The switch to e cigarettes

The Continued Benefits

2015-12-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

I sit here nearly 4 years after the day I parted ways with tobacco and I have been asked by many of you for an update.

The cravings are a distant memory and it has been 2 years since I last used the e-cigarette crutch. Since my first blog entry, there has been a lot more research into the safety of these e-cigarettes. None of these reports have any bearing on the way that I feel about them. I know that if I had not tried them, I would have smoked until the day I died.

The changes in my health over the last four years have been staggering. In 2011 I was overweight with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and little energy. Today I have been given a clear bill of health, I have been removed from all of the prescription drugs used to control my dangerous numbers, and I can run upwards of 30 miles per week. There are still goals to reach, but I am very happy with the progress that I have made.

I am still in awe of the number of people that have read this blog. To date there have been nearly 50,000 of you. I want to thank you all. I know from some of the feedback that this project has inspired several of you to quit smoking, as well. That has been the best part of all of this.

I have several new ideas for life-changing blogs and will begin posting those in the coming weeks. I hope that you will all continue to follow me as I set out on my next adventures.

The True Feeling of Success

2013-05-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

It has now been 16 months without tobacco. I no longer have the physical addiction to nicotine, and my mental triggers(i.e. after eating, while driving, while drinking, with morning coffee, etc.) are all but gone. I do still carry my e-cig from time to time, but I have found that I will go weeks without using it.

The true feeling of success came earlier this month. It was time for a new health insurance plan, and for the first time in my life, I was able to put "non tobacco" on an application. This is a feeling that I never thought was possible when I started this journey. I was also able to show normal blood pressure and normal cholesterol readings which I attribute directly to being a non-smoker. Two years ago, I was a time bomb waiting for my first heart attack or stroke.

This blog has been highly motivational for me. I'm not entirely sure that I would have been as successful without it. Knowing that there were so many of you following my progress led me to evaluate the temptations in a different way. I have to thank you for the inspiration.

As always, I wish you luck in your journeys.

Year One - The Anniversary

2013-01-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today marks one year without tobacco. It is difficult to believe that time can go by so quickly. But, I have survived without a single relapse due, in great part, to my E-Cig.

Over the last year I have weaned myself off of nicotine. The cartridges in my E-Cig are now only water vapor. I don't physically need it any longer, but it is nice to have the crutch if a temptation should arise. The temptations are fewer and further between with every passing day.

If you are considering using the E-Cig to quit smoking, there is one recommendation that I can make. Pick an exercise goal (run a 5k, walk up the stairs without being winded, complete a triathlon, etc.) and focus your energy on achieving that. My personal goal was to run a 5k. I can now do that. It is certainly not easy, but I remember that first day when I was gasping for breath and lying on the ground after 500 yards. I now have a new goal, to compete in Tough Mudder (If you have never heard of this, check it out online. It is intense!). The point is-if you focus on getting healthy, quitting tobacco will feel less daunting. As you begin achieving your intermediate goals (run 1/2 mile without stopping, walk 2 flights of stairs without stopping, etc.), you will find the motivation to continue with the E-Cig and leave tobacco behind forever.

I will continue to add updates to this blog as new revelations come to mind. There have been over 20,000 views of this site since I began one year ago. Hopefully it has helped some of you to quit smoking. It certainly has helped me!

2 Months - The Temptations

2012-04-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

You would think that after 2 months of being tobacco-free, the temptation to smoke cigarettes would go away. It doesn't. They happen less often as time goes by, but they do still happen. The past two weeks were the most difficult since I quit 2 months ago. I was at a conference in NYC and, surprisingly, I found myself surrounded by smokers most of the week. The e-cig really saved me. But, the most surprising temptation came from a Scotch whiskey pairing dinner in Phoenix. Cigars were never a big part of my tobacco intake, but for some reason they now smelled great in combination with the aromas of the Scotch. E-cig calmed those cravings, also.

The reinforcement that I needed came this week from my doctor. Three months ago I had high cholesterol, high triglycerides and high blood pressure. As of today, I am well into the normal range for all of them. The cholesterol was the most serious with a reading exceeding 320 last year (normal is under 200). Yesterday my score was 159. Oh, and I have also lost 17 pounds. The moral of the story-Give up tobacco, exercise a little and modify your diet. Amazing things can happen!

For any of you that are also struggling with these kinds of health problems, I will share with you how I started on the road to recovery. This was many months before giving up tobacco. I bought a pedometer(less than $10 at most stores with sports equipment) and a lot of Active Lifestyle instant oatmeal( less than .25 per serving). Every morning, I had oatmeal instead of my normal breakfast. Then, I went for a walk. The pedometer would record the amount of steps that I took. I tried to hit 10,000 steps every day, but I did not beat myself up on the days that I didn't get there. After 8 months of doing this, my cholesterol levels had dropped 100 points. Still high, but now manageable. The last 60 points came off in the 2 months since purchasing e-cig.

Until next time- Good luck and good health

7 Weeks - The Feeling of Accomplishment

2012-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

I actually feel like an ex-smoker now, and I am using my e-cigarette less and less. I originally ordered enough cartridges to last 3 months. It looks like it may be more like 9 months before I have to order them again. When that day comes, I will decide if I even need the crutch any longer. I may just order cartridges that don't contain nicotine.

I have been using a personal trainer for 3 weeks now, and the difference is amazing. The weight that I gained when I initially stopped using tobacco is now gone plus a few more pounds. She puts me through intense workouts that are designed to strengthen my lung function as well as my muscles. And, I actually made it through an entire 1 hour "Spin" class yesterday. I was drenched with sweat and could barely talk, but I made it through without stopping. 7 weeks ago, I would have fallen off of that bike and vomited before the 5 minute point.

The benefits of quitting tobacco have followed the timeline that I talked about a few weeks ago. The most noticeable are increased energy and a sharpened sense of taste. I really want to eat constantly. Everything I eat is like I am tasting it for the first time. Fighting that urge is very difficult. But, knowing how hard it will be to burn the extra calories at the gym has kept me mostly under control. You do have to reward yourself occasionally, though.

I hope that everyone on this journey with me is having as much success as I have had.

Good luck and good health!

Day 27 - The Personal Trainer

2012-02-23T09:26:00.001-08:00

The day of my last post, I found my gym and my personal trainer. I have been in the gym at least 2 hours per day ever since.

If you want to see just how out of shape cigarette smoking has made you, hire a personal trainer. Things that should be easy are now nausea inducing torture. But fear not, the nausea goes away after about 2 or 3 sessions. Ultimately, you will feel great. I actually look forward to my training sessions now.

I know that personal trainers are not in everyone's budget, so there are some great exercise DVDs out there. Try to find one that will focus on full body aerobic conditioning (i.e. Boot Camp, Jillian Michaels) and stretching.

Each step in the process of re-gaining my health is another memory that will keep me from ever touching tobacco again. I use the e-cig less and less every day. Four weeks ago, I was going through one cartridge (1 pack nicotine equivalent) every other day. Now one cartridge has lasted over one week. At this rate, I may be nicotine-free by summer.

Good luck to everyone out there that is struggling with the grips of tobacco.

Next :

The New Diet

Day 19 - The Struggle with Weight

2012-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

I spent all of last week in San Francisco for work. The e-cig is still working very well and I am now 19 days tobacco-free. There is an unfortunate side-effect, and it is the same one that plagues most people that quit smoking - weight gain.

I have tried to run at least every other day, but that does not seem to be helping my weight. It has been helping my cardio-vascular system.

I have decided that I will not quit smoking and then become ill with obesity related illnesses. So, today begins the search for a gym that I enjoy, and a personal trainer to push me.

As time goes on, these posts will be geared more toward re-gaining your overall health as opposed to only e-cig options. I know that a lot of you that have quit tobacco are now in need of the next step (myself included). So, look forward to tips from personal trainers and nutritionists from now on.

Next Time:
Finding an exercise program that is right for you

Day 11 - The Detox

2012-02-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

The past two days have been a series of temptations, but I am now 11 days tobacco-free. I passed the tests of football, nachos, cheap beer, airports, long drives and hotel boredom. I also find myself using the e-cig less and less as time goes on.
There is no longer a "Fear of Beer" as evidenced by the picture to the left. How can something like that be scary?

Today, I thought I would discuss some of the ways that you can detoxify your body of the tobacco chemicals that have built up over the years. I reviewed many different medical and "new-age" websites, and these are the most common recommendations (Please consult a physician before starting any detoxification or exercise regimen):

Water - Nature's natural cleanser. Try to stay very hydrated with 8 - 12 8oz glasses of water per day. There is such a thing as over-hydration, so don't go crazy with this.

Fresh Air - Get outside for at least 30 minutes every day. This is very important for lung rehabilitation.

Exercise/ Sweat - While your outside, you may as well take a walk or a jog. Sweating will purge toxins through your skin.

Multi-Vitamins/ Calcium - Smoking can inhibit the body's ability to absorb vitamins and nutrients. Use a good multi-vitamin to replenish what your body has been lacking.

Green Tea - The benefits of this ancient remedy are numerous and range from heart health to weight loss. All good things for former tobacco smokers

Cayenne Pepper - The ancient Cajun cure-all. It has many of the benefits of green tea with increased circulation, lung health and raised metabolism. There is a famous detox program that forces you to fast and ingest only lemon, cayenne and maple syrup. But, to get the benefits without the fasting, mix cayenne pepper, fresh squeezed lemon juice and water. Take a 2 ounce shot of it with every meal.

Next Time:

* The Battle of the Bulge

As always, Good luck and good health!

Day 9 - The E-Cig Owners Survey

2012-02-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

As promised, I have the results of an informal survey of current e-cig owners. I want to thank the members of Vapor Talk for helping us with this discussion.
The question that I posed was quite simple: What are the positives and negatives of switching from tobacco to electronic cigarettes?

I will start with the negatives. There were not very many, and most were associated with the e-cigs that are re-fillable. Finding the correct e-liquid, strength of nicotine and PG/VG % were the most sited.

The positives were varied and numerous. Some of the most mentioned were:

Money savings
Guilt-free smoking in public/around kids
No more odors on clothes, in cars and in the house
The ability to run again (I would say this is the best one that I have encountered thus far)
No need to roll down the car window in the rain.
No need to stand outside in the rain or cold.
Whiter teeth

Nearly all of the responders also suggested e-cig systems. None of them recommended the one that I currently use. The top recommendation by far was the eGo electronic cigarette. Also receiving mention was the Vapor4Life . I suggest doing a bit of research before choosing the system that is right for you.

For information on the eGo : ForeverVapor.com or VaporTalkStore.com

Vapor4Life: Vapor4Life.com

Several of the e-cig makers have put out Valentine's Day specials. Some will include chocolate flavored cigarettes, candy and teddy bears. If that is something that interests you, simply Google-Valentines Day Electronic Cigarettes, and a large variety will appear. These will probably not be the best quality e-cigs. But if that is what you need to do to encourage someone to put down tobacco, then by all means, do it.

Coming up tomorrow:

* Surviving the Super Bowl festivities without tobacco for the first time in 25 years

As always, Good luck and good health!

Day 7 - The Benefits Timeline

2012-02-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am closing in on 1 week tobacco-free. Today's post will focus on the long-term benefits of remaining that way. The following are the short and long term effects of quitting smoking and have not been evaluated as far as e-cigs are concerned. But, the vital signs that I can monitor have all followed this timeline more or less:

20 Minutes
Blood pressure drops to normal
Pulse rate drops to normal
Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal
8 Hours
Carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal
Oxygen level in the blood increases to normal
24 Hours
Chance of heart attack decreases
48 Hours
Nerve endings start regrowing
Ability to smell and taste is enhanced
2 Weeks to 3 Months
Circulation improves
Walking becomes easier
Lung function increases up to 30 percent
1 To 9 Months
Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease
Cilia regrow in the lungs, increasing the lungs ability to handle mucus, clean themselves and reduce infection
Overall energy increases
1 Year
Excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker
5 Years
Lung cancer death rate decreases by almost half
Stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker five to fifteen years after quitting
Risk of oral cancers is half that of a smoker
10 Years
Lung cancer death rate is similar to that of a non-smoker
Pre-cancerous cells have been replaced
Risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, cervix and pancreas decreases
15 Years
Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker

Tomorrow:
*Results from a survey that I have been conducting with current e-cig users.

*Some gift ideas for Valentine's Day

Until then, Good luck and good health!

Day 6 - The Pleasure and the Pain

2012-02-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me last night that I have only been extolling the virtues of the e-cig. I don't want there to be any mistake, it has not all been a bed of roses. The e-cig is is the best system for quitting tobacco that I have used. But, there is still a certain amount of will-power that is involved. There are also physical things to take into account. The newest thing is the acne. As my skin purges itself of the tobacco chemicals, it is making me look like a high school kid on Retin-A. Also, if you end up with the new energy that I have, there are muscle aches and shin splints to deal with.
With that said, I am enjoying every minute of this!

In the last three days, I have had two jogs, a bike ride and two trips to the gym. I ache from head to toe, but it feels great.

My visit to the doctor's office yielded encouraging news. Blood pressure is down 20 points(now normal), Resting pulse rate is down 15 and weight is down 3 lbs.

There are many of you out there that have joined me on this journey. For all of you, I wish you good luck and good health!

Day 4 - The Fear of Beer

2012-01-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

When last I left, I was headed to a seemingly suicidal running mission. As the picture to the left shows, cigarettes and running shoes can go together. I certainly didn't break any land-speed records, but I ran anyway.

Last night I was confronted with what may be the most difficult hurdle. A "dinner party" with football and fried food. Usually that would have to be accompanied by a beer, but I had to resist. I am not ready to see if e-cigs will stand up to the alcohol test. One more week until the Super Bowl, then we will see how it works.

Over 72 hours without tobacco and all is well!

Tomorrow I will run a check on blood pressure and pulse to see if there has been any positive change.

Day 3 - The Color of Tongues

2012-01-29T13:47:00.000-08:00

When I last left you, I was headed to get a workout. I am very surprised at the difference already. I finished most of my sets and had a wonderful endorphin rush instead of gasping for air and praying for the sweet release of death. I never understood why someone would enjoy going to the gym. Now I get it.

The things that I have noticed the most today are the taste of food and the color of my tongue. Who knew a tongue was supposed to be pink? Food does taste a lot better now, but I will not trade a tobacco habit for an over-eating habit.

I am so pleased with the progress thus far, that I just ordered a 3 month supply of cartridges for my e-cig with a gradual nicotine step down. I hope to be nicotine-free by the end of the year, but I am certainly not in any hurry. The part of smoking that was killing me was not the nicotine, it was the 100s of other carcinogens. Nicotine just kept me coming back for more.

Tomorrow morning I will try something very different. I am going to try to run at least a half mile. If you don't see me post anything for a while, you can bet that I had a stroke on the side of the road somewhere. Wish me luck!

MNMTWEEU4XGH

Day 2 - The Purging of Smoke

2012-01-29T08:06:00.000-08:00

It has been over 24 hours since my last cigarette. No nicotine withdrawal and I woke up with a lot of energy this morning. According to the "Quit smoking timeline" 24 hours after your last cigarette, your risk of heart attack decreases. So, I have that going for me.

This morning my coffee definitely tasted different, not bad, just different. Breakfast had a bit more flavor than normal also. I went to my closet to get dressed for the day, and was hit by a powerful cigarette smell. Is this what I really smell like? I am going to be doing laundry all day long.

I have used Lysol or bleach on just about everything in the house. Next mission is the cars. But first, I wanted to get a workout in. One of the main side effects from my previous attempts at quitting smoking was the massive weight gain. I am determined to take preventative measures this time.

Day 1 (continued)- The Side Effects

2012-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

The e-cig is easy enough to use and convenient to carry around. I do recommend buying a carrying case for the protection of your e-cig and to store back-up cartridges.

Towards the end of the day, I started feeling very lightheaded. Could this be a side effect?

As with all questions these days, I "googled it". It seems that even though it feels like I am still smoking, my body does not see it that way. I am experiencing the same health benefits as if I had quit cold turkey. The light-headedness is caused by the carbon monoxide levels in my blood dropping to a normal level and the oxygen levels increasing to a normal level. This is supposed to occur 8 hours after your last cigarette.

I feel a bit more energetic than normal. I probably need to take something to fall asleep.

Day 1 - The Start of a New Life

2012-01-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

My e cigarette arrived this morning as promised. The quality is very impressive. The kit came with 2 electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), a wall charger, a USB charger, a USB cigarette (for the times that you run out of juice in the portable version) and 10 nicotine cartridges. Each cartridge is the equivalent of 30 cigarettes, so they should last for a while. The e-cigs are a little heavier than a regular cigarette, but not unmanageable. They are actually the same size and color of my regular brand.
The e-cigs come pre-charged, so its time to try it....

I have been smoking the same brand for a very long time, so the taste difference is the first thing that I notice. It's not bad, just different. The rest of the ritual is almost identical if you don't include the lighter. The end of the e-cig even glows red whenever you take a drag. There is no odor to the vapor at all, so that may take a little getting used to.

I'll spend the day with my new toy and check in later this evening.

Day 0 - The Beginning

2012-01-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

I have smoked cigarettes for the majority of my life. As with most people that get hooked, I started in high school. Now I sit 25 years later, and staring "40" in the face, and still I can't find a way to quit. I have tried many different things over the years-patches, gum and even hypnotherapy. Nothing has had a lasting effect. I know that for health reasons I have to do something, but part of me believes that it is not even possible.
For all intents and purposes, I grew up in a bowling alley. This was where I learned the majority of my bad habits. Not that the bowling alley lifestyle was all bad. I met most of my lifelong friends there, and I learned the basics of what ultimately became my career. At 18 years old, I became a bartender. I did this at different casinos until around the age of 30. At that point, I went into management and became a casino executive by the time I was 35. Not bad for a college drop-out, bartender from Louisiana. I now work for the liquor companies, traveling the world as a public speaker and professional drinker. But, as any of you that have ever smoked will know, having a cocktail in your hands during most of your work day makes it very difficult to put down the cigarettes.
These electronic cigarettes that I have seen lately have really intrigued me. On the surface they appear to be a safe nicotine delivery system with most of the same rituals as a cigarette. The FDA does not seem to like them, nor do the anti-smoking advocates. So, I have spent a lot of time researching the positive and negative aspects. To be perfectly honest, most doctors condone the use of the high quality versions. The FDA and anti-smokers seem to base their disapproval on two points and both of them are hypotheticals. A cardiologist friend put it in these terms-" If you rated the dangers on a scale of 1 to 100, cigarettes would be 100, quitting completely would be a zero, nicotine gum and patches would be a 1 and electronic cigarettes would be a 2."
The 98 point danger reduction sounded pretty good to me. So I ordered the highest rated electronic smoking system that I could find. (This is not a commercial, so I will refrain from using a brand name.)
I had it sent overnight mail, so it should be here tomorrow morning.