Boo

Nancy mentioned movement. Great advice. Most of the time, just walking around a bit did the job for me. Other times I would do push-ups or squats to exhaustion. Movement is medicine and will banish any smoking thoughts as quickly as anything. When the thoughts of "just one" entered my mind, I made it a point to dispel that myth. I reminded myself that the one will be followed by another and another. One turns into a pack. A pack turns into a carton. And so on. I knew if I smoked one, I might as well commit to the thousands that follow. Of course if it's redirection you're looking for, the Quit Train runs 24/7. One night I came here to read a few articles and watch a video and ended up in a marathon bout of Chicks and Sticks. I totally forgot about the confrontational thoughts I was having in regards to my quit.

And there it is. We put off quitting for so long fearing withdrawal symptoms and fail to recognize that we have lived for years in varying states of withdrawal while smoking. If you hate withdrawal, stop smoking. Excellent post P&P.

NOPE!

Separating the wheat from the chaff in the fitness industry is more time consuming than working out and changing your diet. Bull$&^#...bull$&^# everywhere. Fair point. Nicotine is a nightshade poison that can produce some of the same effects as a stimulant. What it certainly isn't is a "smart drug" as some people are now trying to promote it. I'm looking at you Ben Greenfield. That's what is particularly insidious about this current form of poison peddling. This is not even about nicotine replacement therapy for addicts. These bastards are promoting nicotine to people who have never smoked as a means of improved performance under the guise of health and fitness. They are using the trust some put in them to create new nicotine addicts. That's the one upside I see in this for me personally. I struggled with my addiction for a bit. Then had a breakthrough of sorts and got excited about quitting. Over the last week or so, I perhaps got a bit complacent about my quit. Any complacency that may have set in is gone. Seeing all these manipulative pricks that live to profit off of the misery and death of others has me back on point. When it's us against them, I'm for us.

I just started my week on the Train with a prolonged rant about big tobacco and the nonsense they use to sell their products to a new generation. So I offer up an emphatic NOPE!

I quit smoking and the natural progression seems to be to start focusing on other aspects of health and fitness. I've started a workout routine, I'm eating better, and I am collecting as much information about healthy living as I can. A topic I never expected to see in information supposedly advocating healthier living has come up more than once in my research. Nicotine is good for you. There has always been loads of bull$@%# in the fitness industry and with the ubiquity of social media, it has never been easier to spread the manure of faulty logic and fake science than it is right now. One article contained this line: "while the science of the dangers of nicotine is technically correct, it is confusing." It is only confusing if you are whoring yourself out to sell what you know are bad ideas to gullible consumers. The acknowledgement of real science was there, but forget that, listen to this wild-eyed marketing scheme we just farted out. Other big tobacco funded studies are selling nicotine's amazing ability to improve cognitive function. Nicotine will increase your heart rate, raise your blood pressure, and give you a feeling of increased alertness. Yes, that's what stimulants do. No mention was made of the inevitable crash that comes when the body's supply of the stimulant begins to wane. Which of course necessitates the user to get another fix. And another...and another.... Fortunately, consumers no longer have to smoke cigarettes to get a nicotine fix. There are vaping devices, e-cigs, gum, and lozenges you can use to get your fix. Big tobacco has a legion of lawyers so they were careful not to say that these nicotine delivery systems are safe per se. However, they are kinda sorta confident that these devices are somewhat safer than cigarettes. So they feel somewhat confident that these new delivery systems are safer than the most dangerous consumer product in the history of mankind. If you lower the bar any farther, people will be tripping over it. And when I thought it couldn't get any worse...nicotine may prevent Parkinson's disease. Not only was there no evidence offered to support this claim, there was not even a workable hypothesis offered. Basically, some people who never used nicotine developed Parkinson's while others who are nicotine addicts did not get the disease. If you're a fan of logical fallacies, today is your lucky day. I've allowed myself to get all worked up over this. I could take a dose of nicotine as the stimulant offers "relaxing qualities." Sound familiar? Taking stimulants to relax is like screwing for virginity. I never expected the merchants of death to develop a conscious and close up shop. I suppose I was naive concerning some so-called health and fitness experts willingness to sell their souls at the first offer. Live. Learn. Question.

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Good deal Marti. You've got a lot of positive things going on in your life and that keeps momentum going in the right direction. The future is looking bright for Ms. Smarty Pants. Just keep on being awesome.

I'm new here, so it's nice to meet you Jess. It sounds like you took a few practice runs at quitting and now you're ready to set yourself free for good. This quit, and maintaining it, is all that matters now. Absolutely. You can do this and with one-day under your belt, you are already rewiring yourself for success. Onward and upward.

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Rainy, lazy, Sunday morning. Feelin' kind of mellow.

NOPE!

Looking good Marti! Congratulations. As for the swearing...I don't know how spiritual it is, but it can be cathartic. Whatever works.

Welcome back Doreen. The place just wasn't the same without you.

NOPE!

What Beacon said...Keep it simple and commit to NOPE. The numbers broken down one way look dire. On the other hand, there is the fact that in the United States ex-smokers outnumber current smokers. The number of people with successful quits outnumber those who continue to smoke. Quitting is very doable.

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Good work TAC. Getting a new motor home at Christmas time...Do you know Cousin Eddie?

NOPE!

NOPE!

I think a good pharmacist could certainly provide some guidance that would be beneficial. If your pharmacist and psychologist are on the same page, your next course of action should start to become more clear. It's like working a puzzle. You keep moving the pieces around and eventually they all fit together.

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There is plenty of credible information on the subject, but very little in the way of conclusive answers. It's understandable. The combination of nicotine addiction, depressive disorders, prescription medications, and all of the balancing and counterbalancing agents in our brains makes for a lot of moving parts in the equation. The questions are infinite. The answers are finite. In working with your psychiatrist, I believe you will eventually find your path to freedom. It may take a little trial-and-error experimentation, but eventually you will discover what works for you. The perfect quit is the quit that fits you perfectly.

I thought quitting smoking would be complicated. I thought wrong. It all starts with that one simple word... NOPE!

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