Telling Porky Pies

I confess I'm a bit of a fraud, the title: "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" is a complete misrepresentation of my article. To be truthful it should really be titled: "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking? - No Such Thing". I chose my title for two reasons. Firstly, I wanted to grab your attention. Let's face it we all want easy solutions to our problems, whether it's losing weight or stop smoking. Secondly, I suppose I wanted to make a point: like most things in life, there is no such thing as an easy fix. This is particularly true of stop smoking. Do you really think it is going to be easy to give up the most addictive drug known to human kind? Nicotine won't let go so easily.

How Many Stop Smoking Sites?

A quick search on Google, using the term: "stop smoking" will produce a lot of sites. Well, to be exact 89,300,000 sites, at the time of writing. You can split them into two broad groups. The first are medically inspired sites. These sites mean well, but they tend to overstress the deleterious health effects of smoking. I'm not knocking these sites, they provide well researched and accurate information. Most, though not all admittedly, don't give accurate information about nicotine withdrawal, and most importantly, nicotine cravings. It tends to be glossed over. Yes, you will have cravings, but they tend to be short in duration and disappear after a few days or a few weeks, at most. For most who stop smoking, this isn't the case. Naive quitters are often dismayed by the unrelenting nature of the cravings and the intensity of the cravings. Of course, you will always meet people who say quitting smoking was easy. For most humans, this is not going to be the case. I suspect the main reason why this aspect of the quitting process is not given more intention, is because the authors have never smoked- they have had no experience of being addicted to nicotine and consequently can't really relate to what smokers have to deal with and go through when they stop smoking. When was the last time did you see a smoking doctor?

The Best Stop Smoking Program Ever

The second kind of site wants to sell you their stop smoking product or program. Not just any kind of stop smoking product, but a revolutionary system that will ensure success and make the quitting process easy. They may parade highly impressive quit rates. Buyer beware, if it seems too good to be true, then you are well advised to question the validity of their claims. Is it just another site offering snake oil? Remember, they are trying to sell you something and it is in their own commercial interest to place their stop smoking program, or product, in the best possible light. When it comes to quit rates it is a good idea to find out how they are measured. All programs may produce great quit rates if measured over just one week. The real test is how they stack up long term, such as the 6 month quit rate or even better, after 1 year. Don't be afraid to do some research and asking searching questions.

It's Easy To Stop Smoking For a Week

As an ex-smoker, I really do know how hard it is to quit. The first week is relatively easy, you feel virtuous. Unfortunately nicotine cravings don't go away after a week. Even with help, whether it is drugs, hypnosis, or whatever, it is going to be hard to remain free of cigarettes and to stop smoking. If you are determined, you can quit, but it helps to realise that you are going to have a hard battle on your hands. It will get easier with time and the cravings will lessen but it does take quite a while before you are released from nicotine's yellow fingered grasp.