"During my previous podcast, I announced that I would be quitting smoking during the Week Beginning April 8th.  I did not have a calendar in front of me at the time; April 8th is actually a Tuesday."

"I am revising the quit time frame to be the Week Beginning April 13th..."

"I've been smoking Quest 3 Nicotine Free cigarettes for four days now.  I probably still smoke almost as much as before, out of ritual..."

"Truth be told, these Quest 3 cigarettes are kind of lousy..."

"I'll be smoking Quest 3's for a few more days and I'll be back with an update."

"The third method I mentioned in the previous podcast, and the method I'll be using, is with Quest cigarettes.  Quest offers three levels of cigarettes (Quest 1 -- Low Nicotine, Quest 2 -- Extra Low Nicotine, and Quest 3 -- Nicotine Free).  According to Quest, this is not intended for quitting smoking, but rather for smokers who want less nicotine."

"Last week I switched from Marlboro Lights to Quest 1.  This week I switchd from Quest 1 to Quest 2.  One concern I had was that as I went to lower nicotine cigarettes, I might just smoke more of them.  However, that does not appear to be happening."

"This coming weekend I plan to switch from Quest 2 to Quest 3 and be nicotine free.  I'll be back to let you know how that goes."

"During my unsuccessful attempt last December, I thought of smoking as a habit.  Now, I think of smoking as an addiction.  I'm linking here to an article that suggests cigarette companies have been increasing the nicotine in cigarettes, perhaps just to make it harder for smokers to quit."

"So how do you quit your nicotine addiction?  There are three main methods:

1. Cold Turkey...
2. Nicotine Replacement Therapy...
3. Another method I recently found out about..."

This is the first TimeToQuit podcast in eight months.  My cold turkey quit attempt last December was unsuccessful because...

However, I am excited to begin a new plan.  To be continued...

"...Today I'd like to talk a little bit about staying quit, my plan to stay quit.  Sometimes it's tempting to have 'just one' cigarette...  but what's the point?  Maybe I'd feel good for five or ten minutes, but then what?  I'd probably want another cigarette an hour later, and another an hour after that.  I'd be right back to where I was before I quit.  So, having just one cigarette is not worth it."

"...I have one more announcement.  After today's podcast, there will be a cessation to the daily podcasts..."

"Thank you for your support.  Thank you for helping make this podcast a success.  Good night and Good luck!"

"To keep myself occupied and not think of smoking as much, I have a lot of piles of clutter both at home and at work I can go through and organize.  But organizing stuff isn't all that much fun, so tonight I did something a little more fun..."

Coming Up Tomorrow

Staying Quit

"Before my quit date, I made a big 'To-Do' list so I could keep busy with stuff to do when I wanted to smoke.  But actually, I barely got into it during the first week.  I was pretty tired coming home from work in the evenings so I would rest on the couch..."

"...today I got some of my energy back..."

"If you don't mind, let me end today's program with a little bit of the Wildwood Flower."

[Banjo tune]

Coming Up Tomorrow

Keeping busy (continued)

Part One--Review of the Day

"I'm here at the end of a successful Week One and it seems to be getting easier."

Part Two--Discussion of Audience Comments

1. Text Comments from Sprung, Mark, and KG
2. Audio Comment from Norm 

Norm's Key Points

A)...seems like everyone is quitting smoking nowadays... 

B)...not smoking was normal before you start smoking, then smoking becomes normal.  When you quit, you have to flip the switch back again...

"...Smoking is like gambling with extremely high stakes.  It doesn't make any sense for me to do it, especially since I don't even like making $5 bets."

"...Coughing up phlegm isn't a particularly fun or attractive thing to do."

Coming Up Tomorrow

1. End of Week 1 Report
2. Review of Recent Audience Comments

"...I just have to make the right choice.  The Marlboro Man isn't chasing me around on his horse, trying to lasso me, and force me to smoke.  Smoking is a choice."

Recommended Site

This site (especially its forums) has the best free support I've found on the web.

Coming Up Tomorrow

Gambling

"Was today any easier?  Maybe, it definitely wasn't any harder than the previous days.  I still thought about smoking many times, but I didn't freak out about it.  I just had to remind myself that I'm a non-smoker now."

"One thing that helped motivate me today...  ....was riding the elevator with three coworkers who were just coming in from a smoke break.  Man, did that smell..."

Coming Up Tomorrow

Smoking is a Choice

Part One--Review of the Day

"Today was pretty similar to yesterday...  ...I didn't break down."

Part Two--Discussion of Audience Comments

1. Audio Comment from Kevin
2. Text Comments from Sprung, Frank, MaryBeth, Gardening Artist, Kelly, and Maggie

Related Link

MaryBeth left a link to a Phillip Morris site with info on quitting.

"It required effort not to smoke at work today.  It was dealing with the combination of my usual breaks at certain times, as well as the fact there were co-workers who I could have easily bummed a smoke or two from.  Instead, I drank hot tea and chewed beef jerky...

"Thanks to Amy, who left a comment on yesterday's podcast.  She left a link to a site with videos of Barb Tarbox, who spoke to 50,000 students about the dangers of smoking before she died of lung cancer.  I watched the short version and it was very inspiring. 

"If anyone else has any comments or questions, just click the comments link at the bottom of each post and I'll try to address it on the next show."

Coming Tomorrow

1. Coverage of Day Three
2. Discuss Audience Comments/Questions

"...I was a little tempted to buy a pack...  I actually considered announcing that I'd move my quit date to next weekend and smoke for one more week..."

"...it got tougher.  Instead of just thinking about smoking, my body started to feel kind of weird..."

Coming Tomorrow

Complete coverage of Day 2

"This is my last day as a smoker.  On one hand, I'm excited to quit for my health.  But honestly, a part of me is a little sad...  ...It's sad to think about hanging out in a bar, listening to a good band, and not being able to smoke.  It's sad to think about going to an outdoor concert, having a beer, and not smoking...

"Ultimately though, for me, the long term health benefits are more important than whatever enjoyment I currently get from smoking...

"As for strategy, I'm planning to quit cold turkey.  I think the keys for me will be keeping busy and planning things to look forward to."

Coming Tomorrow

What it is like on my first day not smoking

"My name is Steve.  I've been smoking for about 10 years.  I smoke a pack a day...  ...I smoke Marlboro lights...

"I remember learning in elementary school about how bad smoking was and watching scary videos about smoking.  I remember, at that time, wondering why anyone would smoke.  I just couldn't understand it.  I believed it was somthing I'd never do.  But by the time I got towards the end of high school, my thinking must have changed somewhere along the line...

Tomorrow's Topics

1. Reflections on my last day as a smoker
2. Description of my strategy going forward

My quit date is Sunday, December 3, 2006 and I'll start adding daily podcasts on Friday, December 1st.