The third Thursday of November is coming and so here comes the Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and a huge contributor toward overall cancer rates in America and Europe so it is noble that the American Cancer Society run this event to help people get off the smokes. However, there is a side point about being a smoker and being told a specific day is the day when you should try to quit.
In the UK, there is the national no smoking day and do you know what? It makes not the slightest difference to most smokers because smokers do not try to quit smoking ‘en masse’ because anti-smoking organisations want them to. Smokers quit (successfully) when they are good and ready and prepared.
On national no smoking day in the UK, the office blocks still have the smoking hoards outside them, shivering in the cold. Being told ‘today is the day’ isn’t going to wash it, particularly on any old day in November when there isn’t a reason to quit. What’s more, smokers smoke because they are addicted to nicotine and going a whole day without it is a tedious and irritable experience for most smokers. Quitting smoking for one day is a bit like getting a hangover. It is uncomfortable, unnecessary but at least the next day you feel normal again!
Your best bet are to attempt a quit on a day when there is a significant reason for you to quit such as your birthday, new year, your wedding anniversary or your child’s birthday or Armistice Day or the 4th of July or Thanksgiving. Quitting on a random day in November is not a poingnant enough reason to stop.
What’s more, trying to quit without having learned how to quit is quite a futile process and leads to 95% of quitters failing which erodes confidence and hope. My advice is to quit when you are good and ready and have mustered up the reasoning and determination to quit. Also, make sure you have planned how to go about it, or learned from a process such as the EasyQuit System how to make quitting easy and painless.
If you are going without a smoke on the smokeout, good luck and if you are going to try and quit, even more luck to you! Never stop trying to quit.
Friday, December 14, 2007
42 Years Of Smoking
It is amazing I am not dead.
Why and how I managed to quit smoking.
Fifty three years ago I had a friend who was a girl (not an official Girlfriend).
Her mom smoked and worked away from home all day, an opportunity her daughter utilized to pinch her smokes and share them with me. Both our parents smoked as well.
So off and on I became accustomed to smoking; my smoking habit got a real boost when I joined the merchant marine service at the age of seventeen, because sailors are allowed to purchase cigarettes tax-free outsideof territorial waters.
Eventually I began smoking more and even more cigarettes and had to get out of bed two or three times nightly for an additional nicotine fix.
Life without cigarettes was just not imaginable.
Going on an airline was sheer torture because I was not allowed to smoke for two or three of hours.
On a flight from Canada to Singapore I sneaked a few of smokes in the washroom in spite of the fact that airplanes were already putting people in jail for smoking on board.
As the years went by half of my mother's family died of lung cancer.
My father's only sibling died of lung cancer.
My mother died of a brain tumor - she used to be a heavy smoker.
My father developed lung cancer.
After he got lung cancer he visited me; he looked like a pathetic skin on bones human, wearing a corduroy suit, however even at this point he still stood outside SMOKING IN OUR GARAGE.
My brother's wife has breast cancer; my brother smokes cigars, and second-hand smoke is known to cause breast cancer.
I personally began having coughing spells in the nighttime and the vision in my left eye began to deteriorate.
Me quitting smoking? Impossible : I've no willpower.
Because I knew I couldn't possibly quit I never even bothered to acquire Nicorette or any other smoking-cessation product.
So after a whole lifetime of smoking I knew I was going to die of lung cancer too.
However WAIT: the story isn't finished yet.
On September fourth, 2002 I was browsing in a Calgary bookstore called Black and Noble and a book jumped out at me.
It was a 385 page book called "How to Stop Smoking" by a British accountant named Allan Carr.
I glanced at the 1st couple of pages where the author boasted that his book was the only way to quit smoking without any withdrawal symptoms or even without a nocotine patch.
I bought the book because I was curious to see how anyone could write 385 pages about how to quit smoking.
I finished the book in 9 days.
On September 13, 2002 at 3 pm I took my last drag from a cigarette and exhaled it through a Kleenex.That was my last cigarette. Since then I have never even thought about smoking again. People can smoke all around me and I'm not even slightly tempted.
This book really changed my mindset. The book "How to Stop Smoking" by Allan Carr is not available in American bookstores, but can be found in Canada and at internet bookstores such as Amazon. I no longer have my smoker's cough and the vision in my left eye is back to normal.
Why and how I managed to quit smoking.
Fifty three years ago I had a friend who was a girl (not an official Girlfriend).
Her mom smoked and worked away from home all day, an opportunity her daughter utilized to pinch her smokes and share them with me. Both our parents smoked as well.
So off and on I became accustomed to smoking; my smoking habit got a real boost when I joined the merchant marine service at the age of seventeen, because sailors are allowed to purchase cigarettes tax-free outsideof territorial waters.
Eventually I began smoking more and even more cigarettes and had to get out of bed two or three times nightly for an additional nicotine fix.
Life without cigarettes was just not imaginable.
Going on an airline was sheer torture because I was not allowed to smoke for two or three of hours.
On a flight from Canada to Singapore I sneaked a few of smokes in the washroom in spite of the fact that airplanes were already putting people in jail for smoking on board.
As the years went by half of my mother's family died of lung cancer.
My father's only sibling died of lung cancer.
My mother died of a brain tumor - she used to be a heavy smoker.
My father developed lung cancer.
After he got lung cancer he visited me; he looked like a pathetic skin on bones human, wearing a corduroy suit, however even at this point he still stood outside SMOKING IN OUR GARAGE.
My brother's wife has breast cancer; my brother smokes cigars, and second-hand smoke is known to cause breast cancer.
I personally began having coughing spells in the nighttime and the vision in my left eye began to deteriorate.
Me quitting smoking? Impossible : I've no willpower.
Because I knew I couldn't possibly quit I never even bothered to acquire Nicorette or any other smoking-cessation product.
So after a whole lifetime of smoking I knew I was going to die of lung cancer too.
However WAIT: the story isn't finished yet.
On September fourth, 2002 I was browsing in a Calgary bookstore called Black and Noble and a book jumped out at me.
It was a 385 page book called "How to Stop Smoking" by a British accountant named Allan Carr.
I glanced at the 1st couple of pages where the author boasted that his book was the only way to quit smoking without any withdrawal symptoms or even without a nocotine patch.
I bought the book because I was curious to see how anyone could write 385 pages about how to quit smoking.
I finished the book in 9 days.
On September 13, 2002 at 3 pm I took my last drag from a cigarette and exhaled it through a Kleenex.That was my last cigarette. Since then I have never even thought about smoking again. People can smoke all around me and I'm not even slightly tempted.
This book really changed my mindset. The book "How to Stop Smoking" by Allan Carr is not available in American bookstores, but can be found in Canada and at internet bookstores such as Amazon. I no longer have my smoker's cough and the vision in my left eye is back to normal.
Smoking rates stop falling
Exclusive: A major new report seen by the IoS has revealed that smoking holds the key to a mystery that has baffled doctors and brought heartache to thousands. Nine out of 10 mothers whose babies suffered cot death smoked during pregnancy, according to a scientific study to be published this week. The study, thought to [...]
Why quit smoking
No matter your age, no matter your current health condition, as soon as you quit smoking you will immediately begin to experience a number of very important changes. Some are visible from the outside, while others happen unseen by the human eye, but all are significant reasons to quit smoking now.
Reason 1: You'll live longer
Taking all other causes into account, smokers are twice as likely than non-smokers to die within 15 years. When you give up cigarettes, you increase your chances of a longer and healthier life.
Reason 2: You'll reduce your risk of heart attack
Smokers are at a much higher risk of having a heart attack than people who don't smoke. When you quit, this risk drops dramatically--and immediately. In fact, within 24 hours of quitting the habit, your risk is halved.
Why? Well, nicotine (a primary component of cigarettes, as you know) has a devastating effect on the body's blood stream. It contributes to blood clots, which in turn can trigger heart attack. Therefore, when you get nicotine out of your body's system, you decrease the likelihood of blood clot formation.
Reason 3: Your Lungs Will Thank You
Smokers are much more prone to decreased lung function than non-smokers, and years of smoking wreak permanent damage on these delicate organs. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to undo that damage. But by giving up your cigarettes you will prevent further damage from occurring. Moreover, if you stay away from cigarettes for 15 or more years, your risk of developing lung cancer goes down by as much as 90%.
Reason 4: You'll Breath Easier
You know that hacking cough you've become accustomed to? It's called smoker's cough, and it got that name for a reason. This problem commonly plagues people who are active smokers--but quitters experience a rapid reduction in this annoying side effect of cigarette addiction. In fact, within a few months you'll probably have no cough at all!
Reason 5: Keep the People Around You Healthy, Too
We all know that second-hand smoke is as devastating for others as cigarettes are to those who smoke them. So all the dangers of smoking--heart disease, lung cancer, stroke--are there for nonsmokers too if they happen to be near you when you light up. Quitting the habit means that your loved ones, coworkers, and friends will also feel happier and healthier.
Still undecided about quitting?
Maybe this will help,
Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as non-smokers
Smoking also causes premature wrinkling on the skin, bad breath and smelly clothes.
Women on "the pill" have a higher risk for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in their legs. They also increase the possibility of a miscarriage.
Based on data collected from 1995 to 1999, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking
If you quit smoking you will obviously save yourself from the hazards of smoking, gain better control over your life, regain your self-esteem and feel a whole lot better about yourself. You will also be setting a good example to others, especially children, because if you smoke there is a very good chance that they too will become a smoker.
But the most important point that you should put down is that you should try and quit in order to make it healthier and safer for those who live around you especially your friends and family. Hey come on, you really owe it to them and yourself.
Reason 1: You'll live longer
Taking all other causes into account, smokers are twice as likely than non-smokers to die within 15 years. When you give up cigarettes, you increase your chances of a longer and healthier life.
Reason 2: You'll reduce your risk of heart attack
Smokers are at a much higher risk of having a heart attack than people who don't smoke. When you quit, this risk drops dramatically--and immediately. In fact, within 24 hours of quitting the habit, your risk is halved.
Why? Well, nicotine (a primary component of cigarettes, as you know) has a devastating effect on the body's blood stream. It contributes to blood clots, which in turn can trigger heart attack. Therefore, when you get nicotine out of your body's system, you decrease the likelihood of blood clot formation.
Reason 3: Your Lungs Will Thank You
Smokers are much more prone to decreased lung function than non-smokers, and years of smoking wreak permanent damage on these delicate organs. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to undo that damage. But by giving up your cigarettes you will prevent further damage from occurring. Moreover, if you stay away from cigarettes for 15 or more years, your risk of developing lung cancer goes down by as much as 90%.
Reason 4: You'll Breath Easier
You know that hacking cough you've become accustomed to? It's called smoker's cough, and it got that name for a reason. This problem commonly plagues people who are active smokers--but quitters experience a rapid reduction in this annoying side effect of cigarette addiction. In fact, within a few months you'll probably have no cough at all!
Reason 5: Keep the People Around You Healthy, Too
We all know that second-hand smoke is as devastating for others as cigarettes are to those who smoke them. So all the dangers of smoking--heart disease, lung cancer, stroke--are there for nonsmokers too if they happen to be near you when you light up. Quitting the habit means that your loved ones, coworkers, and friends will also feel happier and healthier.
Still undecided about quitting?
Maybe this will help,
Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as non-smokers
Smoking also causes premature wrinkling on the skin, bad breath and smelly clothes.
Women on "the pill" have a higher risk for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in their legs. They also increase the possibility of a miscarriage.
Based on data collected from 1995 to 1999, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking
If you quit smoking you will obviously save yourself from the hazards of smoking, gain better control over your life, regain your self-esteem and feel a whole lot better about yourself. You will also be setting a good example to others, especially children, because if you smoke there is a very good chance that they too will become a smoker.
But the most important point that you should put down is that you should try and quit in order to make it healthier and safer for those who live around you especially your friends and family. Hey come on, you really owe it to them and yourself.
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