Nasia Davos

The Connection Between COPD and Smoking

Who could ever really believe that a small stick of tobacco can cause so many problems?

Among the most life-draining of these problems, is the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Maybe you’re here because a loved one has COPD, so you want to help them out.

Or maybe you’re struggling with COPD yourself, and you want to quit smoking but without missing cigarettes.

The American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) link 85 to 90 percent of COPD cases and 8 out of 10 COPD-related deaths to smoking.

Smoking is the leading cause of COPD.

That’s why it’s also the best treatment for COPD.

Every single research and health institute, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Mayo Clinic and UK’s National Health System has established that the best treatment for COPD is no other than quitting smoking.

Quitting Smoking and COPD

If you’ve been diagnosed with COPD because of smoking, you naturally feel some sort of anger, disappointment, discouragement or even depression.

It is a tough situation.

No doubt about that.

And… Since the damage to your lungs has already been done, you might think that quitting smoking is not worth the struggle.

Perhaps you think that smoking is the only way you can cope with all the anxiety and the changes happening in your life right now.

You might even think that it’s too late to quit now. There are many reasons why smokers with COPD keep on smoking.

But is it too late to stop smoking?

Kathrin Nicolacakis, MD, a pulmonary specialist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio says that quitting smoking is the best COPD treatment that’s guaranteed to help you maintain the lung function you have left.

Think of COPD as a cracked mirror.

If you stop hitting the mirror, it will stay cracked. If you keep hitting it, it will break completely.

No matter what other COPD treatment you use – oxygen therapy, surgery, medication – if you keep cracking the mirror by smoking, it will eventually break.

That’s why the natural cure for COPD is to stop smoking and stop cracking the mirror. 

Listen. No matter how long you have had COPD or how advanced it is, quitting smoking will slow down its progression and improve your quality of life.

In the beginning, you might feel no difference with your COPD because your lungs need some time to clear all the toxins.

After that, things only get better.

According to the American Lung Association (ALA), you experience marvelous stopping smoking benefits after your last cigarette.

Within 1 to 9 months your cough, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath and COPD flare-ups decline so much that you are able to live normally.

Ok so now you know how that quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your COPD.

So the question is, HOW can you stop smoking?

And more importantly, how can you quit smoking naturally and easily so you can remain smoke-free forever?

How to Quit Smoking when you have COPD

If you’ve ever felt that quitting is hard, painful and even impossible… know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Not anymore.

There is a new way to stop smoking easily and permanently.

This way is the CBQ method.

The Cognitive Behavioural Quitting method – CBQ- has 94% success rate. 85% of smokers quit permanently on their first attempt and 9% quit on their second or third attempt. And you can quit too.

The CBQ is so successful because it follows the 4 quit smoking stages.

These stages are:

1. Choose to Quit.

In this stage, you commit to quitting smoking and create your quit plan.

2. Change Your Mindset.

Here you change how you think about smoking, break the fears that keep you from becoming a non-smoker, and strengthen your belief that you can succeed.

3. Change Your Smoking Pattern.

In this stage, you learn how to feel better without cigarettes and how to stop cigarette cavings so you can smoke your last cigarette.

4. Condition your Smoke Free Life.

In the last stage, you learn how to remain a non-smoker and how to feel relaxed, happy, and in peace without a cigarette in your hand.

So in this article, I will show you 3 exercises that belong to the 3rd quit smoking stage: Change Your Smoking Pattern.

Don’t worry if you haven’t started with the first stage yet. You can always access the exclusive video of the 4 stages here.

Just enter your name and email address so I will know where to send you the video.

For now, know that these quit smoking solutions that I’m about to share with you are a great way to test drive the CBQ method.

And they will help you stop smoking.

Ready??

1. Win Your Morning Cigarette

Why is taking control of the morning cigarette so important?

Because most smokers believe that the morning cigarette is the one they will miss the most when they quit.

Just the thought of waking up and not smoking is enough to bring our confidence down and prevent even the most determined among us from making a successful quit attempt.

Yes.

The fear of feeling deprived in the morning can keep us hooked to nicotine for life.

If you are like I was, you probably think that you can’t wake up properly without a cigarette.

Maybe you believe that your whole day will be stressful and overwhelming if you don’t get these first morning puffs.

Or maybe you’re worried that if you don’t smoke in the morning, you won’t be able to enjoy the rest of your day.

Well, if any of these are true for you know that you are not alone.

Most smokers feel they need a cigarette to enjoy their morning.

But is this cigarette really enjoyable?

And do we really NEED it?

The first cigarette of the day tastes awful- unless we smoke it while drinking our coffee or tea or after having breakfast.

For me having a cigarette immediately after brushing my teeth in the morning, was the most disgusting thing. It gave me cotton mouth and the taste was horrible. I still get the chills just thinking about it.

Still, what do you think happened when I didn’t have time to grab a coffee with my morning cigarette?

I still smoked it right after brushing my teeth!

Enjoyment had nothing to do with it. But I thought I needed it. Otherwise, my cravings would be too painful and intense.

But things changed when I started asking myself this question:

Why during the day, I can’t possibly go without cigarettes, but at night I can sleep 6,7 or 8 hours without smoking?

If the nicotine cravings were so painful then they would wake me up!

But we don’t wake up at night from the intensity of our cravings. Do we?

Why?

Because the physical cravings for nicotine can be so subtle that we don’t even notice them.

That’s why we don’t wake up every hour for a cigarette break.

Yet, if we go 8 hours in the day without smoking…. then the cravings become annoying and overwhelming.

Why is it that at night our cravings don’t bother us but when we are awake we feel we NEED a cigarette?

What’s different about sleeping and being awake?

What really changes?

What changes, is that our mind is awake.

And it is our mind that reminds us we haven’t smoked for so many hours.

It tells us that we need to smoke. Otherwise, we will be agitated and stressed all day.

It is our mind that misses the cigarette, not our body.

This happens because the smoking addiction is 80% mental and 20% physical.

The physical addiction to smoking is our body’s need for nicotine.

The mental dependence on smoking is how smoking makes us feel and how much we think we need it.

This is actually good news.

Because it means that we can easily avoid our morning cigarette, as long as we keep ourselves happy and busy in the morning.

When we see that there are other ways to feel good without smoking, then we don’t need to use willpower to resist a cigarette, because there is nothing to resist.

So how can you win over your morning cigarette and kick-start your day?

How to Start Your Day without Smoking

Here are some tips:

•  Begin each day with a planned activity that will keep you busy. This can be talking a walk, showering, making a phone call.
• Write something down — Did you have any good ideas or dreams while you were asleep? Write them down right after you wake up or while drinking your coffee.
• Think of something you’re grateful for or excited about.
• Play a game on your phone to keep your hands busy.
• Begin each day with deep breathing.
• When your mind tells you “You need to smoke”, reply back. Take your most confident, empowering face and say “I don’t need to do anything” or say “later” or “shut up” (I used to say that to myself- To my surprise, it worked).

2. Keep Your Motivation High

All smokers have reasons to quit. These reasons are our motivation.

We want to be healthier and live longer to enjoy our time with our loved ones.

We also want to stop paying our hard earned money to the tobacco companies. Click here to check how much money you will save by quitting smoking.

And, of course, we want to breathe better so we can beat the painful COPD symptoms.

So yes, we all have some quit smoking motivation.

Then why don’t we do it?

What is stopping us?

Why does our motivation evaporate?

You might think that what destroys your motivation to quit comes down to self-destruction or weakness. That’s far from the truth.

What destroys our motivation to quit is…. our motivation to smoke.

On the one hand, we want to get back our health, wealth, and peace of mind.

On the other hand, we are motivated to keep on smoking because we are afraid of losing the cigarette friend that helps us relax, socialize and control our weight.

We simply have a conflict of motivations.

And quitting smoking is all about making our motivation to quit become greater than our motivation to smoke.

It’s about having more reasons to quit than to keep on smoking.

So now let’s do an exercise together to help you keep your motivation to quit high. If you can, do this exercise as you are reading this post (no better time than the present, right?)

It will only take a few minutes, I promise.

Okay, take a piece of paper or open a notes app on your phone or tablet.

We will make 2 lists.

On list #1 write ALL the quit smoking benefits. Or else, the reasons why you want to stop smoking.

On list #2 write ALL the smoking benefits. In other words, the reasons why you want to keep on smoking.

These 2 lists may look something like this:

I encourage you to spend 5 minutes writing everything that comes to your mind…

And when you finish, check your lists.

Which list is bigger?

Do you have more reasons to quit or more reasons to smoke?

And which reasons are more important? The ones on the first list or the second?

I think you already know.

So every time you feel like giving up on your decision to quit, look at these lists.

This will keep your motivation high.

Moving on.

I bet that somewhere on your Reasons to Smoke list, you wrote about stress. Right?

This brings me to our next point.

3. How to Bring Your Stress Down

COPD and Smoking can increase your anxiety.

See, all smokers face daily stress. But having COPD is a stressful situation all by itself.

Just knowing that your lungs are harmed, is distressing. It creates guilt. And guilt is a big burden to carry.

And having to cope with symptoms like chest tightness, wheezing, constant coughing, tiredness, headaches and swollen feet, is not only stressful but also painful.

Now being hooked on oxygen tanks goes beyond stressful.

And then there is the loving pressure to quit that comes from your loved ones.

This can be a lot to handle, right?

The more problems you’re facing, the more you feel you need smoking. The very thing that caused all of these problems.

It doesn’t make sense but for some reason, it appears to help.

But does it really help?

As if the existing stress in your life wasn’t enough, you now have the stress coming from your nicotine cravings.

Cravings are very agitating.

They make us tense.

Anxious.

When we crave, we can’t think of anything else other than smoking.

So we smoke.

When we smoke, we relieve the irritating craving.

But every cigarette we smoke also causes our next cigarette craving. And when the next craving comes, what happens?

We feel stress if we don’t smoke to satisfy that craving too.

So we smoke again. And the same vicious circle repeats itself 20, 30, 50 times a day until the end of our lives.

Smoking is not relaxing us.

On the contrary, it’s causing us stress all day, every day.

It’s true. Smokers are more stressed than non-smokers.

Yep, that’s right.

Although smoking a cigarette might feel like an effective mood control, being addicted to nicotine increases your anxiety.

So our goal is to remain smoke-free and stress-free.

Remember what we talked about earlier in this post.

A successful and easy quit attempt happens when we know how to cope with our biggest cravings BEFORE we have to face them.

The key here is to start managing your stress without cigarettes BEFORE you smoke your last cigarette.

That way, you will know exactly what to do when a craving strikes.

Your anxiety will go down.

You won’t feel overwhelmed.

You will be prepared. And it will work.

If you think that this is hard, let me reassure you that it is not.

The only reason you feel you need smoking to relax is this: You never had the chance to learn how to relax without a cigarette.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t relax without smoking.

You can. I promise you.

All you have to do is to experiment with new ways to relax without smoking.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

How to Relax without Smoking

1. Focus on today.

Really, when you feel overwhelmed tell yourself “Focus on today”. Forget about yesterday or tomorrow. Take it one day at a time. Solve one problem at a time.

Focus on getting through today. Then focus on getting through tomorrow when it comes.

2. Write it down.

Recharge your mind by writing down your thoughts.

Don’t let all these worries run around in your head. That way, they get bigger and they blow out of proportion.

Instead, take a pen and a paper and start writing down what’s stressing you out.

Then ask yourself: Will smoking solve this problem?

3. Get perspective.

What helped me (and still helps me) calm down when I was stressed and anxious was getting some perspective on my problems. I was asking myself these questions:

• Is anyone else on this planet going through a harder time right now?
• And what would my best friend (spouse, mother, grandmother, son, daughter) say to me about this problem?

Conclusion

Now you can how to deal with COPD and smoking.

The fastest way to get started is to use the 3 tools from the quit smoking stage- Change Your Smoking Pattern:
– How to smash your morning cigarette
– How to keep your motivation to quit high
– And how to tackle stressful situations without cigarettes.

To quit smoking permanently and easily, makes sure you follow the 4 stages of the CBQ method.

These 4 stages take you from where you are now to a happy non-smoker.

And they are designed to help you quit even if you love smoking.

Click here to request access to the exclusive video of the 4 stages.

It’s 100% free.

All you need to do is enter your name and email address so I can send you the link to the video.

Get the 4 stages of the CBQ method now.

See you on the inside!

Are you exploring different ways to quit smoking, because you want a method that will really work for you?

Have you tried to quit in the past but failed or relapsed after a while?

And do you want to stop smoking, but worry it’s too hard and stressful?

Well, since you are here, I believe that at least a part of you really wants to stop this habit.

That much I know.

Maybe you’re here because you want to break free from this addiction and live a long, happy life with your loved ones. 

Perhaps, you are struggling with your breathing and worrying about how smoking might be affecting you.

Possibly, your energy does not sustain you throughout the day anymore.

Maybe you are just sick of the smell. And of having to draw money out of your pocket every day to pay the tobacco companies.

Or maybe, although you have everything in your life under control, cigarettes are the one thing controlling you.

And you hate that.

Right?

I bet you have a dozen reasons to quit. Especially, when knowing what happens when you quit smoking. 

That’s why nearly 7 out of every 10 smokers want to quit for good.

But to be fair, everyone is looking for ways to quit smoking that are easy, permanent and stress-free.

After all, that’s the best way to quit smoking: a way that helps you quit easily and permanently, without any stress, weight gain or feelings of deprivation.

Don’t you agree?

Unfortunately, most people don’t believe there are such easy ways to quit smoking.

They believe they’ve run out of options. Or they believe quitting cigarettes is meant to be hard, so they postpone it indefinitely.

Or even worse, some smokers use outdated ways to quit smoking that make quitting hard.

So they fail, then they blame themselves for it, and they end up believing they have an addictive personality or not enough willpower.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not anymore.

Nowadays, science has progressed. We understand how our brain and body get addicted to smoking. So we know exactly how to remove this addiction for good.

And after nearly a decade (can’t believe it’s been that long!) of research, my team and I have developed a cutting-edge quit smoking method that tackles this addiction for good: the CBQ method.

The Cognitive Behavioral Quitting method – CBQ – has 94% success rate. 85% of smokers quit permanently on their first attempt, and 9% quit on their second or third attempt.

What makes the CBQ method so successful?

The key here is that you first stop wanting to smoke, and THEN you break the habit of smoking.

Now instead of telling you why the CBQ method is the most effective way to quit smoking naturally, I’d rather show you.

Because no matter what I say, you are the one who will choose how to stop smoking.

So how can I show you?

By comparing all the common ways to quit smoking- nicotine replacement therapy, vaping, pills, cold turkey, with the CBQ method.

Just to be clear. Many smokers manage to quit with stop smoking aids.

• But do they find it easy?
• Do they stay smoke-free?
• Are they stressed and anxious?
• And are they gaining weight?

Let’s see.

The 5 Ways to Quit Smoking: Comparison

1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

In Nicotine Replacement Therapy you quit smoking by using products – patches, gums, lozenges – that contain nicotine.

Easy

At first sight, it seems that these products make quitting easier by minimizing your nicotine cravings.

But does staying addicted to nicotine make quitting easier?

And do you actually reduce your nicotine cravings?

Nicotine products do not alleviate the nicotine withdrawal. Instead, they prolong it. When you stop supplying your body with nicotine, the cravings eventually end. When you keep taking nicotine, the cravings continue for as long as you remain addicted.

Unless you plan on taking these products forever, you will eventually have to stop using them and go through the inevitable physical withdrawal.

Permanent

Would you advise a heroin addict to stop using heroin by chewing it instead of injecting it?

Of course, not!

But why?

Because how can you overcome the addiction to a drug by taking the same drug you are addicted to?

It’s impossible.

As a matter of fact, it’s easier to relapse if you are already addicted to nicotine. As long as you have nicotine inside your body, you are always one step closer to smoking a cigarette.

This is backed up by the director of the Centre for Global Tobacco Control at Harvard School of Public Health whose research proved that nicotine gums and patches can keep you off of cigarettes only for a few months.

Stress

All of us have used cigarettes to smoke our stress away.

If nicotine had such a relaxing effect, then smokers would be the most relaxed and careless people in the world. And you and I both know that that’s just not true.

What’s true, is that nicotine is the very thing making us anxious. Every time our body is low on nicotine, we experience stress and even panic. This kind of stress is also called “craving.”

When we smoke, we feel relaxed, yes.

However, we don’t relax because the cigarette calmed us down. We feel better because we supplied our body with nicotine and ended the exasperating craving.

Plus, what calms us down when smoking is the familiar, repetitive movement we do with our hands.

In times of uncertainty, it’s the ritual, the habit of smoking that gives us a sense of stability and makes us feel okay. Not the nicotine.

In that sense, we can feel as relaxed by adopting any other ritual, from doing deep breathing to counting sheep.

Why keep the stressful nicotine in our mind and body?

Weight Gain

Substituting cigarettes with other forms of nicotine makes you feel you are making a sacrifice by quitting. This, in turn, makes you feel deprived. And when we feel we’re missing something, we try to find other ways to fill that void.

The easiest, fastest and most comforting way is food.

Right?

That’s why nicotine products are likely to cause you to put on weight.

2. Vaping

Vaping has a short overview. The reason is simple: Vaping is NOT a quit smoking method.

Vaping is a physical and mental addiction. You still make the same hand gesture; you stay addicted to nicotine, and to the idea that you need nicotine to feel relaxed and happy. You’re just using a fancier device.

And remember that at some point, you will have to quit vaping, which is the same as quitting smoking. Because you still have to experience nicotine withdrawal, stress, weight gain, and deal with having your hands empty.

Research that was presented at the American Thoracic Society Conference shows that people who managed to replace smoking with vaping did so for 3 – 6 months.

Yes, most smokers who vape STILL go back to smoking because they want the “real thing.”

But who can blame them? They never even had the chance to overcome this addiction.

In case you are planning to vape forever, you need to know that vaping cause pop-corn lung and damage our vision.

There is countless proof. Unfortunately, this truth is not in the best interest of tobacco companies. (Yes, most vaping devices are sold by tobacco companies).

3. Smoking Pills

Smoking pills cause chemical reactions in your brain that make you feel less enjoyment when you smoke. But for how long? And at what expense?

Easy

The chemicals pills have side effects like depression, hostility and suicidal thoughts, so they make your life nothing but easy.

In fact, they are dangerous. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has received over 1,513 reports of adverse reactions, including 62 reports of suicidal feelings.

In the UK alone, Champix was the cause of 80 deaths from 2006 to 2011. Half of them were suicides. Some might think that 80 deaths are nothing compared to the thousands of smokers who use this pill, but I cannot accept this, and I believe you feel the same way. Every life matters.

Permanent

Taking smoking tablets decreases your cravings for nicotine…for as long as you take the tablets. Some people manage to stop smoking for a while. Others still smoke while taking this medication.

But here’s the thing. Medication does not remove the reasons why you smoke. Your desire for a cigarette is still there. Plus, you still don’t know how to keep your hands busy or deal with stress and boredom without cigarettes.

You tell me: How easy is it to relapse when a big problem comes up or after a heated argument?

Stress

Since this medication messes up the chemical balance in our body, it can cause an overall emotional imbalance and stress.

So not only we feel stressed because we can’t smoke, but we also have the additional emotional burden that comes with the pills.

Listen. Medication does not alleviate the stress. What really helps, is finding alternative ways to relax, feel happy and cope with life without smoking.

Weight Gain

Smoking pills will not cause weight gain or help you manage your weight.

4. Quitting with Willpower

Using your willpower to stop yourself from smoking is a natural smoking cessation way and the healthiest alternative so far. Let’s have a closer look.

Easy

Here’s what happens when we use our willpower to stop smoking cigarettes: we first stop smoking and then wait for our desire to smoke to fade away and disappear.

But does it disappear by itself?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Because time and willpower can’t remove our need to smoke.

What happens instead, is that we feel deprived and the thought of a cigarette becomes even more precious.

When a craving strikes, we can think of nothing else other than smoking. So we either suffer or give in and smoke.

That’s why the willpower way is unbearable for most people.

Permanent

The success rate of quitting abruptly with willpower is 4-7%.

This shouldn’t be surprising.

When you stop smoking while still ENJOYING it, then you feel you’ve lost a friend, a comfort.

And the more deprived we feel, the more we tend to rationalize our thoughts of having “just one cigarette” in times of stress or even in happy times.

We say to ourselves “one puff won’t hurt.”

But this puff becomes a cigarette. One cigarette becomes two, and soon after that, we’re back to our smoking habit.

Stress

When you deny yourself the cigarette you crave… you suffer mentally because you still desire a cigarette, but you can’t have it. That’s when you start getting anxious and overwhelmed.

If you’re like I was, then your anxiety might be increasing just at the thought of not being able to smoke when you are stressed, bored, or when you feel your hands empty. So you live in a constant state of irritation and agitation.

Let me tell you, this is not how smoke-free life is supposed to be like.

Weight Gain

Most smokers who quit and gain weight are the ones who use willpower to stop themselves from smoking.

Trying to resist a cigarette with willpower, can only make you turn to food so you can distract yourself from your craving. Also, cravings feel a lot like hunger, so you get tricked into eating without being hungry.

And the thing is that most of us go for fatty food when we feel down. Because fatty food is comfort food. If we eat chips or chocolates every time we have a craving, then gaining weight is inevitable.

5. The CBQ Method

The CBQ method is a natural smoking cessation method that removes your desire for smoking. You don’t take harmful chemicals, and you don’t stay addicted to nicotine.

So if the CBQ is a natural way to quit smoking, then what’s the difference with using your willpower to quit?

The difference is that with the CBQ method you first stop desiring a cigarette, and THEN you quit.

When you use your willpower, you do the exact opposite. You first stop smoking and THEN wait for your desire to smoke to disappear all by itself.

If you think about it, this is also how nicotine products and smoking pills work. You first try to stop yourself from smoking with these products and then you expect (and often pray) to wake up one day and not feel like smoking anymore.

The fact that the CBQ removes your need to smoke before you quit has some incredible benefits in store for you.

Easy

When you stop craving a smoke before you quit, you can’t possibly feel deprived without cigarettes. Plus, you don’t need to use willpower to resist smoking. Because there is nothing to resist.

Keep in mind that when you use a method that removes your cravings from the core, you don’t experience problems like concentration, headaches or fatigue because there are no cravings to cause them in the first place.

That way, you may not even notice the physical withdrawal from nicotine.

Permanent

The CBQ helps you become a happy non-smoker because it removes the reasons why you smoke. And when we are happy without cigarettes, and we have absolutely no reason to smoke, we don’t relapse.

Besides, the CBQ teaches you new ways to deal with stress, boredom, anger, depression and of course, how to enjoy social occasions, keep your hands busy and manage your weight without cigarettes.

Because if we can cope with the ups and downs of life better as nonsmokers, then we don’t need to ever take another puff.

Stress

When you stop enjoying smoking before you quit, you don’t experience stressful cravings, and you don’t overthink about the situations when you can’t smoke.

So you don’t feel anxious when you don’t have a cigarette. Because there is nothing to miss.

The best thing is that the CBQ method includes exercises and techniques that show you how to relax without cigarettes.

Weight Gain

When you stop desiring a cigarette, you don’t feel the need to replace it with food, because there is nothing to replace. This is enough to keep you from putting on weight.

Some people even lose weight because quitting increases their sense of well being so they make healthier food choices without putting any effort!

Can you see now why removing your desire for cigarettes is the best way to stop smoking?

In fact, removing your desire for smoking before you smoke your last cigarette… is the easiest and most reliable solution.

So now you know what are the 5 most popular ways to quit smoking and which works best.

That’s why, if you haven’t done so already, make sure you watch the free video where I show you how you can stop smoking with the CBQ method. To get the video click here (just add your email address so I can send you the link to your video.)

If you have watched that video, here’s what I want from you:

I’d like you to leave a comment below.

And please share the #1 reason why you smoke and the #1 reason why you want to stop.

Today, you’ll read a CBQ Program review and learn how one of our members, Debra, 47, accomplished these wins:

– Went down from 20 cigarettes a day to 0 with the CBQ Method after 28 years of smoking.
– Started enjoying life better as a non-smoker even though cigarettes used to be her escape.
– Found quitting smoking EASY and knew that she’d never need to smoke again.
– Reversed the effects smoking had on her health and appearance.

All of this while going through a divorce – enough said.

On top of that, she had to work full-time and stay strong for her teenage son.

From Debra herself:

“ Quitting smoking while settling my divorce with my ex-husband and working full-time was extremely stressful. I was emotionally and physically exhausted and although it would have made sense to smoke more during this time, something happened and I did the exact opposite. I quit; I just did!”

Here’s how she did it:

How Debra Decided to Stop Smoking

“I had low energy and I was short-winded because of smoking, but my health was relatively fine. So I never had a pig push, you know, to make a serious attempt to quit.

Although I wanted to quit, I just couldn’t find the motivation. Menopause was a whole big deal for me all by itself: the hot flashes, the feeling that I’m not who I used to be, it was all just bringing me down. And I had to deal with my 16-year-old marriage ending and all that.

My cigarettes were my only comfort at my lonely moments; they gave me courage.”

You may remember when I was invited to do a TEDx talk. That’s how Debra found the CBQ Method.

“I was cooking dinner when my son burst into the kitchen and showed me that video about Nasia Davos’ CBQ quitting method. He was like, you should check this out, and then later I went to the website and subscribed to check the posts and videos.”

Then Debra signed up for the CBQ program. “I wasn’t sure at first. It’s a time commitment and it wasn’t super cheap.

Do I really want to do this? How can an online program help me to quit?

What I need is willpower!

So I searched for reviews about the CBQ Program, the CBQ method and Nasia Davos.

After reading many CBQ Program reviews, and to my surprise, I learned that the CBQ method helps you quit without willpower. And the CBQ Program was helping you quit in 10 days using the CBQ method.

But I thought I already had my life a mess as it is – no way I’m quitting now, but this might be good for the future. I hadn’t heard of the CBQ method before but it seemed like the best option at the time.

Nasia had good ideas about how to calm my anxiety and not think about smoking all the time and miss it. She made it easy.”

The timing couldn’t have been better. Debra had an encounter with her ex over their vacation home.

“I left the lawyer’s office in shreds. Within few hours, I went from frustrated to angry. I was furious; not because of the house but because I realized that I was acting as if my life was over.

Well, it wasn’t. My life’s ahead of me. And I have a wonderful child to give me purpose. I was thinking about how smoking could kill me. I couldn’t lose him. So I decided to stop choking myself with poison and get healthy.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and see what really matters. I needed a change. A good one this time”

How Debra Stopped Smoking with the CBQ Method

As Debra followed along with the CBQ Program, she decided which days she would watch. “Some days I couldn’t watch the program. So I was watching every 2 days on average. The old me would have doubled her smoking. But I was cutting down 1 cigarette every day. Slowly and steadily. I read some CBQ Program reviews from others and they’d done the same.”

She still got results. Debra started feeling more and more confident without smoking.

“The exercises were working. I felt I was needing cigarettes less and less. And I was able to notice the difference in my breathing from early on. My son was so proud of me… that gave me the strength to keep on going”

Her effort paid off. She quickly landed down to 0 cigarettes a day.

“When you said it was easy to quit, I have, to be honest; I doubted you. But it was just like you said. I smoked my last cigarette and immediately felt that I was done with smoking. Your method helped me get rid of this empty feeling I got when I had a craving.

I was enjoying my meals, my break at work and watching the Walking Dead with my son- just as much.”

How did it feel?

“It felt good… like I’m finally doing something for myself.”

And she is a happy non-smoker. “I am not even tempted. Funny how I used to think smoking helped me enjoy life. Energy and health help you enjoy life. And smoking takes them both away. I can see that now.”

What’s been the practical effect of stopping smoking?

“Hmm, the smell, of course… my face doesn’t have this yellowish tone anymore, I feel fresh, I breathe better, I have so much more energy to take a walk, work and just do more things all day feeling good.

Even stress is better. I mean, still have a lot going on but now I know how to manage my anxiety and the CBQ exercises helped a lot. Oh yes, and I have saved so much money, few thousands now, that I’m taking my son to Europe.”

Think about Debra’s reluctance to invest in herself before. She mentioned the price of the CBQ Program was high. Yet after watching the program and doing the CBQ exercises, her entire perspective has changed to the value of her lifestyle. This is what we mean by “Breathing Life”.

Some thoughts on quitting…

Before the CBQ Program, Debra was afraid that she will be miserable without her smokes. As she put it: “I felt I would never be happy without my cigarettes.”

The odds were against her.

Not anymore.

Now she is enjoying her life more than ever.

 

*We always use pseudonyms to protect our members’ privacy.

Claire was one of our CBQ Program members who quit smoking after 34 years with the CBQ Method.

And some parts of Claire’s story might be similar to your story. So read through, and try to see if you can get some ideas that can help YOU stop smoking.

Back to Claire.

•Claire had a full-time job and a family, making her life extremely busy and stressful.

•She thought she could never feel relaxed without her smokes and that no method can work for her.

•Claire believed that it was too late for her and that she could never quit smoking 2 packs a day.

•She had never tried an online quit-smoking program before like the CBQ Program, and wasn’t sure how videos and exercises can help her quit smoking.

Yet after completing the CBQ Program, she was able to quit smoking with the CBQ method. And find a way to relax when she was stressed. AND help other women in her community do the same.

Here’s how she did it.

How Claire Took the Decision to Quit

Claire is 57 years old and works as a secretary in a newspaper. She is married with 1 daughter, 2 grandchildren and has a cat (Mr. Fluffers).

Claire is an independent, strong and social woman. Everyone loves her; friends, neighbors, coworkers.

However, most people wouldn’t guess she was overly stressed and unhappy.

“Every day I was smoking nearly 2 packs. I was smoking at my breaks at work and at home with my husband. I was out of breath all the time.

I wanted to be healthier but I felt I needed smoking to relax. You know, after so many years I was smoking out of habit more than anything else. I just couldn’t make myself quit.”

Until one Thursday her grandchildren were over at her house and she was so out of breath… that she was coughing more than she was talking.

“I love my grandbabies more than anything. I love cooking for them, playing with them, taking them to school.

And that day got me thinking, what if I don’t live long enough to see them grow up?

Many people die unexpectedly for millions of reasons. Why would I get away with it?”

So Claire decided to quit.

“I first tried to quit cold turkey and then with the gum… I spent a lot of money on these nicotine things and other stop smoking aids.

But still, I was struggling. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. When I was stressed, nothing could calm me down.

And it was impossible to forget about smoking when my husband was smoking next to me all the time. I felt hopeless.”

The result?

Back to cigarettes.
“But I was feeling terrible. Guilty for not quitting and letting down my family and guilty that I enjoyed my smokes.”

One day Claire’s daughter read a couple of CBQ method reviews and sent her the link to the CBQ Method website.

“My daughter’s colleague had quit smoking with Nasia Davos and she was doing pretty well with stress and maintaining her weight. I signed up for the free stuff and got into the newsletter. I liked the CBQ method and all the critiques I read about it.”

“The information in Nasia’s emails changed my perspective on smoking. It was a big change from a lot of what I was getting from other websites with generic advice.

I decided to buy the CBQ Program because it was following the CBQ method. And because of how specific Nasia got, and she was realistic about how committed you have to be on doing the CBQ exercises during the CBQ Program.

Once I had my password for the member’s area, I immediately started watching. I felt like a student doing my exercises and all.”

When Claire started the CBQ Program she was a little nervous. She was afraid that she would quit, but it wouldn’t last.

So…. she reached the second day of the CBQ Program and paused the course for two whole weeks.

But then she gave it one more shot.

How Claire Quit Smoking Without Stress

Claire already knew that she needed to do something with her hands so that she wouldn’t smoke.

But she needed a proven system to replace smoking with another activity. An activity, that made her feel relaxed and fulfilled without her crutch.

“With the CBQ Program, you want to dive right in, but the first couple days give you a base.
Step one, was understanding why I am smoking when I’m stressed or when I feel my hands empty. Step two, was not smoking.”

After a few days, Claire realized that there are other comforting things she can do when she had a craving.

“ I understood why I felt so happy when I was smoking and discovered new things that gave me real enjoyment. I’ve always liked gardening and flowers.

So I used Nasia’s “Replace your smoking pattern” technique from the CBQ method. This helped me replace smoking with another habit: floristry!

My withdrawal was much easier than I expected. When I had a craving or I was stressed or needed some time alone, I was in my garden getting busy so that I wouldn’t smoke or eat. My husband didn’t recognize me.”

“With the CBQ Program you quit smoking in 10 days, but I needed to take 2 more days to let everything sink in. So I finished the program in 12 days and now almost 14 months later I feel happier and younger than ever.”

And now that Claire has a list of things to do when she feels anxious or down— just like she learned during the CBQ Program- she can choose one when she feels stressed.

How Claire Remained a Non-Smoker

“My gardening thing took off and now I host a floristry club in my house! A dozen women from my neighborhood come together once a week, we make amazing bouquets and then sell them. My club has mainly women who are ex-smokers so this club is a support group that is also fun and productive.”

With an effective and efficient system in place, Claire isn’t worried about going back to smoking anymore.

Think about the differences between having a healthy habit – whatever that is- and smoking.

It’s an entirely different lifestyle.

“Smoking is just not as much of a concern anymore. I feel healthier, I smell fresh and I have more energy to play with my grandbabies.  My husband couldn’t believe how I felt so happy without my smokes. So he quit too with the CBQ Program.”

What is your review of the CBQ method?

“My review.. I guess it’s simple. Without the CBQ method, I’d be probably trying to quit all by myself. Your blog and emails about the CBQ method are really helpful. They make you understand what’s happening to you and that quitting is easier than you think.

But the CBQ Program really made me accountable. Made me follow through. I felt certain that I had many ways to tackle my habit”

What would you tell others who want to quit smoking?

“It’s never too late. Feeling free from thinking about your next fix and free from the guilt of letting down your family, is something I wouldn’t change for the world.

I breathe so much better and have saved so much money.
My life has changed. If I can do it, anyone can.”

What would you tell others considering joining the CBQ Program?  “Take the lessons seriously. Follow them to a T. Don’t just watch it and follow it half-way. You just have to do it. Even if it takes you more than 10 days.

 

If you’ve landed here, on this website, on this article, reading this line… then I believe there’s a part of you that wants to know how to quit smoking and then there’s another part of you that thinks stopping smoking is really hard.

If that’s you, you are not alone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 7 out of every 10 smokers, want to quit for good.

It’s true.

Most smokers want a healthier, longer, happier, richer and calmer life. A life, where they don’t even miss cigarettes.

So, what happens?

It turns out that from all these people, only 6% actually kick the habit.

Now from the remaining 94% of people, I’m betting there’s someone just like you….

…Someone who believed that resisting one cigarette after the other with all their strength would eventually make their cravings go away.

…Someone who believed that taking nicotine substitutes would kill their desire to have a smoke when they are stressed.

…Someone who put the work in and things just didn’t pan out.

The question is “WHY!?!”

And most importantly, how can you BEAT THE ODDS?

The Psychology Behind Why You Can’t Quit

Most people fall off the beaten path because they waste their energy, hopes, and money on methods that simply don’t give them what they want:

• fewer painful cravings
• less stress
• and 0 feelings of deprivation

When you feel irritated, stressed and deprived without a cigarette, you will naturally feel that you are losing something by quitting smoking.

And that feeling of “something missing” will demotivate the MOST DETERMINED person.

So that’s why most smokers haven’t quit, yet.

It’s frustrating, yes.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

So I have a question for you:

Have you ever felt that quitting smoking is a HARD and even an IMPOSSIBLE thing to do?

Are you worried that you will go through pain to quit only to go back to smoking when you’re stressed or to stop putting on weight?

Are you afraid that you will stop smoking but you will spend your life always missing the occasional cigarette?

Or worse, maybe these things have already happened to you… and you’ve just had enough?

If you said “Heck, YES!” you’re in luck.

Because in this post I’m going reveal the top 3 mistakes that cause even the most determined people to get back to smoking at the drop of a hat.

The good news is that when you avoid these mistakes, YOU CAN BEAT YOUR ADDICTION.

Ready?

Let’s jump in.

Mistake #1: You Think You Need More Willpower

When I was a smoker, I was struggling to quit. I was trying so hard to resist a cigarette but I couldn’t.

I just couldn’t help myself!

There was always something happening that made my willpower evaporate: an argument, a drink with friends, stress, telling myself “one cigarette won’t hurt”…

In these and many more occasions I used to run to the store to buy cigarettes, borrow one from a friend or dig up the pack I’d saved in the depths of my closet.

For a long time, I thought I was weak since I didn’t have enough willpower to stop smoking.

And you might be thinking that too …

This ends here.

You don’t need any willpower to stop smoking. In fact, you SHOULDN’T use any willpower if you want to quit easily.

And I will explain why.

Why We Don’t Need our Willpower to Quit Smoking

When you light up you do it because you genuinely believe that smoking offers you some benefits: it helps you relax, socialize, cope with boredom, keep your hands busy or even control your weight.

Right?

These benefits are the reasons why we think we enjoy, desire and even need a cigarette.

For example, we really want a cigarette when we are on the phone because we believe it will help us relax, concentrate and enjoy our phone call.

Every time we want a smoke is because we believe it will offer us a benefit.

So why can’t we resist that cigarette with willpower?

• Because using our willpower does not remove the benefits we get from smoking.
• Because willpower does not magically remove our desire to smoke.
• And because it’s hard to control our desires with willpower.

Our emotions don’t work that way. Our emotions and feelings are UNLIMITED. And our willpower is limited. 

Behavioral science researchers have proven that our willpower is like a muscle that gets tired during our day.  The more we use it, the weaker it becomes.

So our willpower cannot overpower our desire to smoke.

Emotions > Willpower.

Let’s say you just came back from a stressful day at work. All you want to do is sit on your front porch or your couch and light up a cigarette to relax.

Now if at that point, you force yourself to resist that comforting cigarette… what happens?!

You will want it even more! (we all want what we can’t have, right?).

Like I explain in my TED talk, putting effort into NOT smoking creates more stress. Because it makes you think about smoking more intensely.

How to Quit Smoking and Overcome Your Cravings without Using Willpower

Well, The key here is to stop thinking about smoking.

Easier said than done, I know …

But you can do it. How? When you want to smoke, do something else instead.

But that something – and that’s the important part-  has to keep your mind and hands busy until the craving is over.

Remember this: every craving that comes will go.

Knowing that the craving will fade away in no more than 3 minutes gives you some kind of power over it.

Right?

Ok so here are the 5 best things that can keep you busy during your next craving.

And here’s what some members of the CBQ have to say about this:

Moving on…

Mistake #2: You Only Deal With Your Physical Dependence on Nicotine.

Most of us have tried to quit smoking multiple times. When I ask someone if they’ve tried to quit before and how, they usually tell me:

“Okay, so I tried the gum, but it tastes terrible. And I want my smokes even if I chew.” or

“Umm… Yes I tried the patch, but sometimes I smoke while wearing it.” or

“I was vaping for a few months, but it doesn’t make me wanna quit. So I started smoking again, I prefer the real thing.”

or “I took the pills, but I was feeling too depressed. I’d rather smoke than be miserable.”

And you might have a very similar answer too…

You might be blaming yourself for failing to quit with the above methods.

The thing is, IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT!

These nicotine gums, patches and vaping are nothing but alternative delivery systems for nicotine; the very substance that makes cigarettes so addictive.

So by using these products you only satisfy your physical need to smoke a cigarette.

But … if smoking was just a physical addiction, they why do so we still crave a smoke when we’re stressed- even while using these nicotine substitutes?

The truth is simple: these methods only tackle your physical dependence on nicotine. Not your mental dependence.

But smoking is mostly a mental addiction.

Why Smoking Is a Mental Addiction

The mental dependence on smoking is made up of 2 things:

1. The emotional benefits you get from smoking.
2. The movement you do with your hands.

Think about it.

Most of the times, you probably smoke because:

• You feel anxious
• You need a mental break
• You want to keep your hands busy when you feel bored.

You probably smoke out of habit while watching TV, while driving, while drinking your coffee, while scrolling through Facebook or after a  meal.

If you don’t, you feel that something is missing.

As you can see, the reasons why you smoke are all are mental, psychological, emotional. Not physical.

This is exactly why patches, smoking pills and vaping, rarely work. Because they only deal with the physical aspect of the habit. Not the mental/emotional/psychological one.

They’re simply giving you the momentary illusion, that you are satisfied without your cigarettes, but it won’t last long before you go back to your smokes.

Check what some of our members have to say about this:

The Solution?

According to the British Psychological Society, quitting smoking is effective only when you tackle both the physical and the mental dependence on the habit.

That’s why the CBQ quit smoking method, the cutting-edge method we use, removes your mental dependence on smoking before you actually quit.

If you want to learn how the CBQ method can help you overcome your mental dependence on smoking, click here to download the foundational video & PDF starter guide of the CBQ Method. It will show you how to quit smoking without missing cigarettes ever again.

Ok, let’s go to the NEXT big mistake.

Mistake #3: You Haven’t Made a REAL Decision to Quit.

Making a real decision to quit means making a commitment to yourself to stop smoking – no matter what challenges or difficulties you face along the way.

But we rarely commit to stopping smoking when we start a quit attempt.

We rarely say: “I don’t care what happens, there is no way I’m smoking another cigarette.”

Instead, we say: “I will try and see how it goes.”

“I wish I will make it.”

“I hope it works out.”

And we say these things because we don’t want to put much pressure on ourselves. Because if we commit fully and then fail… we will feel bad. 

But if we don’t commit fully from the beginning, then we are in a better position: we can tell ourselves that our attempt wasn’t too serious anyway. 

Listen…

If you don’t make a firm decision to quit, your mind will always make up excuses, to smoke another cigarette– maybe during your break at work or while watching your favorite TV show.

Your mind will tell you that it’s ok to have the very last cigarette, after the last cigarette, you promised yourself to smoke.

It will tell you, that you NEED to smoke. Otherwise, you will be unpleasant, to those around you.

All these, are very common thoughts, among smokers who want to quit. They are torturing. They fill you up with doubts. And they sabotage your quit attempt.

But these thoughts stop when you decide to quit.

So now the question is…

“How can YOU make an iron-clad decision to quit smoking?”

The SECRET behind making a real decision is as simple as being VERY specific with the reason you want to quit.

When you think about the exact ways quitting will change your life – physically, emotionally, financially – then your motivation increases and your decision to quit becomes stronger.

It might seem a bit silly, but look at it like this: What is more motivating and memorable?

Saying: “I have to quit because it costs me a fortune”?

OR saying: “I have to quit because I can use the money to treat my family to a vacation in Fiji. And enjoy this vacation without having the anxiety of running out of cigarettes.”

????

The second one is much more motivating, right?

(I mean who wouldn’t like a family vacation to Fiji ⛱ ⛱⛱   with the extra money saved from quitting smoking.)

How to Strengthen Your Decision to Quit Smoking EVEN MORE

You will strengthen your decision to stop smoking and increase your motivation to stick with that decision if you make a list of 10 (not 8 or 9) reasons why you want to quit smoking. 

I call this list, the “Golden List.”

You might think, “well, isn’t that obvious?”

And the answer is, “Yes,” but if you don’t make a list, your reasons for quitting won’t stay on top of your mind when you have a craving.

Imagine you’ve just woken up in the morning. You are drinking your coffee and you crave a smoke. But you refrain from having it because you have decided to stop smoking.

A few moments later your spouse comes with their coffee, sits next to you and starts smoking.

As soon as this happens, your craving increases. You even feel you’re missing out. The more you smell the cigarette, the more you entertain the thought of asking for a puff.

At that moment, your decision and motivation to quit start getting weaker and weaker.

All you think about is having a smoke with your coffee.

And it is at that particular moment when you need to have your Golden List quit next to you.

Think about it.

What’s the easiest way to avoid smoking?

If you try to resist the cigarette?

Or if you take your list with all the reasons why you want to quit and start reading it?

You know the answer!

Reading your list will remind you why you’re better off not smoking the cigarette you’re craving.

So write your golden list. And then put it somewhere you can see at all times. (Your bedroom wall, your work desk, or just stick it on your fridge.)

And if you’re worried that this won’t work, just take a look at what some of our members said:

How to Quit Smoking Starting Today

Now that I walked you through the big 3 mistakes that prevent you from quitting successfully, you’ve got ONE goal:

To start your quitting journey… RIGHT

So how do you get started?

There are 4 stages you need to follow if you want to quit easily and for good.

These 4 stages show you not only how to prepare for your next quit but also how to smoke your last cigarette feeling excited.

If you want to learn how the CBQ Method can help you quit smoking easily, you can start by getting the foundational video and PDF starter guide of the CBQ Method.

The foundational video will give you an overview of your quit smoking journey from start to finish and the guide will help you map out your quit, take notes, and remember important tips.

Get the Foundational video of the CBQ Method here.

Imagine being able to avoid smoking for 24 hours. You told your family you’re quitting, slept early to experience fewer cravings, and googled how to keep busy without cigarettes. You’re feeling good, and everything is going according to plan… UNTIL something stressful happens.

The moment you get anxious, you start thinking about having “just one”. Soon enough, smoking is all you think about, and even though you try to stay away from cigarettes, you feel unable to cope and end up relapsing and feeling defeated.

So, how do you quit smoking if anxiety is your kryptonite? Truth be told, you can’t wait for the right time when your life will be totally stress-free. That moment will probably never come. The only viable solution is to learn how to handle stress BEFORE smoking your last cigarette. That’s what Mary did.

Mary is a 48-year-old wife, mother, and accountant who had been smoking a pack a day for 31 years. She had a colorful, caring, and fun personality that was often dimmed by her anxiety. Even though her family was her everything, the toll of her busy life increased her stress, which decreased the quality of her life and affected her relationships.

Mary believed smoking was the only thing that helped her manage her stress (at least the only thing she knew). At the same time, she hated being a smoker. The smell, cost, guilt, and inconvenience made her think about quitting almost every day. Yet, it was only after her doctor warned her that her lungs weren’t functioning properly… that she really felt the pressure.

“I felt it was urgent to quit for my children no matter how much I needed it to relax,” she said, “I wanted just to quit and never think about it again.”

Mary tried to quit, many times, with nicotine patches, gums, and vaping, but she couldn’t stay away from cigarettes for more than a couple of days. No matter how much nicotine or willpower she used, she always ended up relapsing. As she later realized, the reason for all these slips was that she was abstaining from cigarettes. Not quitting them.

And there’s a BIG difference between “quitting” and “abstaining.”

Abstaining from smoking means continuously using your willpower to resist smoking. Quitting smoking means not wanting to smoke any more.

Abstaining from smoking means PAUSING your habit.

Quitting smoking means ENDING it.

When you pause your addiction, you are doomed to resume it. When you end it, you’re free.

Here’s how Mary recognized the #1 thing holding her back from really quitting smoking and how she turned things around.

Why Mary Couldn’t Quit Successfully 

Mary was doing a lot of things right. She didn’t allow anyone to smoke inside her house and she even threw her ashtrays away. But none of those actions kept her from lighting up when she was stressed.

“When I was sorting out our bills, or when I had an argument with my husband or my boss… I wanted a smoke more than anything in the world. I needed it, so I smoked.

The problem is that I was blaming everyone else for not feeling ready to quit. Until I realized that I was obviously doing something wrong. I just didn’t know how to relax without smoking.”

That was Mary’s biggest “aha” moment: Realizing there could be new, better, and more effective ways she could relax that didn’t involve smoking. As soon as trusted in that possibility, she started looking for coping strategies and things to do when she was stressed.

“I spent a lot of time and money on nicotine gums, patches, and vaping- you know, the kind of stuff you can do instead of smoking, but, it wasn’t working, I still felt stressed, still wanted my smokes… and I still felt anxious when I didn’t have a cigarette near me.”

Then “fate” stepped in…

“CBQ Method was a Facebook suggestion based on some other pages I’ve liked”, said Mary, “I followed that to the website where I read all the free stuff and attended the free introductory webinar that leads up to the CBQ Program. After reading many reviews about Nasia Davos and quitting smoking with the CBQ Method, I decided to give it a try.”

My hesitation was you didn’t really know what the flow of an online course would be, and the other side was convincing my husband it was worth that much money!”

“But I convinced him,” Mary laughed, “he could tell that I was really serious about it. I kept telling him that the CBQ method is really good. I needed to find ways to relax from stress while quitting and learn how to cope with my problems without cigarettes in general. And the CBQ method did exactly that.”

“I hope you won’t get mad, but I shared with my husband that video where you give this technique that makes you stop thinking about smoking, and it changed his mind completely. It showed him there was a lot of meat. This wasn’t ‘throw your cigarettes and wake up the next day waiting for a miracle’, it was more like ‘watch the videos, do the exercises, and you will learn how to be a non-smoker.”

Mary said it perfectly! (And no, of course, I wouldn’t get mad! My videos are made to be shared!)

How Mary Smashed Her Anxiety while Quitting Smoking with the CBQ Method

What made the biggest difference for Mary were the lessons from Day #8 of the CBQ Program.

“Whenever I had a craving, I’d think about it in terms of ‘what should I say to myself, what should I do to relax without smoking?’ I kind of knew I have to do something when I have a craving, but before using the CBQ method, I didn’t really know how important it was and how to do it. So I wasn’t doing it. Instead, I was eating. ”

Why does relaxing from stress matter so much?

“Well, when you feel stressed, all you want is to take a puff. And if you don’t see through your anxiety, then you will smoke, or eat and then smoke anyway.

Now I know how to calm down when I have a problem or when my boss is unreasonable and unfair. I can actually prepare and be ready for stress. That was really a turning point for me in my life. “

Mary really committed to learning and experimenting with how to manage her stress while quitting smoking. A big part of that was practicing with her husband and children.

“They’d push my buttons and wait for my reaction. The first time they challenged me I wasn’t that good, but the second time I was way better.”

“I’ve thought a lot about it over the last few weeks,” said Mary, “I haven’t changed as a mother, a wife or a person. I am still alert, caring, fun, loving and sarcastic. What I’ve changed is my ability to shine through the clutter of my stress. Since I quit I’ve been much more relaxed, and I don’t get agitated that easily.”

Mary quit smoking, and when it came to reflecting on how her investment paid off, she realized how far she’d come.

“In terms of money, I saved over $2000 in the last year. As an ex-smoker, I was able to get a better deal on life insurance, and my medical bills have decreased. Funny thing, I also got a raise!”

Also, Mary’s family is enjoying her more than ever.

“I am really proud of myself, and my family is really proud of me too. The odd breathing problems I had in my late 40s, disappeared, and I didn’t put on a single pound because I didn’t miss smoking. Now I can play with my children without coughing, and I can focus better on my work and finish faster because I don’t have to take cigarette breaks!

The most important thing for me was showing my family how much I care for them, and the worry of getting cancer or COPD and becoming a burden to them… is gone.

Ah! And I realized that most of the times I was fighting with my husband, were when I needed to smoke. Now that’s behind me. I am so much better off…”, “I feel free.”

What the Future Has In Store for Mary

Mary isn’t done yet – she’s looking toward the future and has continued using the CBQ strategies to keep her stress levels as low as possible and maintain her smoke-free life.

“Next year I plan to get another raise so I can take my whole family on vacation and support my mother financially.”

“This might be my first year as a smoke-free woman, but I know that whenever I feel anxious, I can check the CBQ exercises.”

Mary realized that the problem with failing to quit smoking was not having the right plan. Once she prepared, experimented, and put in the work, she was able to overcome even the most intense cravings.

The result? A healthier lifestyle, a calmer mind, and a better relationship with her loved ones.

Key Takeaways – Tips

• Nicotine gums, patches and vaping won’t help you quit or protect you from relapse when you feel stressed. Only your mind and your preparation can help you.
• When you have a craving try to do something to keep your hands and mind busy.
• Make a list of all the things that stress you out. Then role-play these situations with your family and friends (or even alone) before your quit date. This will help you be more prepared.
• Breaking free from nicotine WILL improve your health, finances, and relationships. Most importantly, quitting smoking will improve your mental health and decrease your anxiety and depression – this has also been proven by research.

*We always share success stories with permission or use pseudonyms to protect our members’ privacy.