i want to quit smoking soooo bad! I was wondering if any of you were smokers and quit after you switched over to a raw diet. I read somewhere that Dr. Mercola (sp?) said to eat a bunch of kale a day and that it will help with quitting-- something about the amino acids? any help here would be great you guys... i'm so tired of feeling sick and tired! Thanks all!
Sincerely,
joanna

I didn't find personally that any particular foods were helpful with reducing cravings. After the first week or so, any cravings are very likely to be primarily or at least largely pyschological in nature. It helped me to let go of the idea of consuming anything to obtain relief from my cravings for tobacco. That's how we got into the mess in the first place.

It also helped to cultivate the understanding that cigarettes were the cause of the cravings, not the eliminator of the cravings. That sounds simple, but to really understand that and absorb it will go a long way towards developing a repulsion in yourself towards actually lighting up. When you smoke, you're creating the very thing that you're attempting to eliminate (the nicotine craving.)

I also can't overemphasize the power of excercise. It's very easy to not smoke after you've completed a 3 mile run. It won't feel congruent with your goals or body to inhale smoke after strenuous activity.

Deep, slow, calm breathing also helps.

Finally, accept that you may crave cigarettes at various times, for quite a long time. This will actually result in not craving them for as long as you might have, if you expected the desire to leave quickly.

I found that I craved them strongly for a year, moderately for another year after that, and occasionally for the next 2 years. Now, after 7 years, I rarely if ever even think about them. I can watch others smoke and feel completely detached.

The key for me was to observe the cravings as something interesting...I studied them and wasn't frightened of them. They have no power unless we give them power.

I realize that there are some people who cease craving tobacco more quickly than I did, and at the time I wasn't living a lifestyle that was completely optimal. But I would have been much more prepared if I had realized that the habit and addiction was so ingrained that its ghost would make regular appearances for quite some time. That caught me off guard.

I'm not saying that you should necessarily expect that this will be your experience, but don't feel that something is wrong, or that you'll never be "free" if they continue for quite some time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2007 10:24PM by doghouse reilly.

Also:

Cultivate habits that make you feel great. When you genuinely feel great, you'll have no desire to smoke. When you smoke, you're looking for something and taking the easy way out. Take the more challenging but genuine path instead.

Once you've developed yourself into a person in peak physical, emotional, and mental condition, you'll laugh at the idea of a cigarette being able to provide you with anything.