of how your life will be without cigarettes control the decisions you make. You are in control of your life and you can not only overcome your fears but also your addiction to nicotine. Take the first step towards a better healthier life and call your doctor today! Check out for more information!

Let's pretend you wanted form a habit. And not just some wimpy habit, but a major, mind controlling, and life changing habit behavior. Where do you start to make it a really strong habit that will feel impossible to break? There are three basic ways we learn habits; emotions, authority figures, and repetition.

Let's use an example.

Now, let's pick a person for our example. How about you when you were 10-14 years old. And for this example, let's use the habit of smoking.

While in that age range, we'll assume you were learning about life and how you fit in it. You may not have felt as sure about yourself as you would later in life.

Maybe you felt self-conscious, dependent on others, powerless, not good enough, or something like these. We'll refer to this as feeling "bad". Now, this does not necessarily mean you felt miserable, but did you feel as "good" as you wanted to feel? Did you feel as "good" as you believed other people felt?

Feeling like that would lead you to wanting to feel better, or, as good as everyone else. What ways does your mind see to do this?? That matters upon what learning situations you've been exposed to.

How does a person learn things like that? Emotions, authority figures and repetition. You probably saw authority figures smoking - parents, family, friends, role models, and of course, advertisements. Smoking is perceived as tough, strong, independent, self-assured, and unique. All the "good" feelings you were feeling a lack of.

This would create a desire (craving) in you to do this thing. A belief that smoking is what your life is missing. And not just in a "knowing" way, but a "feeling" way as well, which is much more powerful.

Then at some point you tried your first cigarette, and DID feel better. But you were not very good at smoking yet and since it made you feel better, you practiced it until you were good at it.

As life continues you come across situations that make you feel "bad" again and do what you've been taught makes you feel "good". That is repeated emotions and practice and you have a strong habit.

A lot of people working to quit smoking have thought of these things. A lot have not. But, all of the people that have tried to quit smoking have used a lot of time thinking and analyzing their habit. Trying to argue themselves into quitting. But, you didn't learn this habit by thinking and analyzing. Why would trying to quit smoking that way work?

It is a lot easier to quit smoking with the same methods you started smoking with. A "hypnotized" state of mind combined with emotions, authority figures and repetition. Often called modern hypnosis.

Article Source : help to stop smoking

About Author

Both Matthew Fischer & Sara Mendez are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Matthew Fischer has sinced written about articles on various topics from Quit Smoking. Owner of the and. Matthew Fischer's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.

Sara Mendez has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cure Anxiety, Beach Front Home and Travel and Leisure. Glancy Hypnosis can help you . Sara Mendez's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.