Happy “Spotlight Day”! You’ll absolutely love this week’s most inspiring success stories and tips from the CBQ community. Our members have shared some life-changing stories!
Inspiring Transformation: Breaking a 61-Year Addiction
This week, CBQ Quit Smoking Program member Gary Brousell from Florida, US, celebrated 2 years smoke-free, and he’s an inspiration!
Gary smoked his first cigarette when he was 13 years old and continued to smoke for the next 61 years, with many attempts to stop.

Gary said, “I suffer from Major depression and GAD. Being smokeless hasn’t made my conditions worse, nor would smoking make me better. Smoking needs to be seen as irrelevant to the human existence. Anyway, that’s how I see it now. Once an essential and controlling part of my life for 61 years, smoking is not going to help me or negatively effect my emotional conditions. DONE.”
Wise words!
Two years later, Gary is still a happy non-smoker.
This is what he shared three days ago with our community:
“Nasia Davos I have not smoked since 8/9/2023. You are marvelous and so glad you are now helping with food addiction. Your messages help in more ways than addiction. They are applicable to coping with the imperfections of our respective lives; personal, family and social. Congratulations to you Nasia for all that you do.”
This is Gary with his CBQ Success Certificate:
Inspiring Milestone
Today, CBQ Quit Smoking Program member Larry Johnson from Washington, US, is celebrating 5 years smoke-free…. after being a smoker for 50 years!
Larry said, “I tried many times to quit. I would quit for a few days or a week and then back to smoking. After going through the CBQ program something in my brain switched and I simply no longer needed to smoke.”
Just last month, Larry shared that he has saved nearly $19,000, has avoided 55,000 cigarettes and does not miss smoking AT ALL!
This is Larry with his CBQ Success Certificate:
Inspiring Transformation
Today, CBQ Quit Smoking Program & CBQ Food Freedom Program member Bonnie Ferguson from Ontario, Canada, is celebrating 2 years smoke-free.
After quitting smoking, and with retirement coming up, Bonnie wanted to double down on her health and transform her life in every way. She had always been overweight and was worried that her weight wouldn’t allow her to live long enough to enjoy her retirement.
So when the last cohort of the CBQ Food Freedom Program opened, she joined. And like Bonnie said, it was a life-changing experience. She lost 23 pounds in 4 months without dieting or using willpower and has kept losing weight since then. Her waist has shrunk 4 and a half inches, she had to resize her rings, and the inflammation in her body has gone down.
This is what Bonnie shared:
“Hi everyone my name is Bonnie. I finished the Food Freedom program a couple of weeks ago. My story started out this way … I am 63 years old obese and was barely moving with so much inflammation and pain daily. Even getting my weekly groceries was a major chore. I knew I had to change but had no idea where to start. I was offered a place in Nasia’s “CBQ Food Freedom” program and although I was hesitant about investing the money I knew where my life was heading if I didn’t make some drastic changes (I honestly thought I probably wouldn’t make it to retirement) things were bad and only going to get worse – and I KNEW IT! I decided to jump in both feet all the way and have never looked back. The investment in the program was worth every penny in fact knowing what I know today it’s worth 10 x the amount paid. I didn’t follow everything to the letter the program is very easy to modify to suit all lifestyles. I can’t wait to say, “I was obese and barely moving but LOOK AT ME NOW!” I know it will happen like everything it takes time – I will get there! The camaraderie in our group was amazing we all cheered when anyone had a win and felt connected and could relate when someone was dealing with a struggle, we became a family of sorts. The zoom calls were always informative, a great learning experience and fun. The changes were subtle and easy to implement. The amount of learning was remarkable, life changing and will last throughout the remainder of my life. I never felt deprived of anything during the entire course and even now I don’t feel deprived. I don’t feel like I am missing anything – 4 months ago I wouldn’t be able to say that. I learned that I could take care of myself eat real food and feel so much better. I also understood that what I was learning was easy to do and that regardless of my future I now know how to improve my wellbeing, health, mobility, overall outlook/mindset and in the long run extend my life and be able to once again enjoy myself while living. During the past 4 months I have lost 23 lbs. and look forward to losing even more. I know that I will continue to lose and feel better in the process. I have lost 1inch off my chest (didn’t have much to start lol), 4 inches off my waist and 4 ½ inches off my hips. My husband said today “it looks like you may be shopping for a new wardrobe soon” man did that ever make me feel like a million bucks!This is possible for anyone willing to believe in themselves and go for it! Like Nasia says “if you follow the program, you can not fail” it’s the truth! Food Freedom feels absolutely 100% amazing!”
Read her review here: https://share.google/DcBX3PPnCLl9SHNei
And as always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!
To your freedom,
Nasia Davos (MBPsS, IPPA, MA)
Ex-Smoker, Psychologist, Creator of the CBQ Method™
P.S. Feeling inspired to break up with nicotine… but don’t know how ready you are to say goodbye? Take this quiz to find out how ready you are to quit smoking this year:
cbqquiz.com
This free assessment will reveal your “Readiness to Quit Smoking” score, show you how close you are to success, identify what might be sabotaging your efforts, and suggest the next best step to take. It’s insightful, personalized, and quick!