Quitters Cooperative

For anyone trying to stop smoking there is perhaps no greater incentive than knowing how much money you’ve saved since kicking the habit. One of the best ways of doing this is by installing a quit-meter onto your computer.

Quit-meters are fun and during the early days of my quit, I found having one on my desktop to be a real morale booster. Imagine turning on your computer, clicking the icon and being able to see how your hard work is being rewarded, with some good-old-fashioned cash in your pocket.

Most quit-meters are free to download and relatively easy to set up. Just type in the date you stopped, how many cigarettes you smoked per day and the cost per packet. Hey presto, you’ve got an instant, up to date cashier, keeping track of your extra finances.

As an extra incentive most quit-meters will also tell you how many cigarettes you haven’t smoked, how many days you’ve been off the fags and most importantly of all, how much you’ve increased your life expectancy.

I tried several of these little gadgets including a couple that I had to pay for. I found the freely available ones just as good, if not better than the bought versions and would highly recommend anyone serious about stopping smoking to download one today. Check out the links below to get your free quit-meter.

Quit-Meter

Quit-Meter

Quit-Meter

For many years those who wanted to stop smoking have been advised to plan their quit. I myself tried to stop many times and it wasn’t until I sat down and carefully plotted my quit that I was successful.

However, studies carried out by the University College, London in 2006, suggests that smokers who make a sudden decision to stop are more likely to stay stopped. But the survey also makes it clear that this method may not be suitable for everyone.

So for anyone who feels that planning their quit is the way to approach beating nicotine addiction, here are a few tried, tested and proven to work strategies.

Ø Choose a specific day to start your quit, preferably one that you know will be relatively stress-free.

Ø Tell your family and friends that you intend to stop and ask if they would mind not smoking around you. Also tell them not to offer you cigarettes.

Ø Stock up on healthy snacks. It’s a well known fact that quitting smokers snack more, having a good supply of healthy snacks will help prevent weight gain.

Ø The night before your quit is due to start, bin all of your ashtrays, lighters and cigarettes.

Ø If you're using NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy), make sure you have enough to see you through the first few days at least.

Ø Take plenty of exercise. Regular exercise is known to reduce stress.

Ø Write a list of all the reasons you want to stop. This could be anything from having a healthier lifestyle to wanting to save money.

Ø Save the money you’re not spending on cigarettes and buy something that you’ve always wanted but could never afford, or treat yourself to a gift once a month.

Ø Wash all of your clothes to remove the smell of smoke. If you used to smoke indoors you may want to wash your curtains and soft furnishings as well.

Ø If you decide on the NRT option, check with your doctor first to make sure that it’s safe for you to use.

I’ve listed the methods that were successful in aiding me to quit. There may be others and it’s up to the individual to find what works for them. But I found that having a plan was essential during the first few months of my quit. If you want more details on the research carried out by the University College, London please click here.

Mamaflo is a well known, popular blogger and I feel privileged that she was willing to write this guest post for me. I hope you get as much pleasure and gain as much knowledge from reading her words as I did.

I am a 53 year old female and on September 21, 2007, I quit smoking after 36 years.

I never thought, not in a million years that I could/would quit smoking. Back in the spring of 2007, my PCP told me that I had health issues that would kill me if I didn’t quit smoking, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before, I didn’t quit then, why should I quit now. He talked with me about a medication option called Chantix, he said his patients had a 70+% success rate. He wrote me a prescription but I didn’t fill it, it sat on my refrigerator for almost 6 months. My breathing and the cough became stronger, harder, and happening more frequently, I decided to give it a try. Saying I was skeptical was an understatement but after the first 2 days, the cigarettes already started to loose their appeal, I just didn’t want to smoke. By the end of day 3, I put my cigarettes down and have not picked them up again.

There were days here and there while I was taking the Chantix that I thought about wanting to smoke but I didn’t pick up the cigarettes again. During the time I was taking the Chantix I had some side effects - trouble sleeping (insomnia), vivid dreams (not nightmares but dreams in technicolor and very detailed, I remembered every aspect of my dream), and gas - I farted continuously. My doctor had told me that the most common side effect was nausea so I made sure to eat something before taking each dose - I never experienced the nausea. I stayed on the Chantix longer than the initial prescription, I believe I stayed on the Chantix for 4 months, weaning myself off the medication during the last month.

I had a tremendous support system both at home and online. I started blogging not long after quitting and met some wonderful men and women that I still blog with today. My family was very supportive and I started feeling and looking better almost immediately. There are still days, sometimes many days in a row when I think about wanting to smoke, but I don’t, I’m not going backwards, I’m moving forward. When this happens I do deep breathing and change gears, I find something different to distract me. I’m feeling stronger everyday and the want to smoke continues to lessen.

I will forever be a cigarette addict and I will always be just one cigarette away from my pack a day habit.
Just for today, I will not smoke.

Mamaflos Place

Are you an ex-smoker ? Would you like to share how you kicked the habit and help inspire others to do the same ? If you've answered yes to those two questions see the sidebar of this blog for details of how you can.

In the current economic climate most people are concerned – and rightly so – with the constantly rising cost of everyday living. Oil prices have once again reached a record high, gas and food bills are out of all proportion and the present slump in the housing market has seen many small businesses forced into bankruptcy proceedings. Hardly surprising then that more and more people are trying to find effective methods to save money in their battle to beat the credit crunch.

So if you’re a smoker why not use the recession as an incentive to stop your 20 a day habit ?

At the time of writing this post the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in the UK is around £4.85. If you were to stop smoking today that would be a monthly saving of £145.50. Over a year that means a total saving of £1746.00. For the same price you could feed your family for one year or treat your nearest and dearest to an all expenses paid holiday.

If, however, the thought of lounging on a sun-drenched beach isn’t enough to have you running to the nearest chemist to stock up on patches, take a look at these statistics.

Over a period of five years 20 cigarettes a day will cost you £8730, the price of a small family car. Whilst over a period of ten years your habit will have cost you a staggering £17460.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide what you could do with such a substantial sum of money. But it would certainly beneficial in your bank account, or it would be a sizeable deposit to have for a house.

Or think of it another way. In today's economic climate, have you got money to burn ?

Most people are familiar with the health issues attributed to smoking – Heart disease, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Lung cancer, the list is endless. But did you know that smoking may diminish your performance in the bedroom ?

A recent survey carried out in Australia revealed that men who smoke are more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction, the inability to maintain an erection suitable for sexual intercourse.

Scientists believe that smoking damages the blood vessels in the penis and the survey showed that men who smoke 20 a day, are 40% more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than those who don’t. The study of 8300 men, between the ages of 16 -59, also revealed that those who smoke up to 20 cigarettes a day, are 24% more likely to suffer from erection problems than non-smokers.

However, this theory isn’t new. A study carried out in China between 2000 – 2001, discovered that more than 20% of erectile dysfunction cases suffered by Chinese men, might be attributed to smoking.

Erectile dysfunction is not a life-threatening disease, but it can certainly impair your self-confidence, mess up your day and ruin your nights. Do you want to smoke in the bedroom ?

As the author of this blog it’s only fitting that I should tell you a little bit about myself, how I started smoking and more importantly how I stopped.

I had my first taste of nicotine when I was around ten years of age. My father was a heavy smoker and one day when he wasn’t looking, I took a cigarette from a pack he’d left sitting on the sideboard. We had a gas stove in those days and matches were easy to find. So I sneaked of to the local park with my quarry, hid behind a bush and took my first ever puff. I didn’t like it very much. It made me dizzy, nauseous and I vowed never to smoke again.

But by the time I was thirteen and attending college it seemed like everyone was smoking. My friends smoked, my hero’s smoked and all the girls I liked smoked. It was the done thing, anyone who smoked was cool. There was a lot of peer pressure too and not wanting to be the odd one out, I broke my vow.

I began smoking ten a day. All my pocket money went on cigarettes. By the time I reached my late teens that had increased to 20, then 30 and when I finally I decided that it was time to quit I was smoking between 70 – 80 cigarettes a day.

“I never see you without a cigarette,” a close friend once told me.

I tried to stop many times but was never successful. My addiction was too great, or so I thought. The truth was I didn’t want to stop, I still enjoyed smoking. I genuinely believe that until you really, really want to do something you won’t succeed. I never planned my quits, never sought the advice of my doctor, never took my attempts seriously.

I don’t know what finally spurred me into wanting to stop. I suppose the birth of my daughter had something to do with it. It’s funny how the birth of a child can change your perspective of things and I also knew the effects of passive smoking. I wanted my daughter to grow up in a smoke-free environment.

My initial attempts failed. I tried to go ‘Cold Turkey,’ but found the mood swings and cravings too much to bear. I’d just about given up all hope of ever stopping, when my partner suggested I should go to my GP for some help.

It was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. My doctor advised me to try Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). That night I binned all my cigs, ashtrays and lighters. The next morning I applied the first of many patches and the rest as they say is history.

It wasn’t easy – nobody said it would be – but the patches did alleviate the cravings and mood swings. I had many sleepless nights and even when I did get a few hours shut-eye I suffered horrendous nightmares. I coughed up what seemed like gallons of filthy looking gunk and I never quite knew what my hands should be doing, now that they were cigarette-less.

I got there in the end though. I still think about smoking and how it would feel to inhale a cigarette, but I don’t. I think about how my life has changed: how I can run to catch a bus without feeling breathless, how I can play football with my daughter without wheezing uncontrollably and how my family and I now enjoy a smoke-free environment.

I’ll never be a non-smoker. I’m an ex-smoker for life, but I’m filled with a great feeling of self achievement at having beaten nicotine and one day at time I’m going to keep it that way.

Do you need an incentive to stop smoking ?

I thought this might help. But be warned, the video below is not for the faint-hearted.