Quitting Smoking: The Real Impact

SPEAKER_02 0:00

All right, good morning and good afternoon to everyone overseas. Welcome to Can't Catch a Break. I'm your host, Reese, and I am joined back with my buddy Peter, all the way from across the seas, for even more topics on not being able to catch a break. What is up, my man? How are we?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

We are very good, Reese. Thank you for asking. I'm actually super happy and proud because tomorrow, three days sober.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Congratulations. How are you feeling about it?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

I mean, looking back at my first meeting and where I am today, I mean, worlds apart. The best decision I ever did in my life. It was hard for the first couple of weeks. I'm so happy I went through it. And I also want to share something else amazing with you. I also just quit smoking about three weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

And I actually realized yesterday I went to an A meeting here in Tolemolinos, very close to Malaga in Spain where I live. And I just realized that Claire, she was in my meeting like three years ago, and I said to her, Claire, I want to quit smoking. And she was like, No, you have to be in control of not drinking one thing at a time, one step at a time, one day at a time. Right. And for some strange reason, she said, within three years you're gonna quit smoking. And it's just been stuck with me in my subconscious mind. And I haven't seen Claire for about a year and a half because she moved back to the UK.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

So I don't know what she is. But anyway, I quit smoking with hypnotherapy.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

And I'm so happy I did it.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

And I would say like the first week was tough. The second week was easier.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

It's hell. It's hell.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

And I would say because I have quit drinking first with AA and all of that support, I know that it will be easier, and day by day, it got easier and easier. And I was like, I've got it, I've got it, I've got it. And it was just incredible. It's the best thing I've done for my life.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Seriously. Yeah. Um, for everyone out there, this is actually a special episode for the both of us. We both have some smoking stories for sure that you know when we both get sober, and for everyone out there, if you go to an AA meeting, everyone is out there smoking because they're replacing a vice with a vice. Um, so I can kind of share a little bit about my background with the smoking. So I started back in 2010, actually during like a fraternity, like I don't know, thing that we had to do. Like it was called like the pink and blues. We stayed up all night and like had a cigarette and the end of it, and that was like the start. I was like, whoa, this is great. So smoked all throughout college and quit or kept going. And then when vapes became a thing, was doing both a lot of the time.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

I've never been into vapes.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

No, it's great for the inside. If I'm like in a working for like eight hours straight, and I literally cannot get up to go, even like let my dogs out for five minutes, like it works perfectly. Um but even like I've always had the mentality that um like yes, it may happen to some people, but it's not gonna happen to me. Yeah, yes, people you know get lung cancer from it, but it's not gonna happen to me, so I'm gonna quit. You know, it's never me. It's never me. This time it was. So I recently moved to Chicago, kind of like I told you, and anyone in the Midwest knows about the pollen out here. Rough. Um, so went to get checked out by an allergist. She was like, Your cough is not an allergy cough, like you need to go see like a pomologist. So I did. I did a pulmonary function test, which is a PFT. You breathe into a tube like a hundred thousand fucking times.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Oh god. Did you have to do it?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

And you you can't eat before, you can't drink before, you can't do anything. And I'm like, I'm dying during this test.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Um first round they found it's uh it's called decreased lung capacity of the oxygen and your carbon dioxide or something. Um DLCO. Essentially, my capillaries uh and avail uh they can't turn the air we breathe in into oxygen all that well for my body. So I am exhausted all the time, and my voice is like hoarse and it like hurts to even talk louder sometimes. And if my 98-year-old grandfather, who's got all the hearing aids in the world, can tell that my voice is different, like with it, he it's like my personal Web MD. Um, and then uh and I have to go every six months. So then I went for six-month checkup, and they found actual structural damage to my air socks and my airways, and that it's a thing called air trapping. Yeah. So it's basically the air goes through the air sock to the airways to the capillary to the veoli and kind of out. They're all they're all fucked up. Um actually saves my life 90% of the time. Imagine a big inflated balloon and you're pinching the end of it to let the air out super slowly. Those that's what my lungs do. I everyone told me quit vaping, quit vaping, quit vaping. I when I told my mom all this, I said, you get one, I told you so, and we're moving on. Everyone told me, I was like, nope, it's not gonna happen to me. I that's why it like is perfect on theme for the title of this podcast. You cannot catch a break with it. Yeah, um, so I've got like inhalers at the wazoo to a very strong one in the morning and at night, and then I got my rescue inhaler. Um and I work with kids on the spectrum too, and they like my higher functioning kiddos. One kid, Mr. Reese, you sound like shit. I was like, excuse me, I was like, one, excuse me, two, where did you learn that word? Three, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Well, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Um, and like you said, like quitting drinking and quitting smoking. I thought quitting smoking and vaping was a hell of a lot harder than quitting alcohol. I think it's because I would be vaping on like in the inside of my house. So I would just be like hitting the vape pen, you know, daily. What was it like for you?

SPEAKER_00 7:28

I mean, I I live alone, I just live with my two cats, and um, you know, I can smoke whenever I want, and I work from home and no one can see me or hear me, I believe. So was it harder, more difficult? I mean I start to realize you know, I quit smoking with hypnotherapy and I did cold turkey. Oh wow, yeah, and that's also what I specialize in now. I found someone who does the same technique as me, and I was like, hey, can you just give me those questions? Because I cannot really self-hypnotize that well for that big of an issue. Um so I just changed my thinking.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Because I realized it was the habit of the thought. Oh, in the morning I wake up, go to the balcony, have a coffee, and then I have my four or five cigarettes. What? I would do that before going to the gym in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Before the gym?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Yes, absolutely. And then I'll have a cigarette on the way down to the gym.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Oh my goodness. How and how long were we doing this? Oh, how many years?

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Uh I've been smoking for 32 years.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Oh wow. Yes, very long time.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

I'm 50, so I smoked since the 90s. Can you believe that?

SPEAKER_02 8:43

I was gonna say I was three when you started smoking.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

No, but I mean, uh smoking I actually realized like my skin now looks so much healthier. I mean, first of all, quitting drinking help a lot on your whole body, and then also you smoking at the same time. My friends are like, what happened to you? What what creams are you using? I'm like, well, I'm just using the cheap one down from the supermarket. Right. I can't afford the expensive stuff. They're like, but you look so much younger. Have you used Botox? I'm like, no, no alcohol and no cigarettes. That's the cure.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

That's the that's the cure.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Alcoholic for 10 years first, I smoke for 32 years. Yeah, you look as pretty as me.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

I was gonna say, you got a nice, you got a nice little glow up there. But you know, throw some bo I love Botox. I have been doing it since I was 25. It's okay. My filler, it is great, it's awesome. Um, but yeah, like what does something like happen for you to like want to quit smoking, or one day you were just like, I can't do this.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

No, it just I think that it was in my subconscious mind that the one Claire for my A meeting, all of a sudden I was like, I was like, I want to quit smoking. And I really loved smoking. I was smoking like 20 cigarettes a day minimum, especially in the mornings. That was my goal. In the evenings, not so much, nighttime, no. I had a few contacts fellow therapists, and I was like, hey, anybody offer helping me? I said I can't be tricky because I do know how the trick questions they are like in hypotherapy, and uh I am an ex-alcoholic, so I'm a very good liar.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

So you have to be on your you have to pay attention to the game. Yeah, right, on your A game. Yes. Um her name was Maya, she was up for it. And I actually I did a video diary on uh YouTube day by day, what I was thinking and feeling, and obviously the first week I was a little I was short, confused. I did tell my friends and family, I said the next couple of days, I don't contact me, I will contact you. And then slowly, you know, and I said to people, if you're gonna say anything stupid or annoying, or you know, what tower should I get from my gear, I'm not interested because I'm just gonna hang up and say something rude, so let's not talk about and uh I would say about it if anybody's thinking about giving up quitting smoking. For me, it was after the eight, ten days, then I was like, I don't need it anymore. It was under two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Yeah, I my er so my doctor prescribed uh root proprio, actually, which is actually it's uh typically used for mood stabilizer, but then they did a study with ADD patients who smoke every time they would take like an Adderall or you know, whatever ADD meds are out there, and it was like a smoking sensation type of medicine. I still take it, and it's been six months just to like make sure I don't like don't keep going with it.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Um why you keep taking the medicine? It's very interesting because in Europe you don't really get medicine, it's like no.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Oh um, so like I it's more so like my own peace of mind. Like I wanted to be able to make sure I'm not gonna go down that path again. So I want to sensation like the crap out of it and make sure like it's it's my lungs. If things get worse and more structural damage gets to it, like on the outside, or if my you know, I have a very small mod nodule in my right lung, if that gets any bigger, you know, I'm I'm fucked, I'm screwed.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

So you're taking the medication so you know you can't smoke. Is that correctly understood?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yeah. Okay. You and I we are gonna have a private session. Hypnotherapy session. I'm giving you a right.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

I was gonna ask, like, I wanna try this out, but I think for everyone out there no more medication for you, Mr.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Reese. I was in order that up.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

I was gonna say, um and why I want or asked you back, because I see your post and stuff, and it looks really interesting. Can you tell like the viewers out there, like a little background on what it is, how we do it, yeah, um, all that stuff. What's the you know, what's the 411?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Yeah, when I have someone in in therapy, uh, especially when it comes to you know quit smoking, first of all, the most important thing is you pick a date when you are gonna be a non-smoker. So for me, I quit smoking on the 18th at 1800 hours. That's 6 p.m. Because I like the number 1818. Now I'm helping someone to quit smoking on Monday, the 14th, at 1400 hours. That's actually 2 p.m. Because he likes 14. So it's very important that you pick a date when you want to quit smoking. Because when you have a smoking session with me, you smoke as much as you want or take the medication in your case, Rhys, up to the very last minute. After the session with me, you're done. You do not smoke anymore. You know where that is it. That is the rule. Otherwise, if you're not committed to that, we cannot work together.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

We can't, right? No.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Like, and that's the thing, you gotta be, and it's a winner with the We are gonna be touching based on that in a kind of hypnotic like trance state where you still are gonna be awake. We are gonna be working more up on the triggers when do you have a cigarette? Like in my case, it was in the mornings. What can I replace it with in the morning? Some habit when then you know, after a meal, stressed at work.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Right. It's part of a routine.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yeah, so it's the habit of the thought. And if you smoke a lot when you're stressed or have anxiety, well then we need to fix your stress and anxiety. Because if you don't have that, you don't have to extra smoke.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

You say, Well, I'm getting at I'm going into the root cause because many people sleep for like eight hours more or less, and they don't wake up in the morning and smoke. Someone takes transattic flights, 10, 12 hours in an aircraft or airport and they don't smoke.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

It's hell.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

I mean, but you don't smoke because someone told you not to smoke. So what if you told yourself you cannot smoke? That's what I'm working on. Okay. So it's in here.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

So when you're working with me, it's not gonna be the smoking we're gonna be talking about the most. We're gonna be working around what triggers you to smoke. And once we fix those issues, you're not really tempted to have the temptation to smoke anymore. And when I'm doing things a little bit different, I even have like an ebook um that everybody gets for free. Get an e-book, a hundred pages, how to work through all of that. And of course I'm gonna be there to support you for the first 30 days on WhatsApp because I don't want any of my clients to say um to say some nuts and nice things to the families members due to the withdrawal of the nicotine. So I'm like, I tell them, you call me and you say all of those factories. You just let it red. Uh which uh and you call and you say to me, and that's gonna be absolutely fine. That's what you're thinking about.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

I'm very intrigued. I'm sure everyone out there is also very intrigued. Um, how many like on average sessions do you do with a person or with a client?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

One.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Shut the front door.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

The first session with me, and that's not only with smoking, it's also stress, anxiety, negative thinking, public speaking, whatever. The first session, there's no time we take the time your mind needs. I have my procedures, the things I want to go through. The average time is around two hours to two and a half hours.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And I want you to be fixed in that time. And we are gonna be working together, and there's gonna be loads of questions, loads of feelings, and we are gonna be working and talking and talking.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

How does it differ from like virtual pay or clients versus like your inpatient for like the hypnosis part of it?

SPEAKER_00 17:48

It's the absolutely the same because I have different word commands. And I look a lot on your body language. Is there any change in your eye movements? Are you always touching your face or your hair when I ask certain questions when we are really working on your feelings and your and your emotions? And that's why it's important for me to see you on the camera. So whatever is face-to-face here in Spain or it's on Zoom, it works just the same. Yeah with my techniques.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

Are you gonna pay for a plane ticket for me to come to Spain? That's so nice of you.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

I wish it's private yet.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Yeah, yes, yes, give me that PJ all the way, baby. Yeah. I wish. I wish.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

I think for now I can offer you uh pay for the zoom.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

There you go.

unknown 18:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

Um, and you've only been doing this for quite some time. Like it's fairly new, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Therapy. Um I started training with Marissa Peer in 2019, and I had my first paying client in 2020, so around six years. Wow, that's why I learned more and more, and then I learned a bit more from courses from uh Tony Robbins, and I'm a huge fan of uh Dr. Joe Dispenser, neuroscience. So all of my work, my techniques, I'm taking like the best bits and making it to my own.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

What is like your end game for it? Like for me, like in my field, when I you know complete all my school, you hear about all these theories out there, like, oh, like the scientific theory, like I want to create like the Reese theory, basically. So what's like your end game with it? Do you want to do something like that? Or like do you like re you're like hell no?

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Based on having any reaction, I mean I'll be thinking about you know the Nobel Peace Prize and getting an Oscar.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Yes, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Yeah, I mean, uh have a thought about making something like that. Uh for now, actually, no. Uh, if I get awarded or nomination for anything like that, that would be great. I really want to honestly do a make a difference in people's lives.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

I have my own hypnotherapy method, uh, the jurisdiction method, and that's something I could the best bits from everybody else I'm putting together. Would I train other therapists in that in the future? Maybe. I haven't really thought about it. For now, um I'm happy and at peace at what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

That's awesome. Yeah, that that's what you want in a career in a field, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Um, and we were kind of talking earlier. You have the mentality, like, oh yeah, like smoking can cause cancer, but it's not gonna happen to me. Or like, you know, smoking does cause esophageal stuff. That's not gonna happen to me. No, it's it could happen to you. Like, I had that same mentality and it happened to me. And so, you know, a couple people in my family were allowed one, I told you so. And then we like kind of moved on from it as a wake-up call for sure. And I'm sure you see that a lot with your patients, probably. Like, yeah, definitely a wake-up call. Like, can you expand on that a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 21:22

I'm seeing one next Saturday, and she was like, I don't know if I should uh quit smoking, but I'm coughing a lot uh like the slime and start to cough blood. And I'm like, honey, you need to quit smoking. I mean, are you sure? She cigarettes, you're coughing out blood. She was like, Yeah, I've only been smoking for like fifty years, and I smoke 40 cigarettes a day. And I'm like, I can get you in early, I don't mind working weekends. Right. This is not healthy. And she says, No, no, I'd be fine.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

And I'm like, No, you're not fine.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

No, no, ma'am. Right. No.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

I cannot die, I cannot prescribe any medication. I just know this is wrong. Right. So yeah. Some people they value the health. And I think because we've we've both been through the AA journey and seen and heard a lot of stories from them. I mean, if if we can make a similar group for smokers, I mean maybe people will understand. Like that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

So there's your legacy. There's your legacy.

unknown 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

That's your legacy right there. But it's true though, like and or when you go to an AA meeting, everyone is either smoking or vaping because you're replacing a vice with a vice. Yeah. And so I wonder, like, with your like methods and everything, and when you do it for me, like, am I gonna replace a vice with a vice, or like there's just no vice replacement?

SPEAKER_00 22:58

I mean, I always recommend uh to get another addiction. Uh and my new addiction, because uh last year I was not feeling so well due to I was working in an office job, corporate job. I don't anymore with some therapy. Uh so my new addiction actually, I'm going to the gym.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Something positive and healthy.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yeah. Uh and when I quit drinking, uh my addiction got more plants on my balcony and adopted another cat.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yeah, so I I do recommend um when you quit smoking. Also, you know, I'll tell them my clients before we have a uh session on the concentrate, which is free by the way. I'm always saying to them, okay, you pick a date. And I also want you to um you know think about what is your new addiction gonna be. Right. Because in the session, we're gonna be working on your new addiction. And it has to be healthy, and it has to be somewhere where you're moving around or doing something good.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

It doesn't have to be fitness necessarily or healthy cooking or something like that. But I definitely recommend you do something.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Yeah. I definitely got a couple of things in mind. I was gonna say replace it with, you know, probably 12 Dr. Peppers throughout the day, but that's not healthy either.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Yeah, no, I would I would not accept that. Yeah, I would say raise. You'd be like, absolutely not. Like two words are not allowed in a session with me. One of them is but B-U-T, and the other one is try. Okay. Do you know? Could you imagine why I don't like those words?

SPEAKER_02 24:38

I did this because but I wanted to this is I wanted to try this. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

I would try, you know. If you say but, you kind of don't really mean what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

So, and we don't work like that. We work with commitment.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

And the word try, no one tries to go to Olympic Games and try to win a gold medal. No, they're going, they're committed.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

They're committed.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah, so it's not I would try not to smoke tomorrow, I would try not to vape. No, it's not good enough.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Right. And one thing you want to tell people to kind of encourage them to either quit or you know, kind of look inward.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

I mean, we all know if we have a bad habit or bad addiction. We all know deep down inside, even when we were drinking, we knew that was a little bit too much. I would say do your little bit of a research. Um, I know there's many, for instance, smoking apps out there and books. It works for some people. However, it doesn't work because this is very general. That's why I recommend find a therapist like myself. But you have to connect with that therapist, that book that free consultation call first. Ask questions, whatever there's in doubt, how's the session gonna be? What are you um what have you studied? Um what does your client say about you? Do you actually like that therapist? Because if there's no co good connection, the session is gonna be shit.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

It's gonna be shit.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

You have to have a good connection. It's gonna be like like talking to a good friend.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Yeah. So look up your research. And if they don't wanna give you a free consultation code, well then they're only after your money and not after helping you. That's my belief.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

People who want to like charge like 50 bucks for 15 minutes consultation, I'm like That's bullshit. It's it no, we this it like on you know, this is rated but torshit. It's exactly. Um Perfect. I think this was a very powerful session and very super fun. Um you can definitely catch this episode on YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, and on Spotify and on the website www.cantcatchabreakpodcast.com. And during our next episode, when we go over all of these results, I will see if Peter will show, you know, share his website so we can get, you know, help some people.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

And thank you everyone for tuning in, and we'll see you next week.