Second of two parts

Re “Learning Not to Smoke Is a Process”

For those who are not somnambulists, learning not to smoke takes a little longer. Quitting, as many will testify, can be quite difficult. Once the client has figured out how many he smokes a day, when he smokes and why, stopping smoking becomes easier. The worst part is the withdrawal symptoms – sweating, dizziness, irritability, restlessness, tiredness and nervous energy – which can be uncomfortable.  Hypnosis helps the client to lessen the impact of withdrawal symptoms.

One part most people want to forget is that when experiencing the discomfort of the withdrawal symptoms, they return to smoking because they cannot stand the feeling of the withdrawals. Unfortunately they do not realize t these are clear signs their body is getting better. Had they persevered, they would have noticed the withdrawal symptoms easing each day. Within a few days, they would vanished, leaving the person with learning how to live without falling back into the smoking habit.

Weight a Little Longer

One of the most popular requests I hear when someone calls me to quit is a concern about putting on weight, common amongst people who quit.

Why? Most pre made cigarettes (Marlboro, Camel and others) have 190 different chemicals within them, including sugar to help sweeten the taste of the tobacco. Whenever a person inhales the cigarette, he puts a shot of sugar straight to the brain in seven seconds. This always gives the smoker the energy he seeks from the cigarette.

I have clients immediately change brands of cigarettes to either American Spirit or Sherman. Both brands have no sugar. Those cigarettes taste different and they do not give the smoker the energy lift to which he is accustomed. The smoker becomes a little more tired that usual.

The mistake here is that the smoker starts to eat foods high in carbohydrates and sugars to compensate for the sugar lost by no longer smoking, or by smoking sugar-free cigarettes, The result is, a person stops smoking but becomes fat.

I explain this to all my clients and then give them a protein-rich diet, low on carbs and sugars. Because protein breaks down to sugar slowly and more evenly, provided that the client eats small amounts of protein every two hours, this helps to maintain a stable sugar level. That means the brain is not actively looking for more sugar because it is receiving as much as it needs on a slow, continuing basis. This leaves the client not craving sugar at all, allowing him to quit without putting on weight. It also helps of course that the erstwhile smoker commits to a kind of fit regimen that helps him to work off excess energy he otherwise would have consumed by smoking a cigarette.

Oh, Really?

A friend told me a phrase his wife had papered to his car dashboard when he used to smoke. It said, “Smoking is something you do so that you think you are doing something when, in fact, you are doing nothing.” This is true.

I am happy to report that the young lady from England came to see me and succeeded in quitting smoking. She only was smoking three and four cigarettes a day. And, she was determined to quit. She was not a somnambulist, but she readily accepted suggestions. It was easy and fast for her.

In addition to quitting cigarettes she also wanted to stop smoking pot, which she smoked habitually every evening when she came home from work. She was finding that as a result of smoking pot, she would sit at home and miss her girlfriend in the States. The low sugar diet was helpful to her. Pot smoking commonly gives people the munchies. That is because the pot smoker is eating lots of sweet things to replenish what she lost on smoking pot.

She soon realized what an insidious drug pot she was. In the States she did not smoke it because she was too busy enjoying herself with her girlfriend. Back home, she simply fell back into her bad habit, not realizing what she was doing. The amazing part about pot is that when she had it she wanted to smoke it but when she did not have any, she did not miss it.

When she returns to London she is positive that she has no pot at home and is committed to not buying any. I feel confident that her cigarette and pot smoking days are over.

One last thought. Her sessions are not quite over, even though there is an eight-hour time difference between the U.K. and the U.S. We have two more sessions booked via Skype just to reinforce the suggestions offered and for her to know that there is still support when she needs it.

Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net