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Ten Lifestyle and Cosmetic Benefits to Quitting Smoking

January 28th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you’re a smoker, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. The health benefits to quitting are well documented. As soon as you quit smoking your body will begin to repair itself. Your blood pressure will decrease, your body’s temperature will increase, the carbon monoxide in your blood will begin drop, you’ll experience a better lung capacity, your sense of smell and taste will improve, and your chance of a heart attack will decrease significantly. These are just some of the health benefits that your body experiences immediately after you quit smoking. What are some of the lifestyle and cosmetic benefits to quitting smoking? Here are ten benefits that will make you want to kick the smoking habit for food.

1) More money in your wallet. With the prices of cigarettes at their highest, and taxes going up all the time, you’ll definitely feel the effect of quitting in your wallet. Think of all the things you’ll be able to purchase with the money you currently spend on cigarettes. Sit down and do the math. How much do you spend on cigarettes each week? How much for a year? Make a list of all the things you could afford to do or buy if you quit smoking now.

2) More energy. Smoking drains a lot of your body’s reserves. Quitting means your body will receive more of the oxygen that nicotine and smoke used to steal away. You’ll feel more energized and less sluggish once you quit. You will feel stronger, and not have to worry about the damage you are doing to your body by smoking. You will be able to work out like you couldn’t before. You can climb a set of stairs again without puffing!

3) Your complexion will improve. Smoking wreaks havoc on your skin, causing signs of premature aging and an all around bad texture. Quitting will help your skin’s elasticity and texture improve significantly. No more yellow skin or wrinkles around your mouth!

4) Your house, car, and clothes will smell good again. Many lifelong smokers olfactory sense is suppressed by cigarettes, so they cannot smell just how bad cigarette smoke really smells. Cigarette smoke clings to fabrics, causing an unpleasant odor. When you quit smoking, you no longer have to worry about the smell of your personal items or environment.

5) Cigarette stains on your teeth will begin to fade. Cigarettes are notorious for yellowing teeth. Once you quit, the stains will begin to fade.

6) Your sense of smell and taste will improve. Cigarette’s suppress your sense of smell and taste. When you quit smoking, food begins to taste better. You will be able to smell the roses again!

7) No more anxiety or guilt. With so many warnings directed at smokers, it’s very easy to develop a sense of anxiety and guilt over being a smoker. When you quit smoking, you no longer have to feel anxious about the damage you are doing to your body. And you no longer feel the guilt for exposing family or friends to second-hand smoke.

8) You don’t have to worry about going to non-smoking venues anymore. With so many anti-smoking measures enacted in cities across the country, it can be easy to feel unwelcome at many restaurants, clubs, and other non-smoking venues. When you quit smoking, you can go anywhere and do anything without having to worry about ducking out to smoke.

9) Your diet will probably improve. One major lifestyle benefit of quitting smoking is that it will probably improve your diet. Most smokers use cigarettes as a substitute for food at one time or another. When you quit smoking, you will no longer wreak havoc on your body by smoking in place of a well-balanced meal. And you will be able to taste your food better than before!

10) Quitting will give you a sense of pride unrivalled by almost anything else you will do for your health. Quitting smoking is like running a marathon successfully. You can take pride that you accomplished perhaps one of the most difficult things you will ever do in you life. You will feel like a champ, and this sense of strength and pride will probably affect all other aspects of your life.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

Establish Smoke-Free Zones in your Environment

December 31st, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

When you are addicted to smoking, there are several associations that are used in relation to having a cigarette. One of the large associations is the environments that you created to support your smoking need. When you decide to quit smoking, establishing smoke-free zones will help you to stop your habit. Having the right environment to quit smoking is a way to give yourself the support that you need to stop smoking.

One of the zones that you can create to help with a smoke-free environment is in your kitchen. When you decide to quit smoking, toxins and chemicals will begin to move outside of your body. You will need to balance this with the right kinds of foods that will help to move the toxins outside of your body and allow vitamins and nutrients to become part of your diet. Multi-vitamins and healthy snacks will help your body to get the fuels that it needs in order to begin changing your body. Often times, smoking will cause your body to become sick, as the vitamins and other parts of your body are being normalized, which your body is not used to anymore. Make sure that part of your environment is allowing yourself time to get extra rest and let your body rejuvenate.

If you have certain places that you associated with smoking, then these can be changed to help with breaking your habit. One of the places where many smoke is in the car. You can keep water, candies and gum in your car in order to get through withdrawal periods. You can put these in the same places where you kept your cigarettes to help change your associations. If you know that part of your smoking habit was in relation to the physical sensation, then you can keep straws, lollipops and cinnamon sticks at your disposal to chew on and relieve the physical craving. If you have other places in your home or outside of your home that you associate with smoking, you can place these other tools there to help you fight your cravings.

One of the things that will help you to remain smoke free is by continuing to educate yourself and make tools for yourself, such as a quit smoking journal. If you constantly remind yourself why you are quitting through gaining knowledge and allowing yourself time to gain insights, it will help to establish and maintain a smoke-free zone. Giving yourself time to read books about the effects of smoking, and doing things that will remind you why you decided to quit will help in the process of you not smoking. Several will keep a list of why they decided to quit smoking and periodically look at it to remind them not to relapse.

Smoking is often related to calming down stressful or hard emotional situations. If you are angry, sad, or stressed, your first reaction may be to get a cigarette. Creating a smoke-free environment means placing substitutes around your home to replace the cigarette habit. Having good music on hand, creating spaces for meditation and relaxation, finding stress relievers, and creating peaceful places in your environment to replace your emotions will all help you to keep being smoke-free.

If you are having anxiety and withdrawal symptoms, sometimes the best solution is to take yourself out of the environment. An easy way to do this is to go for a walk outside of your home, allowing your energy to be used in a different way. Another way of taking yourself out of the environment is to simply stop what you are doing in your environment, and simply concentrate on breathing deeply or on something that is peaceful to you. This will help to calm the anxiety that you feel and bring you back to focusing on your life instead of the cigarette cravings.

Because cigarettes are a habit, the best way to fight them and create a smoke free environment is to find ways to substitute the habit. Changing your habits with eating, and creating spaces around you to fight against the urge to smoke will all help your environment to be a way to support yourself when you decide to quit smoking.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

Why Women Have a Harder Time Kicking the Smoking Habit

December 19th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Many of those who smoke have the desire to quit smoking and break the habit that they have formed. However, it has been found that women have a harder time kicking the smoking habit than men do. While it has been found that smoking causes more health problems in women than in men, it has also been seen that smoking is harder to break with women. This happens because of the different effects that the nicotine have on the brain. This also happens because of the associations that women make with smoking, which often times differ from the reasons why men smoke.

One of the reasons why women have a harder time to stop smoking is because of the nicotine addiction that occurs with cigarette smoking. Cigarettes contain this chemical in order to get one addicted to smoking. The nicotine moves into ones brain and triggers a nerve that is responsible for calming pain. When a woman decides to stop smoking this nerve is no longer triggered. In women, this causes a feeling of depression and negative moods making it harder for women to quit smoking. This nerve is more sensitive in women than it is in men. It has been found that the withdrawal symptoms are harder to maintain when a woman is trying to quit smoking because of these sudden changes in moods that have been triggered and suppressed from the change in the brains nerves.

One of the effects that smoking has on the brain is being an emotional stimulus. This is more associated with women having the need to smoke than men. Because of the nicotine that is moving into the nerves of your brain, it causes you to believe that there is a lower stress level when smoking. Things such as stress levels seem to go up. Women may also begin feeling things more strongly when they quit smoking, such as anxiety and depression. The mood changes that occur from smoking are known to effect women more than they do men.

One of the nerves in the brain that triggers from the nicotine is related to finding a pleasure in the smell and taste of cigarette smoke. This nerve has been found to be more sensitive in women than in men. Because of this, the physical habit of smoking and sensations associated with smoking are harder to break. The desire for the physical addiction from smoking in women causes higher rates of withdrawal symptoms and anxiety. Because of this, it has been found that the nicotine replacement remedies, such as gum and patches are not as effective in women as they are in men.

Smoking is often associated with environmental surroundings, such as the place where one usually smokes. This also includes the social aspect of smoking, such as meeting with friends who all have the same addiction. Because women associate smoking with the physical at a higher level, they have to take themselves out of certain social circles and environments in order to help them move through the withdrawal symptoms.
When someone decides to stop smoking, there are several bodily functions that begin to change. This includes things in association to blood flow, tissue and nerve re-growth, and a loss of toxins and chemicals from cigarettes. At the same time, it may cause weight gain because of the changes that the body begins to go through. For several years, smoking has been advertised as allowing women to help maintain their weight. When women associate quitting their smoking habit with weight gain, it becomes harder to be convinced that they should quit smoking.

If a woman decides to quit smoking, it creates a different effect when going through the withdrawal symptoms. The brain nerves that are affected from a woman smoking have shown to be different than how they effect a mans reaction. This causes more severe withdrawal problems as well as feelings of anxiety and depression which are associated with smoking. Often times, these mood changes and physical changes cause more relapses from women than they do men. Despite this, there is also several health factors related to smoking. These affect women in more areas as well, making it important for a woman to kick the smoking habit.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

Quit Smoking and Get Rich!

November 14th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you are thinking about quitting your smoking habit, you probably have a variety of good reasons. You know that the nicotine is staining your fingernails and skins with an unhealthy yellow color that not even fingernail polish can successfully cover up. You know that smoking causes fine lines around the mouth that may look quite unattractive with advancing age. You know that smoking will stain your teeth and also contribute to the development of gum disease. Of course, you most certainly know about the cancer risks that smoking causes you as well as your loved ones around you. Yet, did you also know that if you quit smoking you might get rich?

Its the truth! Follow along and be amazed!
* A smoker may smoke one pack of cigarettes per day. Lets assume that the trip to the store (gas, etc.), the purchasing of a brand name package of cigarettes, as well as the applicable sales tax make this little excursion cost $5.

* Lets assume that the smoker will not increase her or his habit, but instead remain steady at one package of cigarettes per day for an entire year. Therefore, lets multiply $5 by 365 days. The result is a staggering $1,825 per year. If you were to average this over a 12-month period, you will have a savings of about $152 per month.

* If you were to invest this money in an investment savings account with a six percent annual return, and if you were to continue annually adding to this account $1,825, in thirty years your investment could total $66,621!

* Still not convinced? Imagine the savings of a heavy smoker with a two pack a day habit. $10 per day for 365 days adds up to an amazing $3,650. Invest this amount annually for thirty years in an interest bearing investment account with a six percent yield, and in thirty years you will have saved a staggering $133,241! Now there is a little nest egg wed all like to enjoy!

What would you do with an extra $66,621 or $133,241? You may be able to pay off your home, buy that sports car you always wanted, take an incredible cruise in the lap of luxury, or spend a year just bumming around the country or Europe, taking in the sights and sounds of states or countries you have never seen in person. Of course, these figures to do nothing to speak of the enrichment you receive from better health, a longer life, and all the social and psychological factors that improve when you quit smoking for good.

If you are still not convinced, consider some of the costs of smoking that go beyond the $5 you spend on a pack of cigarettes. For example, if you will purchase life insurance, as a smoker you will have to pay about $1,000 per year more than a non-smoker. If you purchase your own health insurance as a smoker, you will quite possibly pay about $350 per year more on the premiums than a non-smoker in a similar state of health as you are.

Similarly, homeowners insurance carriers quite often not only ask if there is a big dog on the premises whose bites may result in suits against the policy, but they now also question if a smoker is occupying the premises. Home fires caused by negligent smoking cost a small fortune, and the insurance rates for smokers are usually about $60 per year more on a policy. Add an additional annual $50 for your car insurance rate as well, since smokers tend to engage in behaviors while driving that may lead to accidents. Suddenly, our one-pack a day smoker is no longer just saving $1,825 per year, but an actual $3,285! Invest this over a thirty year period at six percent a year and you are looking at $119,917!

Our heavy smoker with the $3,650 a year habit can accumulate an amazing $186,538. Who says that quitting smoking wont make you rich? Of course, all of these calculations have not even begun to factor in the savings of healthcare co-payments and medication expenses that are not being incurred simply because you have quit smoking. Similarly, you will not lose time at work due to smoking related illness, which also will not mean lost wages and lost social security payments that will later on affect your retirement benefits. All things considered, quitting smoking is a fiscally sound decision all the way around.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

Mind over Matter, Avoiding Temptation to Smoke Again

November 2nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

You have finally quit your smoking habit! Congratulations on a Herculean accomplishment! You have weathered the physical withdrawals, the psychological temptations, and all the anxiety, mood swings, as well as the minefield of rationalizations why just one cigarette could not possibly hurt you. Of course, you know that you are not yet out of the woods, after all, as they saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life, and you are hoping to make it a smoke-free life. How can you go about avoiding temptation to smoke again?

While there is no easy answer to this question, there are a lot of suggestions that will make temptations more avoidable or at least manageable if avoidance if impossible.

* Avoid people who seek to entice you to smoke. For some reason, once in a while you will encounter a friend or family member who will treat your smoking cessation as a big joke, and who will either make a point of lighting up in your presence or in the alternative will wave a pack of cigarettes under your nose, all but lighting one up for you. She or he will rationalize that just one for old times sake will hardly hurt and that you have proven you could quit any time. Avoid this person as much as you can. Obviously, you should not skip Thanksgiving dinner to avoid her or him, but it would be good to have a buffer between you and that person. In case of a friend who does this to you, perhaps you will need to reevaluate your friendship with this person. Of course, the longer you have been smoke-free, the easier it gets to handle this temptation, and at some point you can just laugh in the persons face and get on with the social situation you are in. Until you get there, however, it is best to avoid the person.

* Avoid situations and locations that tempt you to smoke. The favorite watering hole down the block may have a wonderful ambience, but if it the smoke inside is so thick that you can cut it with a knife, it may not be conducive to your effort to remain smoke-free. Find a new haunt that may actually be nicer than your old one! You will also be able to make new friends, and pretty soon you will no longer associate going down to watch the game on Monday night with smoking. Once you get to that point, even a visit to the old watering hole will present only a small temptation that you will be able to resist much easier. While locations may be easy to avoid, situations may not. If you work for a company where smoking on the premises or on the job is permitted, you will need to employ all of your willpower to overcome the temptations when you are faced with smoking coworkers. If this situation cannot be avoided, be sure to come prepared with hard candy, sunflower seeds, peanuts or pistachios in the shell, or some sugarless gum.

* Avoid rationalizations such as one cigarette wont kill me. It may not kill you, but the slippery slope of rationalization will lead to further lapses in your resolve to remain smoke-free for life. In the same way that you would not suggest to an alcoholic to have just one drink for old times sake or for the road, you should not rationalize that just one cigarette for yourself is a good idea. It will make turning down the second and third cigarette just that much harder. Another more insidious rationalization is the idea that smoking while not buying cigarettes is different from being a smoker. Whether you buy or bum, if you stick the cigarettes in your mouth and light them, you are a smoker.

As you can see, it is hard to quit, and it is hard to remain smoke-free for life. Yet while it may be hard, it is entirely doable, and if you continue on the strength of your convictions, you will be able to make it through even the rough times. Should you, against the odds, give in to temptation, remember that a slip or lapse in judgment does not mean you have permanently fallen off the wagon. As a matter of fact, this is a good time to review the reasons why you quit smoking in the first place, revisit the benefits of smoking cessation, and reward yourself for success!For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

Be Held Accountable� Sign a No-Smoking Contract!

October 23rd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Signing a no-smoking contract will allow you to further the mental change that you will be making when you decide to quit smoking. The first thing that it will allow is a way of showing your motivation to kicking the habit of smoking. The next thing that it will allow is for you to remind yourself of the commitment that you are making and sticking to by quitting smoking. By having a physical no-smoking contract available to you, you are allowing yourself to be accountable to stop your habit as well as giving yourself a physical form of remind yourself of the intentions you have to quit smoking.

Your contract will first allow you to be able to be accountable for the day that you decide to quit smoking on. Once you decide the day that you decide to quit smoking, you should make your contract, starting out with the specified date. It is important to keep this as the main commitment to yourself so that you can carry out with your plan.

The contract can then hold several things in order to help keep you motivated and committed to the process. Most contracts that are written include all of the details of what you are signing. Because of this, your no-smoking contract should be detailed and comprehensive. The first thing to include in your contract can be the reasons for you quitting. This may be for health reasons or because of relationships that are suffering because of your smoking habit.

The next thing to include in your contract is a list of those things that make you want to smoke, also known as triggers. This may include spaces that make you crave a cigarette, or certain emotions, such as stress, that lead you to smoke. By understanding these different trigger points and allowing yourself to commit to change them through the contract will help you carry out with your plan to quit smoking.

Another important part of your contract is outlining the different methods that you will be using to quit smoking. This includes changing your environment and diet, as well as the use of physicians, smoking support groups, knowledge and friends and family to help you break your bad habit. By knowing what positive aspects are changing from your desire to quit smoking, it will further motivate and commit you to leaving your smoking habit behind.

Many no-smoking contracts include rewards that you will receive by quitting your smoking habit. You can reward yourself in several ways, either by giving yourself smaller things at the end of each day, or by rewarding yourself with bigger things at the end of certain periods of time. You can also include the rewards that you will receive through your changing health and changes in relationships on your contract. By seeing what you will receive by carrying through the process of quitting your smoking habit, you will be able to commit easier to breaking your habit and staying with the contract.

The next step to take with your no-smoking contract is to have someone else sign it who will help you prepare and be accountable for you to stop smoking. Make sure that they know your plan and are willing to hold you responsible for quitting your habit. This will give you extra support in your efforts and plans to stop smoking. You may want to ask the person or people who sign the contract to help you in changing the trigger points as well as being included in the things such as the rewards. This can further motivate you to quit smoking.

Signing a no-smoking contract is one way of motivating you to stop smoking. It will allow you to outline the necessary steps and plans that you need to take to quit smoking. It will also give you a physical form to look at when you are going through the stages of withdrawal. By having a contract, you will be able to stay focused on your goal. This will allow you to have a consistent reminder and way to motivate yourself. By having a no-smoking contract, you will also be able to keep a positive attitude while going through the hardest stages of giving up smoking. Sticking to your plan to quit smoking is the key to successfully quitting. This can be done easier by making yourself accountable for the different parts to your plan.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert

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