I am ready to set a quit date again.  It's June 1st.  However, I've decided to sunset the podcast.  This is the final podcast.  Once I have successfully quit, I'm planning to launch a website (not a podcast) to help others quit.

Godspeed.

One strange thing I've done as a prepare to quit smoking is putting things off like going through paperwork and cleaning my desk.  I figure I want to have something to occupy myself with once I quit smoking.  But maybe I'm just coming up with an excuse to avoid activities that aren't fun and procrastinate.

There is some stuff I'd like to buy for myself, but I'm holding off until I quit smoking. It's a way of punishing myself until I quit smoking.  That way, I can reward myself when I do quit. 

The swine flu outbreak has certainly been in the news a lot.  I was wondering if smokers are at more risk because they end up touching their face with their hand when smoking.  I think it makes sense to wash hands before smoking to minimize the risk.  Of course, quitting smoking would also make sense.

The Times Online has an interesting article that says nicotine gum and lozenges may cause mouth cancer. However, the article also says that smoking is far more dangerous.

A man wrote a letter to President Obama about his own dad dying from smoking.  He urged Obama not to smoke for the sake of his own daughters.  Obama actually wrote back.

Here's the link to the Chicago Sun-Times article.

I spoke earlier of how the central air was impacting my listening to the quit smoking hypnosis CDs.  Now that it's spring and the air isn't running, it seems like the perfect time to quit.

I'm linking to a prevent cigarette litter website that I think makes some valid points.

Too many of us smokers drop butts on the ground.  Taking responsibility for this filthy trash may even help motivate me to quit.  Dealing with an ashtray in a car is a pain, but using a glass bottle in a cupholder is an alternative.

Kevin let me know that the volume was too low so I started boosting it a couple of episodes ago.  Leave a comment if there are other technical issues.

I watched the ACM awards last night and I'm disappointed in general with the state of modern country music.

However, there was an entertaining song I heard on the radio the other day by Rodney Atkins called The Worst 15 Minutes of My Life.  The chorus goes:


Video posted:

Breitbart is reporting that President Obama broke his pledge not to raise any taxes on American families making less than $250,000 a year.  Federal cigarette taxes just went up by 62 cents.

Regardless of the broken promise, this is a tax that is avoidable.   I just need to quit smoking.

A few days ago, I recorded an episode about quitting smoking as a gift to your loved ones.

I think it also makes sense to quit even if you're single.  By smoking, you are narrowing down the pool of potential mates.  Perhaps Kevin will want to chime in with his thoughts.

I have a book called Country Wisdom and Know-How that mentions St. John's Wort tea as being helpful to those quitting smoking.  I've tried this Yogi tea and it's actually not bad.  They disguise the St. John's Wort flavor with licorice.

Here's a dose of positive motivation to quit smoking.  It's Huey Lewis and The News, with Hip to be Square.

Do you ever get sick of smoking?  Sometimes, I do and I'll put out my cigarette half way through it.

I just wish I'd feel that way for more than a couple of hours until I want another one.

The current global recession can add to stress levels and make it difficult on those of us trying to quit.

But wasting money on cigarettes is hardly helpful to our budgets.  The recession should be just another reason to quit.

I think it's important to have reasons in mind of why we're going to quit smoking.

One reason is to quit as a gift to people you love.  Why do something that endangers your health?

I don't want to leave the people I love on earth earlier than I have to.

Have you heard about the eCigarette?  Have you tried them?  Yesterday I said there was no such thing as safe cigarette, but these would seem to be safer.  Reviews on Amazon.com are mixed, plus eCigarettes are expensive.  Then again, smoking regular cigarettes is getting more expensive with new tax increases.

I think I'm going to quit without the ECigarette and try to put the ridiculous habit of smoking cigarettes behind me.

While I've been switching brands prior to quitting, one brand I've tried is American Spirit.  Supposedly there are no additives, but this does not make it a safe cigarette.  There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.

I actually find it to be smooth and long-burning.  It's probably better to switch to a less enjoyable brand since I'm trying to quit.

Another instruction on my hypnosis CDs is to avoid alcohol when quitting.  I need to put a higher priority on quitting.

Too many nights I've been having a beer or glass of wine, then reading a book or watching tv instead of listening to the hypnosis CD.

When I was younger, I felt like my smoking was not really impacting my fitness level very much.  But I think the smoking has definitely caught up with me.

I really want to quit smoking and get in great shape.

I did something somewhat surprising yesterday.  I started a two week free trial gym membership.  Just seeing fit people was inspiring.  I also didn't think about smoking for awhile.

I tend to think gym memberships are expensive, but they really are not compared with the costs of smoking.

I think those of us with addictive personalities may benefit from substituting exercise for cigarettes.

There are some people (family, coworkers) that I do not feel comfortable smoking around.

The embarrassment of smoking is another reason I want to quit.

As cigarettes have gone up in price recently, I thought it was a good opportunity to try Marlboro 72s.

They aren't labelled as Lights, but taste like a Marlboro Light.  They are significantly shorter so I thought smoking these would be a good way to cut back prior to quitting.

I have some excuses for not quitting smoking yet:

1. I have to give a presentation at work on Tuesday
2. The economy is in shambles
3. I have a horrible, long commute.

But I have to be careful about excuses because there is always going to be stress in life.  I need to quit smoking.

Sometimes I fall asleep when listening to the hypnosis CD.  I'm not too concerned about that because my subconscious mind should still hear the message.

However, sometimes I think the message is getting drowned out when my central heat kicks on.  I'm going to make some adjustments and listen to the CD for a few more days before quitting.

I thought I would start posting inspirational videos for those of us quitting smoking.  One potential theme song is Chunk of Coal by Billy Joe Shaver.  There is also a successful cover version by John Anderson available on iTunes. 

"I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal, but I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday"

The Billy Joe Shaver original:


The John Anderson version:

On the About.com smoking cessation forum, a couple of people highly recommended a 2 CD Paul McKenna program.  All I could find online was a relatively expensive 4 CD program.   Despite wasting lots of money on cigarettes, I didn't want to spend quite that much on hypnosis CDs so I bought a cheaper hypnosis program which I will be reviewing in the very near future.

When shopping for hypnosis CDs, I noticed the Stop Smoking Kit got favorable reviews on Amazon.com.  It comes with a book, hypnosis CD, and a cigarette substitute. 

Ultimately I ordered different hypnosis CDs because I liked the idea of having a CD to listen to before you quit smoking, one to listen to when you quit, and one for reinforcement afterwards.  I'll wait until after my quit date to reveal what I bought and post a review.

Has anyone tried this kit?

I've tried to make these podcasts a little more listenable by writing out what I'm going to say in advance.  I also added background music with a Hackensaw Boys called Gypsy song playing in the background.

Any comments or suggestions?

I went on vacation to Germany where they have a pretty liberal smoking policy.  It is similar to Virginia where you can smoke indoors at many restaurants and bars.

One interesting thing was that they have a warning on cigarettes about how smoking can damage sperm.  I am not fluent in German so I don't know exactly what the warning said.  I know several guys who fathered healthy children as smokers, but I suppose sperm damage is just another reason among many to quit smoking.

It is a week away from my quit date and I'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about quitting.  I kind of can't wait to quit.  I hope I'm still feeling this eager next week.

I read Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking book and haven't quit yet.  I noticed that hypnosis CDs are also available.

When shopping for hypnosis CDs, I did not buy these because of the binaural beats.  I believe you have to wear headphones to hear the binaural beats and I thought it would be easier to listen to the CDs in bed without hooking up earphones.

Has anyone tried these?  

The hypnosis CDs I bought contain an instruction to switch brands prior to quitting.  The hypnotherapist said switching brands is very important.  Although studies show low nicotine cigarettes are just as dangerous as regular cigarettes, I am considering low nicotine cigarettes for my last week of smoking.

Do you recommend any brands?  I am currently smoking Marlboro Ultralights. 

Web Only:  This website contains nicotine information for cigarettes.

Monarch and Viceroy were chosen as cigarette brand names.  They are also names of butterflies.

If interested, more vocabulary is available at http://www.30secondwords.com

Have you ever seen a smoker flick a cigarette butt out a car window?

Littering is bad, but the butts probably biodegrade after a year or so.  Far worse, is that discarded cigarettes can start wildfires.

Once I quit, I will no longer have to worry about disposing cigarettes, emptying ashtrays, etc.  That sounds good to me.

I read an interesting article about a study with General Electric employees.  Those that were paid to quit smoking had a higher success rate than those who were not paid.

Unfortunately, no one has offered to pay me to quit thus far.

For those listening to the podcast without visiting the site, I have linked to the aforementioned article here at http://timetoquit.libsyn.com.  I also have posted a couple of entertaining anti-smoking videos recently.

My home state of Virginia is in the news for moving forward on a smoking ban that will affect most restaurants.  My home state is also the home state of major tobacco companies.

When I went on vacation to other states, I would always peer into restaurants and bars looking for ashtrays.  It would be nice to quit so I am no longer concerned with this sort of thing.

Michael Phelps has been in the news recently for a picture that surfaced of him smoking from a bong.  It's interesting why top athletes would choose to inhale smoke into their lungs.

When I was young, I was a pretty good runner.  Yet I decided to try cigarettes.  At first, I didn't think I was addicted.  Over time, it became clear that I was.

My advice for young people:  Don't try smoking.

It seems like every method involves setting a quit date...  probably few people are successful quitting on a whim.

I got my hypnosis CDs in the mail and on the first CD, the hypnotist said to write down a quit date.  It seems like the key is to set a date that is far enough away not to make you freak out.

I suppose there are two schools of thought. 

1.)  Quit on a work day so you're busy to take your mind off not smoking.
2.)  Quit on a weekend so it is less stressful.

I'm going to set mine for February 28th, a Saturday.  Being at home will let me have more flexibility to take a walk, take a bath, go back to bed, etc.

The hypnosis CDs arrived in the mail.  One thing they said that was very important was for me to set a quit date.  The second CD has a place for me to write my quit date.  I need to decide on a quit date.

I will listen to the second CD on the night before my quit date.

Stay tuned to find out my quit date.

Brad Pitt said having kids was the one thing that helped him quit smoking.  That makes sense, but of course people shouldn't have kids just to quit smoking.

Some people use Chantix as a magic bullet to quit smoking.

When I went to my doctor last December, he said he did not feel comfortable prescribing it.  Some studies show Chantix causes depression.

I first tried quitting smoking cold turkey.

Then I tried switching to Quest cigarettes.

I also read The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.

Now, I'll be trying a hypnosis CD.

It seems since trying to quit cold turkey, I'm looking for a magic bullet.  They say there are no magic bullets; you have to want to quit smoking.  I do want to quit smoking, but I also have an addiction fueled desire to smoke.

I saw an ad in the newspaper for a $50 quit smoking session by Dr. Gorayeb.  I did not end up going due to an ice storm...

However, I did order a hypnosis CD online from Amazon.com. What do I have to lose?
 

Here's another classic anti-smoking campaign message featuring CP30 and R2D2:

Here's a classic quit smoking video:

I noticed that there is a version of Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking that includes a hypnosis CD.

Does anyone recommend a hypnosis CD to quit smoking?

Did you know that Ellen Degeneres and Ashton Kutcher both credit Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking book for helping them quit cigarettes?

I read the book and it made sense...  but I haven't quit so I ought to re-read it.

I'm having a tough time getting excited to quit.  Do you have to be excited to quit smoking?

President Obama has used nicotine gum in trying to quit smoking.  It is unclear whether he has completely quit or not at this point.

Last summer, he admitted to smoking within the last few months.

Alan Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking book recommends not using substitutes...  just get the nicotine out of your system.

Many other resources, including QuitAssist, recommend nicotine replacement therapy.

What is your opinion?