HOW TO QUIT SMOKING

I didn't have a choice as to whether or not I wanted to become a smoker. Our mother smoked like a chimney, and she was disabled most of her life with MS, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and some garden variety crazy. We were cooped up in the house with her, all the doors and windows closed, while she puffed away. By the time I actually lit a cigarette and put it to my lips at age 13, I smoked like I'd done it my whole life because, indeed, I had.

I struggled with the habit, quitting and starting, on and off, until 10 years ago, when I decided I'd had enough. I found it surprisingly difficult to quit, and experienced some degree of physical withdrawals. By this time, I had also become poor, and smoking had become expensive. I was spending at least fifty dollars a week, more than two thousand, six hundred dollars a year. Still, I struggled, stopping and starting many times.

Ignoring the criticisms of those around me who couldn't imagine why anyone of even average intelligence would smoke, I continued to dance with the ciggies until I hit upon a gradual approach that was far less expensive than scary (to me) chemical patches to wear on the skin. Ten years ago, I used this approach and, although I have many times flirted with the idea of cigarettes, I never came close to actually picking up the habit again.

The two-prong formula is this:

(1) GRADUAL REDUCTION: If you typically smoke 20 cigarettes a day, which is a full pack of cigarettes, then cut down to 19 cigarettes a day for an entire week. The next week, smoke 18 cigarettes a day, and so forth. About the time you are down to 3 to 5 cigarettes a day, the taste of it will turn you off, and you'll dump the habit. Some people may linger at the lower amount, rationalizing that just a few cigarettes a day won't hurt you. You run the risk of ramping back up to your maximum amount during a stress-filled week, and you'll have to start all over again.

I facilitated this process by organizing my cigarettes every morning, removing the appropriate number of cigarettes from the pack I would smoke that day.

(2) INCENTIVICATION: Put aside the money that you save every month and spend it on something solid, but fun...maybe even frivolous. After all, the cigarettes can hardly be deemed to be HELPING you, in any real sense, and if you bring something positive into your life that is tangible, it will serve as a reminder and an incentive to stick to your decision to quit smoking. It draws you away from the bad and toward the good.

Eventually, when you have eliminated the cigarettes, you can reduce the amount of money you spend on these incentives, but leave a token in the budget, as a reward for your achievement and a reminder not to pick up a cigarette again.

Unlike the $2,600 a year I previously spent on cigarettes, I now spend between $100 and $200 a year on tangible, fun things. Half of it is spent in the summer. The other half in winter. I may buy a rosary, some art supplies, a religious medal, or some research books. It depends on what is going on that year, as far as the projects I've decided upon. I do not recommend you spend this money on someone else. Part of the reason I recommend this portion of my method is to build solid reminders into your environment that will remind you that you have exchanged a bad habit that was hurting you into something that is contributing to your life in a healthy, positive way.

My beautiful prayer corners have been purchased from cigarette money, for the most part:

I hope this article helps you develop a method that will work for you. It involves more self-discipline than slapping a patch on your arm, but this daily practice of self-discipline will help you build more determination and strength: determination and strength that you will need on those rough days when you imagine that a cigarette would taste really really good.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose
Copyright (c) 2017
All rights reserved

THE HERMIT'S DIET

This morning's breakfast: Small organic

apple, 1 piece organic whole wheat seeded

bread, 1 piece cheddar cheese

My doctor wants me on an organic Mediterranean diet, due to multiple illnesses that would benefit and because I am allergic to a wide range of chemicals, pesticides and additives commonly found in the American diet these days.

When I told a friend that I was going on a "fishatarian" diet, meaning an organic vegetarian diet supplemented with fish (when I can get it), she nearly shrieked when she said, "That's so EXPENSIVE!"

The expense of organic food depends upon the degree of refined and/or premade food one eats. If one relies upon canned soups, frozen dinners, boxed dinners, etc., then the expense really IS huge, but, if you eat like a monk and eat very low on the food chain, with measured portions of protein, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, nuts and seeds, you can eat an entirely organic diet that is LESS expensive than the customary American diet.

Take a look at my breakfast, pictured above. It cost less than $2 and was delicious! The apple and bread were organic, but the cheese was not.

Cheese is a manufactured item, and is thus, by nature, an expensive item even when not produced in an organic fashion. I will not eat the fake "cheese" - the so-called "American cheese" that was the staple of many lunches of our childhoods, however. We all remember the gelatinous thin slabs of congealed fat and artificial coloring called American cheese.

Neither do I eat non-fat cheese. There is no such thing as a cow that gives non-fat milk. Nature produces food that has a perfect balance of nutrients, fats and proteins. If we disturb that brilliant balance, the manufactured item that results is not food, per se. It resembles food. It won't kill you if you consume it. Whatever calories are present may be absorbed and used by the body, but at what cost? Just because one can consume an item without actually dying from it does not qualify it as food. Think about a penny, for instance. Unless it gets stuck somewhere in your system, it passes right through. It's not food, though.

As for me, I do not eat "non-fat" concoctions, otherwise I become terribly ill. I might as well have taken poison. I spend a lot of time in the bathroom for 24 to 48 hours. Non-fat dairy products contain a much higher percentage of lactose than natural milk, and if one has any sensitivity to lactose at all, non-fat milk will send your guts into overdrive. I do not, however, have any reaction to hard cheeses or cultured products like yogurt. My gastrointerologist told me that this is quite common.

So, going back to my original point, the less a food is fiddled with, the less expensive it is and the better it is for one's health.

I find it interesting that the way I eat is very close to the traditional monastic diet that one could find in many convents and monasteries prior to the industrial revolution and the invention of these frankenfoods to which we have become so accustomed.

Simple, wholesome and natural are the requirements, while I also am watching my serving sizes. Consequently, I have lost more than 40 pounds since bearing down on the diet.

I do not cook very much any more. If you were to look into my refrigerator, you would find very few prepared sauces and dressings. I make my own, when necessary, with the exception of mustard and mayonnaise. The onset of serious illnesses and my inability to stand for long periods of time have contributed to my move away from cooked food and towards salads and sandwiches. Once again, my disabilities have proven to be a blessing in disguise.

(When I go to a restaurant to eat, all bets are off, so to say, and I will eat whatever appeals to me at the moment. A restaurant meal is so rare, it is usually an occasion of celebration and a natural reason to let go of the monastic diet.)

Fasting is a well-known and recommended spiritual practice in many religious traditions. Simplicity and restraint with regard to food, in general, is common to many religious traditions. One of the nuns in the Hindu convent used to become enraged when I got too creative with the meals and would leave me nasty notes on the prep counter. She was right, of course, but her method of communication left something to be desired.

I have often thought about writing a book about convent cooking, but if I wait long enough, it will be unnecessary, since my cooking is becoming more and more elementary over time.

If any of my sisters in hermit life would like some ideas about recipes for the simple life, outlined above, please contact me and I will blog about it.

God bless us all!

Silver Rose Parnell
Copyright (c) 2016