Still on the fence about using the Bloog discount code (YANKEES – all in caps)? Well, let me tell you the story of how I transitioned from cigarettes to vaping, and how it dramatically altered my life.
I smoked for 10 years, and boy, was I good at it…
I smoked an average of 30-35 cigarettes a day, and could go as high as 60 on a weekend (yep, these were the days when you could smoke in pubs and clubs!) I tried every brand from the mid-market Marlboros and Camels to the high-end American Spirits, all the way to the really niche Park Drives, and foreign brands such as Parisienne. I had a butane lighter, cut-glass ashtray…the works.
And I loved it. I’m not going to lie. I loved the fact that a cigarette seemed to be an all-in-one fix for depression, anxiety, happiness, celebration, the wet, the cold, the humid, fearfulness, creativity, etc. There was nothing like that first cigarette after waking up, or the one puffed after a meal, or the entire packet smoked with a good bottle of whisky.
But after a decade, like most smokers, I was starting to feel the effects in a big way.
I couldn’t walk up the stairs without being slightly winded. I certainly couldn’t go running. I felt tired all the time. I was sick to death of all the dirt and ash that seemed to get everywhere. I was really annoyed at losing $300 per month to the habit, having to withdraw a fresh new note from the ATM every day. And most of all, I was starting to worry about the long-term effects of what I was doing to my body. I was no longer a youth, no longer invulnerable…
My girlfriend had heard about electronic cigarettes, so I decided to give them a go. I figured I had absolutely nothing to lose. I knew that they contained nicotine and would thus maintain that addiction, but I also knew that they had no smoke or tar to clog up my lungs, plus all the related nasties that they carry. I also knew that they could cut my expeditures by two-thirds…which was exciting to say the least.
I’ll admit that I didn’t get on with them at first. I thought that they were unsatisfactory compared to regular cigarettes, and found myself preferring to smoke, with my e-cigarette idling in a desk drawer.
But then one day I made the decision to try to make the transition properly. I told myself this: “Look, there is nothing that a cigarette does for you that an e-cigarette doesn’t. You get a cylinder to hold and dangle in your hands; you get to lift it to your mouth and inhale; you get a throat hit; you get to blow out a cloud of vapour; and you get your dose of nicotine, which is all a cigarette really gives you.”
On top of that, I also realized that it was just a much more elegant system – no dirt, no ash, no smell, no box and lighter and ashtray. Instead, just a simple device sitting next to me, like a pen.
With this mindset, I made the transition in a much more committed way. I smoked out my pack of cigarettes and did not replace them. Instead, I chose to only use the electronic cigarette. And, as I say, I knew that it was doing everything that a cigarette did – giving me my nicotine delivery, giving me something to hold, giving me something to inhale and exhale, a throat kick, etc.
And you know what? It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I haven’t looked back, and it’s been nearly two years and $5000 saved in that time. Not to mention the clean air, the much fitter lungs and body, clearer skin, etc. It has been a total no-lose situation for me.
Please give it a try. The worst that happens is that you spend five days’ worth of cigarette money on a kit that you can use as a backup for when you run out of cigarettes, or want a cheeky nicotine hit in an indoor institution. Try my method of packing in the cigs altogether and really just relying on the electronic cigarette for your dose of nicotine.
Head over to Bloog Planet, and when at checkout type in YANKEE (all caps) as your Bloog discount code for 10% savings. Any starter kit will do if you’re a newcomer…just give it an honest try!
