askjoel

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First, I want to thank you for a great collection of videos on why quit.com. You may very well have saved my life. Without the guidance of those video's, I don't think I would have made it through the last 72 hours of nicotine detox. I think this quit is going to stick, though, and the knowledge you have provided really helps a lot. My question is in regards to a comment you made about acid releasing when a smoker becomes angry and how the acid immediately takes unabsorbed nicotine to the urine with it causing a need for a quick fix. This fix is then interpeted by the smoker as having a calming effect when, in fact, it is actually contributing to temporary stabilization of a more volatile environment. Do all emotions realease acids to one degree or another? Do they have a similar types of physical interactions with nicotine levels in the system? This interaction really makes sense as to the "emotional" hold cigarettes have over people. I have noticed that cravings come directly with emotions and not always anger and am trying to be careful about situations that can lead to different emotional states at this point. It that wise or should I try not to look too deeply at the reasons for cravings ? They do seem to have subsided to more manageable levels today, but tomorrow may be another story.

Actually, I am not sure if other emotions have the same effect as anger and if so, if they do so to the same degree. Either way though, you want to be mentally prepared for different emotional situations triggering the thought or desire for a cigarette. When I say be prepared, I am not saying to purposely avoid these situations, but more so to reinforce your reasons for first wanting to quit and why you still wish to remain free. By allowing yourself to face these situations and getting through them without smoking you eventually break the associated thoughts for cigarettes for similar events in the future. Here are links to a few articles addressing this issue:

I had to face a few new triggers today, but thanks to your videos and Freedom I was able to hang in there for the two or three minutes each of the craving lasted. Compared to the initial 72 hours this week they were a piece of cake. I had one brand new emotion today. One of the musicians I work with came in from the "Green Room" smoking lounge, and he really stunk. I was so overwhelmed that I had to tell him how bad smoking smelled. He's a close friend so we can talk that way to each other and get away with it.... I knew others complained about the smell of cigarettes, but I never realized cigarettes smelled THAT bad. So I guess my sense of smell has definately improved already. Anyways, Thank you for all you do to help people quit smoking. You're saving a lot of lives.

Is it true that everything smells and tastes better when you quit smoking?

Is it true that everything smells and tastes better when you quit smoking? Nope. Everything smells and tastes more accurate when you quit smoking. More accurate does not necessarily mean better. When your first spring time rolls around after you quit smoking you will likely smell the aromas of flowers that smell much more intense and also likely much more pleasant than you perceived while you were still smoking. You will likely say that these aromas do smell much better.

But drive by a garbage dump or a sewage treatment plant now and see how much better it smells since you quit smoking. The odds are it will not smell better but may in fact smell much worse and more pungent than before.

The same principle applies to tastes. You may find that you start to perceive new flavors in foods. You may find that certain vegetables in a salad actually have a flavor while for the years you smoked you may have thought they were only added to give the salad a crunch. This does not automatically mean you will like the flavor.

You may find that you were spicing foods a lot more when you were a smoker too just so you could taste them. If you prepare the foods with the same amount of spicing as you did while smoking you may find that it is way over spiced for your new found taste buds.

So while not everything is going to smell and taste better--things are going to smell and taste more accurate. While not all things will smell better, one thing you should know for sure is that you are going to smell a whole lot better to the rest of the non-smoking world as long as you always remember to never take another puff!

Joel

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