From Sceptic to OMG.. It’s 2 Years since I Stopped Smoking!

Gabriel, a Specialist Cardiac Nurse, tells her incredible stop smoking story.  After trying absolutely everything to quit, she resigned herself to being a smoker for the rest of her life.  Gabrielle tells of her fear of quitting and the doubt that anything could help her, and what made the difference to give her the courage to try True Quit two years ago…

Good. I, this is Michael Gregory, founder of true quit. And I’m here with Gabriel Kilborne who, actually I think it’s nearly two years in a few days since she stopped smoking with the true quit program. And there’s an interesting story as to how. We kind of doing this interview, which guide will be related to me the other day.

And I think you’d ever want to be interested in that. Okay. I just happened to be at the supermarket and was waiting at the counter to, to buy a newspaper as the newspapers sold at the counter with the cigarettes as possible. And there was a lady there purchasing those cigarettes and sheeple three whole packs on an eyesore.

On the, is that $140? Oh my God, I’m glad I gave up smoking. And she said, I wish I could give up smoking. Well, we had a little bit about banter and chat or whatever. And then she, she did say to me, you know, how did you give it up? And so I just did a brief description of what I’d done and, and mentioned the program.

And I said to her, do you have an email address? You can have an email address. I will send you a link to the website or you can go and have a look for yourself and make up your own mind. Does she get, she gave me her email address in the main. I actually rang the true quick people. I met. I initially thought I was ringing you, but I got on to Peter.

And I explained that I had run into this lady and, she was in a situation where she really mentioned giving up smoking. She had just taken over full custody of looking up to her daughters for children’s age. I think she said between about 10 and 2 cents. She didn’t like smoking in front of the truth, but certainly, just think of quick loss.

That is very difficult. So I mentioned that to Peter and then he said, we don’t, we don’t do the sessions in Shellharbour anymore. If ever there was boring to be a person that needed it. I mean, she really wants to stop perpetual. And I said, I mean, I don’t know that she will, that she will actually take on the program, but at least I’ve given her the link to have a book.

And it will be nice to know that if she makes that decision, somebody is here to help so much. Anyway he said, leave it with me and I’ll talk to Michael. And then he rang me back and said because you live reasonably close to this area, look, Michael has said, if she does not, she, yeah. She decided then, then he would do a session.

So that’s how we ended up talking again, after all this. And then, then we’re talking with Gabriel. She related to me. Yeah, her situation, what it was like before you actually quit and quite an incredible story. So I really want to share that with you. So what was, what was your situation before you came across true equate?

I mean, what was your be interesting to know what your job is or was.

Over a long period of time and in sort of fairly nondescript employment in those, those sort of times, I just continue. So I think then I started doing psychiatric smoking and smoking even worse because of psychiatric smoking. The psychiatric nursing that you had to pick me upon. That was funny.

Well, it is psychiatric.

And so over the years I have tried hypnotherapy music using music go. Now no reflection on the hypnotherapists because this gentleman really had an excellent track record of people, quitting smoking, unfortunately on a very strong real person. Built with hypnotherapy, you know, back to what the AMA I couldn’t relax.

I tried. I’m just one of those really hyper, hyper go go. So I thought this was going to be a real challenge for them and it was, I did, I did a few group sessions and implant, insertions, and credit to him. We were getting absolutely nowhere. He basically said to me, I’m wasting more money and you’re wasting my time.

So I have to literally yeah. Free professional. So I sort of gave up the concept of giving up for a while. But over the years when I was 40 I went back to university and started studying. Over a period of time, I could have worked my way up through the ranks until I got to. Well, one of the, sort of upper-echelon nursing, clinical as a consultant, which means you a specialist in your area, what did you specialize in?

I specialize in cardio, pulmonary resuscitation and medical emergencies. And so did that give you really insight as to the damage that smoking can do? Well, I already knew even when I was doing general nursing people, right. To the clinical nurse consultant level, what sort of damage it was doing that I was reminded of it on a daily basis at the hospital we closed.

My, my office was situated in cardiology and in my cardiology, colleagues were always giving me every day about, about getting ready to stop smoking every morning. And I have to say, I did feel like a bit of a hypocrite occasionally, because I used to fear if we had patients that have undergone a cardiac arrest, whether it was in the hospital, out of hospital.

I used to interview them, you know, once I had recovered them while they were doing. The impacts and effects that can have on your army. I mean, it’s been shared that a lot of people get Chopin, memory loss, some have long term memory loss. And so I used to feel a bit hypocritical outside of smoke.

And then I would have to say just to clean my unconscious, unfortunately started one up, but I’m trying really hard. It must have felt awful. It did. It did. Yeah. It made me look like a total people. And I used to say that on trying, that’s all I can say. He must’ve been trying hard. I mean, you said you’re quite a strong willed person, so did you try willpower? I do try, but it was absolutely no use whatsoever. So even though you’re very, strong-willed. No, definitely not which is amazing because there were so many other things on download, but people never blew over to achieve that with my world and with the most strengthened world hour.

But anyway, so I, I guess I’m trying to just jump in there. Surprising to me that you say that even though you’re a strong-willed person, willpower didn’t work. The reason why it’s not surprising to me is because I know that willpower does not affect cravings. Right. And we, you know, we always think that that’s the way to quit smoking and that’s the only way, or most, in fact, most methods require some element of willpower for them to succeed.

But we know now. That willpower doesn’t affect the cravings craving still happened while you’re trying willpower. Yep. So you got to use some other method to get rid of the cravings, which, and of course back then it was like the champion and all the other, shearing, gums and everything else that they get a year ago.

I don’t think there’s a method that I hadn’t tried. So you also had access to free programs at the hospital, didn’t you? They did quit smoking. Well, they ran programs for patients as well, but they also ran with other stuff and I attended numerous of the programs. You said at one stage, you probably.

Programs three times a year. Well, I don’t think, I, I think the longest I lasted was because going in the morning and you’d have to get your CO2 levels, you know, smoking, you get, build up carbon dioxide in your lungs and you’d go in every morning and get your levels checked. So I manage to survive the three days and then I just thought nicotine replacement. What was available if that’s what you want on everything else and counselling, unfortunately. I just basically go, I’m just going to be a smoker for the rest of my life. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would be a smoker for the rest of my life. So you must’ve just, you must’ve got to a point where you felt that it was quite a hopeless situation.

I literally just thought there is nothing authentic. I mean, you think being in my situation, I’m having to counsel patients that are going through cardiac arrest and all sorts of other things. And, and with my, as I said, in my cardiology colleagues, giving. Every day about the fact that I’m a smoker, teaching people smoke.

I just don’t work. Get that you. Well, I’m not going to be a sniper for my, I was amazed actually that one brother who was 10 pounds heavier smoker than me gave it up just it worked for me. Look, today, you mentioned that while we were coming down but he then took it up again.

He had a very bad period where there was a very severe and prolonged acute illness with a family member. And I think that may have had a lot to do. So you say again, that doesn’t surprise me as well, because if you do stop smoking and you’re using willpower to do that, you have to keep using willpower.

And when there’s this strong emotion. Coming alive. This is very common, then that willpower is not enough. And really, if you look at it from a different perspective, that the way that we understand it through true, unless you would eliminate the force, you know, dismantle the four stages of the mental process so that you don’t actually get cravings, you’re still going to have to use willpower forever.

And that’s why people relapse, even though they’ve got no nicotine in their body. And, um, and I feel. You know, very high. I understand that now that I didn’t. Yeah. And as a nurse, it’s it. Doesn’t, it just seems so obvious now, but it’s just not common knowledge that you actually have to stop the cravings.

So the things don’t stop, sort of put a hold on that. 30 30 minutes or something that then the minute that was off, well, it’s still, it’s still a system, the different delivery system, delivering nicotine in a different way, keep the cycle going. So tell me had, what was your mindset? You said you resigned yourself to being a smoker for the rest of your life.

You tried all the methods that you came across. So when you kind of close to true. What was your mindset? Because I wasn’t looking for Pitt, as I said, doing something on the computer, I don’t know what it was and I fell across another one. So you would see Nicole.

Tired late 100%, hundred 50% coming from a very professional point of view. Who’s had also a lot of life experience, something it’s going to work. Yeah. And the only thing that was different about it was, was the actual treatment methodology, which I had not heard of before. Um, and so I was interested in finding out, well, hang on, I don’t know about this particular modality or treatment.

Maybe I need to have a look at it, but the technique, the technique, I just really, it was nothing I’d ever heard of before. Probably not gonna work cause something else did, but I’m going to give it about anyway. And then I can at least say to myself, well, it was you still smoking, but you didn’t. So can I ask you a very, if you’re very skeptical and cynical and educated, what, what made the difference, um, in deciding that true quit was worthy of you, you know, risking failure again.

All the lead up educational material that was involved, the pre-access to the pre-treatment type program, really important videos. And that’s exactly right. It made a lot of sense. Right. I still didn’t know it was not a word and I probably in hindsight, but it won’t, but I just thought, well, it’s different.

It’s something I haven’t tried. Um, I can’t say I tried if I didn’t try it. Yeah. Point of view, like a physiological point of view, knowing Mattamy and physiology and all that. Did it make sense from that point of view? Um, and it was the physiology and pathophysiology behind the treatment with LIG. That made me think, well, this is not a scam type thing.

These people actually do know what they’re talking about, the way they’re describing the effects on the body makes an awful lot of sense. And so just because I am who I am, I have to be. Just say, even if it doesn’t work, like Dede thought was like fair to say. I didn’t try. So anyway, I rang up. Um, an ID, all the things I tell you not to do that told you to get rid of all your secrets.

I know me better. Yeah, exactly. So, um, I made sure I had, when I went to the appointment, I had. I left in the car. I didn’t have a cigarette. I have a cigarette before you went in. Absolutely. As I’m going now, I have one was I was going out the door and I took a cigarette with me and left up in the class.

That’s the naughty bit, right? Yeah, absolutely. It was also the other note. It was the fact that I had half a pack of cigarettes. I thought throwing them out. Um, because that’ll make me really use my role care if I come home. And there’s still this, when, so you thought that you thought that that would help you use your willpower?

I did either that, or if it failed, I wouldn’t have to go running to the shop straight away cause it’d already be so can I ask, did you need to use willpower with the trick with program?

I think so. I don’t, I don’t consciously remember thinking to myself, not until about the day two or three. I don’t remember. In the first few days consciously thinking, oh, I’m going to need a cigarette lot reading water cigarette a lot. But about days three or four or something. I just, I didn’t actually have a painting for a cigarette, but I was thinking a lot about smoking, smoking.

It was bothering me in and I rang you. You did say ring up is an issue. So, so you rang for support, which is actually what you meant to do. Support is actually a really important part of the program. If there’s an issue like that, it’s simply a matter of clarifying and fine-tuning what you’re doing. And so was that your experience what happened with, and I hadn’t, I hadn’t thought about initially using the support system.

Um, cause I just thought once I walk out of there. I don’t want to be involved anymore. Exactly. But then I thought, look, I’ve gone this far. Um, and all I’m doing at the moment is thinking about smoking. I’m not actually getting that plenty of that. So I did ring it and it was just a case of having a voice rather than text or something.

Reinforcing the methodology for getting real thick and yeah, but not the time getting rid of that thought process of snorkeling. So we would have gone through the technique and that’s what you did. You reinforced have you done the technique? And I went home a couple of times. Do it again, do it properly.

We did it properly. And also would have reinforced that the thought of smoking in your mind. He’s not something that you need to get rid of, but because there is a natural fight or flight reaction to that. And for, and, and of course we now mean through the program, you are, you’ve understood how that fight or flight reaction operates, but we were just able to reinforce that.

And then you found that you didn’t need to get rid of the thought because the craving wasn’t there. And the amazing thing is I didn’t ever have to contact you for support again. It’s like, yeah. Is that who I am like two year anniversary coming up in a couple of days. I’m like, I still can’t validate that, um, smoke and I don’t miss it that all, um, my daughter’s loans cause to Miami, she was like, that’s not a way of, of that.

I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think about smoking. My brother is very strong and as I say, it had given up trust willpower, but the poor thing he did. Yeah, he did. They had

You mentioned something interesting there that your daughter smokes. So she’s seen you through all of this journey telling you how wonderful this is. This is not, this is not a new thing. You know, you know, there are people that who their best friends who smoked two packs a day, but 20 years ago, Guy from the telephone number or the website, and it took them a year to contact us.

You know, you think that, what more, what more do you need? She is her mother’s board. Have to be careful what we say here.

Yeah.

You know what I’ve learned over the years, I’ve learned that there’s a huge amount of fear involved because of that fight or flight reaction. The very thought of not smoking. This anxious feeling this kind of fear that it’s not going to be archived. And I kind of busy how it will be okay if I don’t smoke.

So, so there’s this constant putting off, putting off, putting off of was that. Something that you experienced this I’m absolutely, as I say to you like the fact that I kept that pack of cigarettes there, that was like, at least, um, I would never go to bed at night if there were no cigarettes in the house. Um, It was seven 11 at one o’clock in the morning. Yeah. If that was the time I was going a bit to make sure that I had a big pack of cigarettes in the house the next morning they have with my team coffee and thing, because the, the thought of waking up in the morning and not being able to line up a cigarette was donator.

He was like, um, yeah, so it’s like, you’re trapped. The situation where if you don’t have them or you think of not smoking, this is kind of, you know, or have terror around you, but then in hindsight, you found true quid. And then, and then in hindsight, once you consume that information and that understanding, do you think that that like, if somebody was putting it off, so yeah.

I need to put it off or is it just a process of learning? What will you say to that? No, do I think they need to put it off? Um, it’s just that I guess most people make up their own. You know, what I think is irrelevant. All I can do is give them the benefit of telling them how it was for me. Um, and then it’s up to them to make a decision.

You have to make that decision yourself. Absolutely. You know, um, one of the things that we have learned over the years is that, is it in order to make that decision, you have to have the right information that pre-information, that we were talking about. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. So, in other words, when you went into investigating, you had that kind of fear of quitting, you then looked at that education and that made the difference to enable you to make the decision that, oh, this is this, it made sense to me as the most, that other people may not have picked up the fact that it was, it was.

With the pathophysiology and the physiology of how the body and the brain work in response to various treatments and things. That I just thought, well, you know, I have to give it a try, but even when I was in having the session with you, um, and I remember you saying now, think about that, about that now that all knows another one of those, you know, and you wake up in the morning.

And imagine the self it’s all Misty outside and walking through the bras and all relaxed, they will say they tried to teach us. Yeah, I know. I know. That’s what I thought it was going to be one of those go to a happy place. Yeah, exactly. Not at all. Um, it was the best thing I’ve ever done really was, um, that I did, I have to say, but one of the walk out, I really didn’t think I was.

Like even when I, you know, the secrets in the another pack of time, I can have whatever. I just have them. And I eventually did. I actually lived that.

God knows what it would have tasted. Like if I’d tried that and it would have been, so those failed, but after 12 months I celebrate about going up the it’s the best thing I have ever done. And since then, I’ve always had the worst pop people use about, oh my God, I really didn’t have a dreadful, dreadful cough. Now I be walking around those grateful. Witkoff people comment, Repeatedly, even people I didn’t know in the hospital, if I’m standing in the coffee shop and you know, there’s this patients visitors, they’re like, oh my gosh, you have a chair with Paul.

I don’t have that cough at all. The current, none of those. Yeah, you have very clear. I do. I have been incredibly clear. I had repeated x-rays done the line does want to see it through. I actually had gone to say, every spirit specialist here to doctor my stepfather, he died. He died at the scene, drank from, to just watching him die.

For years and using music literally. Great. And this man does fall on, on, and his specialist used to say to me, Gabby was supposed to be gay two years ago. He just is such a strong-willed person. And that was where I got it. Yeah, so it’s just amazing. I have a new copy. That’s six months old and be a snake that I moved into.

Been, the state is Hills constant Hills and we go out walking and I’m running up Hills with a six-month-old puppy. I couldn’t, I couldn’t run up three steps a couple of years ago.

Trey Dom and I have mild, maybe protections, but nothing like it used to be.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. The boss recovery. In fact, when I took my original, thinking about statistics, I’ve been about three months before it came down here because I’d had a read that, about all influenza and I’d bought them down and I showed them do pay down here compared to my current one.

And I just couldn’t believe it. So that will really bad before you quit smoking. And then now they’ve improved enormously. Yeah, I w I was heading down the really bad emphases. I had the beginnings of name.

I’m really happy for me now that I’ve retired. I kind of like to leave a lot longer than he.

Yeah, I know I’m down here every morning, running up and down with the door and I love it. Well, I want to say thank you so much for thank you. You saved my life literally. Well, I’m really, really pleased for you. It’s really in a deep happiness that, you know, you’ve actually done this in your seat. I can see how well you are from a.

Did it as sharing this story will inspire by perhaps you or, or other people to look a little further. That’d be scared of worry or, or fear of quitting, just take one step at a time. Get a little bit of education just as Gabby said, and that information then enables you to take the next step and you get more information and then you take the next step and you realize, actually, this could be something that makes a whole lot of sense.

So. So really thank you again for coming out and it’s been a pleasure and I just hope that some people it does help me sometimes listening to other people’s stories is what it takes to make. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right now, one thing I will mention is that you do want more information straight away. You can go to our website. True. quit.com. And you can, there’s a button that says free guide and videos.

You can click on that register. You can get some free videos sent straight away, and you can begin that journey and we’re really look forward to helping you as well.