AntoniMaroto.com

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Antoni Maroto

Smoke Free For Two Years

I said I would do it some months ago, so here I am... writing this article to commemorate my second anniversary as an ex-smoker!!!

It is funny that I was writing about still "smoking in my dreams" some time earlier this year, because I do not recall that happening anymore since then.

Yes: it is possible to stay smoke-free. I have never felt, more alive and kicking! Indeed, I spoke about it on an interview by Tabex. Although I chose to quit cold turkey, I also believe in assisted ways to stop smoking.

On April 25th, 2014, I lit my last cigarette at 7 PM. I don't even recall finishing it. I remember, though, making a small pyre in which I burned all the items that were related to smoking, as well as the remaining cigarettes I still had.

The first month after quitting was the hardest one: I became Mr. Wild Mood Swings for a while. It was also the time in which the physical addiction was at its peak. I recall having trouble to focus my attention properly. From then on, the cravings started to happen less frequently. I wish I could tell you when was the last time I felt one, but I do not remember... so I am sorry about it! =)

On a positive note, I can tell that as soon as three days had passed since I quit, I had already started to feel more alive and less stressed. My body started to ask me to do physical exercise. For instance, I had always loved walking, but I started to do it every day: I would walk four miles from work to home.

I also started to enjoy a more satisfactory sexual life, as well as feeling cleaner and healthier overall. Furthermore, I have also felt how my body has been healing itself: less colds, less wrinkles, better looking skin, and more energy.

2015, a year without smoking

Although I quit smoking on April 25th, 2014, this past year has been the one in which I consolidated this great achievement: 

2015, a year without smoking

This 2016 will include the second anniversary and, just like when I did for the first one, I will write about it.

READ: Smoke-Free For One Year

Life continues to improve and feel better, even though my subconscious still portrays me smoking in some of my dreams. I actually like that this happens sometimes, because it acts as a reminder that it is wrong to cheat. Plus the feeling of relief is enormous when one realizes that it was only a dream.

In addition, some people ask me: 'Don't you ever do just one? Not even on special occasions, parties, when being very drunk..?'

My answer is honest, simple and clear: NO!

If I am claiming that I gave up smoking, this means that I am not doing it anymore. In fact, I already wrote that I am not giving my power to a substance that will do its best to control me from minute one.

Indeed, I have no interest at all on being able to control that substance, since I believe it is not possible. That is only an illusion. The true story is that tobacco is always controlling you; unless you decide to break the pattern, and the only way is to quit forever. That means having no more cigarettes: not even one!

READ: Why Not Just One Cigarette?

The Dirty Dozen

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Although the health risks of smoking are well documented, many myths about smoking are either encouraging people to start (or continue) smoking, or preventing them from quitting:

• People have free choice whether or not to smoke.

• Everyone knows how bad smoking is.

• Just a few cigarettes a day cannot hurt.

• "Light" cigarettes are less harmful.

• It is easy to stop smoking; if people want to quit, they will.

• Cessation medications do not work.

• Once a smoker, always a smoker.

• Smokers may die earlier, but all they lose are a couple of bad years at the end of life.

• Environmental tobacco smoke may be a nuisance, but it is not deadly.

• Tobacco is good for the economy.

• We have already solved the tobacco problem.

• The tobacco industry no longer markets to kids or undermines public health efforts.

You can read more about it here. 

E-Cigarettes

On my post "Ex-Smoker," I wrote that I quit cold turkey, even though I support any approved method to assist smoking cessation.

Although it is being constantly marketed as an aid to quit smoking, one that has not been approved as such is the electronic cigarette, also known as e-cigarette.

This device is a battery-powered vaporizer that simulates the feeling of smoking. Some e-cigarettes look like traditional cigarettes, but others do not. All of them have a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution named e-liquid. This solution usually contains varying amounts of nicotine (some allegedly do not) and a syrupy synthetic liquid called propylene glycol, a chemical that has been shown to be generally safe to consumers except at very high levels. The user inhales an aerosol, commonly called vapor, made by heating the e-liquid, which can be flavored in thousands of ways.

Hence, there is the term "vaping," which is the action of inhaling that vapor; it is correlated with smoking as the action of inhaling tobacco smoke.

The benefits and health risks of e-cigarettes are still uncertain, especially regarding the long-term and second-hand exposure. Though they come without the carcinogenic tar and combusting products of traditional cigarettes, we know well that those e-cigarettes containing nicotine are including a highly addictive substance, which constricts blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and restricts blood flow to the heart. In addition, nicotine may cause airway problems and has been linked to disturbed sleep rhythms, depression, diabetes, and even some cancers. It can also provoke dizziness and irritability.

Furthermore, the FDA regularly receives reports of adverse events involving e-cigarettes from consumers and health professionals. These events include hospitalization for illnesses such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, disorientation, seizure, hypotension, and other health problems.

Ex-Smoker

Recently, I have been interviewed by Tabex about my experience as an ex-smoker.

Even though I quit cold turkey, I support any method that has been approved to assist people to give up smoking.

READ: Smoke Free For One Year

I am very grateful for this chance and I hope my example encourages others to stop smoking:

Why did you start smoking?

I started smoking because I thought it was cool. It made me feel less insecure as a person. It felt like it was the perfect accessory when I had to socialize.

For how long did you smoke before you quit?

I was a smoker for 10 years before I quit. I started at 20 and quit at 30.

How many times did you try to quit?

I lost count of all the times I tried to quit. I do recall two failed attempts that lasted approximately 6 months each.

What made you start smoking again?

In those two aforementioned failed attempts, I went back to smoking while drinking at parties and believing that just one cigarette would not matter. But, of course, it did.

How did you manage to quit eventually?

I quit cold turkey. Previously, I had been smoking less and less and reading about quitting and staying quit. That lasted some months until I had the last one at 7pm, April 25, 2014.

What did the process of quitting look like?

The first month, I felt I was nervous all the time and I could not concentrate on anything at all. I had some wild mood changes as well. But the benefits of quitting started as soon as 3 days after I put off my last cigarette.

What were the things that challenged you, while quitting?

The first thing I thought was that I would need to learn how to live again without tobacco since it had been attached to many situations for 10 years. I was afraid of not being able to handle it.

In what way did your life change after quitting?

I started to feel more alive and less stressed. My body started to ask for physical exercise. My self-esteem improved greatly. I started to enjoy a more satisfactory sexual life. I felt cleaner and healthier. My closest ones were really grateful I stopped damaging my health.

Were there any side effects caused by this process?

I would say there were barely any side effects. We all know food smells and taste better when you quit smoking, so… yes, my appetite increased. That made me gain some weight, but not much: 4 kilograms.

Who supported you in the process? What helped you?

My partner was the greatest support I had when I decided to quit. Family and friends were very supportive as well. Indeed, some time later, some of my friends decided to quit smoking too. Reading and discussing it was really helpful.

A lot of people don’t take that in mind, but how hard is it to quit smoking and what was the emotional cost you had to pay while doing it?

When you quit smoking, you have to think that you are making one of the best decisions in your life. Fear of failing and/or not being able to handle it can be very powerful; but if you believe in yourself, you will succeed. After all, why would it be bad for you to quit?

What would you advise people who would want to quit smoking?

My advice for someone who wants to quit smoking is to search for information on how to do it and, then, do it. It is important to know that any moment is fine to start. You do not have to choose a special day or wait until life feels better. There is no perfect moment; and people who have just quit and feel they had to choose a better moment, there is no such moment. Unless you decide to create it yourself: don’t wait to be happy, be happy from right now.

Looking back, what were the biggest harms the smoking did to you and your family?

The biggest harm was that tobacco had started to accelerate my aging: worse teeth than average, more gray hair, more wrinkles, and less energy. I could not handle physical exercise as much as I can do now. Plus that fear that sometimes would pop up and say when I lit a cigarette: will this one start the process of a fatal disease? That type of thinking is not healthy either.

What makes you happy?

Being alive makes me happy. I love life and I want to live a long healthy one.

10 Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking

We all know that smoking is bad for health and that quitting provides many health benefits.

Here are 10 ways your health will be better when you quit smoking:

• Better sex

Stopping smoking improves the body’s blood flow; this, consequently, improves sensitivity. Men who stop smoking may get better erections. Women may find that their orgasms improve and they become aroused more easily. It has also been found that non-smokers are three times more appealing to prospective partners than smokers (one of the advantages, perhaps, of smelling fresh).

• Fertility improvement

Non-smokers find it easier to get pregnant. Quitting smoking improves the lining of the womb and can make men’s sperm more potent. Becoming a non-smoker increases the possibility of conceiving through IVF and reduces the likelihood of having a miscarriage. Most importantly, it improves the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby.

• Younger looking skin

Stopping smoking has been found to slow facial aging and delay the appearance of wrinkles. The skin of a non-smoker gets more nutrients, including oxygen, and can reverse the sallow, lined complexion that smokers often have.

Why Not Just One Cigarette?

As a person that quit smoking, I have mostly forgotten that I have ever smoked... until I see someone doing it.

I am being honest when I proclaim that I do not miss smoking at all, since it was a costly addiction that brought more stress to my life, worse health, bad smell, and a less attractive look. Why would I choose that again? Why would I want to become a slave again? 

After being clean for more than a year, I can only be grateful for having my freedom back and mostly positive things. Some of those are: temperance, feeling physically and mentally better, being able to smell and value food and drinks, more money in my bank account, and an improved sex life.

READ: Ex-Smoker

At times, though, there is a question popping up: what if I had just one?

That mostly happens when I am in company of some good friends that happen to be smokers and I am in a very good mood - a situation that could also be enhanced by alcohol, so I have to be very careful. It could be very easy to give in and think: "One will not make a difference; I am not an addict anymore."

It could also happen in a very low moment, as when my father died after this past Rosh Hashanah: everybody was doing it, so why could not I?

Smoke Free For One Year

The first time I tried a cigarette I was 10 years old. I was playing cards with some family members and I remembering grabbing it from my aunt. Of course, it felt awful and I thought to myself I would never do it again.

Two years later, however, I started paying attention to the colorful packs each time I had to go to buy the newspaper. I learned the names of all the brands available.

One day, I was able to buy a pack at a machine in a bar, even though it had an advertisement that clearly said that tobacco was not to be sold to minors. However, nobody called my attention.

Nonetheless, this adventure was cut short, as I was caught by my sister buying the next pack. The scolding kept me away from trying for many years.

I went back to trying cigarettes, though, once I left home when I was 19. It started as an occasional habit I would only do when partying on the weekends. However, as an adult now, I was being exposed to a more tobacco-prone environment (roommates, college, friends), as opposed to my previous years - neither my parents nor my siblings were smokers (at least not at home).

By age 20, I was smoking everyday and the addiction lasted until I was 30. I was never a heavy smoker and my average daily count was between 5 and 10 cigarettes. I knew I was addicted the first time I wanted to quit smoking and failed. I was still only 20.

Since then, I do not know how many times I tried quitting. Some attempts would last hours or a few days. There were, though, a couple of more successful attempts. One was when I was 23, that lasted 4 months; another one, when I was 25, that lasted 6 months.