Friday, April 22, 2011

Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

Forget about quitting smoking "forever." Nicotine dependency is real and permanent as alcoholism. Don't play games with yourself. Treating a nicotine addiction as little habit is a recipe for relapse. There is no such thing as just one puff. You have an addiction and it will be with you till the end. But you are still able not to smoke on everyday basis. Maybe you will die with addiction never feeded with another puff. It's your choice. Try "one day at a time" strategy, do not insist on quitting forever, otherwise on which day will you celebrate?

To quit smoking cold turkey you need nothing more but time and will power. But remember that education, more information about fighting an addiction, getting new behavioral skills, and ongoing support can easily triple you chances for success.

Anyway you need to get in a healthy mindset. Start exercising more and make an effort to eat healthy. This is hard because you might feel sick from cigarette cravings. A large part of quitting is mental, so getting into a healthy mindset is all important.

Also remember to drink lots of fluids, especially water. There is a good chance you might feel sick, so staying hydrated is critical. Make sure your friends and family are aware of your intention to quit smoking so that they can support you. If certain friends used to smoke with you a lot, tell them not to smoke around you while you are trying to quit smoking.

No matter how long you've smoked, how old you are, or how seriously you've damaged your health, it's never too late to stop your nicotine addiction, and start the most acute period of healing that your mind and body have likely ever known.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Smoking During Pregnancy

Smoking mothers (and fathers too)can be unwittingly killing and maiming their children - born and unborn. There is a strong probability that smoking mothers are possibly sharing with their children lung cancer and many other similarly devastating diseases. Besides the above ugly facts, here are more unsettling reasons to think about while smoking. Smoking will not only damage your health, it will also damage the health of your unborn child:

# First of all, smoking makes it hard to conceive. Fertility in both men and women are heavily affected by nicotine and other substances that smoker consume. In women, smoking conflicts with the egg movement toward the fallopian tubes as well as the secretions that are produced during pregnancy. In men, it lowers the semen count, and also the motility of the sperm.

# Smoking affects the shape of the sperm making it incapable of penetrating the egg. Also smoking in many cases is the main cause for impotency in men as it interferes with the blood that provided to the penis.

# In some cases the placenta is instantly affected by smoking causing a miscarriage of the foetus, or death in the womb.

# Children born of smoking parents potentially get a low fertility syndrome and experience troubles from a great number of infertility problems. For instance, babies of smoking women will be most probably to be born premature and under weight. Also they have poor lung functions right from birth.

# Infants are also likely to have less developed vital organs than babies of non-smoking mothers. There is a strong probability that these babies have an undeveloped liver which will affect them throughout their lives.

# The babies of smoking women who smoked around a pack cigarettes a day are more likely to be sickly. Also these babies are twice as much inclined to die from 'sudden infant death' (SID) syndrome than the babies of non-smoking women

# The baby in the womb of a pregnant smoking lady gets its nicotine addiction even before he was born as its blood absorbs the nicotine that the mother’s blood shares with it; therefore it is more likely that when born and get older this youngster would become a smoker - and also get all smoking related diseases and problems.

Any one of the above should be persuasive enough to make any woman or man, who really want to have a healthy child to quit smoking - if not for yourself, then for future little miracle. Read the article again, and ask yourself are you really comfortable that you are consistently harming your child of your own free will? Get in touch with your doctor today and get help to quit smoking for good. You owe it to your child to be healthy and give them a great beginning to the start of their life.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Quitting Smoking Cold Turkey

It can be very hard to quit smoking cold turkey, but it's free and you can start right now! As many ex-smokers can confirm, it can be very tricky to realize how to quit smoking. Have you heard that cigarette smoking is harder to quit than heroin? And one of the toughest ways to quit smoking is "cold turkey."

Many ex-smokers quitted "cold turkey," picking a day to smoke their last cigarette and swearing never take another puff. While some smokers choose a day beforehand, many other conclude to quit on impulse. When the resolution to quit smoking comes speedily, a significant mental problem is throwing out that near-empty pack of cigarettes. It's more effective to some smokers to be able to know that they chose to throw the cigarettes away and never return to smoking routine.

Quitting smoking abruptly, can be very challenging, specifically for individuals who have been smoking countless cigarettes for a long period of time. Nicotine withdrawal is a nasty issue. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include irritability, intense craving for cigarettes, insomnia, tiredness, headaches, tension, problems concentrating, increased appetite, weight gain. Nicotine addiction use smoker brains to fabricate any imaginable reason to get nicotine.

The key idea to keep in mind is that the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal lessen over time. If ex-smoker passed through the initial days of quitting cold turkey, it will get easier to avoid to light up again as time goes by. Remember all of these, there are some points you can do to force the cold turkey method to be easier on yourself, and make it less probable to start smoking again.

Remember to drink plenty of water, this will keep you hydrated and provide you with something to do with your mouth in place of puffing on a cigarette. Anyway, chewing sugarless gum or sucking on hard candy will keep your mouth busy when you start thinking about smoke. When a craving hits, try closing your eyes and counting to ten while taking some deep breaths. If that doesn't work, take a walk to get yourself away from craving.

If all else fails, call a friend, relative, co-worker, or a smoker's help line. Get some external support to remind you zillions of the reasons to quit smoking: your health, your family, your finances, your appearance, etc. Or talk about whatever you want, but smoking to redirect your attention until the craving to smoke passes.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

20 Ways to Quit Smoking Cigarettes

20 Ways to Quit Smoking CigarettesToday one in four men and one in five women in USA smoke. For those who never smoked, this is a confusing fact. Don't smokers realize that cigarettes are the number one killer in USA, that they radically increase risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and almost every other health concern, small or large? How could smoking be worth this?

Truth is, most smokers do understand. They also realize the huge financial toll of smoking, that extended far beyond the cost of a pack of cigarettes, because smokers pay more for insurance, lose money on the resale value of their cars and homes, spend more on dry cleaning and teeth cleaning.

Then why do millions still smoke cigarettes? The answer is simple, because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. On the other hand, never have there been so many methods, techniques, and systems available for quitting smoking. And with every month that passes, there is more research showing the benefits of quitting, and the disadvantages of not quitting.

If you have any health issues that you think may be caused by smoking cigarettes, be careful and get treatment for problems before they get worse. Consider again whether it is time, finally, to quit. Educate yourself about quit smoking challenge and find suitable approach, perhaps working with your doctor or an expert. The following 20 tips will help you succeed.

1. Set a quit date and write a "quit date contract" that includes your signature and that of a supportive witness.

2. Write all your reasons for quitting smoking on an index card and keep it near you at all times. Here are some to get you started: "My daughter, my granddaughter, my husband, my wife..." You get the idea.

3. As you are getting ready to quit, stop buying cartons of cigarettes. Instead, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time. Eventually you will find that when you want a smoke, you will not have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.

4. Keep a list of when you smoke, what you are doing at the time, and how bad the craving is for a week before quitting to see if specific times of the day or activities increase your cravings. These will help you to combat cravings later.

5. Prepare a list of things to do when a craving hits. Suggestions include: take a walk, drink a glass of water, kiss your partner or child, throw the ball for the dog, wash the car, clean out a cupboard or closet, have sex, chew a piece of gum, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a nap, get a cup of coffee or tea, practice your deep breathing, light a candle. Make copies of the list and keep one with you at all times so when the craving hits, you can whip out the list and quickly do something from it.

6. When your quit date arrives, throw out anything that reminds you of smoking. That includes all smoking paraphernalia - leftover cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, cigarette holders, even the lighter in your car.

7. Switch to a cup of herbal tea whenever you usually have a cigarette. That might be at breakfast, midmorning, or after meals. The act of brewing the tea and slowly sipping it as it cools will provide the same stress relief as a hit of nicotine.

8. Switch your cigarette habit for a nut habit - four nuts in their shell for every cigarette you want to smoke. This way, you are using your hands and your mouth, getting the same physical and oral sensations you get from smoking.

9. Think of difficult things you have done in the past. Ask people who know you well to remind you of challenges you have successfully overcome. This will give you the necessary self-confidence to stick with your smoke free decision.

10. Change your routine to minimize cravings. Sit in a different chair at breakfast or take a different route to work. If you usually have a drink and cigarette after work, change that to a walk. If you are used to a smoke with your morning coffee, switch to tea, or stop at Starbucks for a cup of java - the chain is smoke-free.

11. Tell your friends, coworkers, boss, partner, kids, etc., how you feel about situations instead of bottling up your emotions. If something makes you angry, express it instead of smothering it with cigarette smoke. If you are bored, admit to yourself that you are bored and find something energetic to do instead of lighting up.

12. Remember that there is no such thing as quitting smoking forever. Every ex-smoker is able to celebrate freedom from the smoking like one year milestone, but you can't celebrate "quitting smoking forever", so it's good idea to celebrate every smoke free day. If you relapse, just start again. You haven't failed. Some people have to quit as many as eight times before they are successful.

13. Put all the money you are saving on cigarettes in a large glass jar. You want to physically see how much you've been spending. Earmark that money for something you've always dreamed of doing, but never thought you could afford, be it a cruise to Alaska or a first-class ticket to visit an old college friend.

14. Switch to decaf until you have been cigarette-free for two months. Too much caffeine while quitting can cause the jitters.

15. When a craving hits, try closing your eyes and counting to ten while taking some deep breathes. If that does not work, take a walk to get yourself away from temptation.

16. Create a smoke-free zone. Do not allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant. Make actual "No Smoking" signs and hang them around your house and in your car.

17. Find a healthy snack food you can keep with you and use in place of cigarettes to quench that urge for oral gratification. For instance, try pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, sugarless lollipops or gum, carrot or celery sticks. The last ones are best if you are concerned about weight gain.

18. Do some deep breathing each day for ten minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few seconds, and breathe out very slowly through your mouth. It is possible to do your breathing with your eyes closed also.

19. Picture yourself playing tennis. Or go play tennis. British researchers found volunteers trying to quit smoking were better able to ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a tennis match.

20. Quit when you're in a good mood. Studies find that you are less likely to be a successful quitter if you quit smoking when you are depressed or under a great deal of stress.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Powerful Video Documentary: Nicotine Addiction Result


It seems that health aspects of smoking and nicotine addiction rarely can help smoker to feel real desire to quit this video can help you if you are in need to feel a shock and some understanding of what the nicotine addiction is in reality.