You know how it is when you meet a new partner...
You're all love struck, you think they're perfect...but sometimes there'll be that one niggly thing that is a bit of a turn off...
Something that you would change if you could, even though it's not nice to admit it.
For me, when I met Jon, that thing was....he was a smoker.
Smoking is something that I've always found pretty repugnant so for me it was a big turn off - I certainly wouldn't be comfortable living with someone who smoked at home or around any future children.
He smoked about 10 a day, so not an extreme habit but the smell lingers so badly that it would really irritate me...plus the associated health risks were obviously a concern.
Jon had been a smoker for around 14 years when I met him...he'd tried to give up on a few occasions but missed the social interaction with other smokers and the hand-to-mouth habit....many smokers complain that they just don't know what to do with their hands when they're not smoking anymore, it may sound silly to a non smoker but these sorts of habits are hat make it difficult to quit smoking.
Those....and of course the addition to nicotine.
My dad used to be a smoker...he managed to wean himself off cigarettes by switching to cigars, and then eventually coming off those...now he doesn't smoke at all and hasn't for over 30 years.
The weaning method seems to work well....but I wasn't keen on suggesting cigars to Jon! In my opinion they smell even worse than cigarettes!
Once we started trying for a baby I was even more concerned about the effects of smoking on his health and fertility, as well as any implications for a child.
I started to spend some time looking into the effects of smoking on fertility and what I found was quite shocking...but my Google searching also led me to a possible solution to my problems.
I came across some forums where ladies in similar predicaments to me where discussing how they had encouraged their partners to quite smoking by encouraging them to switch to electronic vaping cigarettes. I spent some time looking into these, convinced that if I could just find the right e cigarette starter kit for Jon that he would be able to make the jump and switch.
I took the plunge, placed my order and a few days later the kit arrived. I presented it to Jon and although he was a little dismissive at first he agreed to try them.He was immediately surprised by how satisfying they were and how well they simulated the experience of smoking.
I was impressed that they didn't smell at all!
Now, I'm so happy to say that 3 years on, he hasn't looked back.
He hasn't touched a real cigarette since, and there was no real effort in trying to quit....he simply switched to e-cigarettes and never looked back. There was genuinely nothing difficult about it.
He still had the hand to mouth action, he still enjoyed the social side by popping out with his e-cigarette to join smokers at work, he stills gets his nicotine without any of the added nasties you find in cigarettes.
He's gradually reducing the nicotine month by month, which is great.
I can't recommend switching to e-cigarettes highly enough if you're trying to quit smoking or even just be healthier ....
I can't think of a better change to make!
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