Can I Still Have Alcohol While I Quit Smoking?
Video Transcript
Hey there, Charles Westover with Advanced Laser Solutions, and this is your Smoker's Minute. Today, I want to talk to you about a question that I get almost every single day from my clients, and it's really a valid, very valid question: Do I have to quit drinking? Do I have to quit alcohol when I quit smoking? The short answer to that is no, you do not have to quit alcohol when you quit smoking.One of the biggest reasons that people find it so difficult to have alcohol or have their drinks after they quit smoking—and feel so deprived that they don't have their cigarette—is taste dissociation. If you ask a beer drinker what goes great with his beer, the first thing he's going to say is a cigarette. And if you ask someone who drinks red wine what goes great with your red wine, the first thing they're going to say is a cigarette.One of the biggest things that we've found over the years is that when a person stops smoking and they go back to having alcohol, it's not so much the alcohol but the taste association that they've created with cigarettes. Back when I was smoking, my drink was always Miller Lite. I drank beer; I was a beer drinker, and I would drink Miller Lite and have my cigarettes.One of the easiest ways, if you are in that situation, is to change the flavor or change the taste of what you're drinking. So, if you're a beer drinker, it would be a great idea—if you have to go and drink, or if you're going somewhere and you want to have a good time—to change what you're drinking. Change to a mixed drink or change to a completely different flavor of beer. Number one, it's going to give you a new experience, but it'll take away the taste association. You'll feel different; the taste in your mouth will be completely different. It is really a great strategy, and it was given to us years and years ago, probably over eight years ago. We've been teaching it to our clients for years, and it's worked terrifically. Take away the taste dissociation.If you think about it this way: if you decide to quit smoking and two or three days after you quit smoking, you go out to the bar or you have some friends over, and you're going to have a beer or a drink, and you drink the same thing that you used to drink, your mind is going to know that something is missing here. It's going to be driving itself crazy wondering what's missing in this equation.So, take away the taste association. When you decide to quit smoking, when you decide to finally quit, you don't have to give up alcohol. Just change what you're drinking and take away that taste association. So, that's your Smoker's Minute for today. I hope that tip really helps you and helps to kind of set you at ease on that part. You don't have to give up your drinks; we all, you know, like to have a drink from time to time.So, alright everybody, have a great day. I'll see you next time.
If you have any questions, you can call us anytime at 216-663-0766 9699 Brookpark Rd. Parma, Ohio 44129
