{"id":487,"date":"2009-11-15T18:58:45","date_gmt":"2009-11-15T23:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/?p=487"},"modified":"2019-08-12T11:04:59","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:04:59","slug":"stop-smoking-using-the-cold-turkey-method-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/stop-smoking-using-the-cold-turkey-method-what-to-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Smoking Using the Cold Turkey Method &#8211; What to Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_494\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/cold-turkey.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-494\" class=\"size-full wp-image-494\" title=\"cold-turkey\" src=\"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/cold-turkey.jpg\" alt=\"Going cold turkey can be challenging!\" width=\"230\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-494\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Going cold turkey can be challenging!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m asked a lot about <strong>quitting smoking using cold turkey<\/strong> method &#8211; and far from dismissing it, it can work for a <em>small fraction <\/em>of folks and here&#8217;s my view.<\/p>\n<p>Using the <em>cold turkey<\/em> method to give up smoking shows a determination that can be a great starting point for quitting.<\/p>\n<p>By far the hardest of methods to stop smoking &#8220;<em>cold turkey<\/em>&#8221; has the highest failure rate. Depending on who you believe as regards studies out there it ranges from 80% &#8211; 98% of smokers using this method are smoking again within one-year of quitting.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;<em>cold turkey<\/em>&#8221; method is quitting smoking all at once without seeking professional help or aids in any way. It&#8217;s about picking a quitting day.<\/p>\n<p>And deciding as of that day you will never smoke again. This is a popular method for first-time quitters. There are definitely people who succeed at cold turkey. These people have strong determination and <strong>extraordinary will-power<\/strong>. Some have to suffer through difficult cravings and even temporary personality changes.<\/p>\n<p>If you go on forums devoted to providing support for people wanting to quit you&#8217;ll find plenty who recommend it as the only method to quit. These people quit using the &#8220;cold turkey&#8221; method and believe it can work for everybody. The fact is this just can&#8217;t be true.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest benefits I see in the &#8220;cold turkey&#8221; method is it requires<em> no drugs<\/em> or irritant aids. In a nutshell &#8211; it&#8217;s natural and safe.<\/p>\n<p>But most smokers <em>need help in quitting<\/em>,\u00a0 especially if they&#8217;ve been smoking for many years. There&#8217;s nothing wrong with needing help to quit smoking, it doesn&#8217;t make anybody look weak at all. For those who have tried and failed to stay away from cigarettes or need help in stopping then the most <em>natural and safe alternative<\/em> to &#8220;cold turkey&#8221; is <strong>hypnosis<\/strong>. Some argue hypnosis is really a form of &#8220;<em>cold turkey<\/em>&#8221; as it&#8217;s about picking a date &#8211; <strong>your hypnosis session<\/strong> &#8211; and then walking out from it and not smoking again.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">So what should you expect when quitting cold turkey?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>You need support to overcome the cravings and temptations the cravings will bring. Communicate openly with others that you&#8217;ll be quitting and mentally prepare yourself for the days when you could be tempted to succumb to a craving for a cigarette. You also need to make sure you don&#8217;t put yourself in smoking situations such as bars or circles of friends who smoke.\u00a0 You are a non-smoker now and need to behave as non-smokers do.<\/p>\n<p>Explain to close friends you may be irritable and potentially short-tempered. It should be a brief period and most people know people who quit cigarettes can be a &#8220;<em>little testy<\/em>&#8221; during the initial period. Chart your progress and buy a journal and jot down what is happening on a daily or weekly basis. This will help reaffirm your commitment to the new non-smoking lifestyle you&#8217;ve chosen.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Consider Introducing Hypnosis into Your Plan:<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you feel the cravings proving difficult or it lasts for longer than a few weeks then consider contacting a <em>professional therapist skilled in hypnosis<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The subconscious mind remembers. It remembers all our secrets, hopes, dreams, goals, and habits.\u00a0 The subconscious mind doesn&#8217;t distinguish between good and bad habits. It simply stores them all and ensures we continue to deploy them. That&#8217;s it&#8217;s job. So it may not be the addiction you&#8217;re fighting but the habit embossed in your mind.<\/p>\n<p>Hypnosis on the other hand, can zero in on the habit of smoking and replace it with a positive habit that is empowering and helps you to stay in control of your life, as opposed to being under the control of a habit you know has you snared in a trap. It can help with cravings and erase the habit that can remain dormant in the subconscious mind for years waiting for a major trigger event.<\/p>\n<p>Hypnosis is safe, effective and drug free. It&#8217;s the best choice to<strong> stop smoking<\/strong> but especially if you&#8217;ve tried other methods and been disappointed with the results. All you need to succeed is\u00a0 relax, be calm and believe it&#8217;ll work for you.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking to stop smoking by going &#8220;<em>cold turkey<\/em>&#8221; then go for it. If you feel you&#8217;d like to understand more how professional services can help then check out my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freeatlasthypnosis.com\/services\/stop-smoking-hypnosis-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quit Smoking Hypnosis Programs<\/a>\u00a0 at my web site or call me at 508.269.0109 to discuss further.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Erika Slater, CH<br \/>\nDirector<br \/>\nFree At Last Hypnosis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m asked a lot about quitting smoking using cold turkey method &#8211; and far from dismissing it, it can work for a small fraction of folks and here&#8217;s my view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[991],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stop-smoking","tag-habits"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4552,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/4552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.smoke-free-at-last.com\/lib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}