Many people try to give up smoking as a New Year’s resolution but, in fact, anytime of the year is a good time to quit smoking. You should be well aware of the damage that cigarette smoking does to your health, mental well-being, and appearance— not to mention your wallet. But if you’re still teetering on the brink of indecision, perhaps you need a refresher course on the hazards of this nasty habit.
Cigarette smoking not only accounts for an astounding 85 percent of lung cancer deaths, but it is also the major cause of mouth, larynx, esophagus, kidney, bladder, pancreas, uterine, and cervical cancer. Emphysema, the lung disease that destroys a person’s ability to breathe, would be nearly eliminated if
people did not smoke.
Besides the risk that smokers place upon themselves, they also endanger those around them. Secondhand smoke contains the same chemicals that are inhaled by the smoker and can cause lung cancer
in healthy nonsmokers. In fact, sidestream smoke, given off by a burning cigarette, contains even
greater amounts of cancer-causing substances.
Simply put, it’s impossible to achieve optimum health and continue to smoke. If you’re on the road
to a smoke-free, healthy future, here are a few tips to help you along the way:
12 Tips To Help You Quit Smoking
- Begin healthy changes in all areas of your life— start a modest exercise program, drink more water and juice, get plenty of sleep.
- Remember that becoming a non-smoker is possible —3 million Americans do it each year and you can be one of them.
- Accept support from others. Ask a friend to quit with you, tell your family that you’re quitting, and seek out support groups in your neighborhood or on the Internet.
- Change your eating habits. After meals, reach for juice, fruit, or low-calorie hard candy as a pickme-up—any alternative to a cigarette.
- Don’t think of quitting in terms of a lifetime. Think merely of the smoke-free day, hour, even minute.
- Become more conscious of the life-sustaining value of breathing. Join a deep-breathing or meditation class.
- Deposit in a jar, every day, the money you’ve been spending on cigarettes. Watch it add up.
- Learn to relax and manage stress successfully. Take a stress management class or read books on relaxation techniques.
- Never allow yourself to believe that you’ll have “just one” or that “just one won’t hurt.”
- Every morning and throughout the day, say to yourself, “I am getting healthier and healthier.”
- Avoid situations that you strongly associate with smoking—taking work breaks with smokers, talking on the phone, watching a favorite TV show.
- Choose social environments where smoking is not allowed. Try new, healthful outdoor activities.
health professional, from friends who quit, or through support groups, websites, videos, or reading materials,
it can help ease the transition.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for guidance as you go. He or she can also help you select nicotine replacement therapies, if necessary, and suggest other useful products and programs to help you accomplish your goals. You don’t have to go it alone to gain the positive effects you will feel as a non-smoker .
