It is Worth the Pain to Stop Smoking

For many ex-smokers the biggest side effect of giving up smoking is weight gain. Opinions differ as to whether this is due to a change in the body's metabolism or the fact that the person eats more to fill the time they used to spend smoking. My personal belief is that it is a combination of the two. In the early months of stopping smoking I did not have a significant weight gain and I did not think that I was particularly eating more either.

However as time went by, a the kilos crept on and two years later I was 10 kgs heavier. This, for me is a mild disappointment compared to how happy I am that I no longer have any desire (five years on) to smoke a cigarette. Owning a restaurant and bar in a country that still allows smoking in restaurant without there even being a partition between the smoking section and the non-smoking areas, means that cigarette smoke is a part of every day life until we sell!

However, I can honestly say that, although I would prefer not to spend all day being a passive smoker, I can sympathise with those who still smoke.

I rarely get on my soap box about it unless I am talking to young (18 - 35) year olds.

Not that I consider myself old (43) by any means, but I do feel a sense of regret that I succumbed to the habit, publicly puffing away and thereby encouraging the habit in others.

I suppose at least I can feel some sense of payback for that, now that I am encouraging others to stop!

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Bad Effects of Smoking

Are you a heavy smoker? I suppose that you already knew that smoking is very bad for your health. Do you believe that smoking actually lessen your life span for about 7 minutes per cigarette stick? Deadly ingredients composed of nicotine and other substances are poisonous and can harm our body in various ways. Below are the different bad effects of smoking.

Smoking can lead to various cancers
Smoking an average of 3 cigarettes per day can cause cancers when you get older or in some cases at middle age of 40 to 50 years. Lung cancer is the most usual turnout of smoking habit but it is also the supporting culprit for colon cancers, cirrhosis, tumors and many diseases. Many teens are aware of the bad effects of smoking but instead of avoiding them, they indulge this vice.

Smoking is addictive
Cigarette is composed of approximately 4000 chemicals all of which are not good for the body. Nicotine is the main reason why you can't quit smoking. Nicotine is a very deadly poison. If you don't control your cigarette crave, you can be one of those people who will die because of smoking habit.

Bad for the heart
Cigarettes can trigger heart attack. It can cause hardening of the arteries that makes your blood clot and heart attack or stroke happens. A recent study shows that you can have an immediate reactions in your first smoke of cigarette which results to various heart problems and not just heart attacks. Almost 90% of cardiovascular disease patients are smokers or have a history of taking cigarettes. To avoid heart problems, avoid cigarettes.

It can weaken the immune system
More people especially teens, prefer smoking because they think it can help them lose weight. This idea was very wrong. The reason you are getting slim when you smoke is because of the nicotine which destroys your immune system. This results to anxiety and stress that can lead to lose body muscle and fats. Other deadly composition of cigarettes are butane, methane, ammonia, cadmium, carbon monoxide and many others, all of which are bad for your health. A weak immune system can lead to various diseases such as cancers and viral diseases.

Smoking is bad for your oral health
We all know that this habit can cause you bad breath. But is that the only problem you will get in smoking? Study shows that smoking is the main reason for teeth discoloration, build up of plaque and tartar, risks of leukoplakia, gum problems, oral cancer, decreasing mass of bone jaw, darkening of lips and many others. So if you love your over all oral health, stop smoking.

It lowers your hormone levels
Taking cigarette can lower the level of estrogen in women. Women who often smoke reaches menopause at an early age. When this occur, patients are likely prone to many diseases.

Smoking seems to be the trend today. You see teenagers smoke a cigarette at a very early age. It helps them feel comfortable and at ease with the use of cigarette. They feel more relax and sociable. But are you willing to risk your health by this things? You can achieve peace of mind and relaxation by other things not harmful to our body. I believe that smoking contributes to all disease we have today. Killing people silently and slowly destroying our environment. Love yourself by living clean and healthy. Be responsible to nature as we also have one earth to live on.

About the author

Noah Mark Rodolfo is an alternative natural healthcare practitioner and is committed to bring the best health and wellness information online. Get the most updated news about health, diseases, weight loss and proper nutrition on his website at http://www.healthtalkbuzz.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noah_Mark_Rodolfo

HOW YOU CAN BEGIN TO QUIT

Many people have found that including physical activity in their program to quit smoking has added a tremendous benefit to assist in quitting. There are many reasons for this:

When people are more active, they gain confidence and like themselves more. They feel more energy, and are more capable of dealing with tension in their lives. With increased activity, the smell of tobacco actually becomes offensive. Whenever you feel the need to smoke after you have decided to quit, get up and move around instead. A brief physical activity can provide you with the lift that you may have received from nicotine.

SOME ADVICE FOR THE DAY THAT YOU QUIT SMOKING

If you are not completely confident that you can resist the urge to smoke after you have quit, it may be necessary to remove any visual reminders of smoking from your living and work areas. Throw away or give away those leftover cigarettes, get rid of lighters, ashtrays, matches, and anything else that could be associated with smoking. Why should you force yourself to resist the urge to smoke when it is far simpler to just remove the reminders. If you keep a pack of cigarettes in your home or office, there is a good chance that you may pick one up. Just this one may be the cigarette that hooks you again.

HANDLING THE REASONS FOR SMOKING

Become a high energy person without cigarettes.

Relax and enjoy the pleasure of relaxation without cigarettes.

Deal with your tensions without a cigarette.

Deal with psychological dependence.

Deal with chemical dependency on nicotine.

Keep your hands busy fighting boredom.

THE RISKS AND EFFECTS OF SMOKING

IF you smoke:

You will be twelve times more likely to die from lung cancer.

You will be ten times more likely to die from some form of lung disease.

You will be ten times more likely to die from cancer of the larynx.

You will be six times more likely to die of heart disease.

You will be twice as likely to die of a stroke.

Now let’s just think for one short moment: wouldn’t it be very important for you to increase your chances of living from two to twelve times longer, gain many extra years of happy, healthy existence, and save thousands of dollars in increased medical costs? Another overlooked benefit is the amount of money saved by not buying cigarettes in the first place.

Let me explain:

If you smoke one pack of cigarettes a day at $2.00 per pack, you spend $730 per year. If your habit has continued for a period of 20 years you will have spent an incredible $14,600! If you smoke two packs for that same period of time, you will spend $29,200!

THE EFFECTS OF NICOTINE

It is only a matter of seconds after that first puff that nicotine starts to have an effect on your central nervous system, and the rest of your body. Certain areas of the brain, when stimulated by nicotine, help you think more clearly. Other areas of the brain lie in a pleasure center which when stimulated, can make you feel more relaxed and less anxious.

Nicotine also affects the hormones produced by the body which creates a chemical dependency to nicotine and the accompanying craving. Heavy smokers have become dependent on heightened levels of hormones, stimulated by nicotine, which can have an addictive quality. They need a cigarette at certain intervals of time. After the stimulation of the hormones starts to fall, they need another cigarette to bring them back into the comfort zone. If they do not get that cigarette, the craving begins.

SMOKING GIRLS

Women and girls smoking is now more popular than ever before, according to an alarming report by the U.S. surgeon general. Presently, more than 20% of adult women are regular smokers, and about 30% of high school senior girls have smoked in the past 30 days. Given the widespread knowledge of how harmful cigarette smoking is, we're left with one question. Why?

Girls smoking is often done because they believe that it will help them to control their weight," says S. Bryn Austin, ScD, an adolescent health researcher at Boston Children's Hospital.

Girls are also more likely to have parents or friends who smoke; they tend to have weaker attachments to parents and family and stronger attachments to peers and friends. They tend to take risks and to be rebellious, are less committed to school or religion, and are more likely to believe that smoking can control weight and negative moods. They also have a positive image of smokers, which can come from advertising, celebrities, or other role models. This positive image may overcome any concerns about the health risks.

The tobacco industry certainly markets cigarettes this way in young women's magazines. In fact, girls who are preoccupied with their weight are four times more likely to take up smoking.

The high value placed on thinness seemed to predict who would become a teen smoker. Of those who eventually progressed to smoking, just 7% considered thinness to be unimportant; 93% of the teens who did not become smokers did not consider thinness important, the report states. One in four of girls who eventually became teen smokers rated thinness as moderately important; 30% of those teens who eventually took up smoking rated thinness as extremely important.

However, in spite of the popularity of girls smoking they should always be encouraged to quit now rather than later, especially with the increasing health risk.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danny_Dennis

HOW TO HANDLE THE URGE

Your artillery. There are several weapons that you can use in your fight to quit.

EACH OF THESE WEAPONS WORK- THEY HAVE BEEN PROVEN

You may use one, all, or a combination of several to achieve your goal. The urge to smoke is immediate, and usually lasts for five minutes. If you can resist for that period of time, you reduce the urge.

1. Take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, and exhale as if you had just taken your first puff on a cigarette. Part of the feeling you get from smoking is a direct result of taking a deep breath. A deep breath allows you to take in a maximum amount of oxygen, and exhaling lets out large quantities of carbon dioxide. This results in a feeling of relaxation. Try it, you’ll see.

2. Take a sip of water several times during this five minute period. It can help to diminish the need to smoke, and gives you something to do with your hands. The extra water will also help to flush the nicotine out of your body.

3. Put something in your mouth that has no calories, such as a stirrer, toothpick, or another substitute for a cigarette.

4. Get busy with something, anything, to keep you busy for the next five minutes.

5. As long as it does not lead to a craving, chew a piece of gum or a piece of hard candy. Life Savers work well.

6. Get up and move around for five minutes. It will help the urge to smoke to pass.

7. Use a nicotine patch as replacement therapy.

LET’S START TO STOP SMOKING RIGHT NOW

The first thing to do is set a date when you are going to quit smoking. Let’s start one week from today. That will give you plenty of time to practice with the weapons in your arsenal. Eight days from today, it will be the beginning of the end of your smoking habit.

Days 1 and 2

Examine your smoking behavior for the first two days. Every time you light up, ask yourself:

1. Why am I smoking this cigarette?

2. Would this be an easy one or a difficult one to do without?

3. If I did not smoke this cigarette, what would I do instead?

Day 3

Let’s get out and test your weapons today.

At least once today, use your weapons to shoot down the urge to smoke.

During the five minutes that it will take for the urge to pass, try out some of your arsenal. Try one, or all, or find a combination that works for you.

Day 4

Today is the big testing day. If you haven’t already tried it, skip those one or two cigarettes that you feel may be the toughest to give up in your daily routine. Pick the ones that you rated “difficult” during your monitoring period.

Remember, this is a practice period, and you must not get upset if you are unable to give up a difficult cigarette. You must practice and experiment with your different weapons to realize how you can be more effective.

If you found skipping that cigarette very difficult or even failed in the end, review any factor that got in the way of your success. The most common causes of difficulty or failure that a potential quitter faces are:

Chemical properties of addiction

When you do not have that cigarette, you feel lousy. If you are a heavy smoker, a nicotine patch may help to relieve your bad feelings.

Social pressures

You may find yourself in a situation (card game, party, coffee break) during which you would normally smoke. It may help to let others know of your desire to quit, and also your reasons for quitting. Enlisting the aid of a non smoker to confide in may also help. Make sure that he or she is aware of your goals so that they do not say or do anything to instill a negative impact on your desire to quit.

If you feel that you may not resist the social pressures of smoking, consider the option of giving up these social encounters for two or three weeks until the urge passes and you can be comfortable again.

Tension and negative emotion

A crisis occurs during your work or personal day, and one of the main reasons for you to smoke has been tension reduction. Try to deal with your negative emotions and use the tension reducing methods that we talked about earlier. Get away from the area that the tension is associated with. Take a walk, or go to another room. You may also find that nicotine gum will give you enough tension relief to get through.

Days 5, 6, and 7.

You are now heading down the home stretch. In the next three days, your goal is to come out of this week smoking half the cigarettes that you would normally smoke. If you started as a one pack a day smoker, cut back to ten cigarettes per day, or less. The fewer the better. During days 5 and 6, set your goals toward achieving positive results on day 7. Maintain your smoking record during these three days, and continue to decrease your dependency on nicotine.

What do you do if you still have doubts? This is probably due to your chemical dependency on nicotine. It is a highly powerful drug, and many factors have been working together to make you dependent. Discuss with your doctor about the feasibility of a patch or nicotine gum. Nicotine is the hook that has gotten you to smoke which carries the harmful effects to your body. With the help from the patch or the gum, you will have all he tools you need to successfully quit. The patch or gum will give you a steady influx of nicotine into your system, which will be reduced slowly over a period of several weeks. DO NOT SMOKE WHILE ON THE PATCH. You could experience a dangerous overdose of nicotine.

NOTE; Pregnant women should not use the gum or patch. Smokers with any form of heart disease should consult with a physician before using.

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