Re: Where to start??

Although the original post was quite some time ago, I'll respond with what I'm doing for my Self.

I am a tobacco addict, plain and simple.  I'm also a food addict, so it's an obviously oral fixation for comfort (or, whatever).  Freud would have had a blast psychoanalyzing me, I'm sure.  :D

At any rate, I realized that I needed to "Do Something" to improve my overal health and well-being.  The emotional well-being has been an ongoing effort, and likely will be until the day I die.  The physical addictions go hand-in-hand with the emotional issues, and I recognize that fact in relation to my Self.

What I finally had to do to facilitate change for my Self was to make this whole thing into a matter of CHOICE.  I can choose to continue smoking, or I can choose NOT to smoke.  I can choose to eat whole and healthier foods, or I can choose NOT to.  The budget issue goes for me, as well - but I will say this in relevence to myself:  eating better foods causes me to actually eat LESS, overall.  I am finding that I'm getting a more balanced nutrient intake, and I am far less hungry than I would normally be if I were still eating bullsh%t foods.

I do not need tobacco to live.  My cells do not require nicotine in order to function.  But, my choice to smoke inhibit my cells' ability to function, individually, and effects my whole Self, as an organism.  So....am I going to smoke tobacco today?  Probably not.  But, if I want to smoke, I will.  I just have to stop for a few minutes and ask, "Why do I feel that I want to smoke, right this instant?"  If I stop to consider why I want to alter my choices, after about 10 minutes, the urge is gone and I'm still not smoking.  Will I still not be smoking a week from now?  I don't know - I'm not going to put that kind of unrealistic pressure on myself.  But, for today ONLY, I'm going to choose to not smoke. 

I am NOT a qualified authority on smoking cessation.  I can only talk about what is working for me.  For some, the addiction is so overwhelming that they replace the tobacco intake with the addiction of protocols and cleanses, which can be equally damaging when they avoid the process of simply living.  In fact, I know of one CZ member who undertook 2 weeks of cleanses after giving up a personal addiction, and promptly made himself so sick that he was hospitalized.  FOR ME, it's all about choices, and that's the bottom line.  It's very easy to replace one addiction with an addiction of immediate "health" to our own detriment.  True mind/body cleansing works in tandem through long-termed reasonable and sensible choices.  Cleanses, supplements, and herbal remedies are fine as long as they are done in moderation - but, for ME, I have to be very cautious to not replace one addiction with another, even if I make myself believe that I'm choosing a "healthy" addiction option.

Rome wasn't built in a day.  Getting physically and emotionally healthy will take time and patience.  Take a tiny walk, at first - 100  yards at a time, if need be.  Begin to realize that everything that we do comes down to a choice - we choose to be late for work, smoke tobacco, eat McDonald's, drink gin, abuse friends/family, ignore moral obligations, etc.  It all boils down to choice.  Today, for this moment, I'm choosing to avoid smoking.

Best wishes to you and post back!