Welcome to episode #3 of Ask an Ex.
In this video, you’ll hear Rosa’s story of how she quit smoking for good!
Even though she tried to succeed before using willpower and nicotine patches, her efforts didn’t last, and she wasn’t a happy non-smoker.
But she kept searching for a better way, found it, gave it her best shot, used her incredible resourcefulness, and she made it!
In this video, she shares how she did it + a lot of tips you can start doing right now to make your quit smoking journey easier, even if you’re stuck at home in quarantine.
As Rosa explains, it’s doing the little things that help you feel better overall.
In this video, Rosa shares:
- How she quit smoking this time and what was different from past attempts.
- What she chose to replace smoking with.
- How she was able to socialize and enjoy herself as a non-smoker with her friends who smoke.
- How she copes with stress as a non-smoker.
- And her advice for those who are struggling to quit smoking!
About Ask An Ex
ASK AN EX is a new interview series. Each interview features an inspiring ex-smoker who succeeded with the CBQ Method ™
And they tell you everything – how they did it, what helped them, what challenged them, their fears, motivations and aspirations.
Because the best person to ask about quitting smoking, is an Ex who’s been exactly where you are right now.
Every EX shares their unique perspective and wisdom on quitting smoking (because everyone has a unique mix of background, mindset, and experiences).
And they do it for 1 reason: to help YOU become an EX too.
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Transcript
0:00:00.020,0:00:04.820 Hi everyone this is Nasia Davos and welcome to this episode of Ask An Ex 0:00:04.830,0:00:09.480 today you’ll hear from someone who joined our CBQ program and who has a 0:00:09.480,0:00:14.219 lot to share with you about her success in quitting smoking so if you think you 0:00:14.219,0:00:16.980 can’t quit or if you’re struggling to be without 0:00:16.980,0:00:22.540 cigarettes stay with us 0:00:26.000,0:00:28.980 The ex I have with me today quit smoking after 24 0:00:28.980,0:00:34.320 years overcame all sorts of tempting situations that life threw at her she’s 0:00:34.320,0:00:37.890 still happy nonsmoker and she’s here to tell you how she did it 0:00:37.890,0:00:43.370 please welcome Rosa Maria Roca hi Rosa thank you so much for being here 0:00:43.370,0:00:50.940 Hi Nasia you’re welcome pleasure so you have been a non smoker for about a year now right 0:00:50.940,0:01:00.079 yeah 12 December 2018 was your quit date congratulations this is a huge milestone 0:01:00.079,0:01:06.180 thank you yeah it is actually so proud of myself you should be so 0:01:06.180,0:01:15.180 you’ve been smoking for 24 years how did you start smoking well with a group of 0:01:15.180,0:01:22.380 friends actually my best friend she she started and I asked her for for one just 0:01:22.380,0:01:28.350 to try it the silly things you do when you are a teenager and I found it 0:01:28.350,0:01:32.729 disgusting was horrible but then it was trendy 0:01:32.729,0:01:39.750 everybody did it so why not yeah makes sense though I think most of us started 0:01:39.750,0:01:47.549 smoking that way yeah yeah yeah so over the years did you ever think about 0:01:47.549,0:01:55.979 quitting yes a few times yes especially when I got sick and I started coughing 0:01:55.979,0:02:03.360 and then the smell again I didn’t like the smell when I wanted to climb a 0:02:03.360,0:02:10.979 mountain and I couldn’t because I was just out of breath and yeah with all 0:02:10.979,0:02:15.810 these situations you find yourself stuck in something that is quitting you the 0:02:15.810,0:02:21.060 freedom to do so do whatever you want on right and in a healthy and happy way 0:02:21.060,0:02:30.720 yeah but I did it with success so so you wanted to quit for all those reasons did you ever 0:02:30.720,0:02:38.849 make a serious attempt yes I did a couple of them were serious the others 0:02:38.849,0:02:45.120 were not serious but the couple of them do you know what happened it was very 0:02:45.120,0:02:52.739 frustrating because I ended up crying on the corners of the house oh my god yeah 0:02:52.739,0:02:56.280 it was because I did it on my own without any help 0:02:56.280,0:03:03.329 vaping it didn’t exist yet I think patches weren’t as known as they are 0:03:03.329,0:03:10.260 nowadays and so I did it myself like with willpower yeah just yeah it 0:03:10.260,0:03:14.760 just took me a lot of tears and I couldn’t in the end I couldn’t just yeah 0:03:14.760,0:03:23.790 relapsed again yeah is this horrible and last year what what happened and you 0:03:23.790,0:03:33.799 said I’m gonna try to quit again I turn 40 I had like a painful leg 0:03:33.799,0:03:38.849 because I don’t have an excellent circulation I think now is much much 0:03:38.849,0:03:46.680 better after that we have to say no more pain in my leg so it was definitely the 0:03:46.680,0:03:53.849 cigarettes and then the you know I’ve got two kids and I had to sneak out in 0:03:53.849,0:03:59.160 the garden every time like after the meals to light a cigarette they were 0:03:59.160,0:04:03.450 calling me because they wanted to play with me before a reading time before 0:04:03.450,0:04:10.650 going to bed and you know I started to to find it very horrible actually for 0:04:10.650,0:04:16.260 them they were they are nowadays also very aware of it so they know it’s 0:04:16.260,0:04:20.970 something bad they were saying mom when are you gonna quit why do you do it 0:04:20.970,0:04:26.500 do you really need to smoke and I was asking a great question 0:04:26.500,0:04:34.630 yeah they get to challenge myself when I said listen it’s now or never it’s now 0:04:34.630,0:04:43.830 or never and I did it thanks to you Nasia well I’m very happy you found this program 0:04:43.830,0:04:51.940 what made you decide to try the CBQ method because well I tried patches 0:04:51.940,0:05:00.910 before mm-hmm well last time yeah they I mean they take the anxiety of the 0:05:00.910,0:05:05.800 urges off but you still have the cigarettes going on in your mind 0:05:05.800,0:05:12.370 so that and yeah just addicted to them you still addicted to them the 0:05:12.370,0:05:21.150 difference with your program was that that um you start from the deep roots of 0:05:21.150,0:05:26.200 smoking so where are the deep roots that’s what I found and you start 0:05:26.200,0:05:33.870 thinking about why what is making you continue smoking and all that stuff and 0:05:33.870,0:05:40.290 it makes a difference actually when when you when you go so deeply and just like 0:05:40.290,0:05:45.970 analyzing why you do it um well it’s different just have to say 0:05:45.970,0:05:49.930 it’s different I didn’t need any vaping I didn’t need patches I didn’t need I 0:05:49.930,0:05:57.669 only needed some boxing equipment that was really cool 0:05:57.669,0:06:04.750 I enjoyed the boxing oh also you did replace smoking with boxing yeah and you 0:06:04.750,0:06:12.220 bought a home equipment well my son has one so I I hung well the thing 0:06:12.220,0:06:18.610 don’t even know what is the name and I mean and and then I imagine myself 0:06:18.610,0:06:23.800 looking at the cigarette yeah does it look like a little cigarette and 0:06:23.800,0:06:34.030 then just box to it it was amazingly relaxing hmm I’m very fun I 0:06:34.030,0:06:39.910 think like fighting smile yeah it was easy and you 0:06:39.910,0:06:44.620 exercise you blow off some steam very very nice 0:06:44.620,0:06:50.080 great choice yeah I’m happy yeah I was happy at the time I chose because it 0:06:50.080,0:06:54.490 made me feel so much better I mean the anxiety went as well because you’re 0:06:54.490,0:07:00.790 obviously doing exercise and and yeah it’s a sport i sweat as well so I 0:07:00.790,0:07:05.020 burn some calories I did everything in one perfect 0:07:05.020,0:07:09.430 so obviously that helped you a lot on your journey 0:07:09.430,0:07:17.730 what other part of the program or your coping strategies helped you succeed 0:07:18.890,0:07:28.610 so I started to have a better food better food like healthier food I will 0:07:28.610,0:07:34.070 as well so I introduced to my diet avocados okay 0:07:34.070,0:07:40.340 say you know in Spain when or maybe my home we’re not very used to have 0:07:40.340,0:07:46.610 Ricardo’s and in in England they they are and they still have few friends and 0:07:46.610,0:07:49.940 they started to talk about the vitamins and whatever and I start to be 0:07:49.940,0:07:56.990 more focused on on the healthy food like going deeper and see what what the 0:07:56.990,0:08:01.970 advantages are and at the end to have better skin appearance as well because 0:08:01.970,0:08:07.340 yes avocados are great yeah yeah the cigarettes damage your skin a lot yes 0:08:07.340,0:08:11.710 yes that’s true what else helped you along the way 0:08:11.710,0:08:18.230 exercising even if it’s going out for the walk for half an hour if you don’t 0:08:18.230,0:08:25.550 have time to go to the gym yeah whatever to have some fresh air yeah you are 0:08:25.550,0:08:35.530 stuck in your chores or job problems just anything that gives you some some 0:08:35.530,0:08:40.969 good well-being right like dancing as well because I like dancing I 0:08:40.969,0:08:46.190 particularly like dancing with my kids and listening to the music yeah anything 0:08:46.190,0:08:53.300 you you enjoy basically will help where are you doing those things before or 0:08:53.300,0:08:58.370 you started doing them more when you quit smoking I started so I 0:08:58.370,0:09:05.420 started to do them more when I quit but I yeah I used to do them before also but 0:09:05.420,0:09:12.740 less it’s true less less time cause I didn’t have much time to that very 0:09:12.740,0:09:19.790 interesting and I know you told me in the past year you had to overcome a lot 0:09:19.790,0:09:27.350 of tempting situations can you tell me more about what they were and how you 0:09:27.350,0:09:30.900 overcame them because I think this can be very very helpful 0:09:30.900,0:09:36.460 it was a challenge I mean going out with your gin tonic or whatever the red wine 0:09:36.460,0:09:41.470 in your hands and not having the cigarette in the other hand yeah it’s uh 0:09:41.470,0:09:47.980 it’s quite tough but once you do it and honestly you drink a couple of glasses 0:09:47.980,0:09:54.160 of wine and the next day you just wake up there’s no coughing there’s no 0:09:54.160,0:09:59.560 horrible smell taste in your mouth that’s not it’s no it’s nothing 0:09:59.560,0:10:06.610 yeah you tie it because you went to bed late but um you feel great and that’s 0:10:06.610,0:10:12.220 another thing that you need to learn to enjoy from now on great I love that you 0:10:12.220,0:10:16.720 said that so in the moment where you you were with your friends 0:10:16.720,0:10:22.270 there was the strong association with cigarettes that you hadn’t had the 0:10:22.270,0:10:25.690 chance to break it because it was something you hadn’t experienced as a 0:10:25.690,0:10:32.440 nonsmoker yet what did you do in that moment that allowed you to enjoy 0:10:32.440,0:10:39.010 yourself and your friends without having to smoke so it’s it quickly came to my 0:10:39.010,0:10:48.700 mind your words like observe and identify the double trigger okay and I 0:10:48.700,0:10:55.390 actually did and I assumed it I accepted it and I said listen now this is over 0:10:55.390,0:11:02.770 and you have to learn to enjoy yourself without it and yeah was like giving a 0:11:02.770,0:11:07.360 lesson to myself because you have to talk to yourself sometimes to realize 0:11:07.360,0:11:15.730 and to be aware of it and yeah it worked I I just accepted it and and it helped 0:11:15.730,0:11:24.280 me but another thing that helped me a lot I have to say is um just realizing 0:11:24.280,0:11:31.600 that it’s it’s a life-changing experience and I mean that once once you 0:11:31.600,0:11:39.130 you say this is over you need to change your lifestyle yeah because otherwise if 0:11:39.130,0:11:44.560 you get stuck there and you follow the same patterns it might not work 0:11:44.560,0:11:49.959 so you need to introduce new new things and things that make you feel happy and 0:11:49.959,0:12:00.029 better happier what other things did you introduce the and change your lifestyle 0:12:00.389,0:12:07.329 well actually I have to say that I enjoyed watching a movie after the meal 0:12:07.329,0:12:14.410 like without having to go out cause it was the meal then the cigarette and then you 0:12:14.410,0:12:19.509 know and then watching a movie maybe but like having finished the meal and go to 0:12:19.509,0:12:26.470 the dining room to to watch a movie it’s amazing without having to well feel the 0:12:26.470,0:12:31.980 flavor that the bad flavor in your mouth and whatever mm-hmm another thing that makes you feel proud and full 0:12:31.980,0:12:39.009 these little things it’s a it’s a a chain of little things that make you 0:12:39.009,0:12:42.730 feel just great exactly and so that’s why I’m asking you 0:12:42.730,0:12:47.709 about it because a lot of people are struggling selecting and identifying 0:12:47.709,0:12:52.000 those little things that can make a massive difference in how you feel and 0:12:52.000,0:12:55.809 you not needing cigarettes so what you did was really smart 0:12:55.809,0:13:06.189 dinner movie it’s amazing helps I also have a thing that I found interesting is 0:13:06.189,0:13:13.089 like um I bought a few different teas yes so I’ve got different teas like la 0:13:13.089,0:13:22.660 camomile and then these liquorise with pepper peppercorn I think so these 0:13:22.660,0:13:27.910 little different things and every time I need to like have something in my mouth 0:13:27.910,0:13:34.600 because sometimes yeah whatever I go and have different tea so today I’m gonna 0:13:34.600,0:13:38.800 try another one I’m gonna take this one because I love it 0:13:38.800,0:13:44.889 or you can be a chewing gum I mean a minty chewing gum I love chewing I’m just so 0:13:44.889,0:13:52.959 but you know these things these little treats and I like the idea about the 0:13:52.959,0:13:57.180 teas because you have some variety trying always something new 0:13:57.180,0:14:03.990 no it’s good very nice so when when you feel everyone and we all experience 0:14:03.990,0:14:14.570 stress how do you manage stress as a nonsmoker I’m going out for a walk I 0:14:14.570,0:14:22.080 don’t at home you feel the atmosphere it’s overwhelmed yeah I go out for 0:14:22.080,0:14:30.440 a walk or I just go upstairs and sometimes take a bath if I have the time 0:14:30.440,0:14:38.010 I call a friend and just explain her whatever or having a chat with 0:14:38.010,0:14:44.760 my husband well it’s very helpful if you are just stressed for anything but in 0:14:44.760,0:14:55.590 the end it’s not worth it that’s a great mindset so one last question yeah 0:14:55.590,0:15:00.930 what advice or tips would you give to someone who’s struggling to succeed at 0:15:00.930,0:15:09.690 the moment so that nicotine addiction just lasts two or three weeks so don’t 0:15:09.690,0:15:14.600 worry you’re not gonna die you will overcome it 0:15:14.600,0:15:21.840 that is the mind power what will help you a lot so not the with the willpower 0:15:21.840,0:15:28.230 the mind power that as you said Nastia in your videos but it’s true but you 0:15:28.230,0:15:32.610 need to cultivate your change once you believe it just cultivate you change 0:15:32.610,0:15:37.260 that means change your lifestyle basically or introduce these little 0:15:37.260,0:15:44.240 things into your daily life and you’ll see the difference 0:15:47.190,0:15:55.170 yeah and do what you love to do thank you back you’ll see the feedback thank 0:15:55.170,0:15:59.699 you so much for sharing this that was very very helpful thank you so much very 0:15:59.699,0:16:05.879 good so as you all can see Rosa’s journey is a great example of perseverance and 0:16:05.879,0:16:09.779 resourcefulness she had ups and downs like everyone but 0:16:09.779,0:16:14.189 she stayed committed she used the power of her mind and she did it and this is 0:16:14.189,0:16:18.810 important to remember because there is no such thing as the perfect quit what 0:16:18.810,0:16:23.399 matters the most is how you approach it your mindset and your attitude so I hope 0:16:23.399,0:16:27.660 you learned a lot and that you enjoyed this as much as I did please let us know 0:16:27.660,0:16:31.290 in the comments what you took away from Rosa’s journey that can help you in yours 0:16:31.290,0:16:35.850 and Rosa thank you so much for being here and sharing your experience it was 0:16:35.850,0:16:43.769 really great and I know it’s gonna help a lot of people so thank you thank you 0:16:43.769,0:16:47.310 and thank you all for being here with us have a wonderful day and I’ll see you 0:16:47.310,0:16:49.790 next time