You too can Quit Smoking - Some information to help

I have faith that if you really want to quit you can! I know it may seem like you never will. I remember quitting on at least four separate occasions before I actually quit for good. Being a person of faith I will say that praying about quitting smoking helped me immensely. I am praying for all who read this blog that they will be able to quit smoking.

So, you should now have your list of reasons to quit and have it somewhere you can read it regularly. You may want to add more lists with more reasons in other places – like the car, the bedroom mirror, on your desk at work, in your calendar and any other places you look frequently. I know we all know the dangers of smoking as it is very prominent on the news and many other sources. You need to have some of this information in your quiver of motivation to quit! Smoking can cause damage to all the organs of the body – not just the lungs.

The American Lung Association reports that every year 392,000 die from smoking related illnesses, making it the leading cause of preventable death. Let this sink in.

Quitting smoking is the number one way to prevent your death!
You would never think of consuming some of the products in cigarettes such as:
a. Acetone - which is found in nail polish
b. Led - used in batteries
c. Arsenic – used in rat poison
d. Cadmium – component in battery acid
e. Carbon Monoxide – product of car exhaust
f. Lead – we know this is very harmful to children
g. Tar - used for paving roads
h. And many more. There are over 600 ingredients that when burned create 4,000 chemicals.

Tobacco is as addictive as heroin as a mood and behavior altering agent. In a University of Minnesota Study they report:

Nicotine is 1000 times more potent than alcohol
Nicotine is 10-100 time more potent than barbiturates
Nicotine is 5-10 times more potent than cocaine or morphine

A smoker takes in 200 to 400 puffs a day for years. This constant intake of fast acting drug, which affects mood, concentration and performance eventually, produces dependence. Let this information sink in. You will need to be able to recall this information along the path to quitting. I needed to keep telling myself “why” it was good for me to go through the process of quitting smoking. For more information please see the websites below.
Sources:
http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/nicaddct.html
http://www.lung.org/

Preparing to Quit Smoking

To this day there are a few things I will always remember about smoking. First, I still clearly recall the day when I got out of the car in front of my parents house smoking a cigarette. I had been successfully hiding it for about a year. Busted. My dad sat down on the curb in front of the house and said, “So you got a pack of those coffin nails on you.” I said, “yes.” He said something like, “smoke the whole thing now. If you are going to be a smoker, smoke them now.” He hoped I would get sick and quit. I had picked up smoking from friends in of all places – nursing school. This was in the days smoking was allowed at the hospital in fact most of the nurses and doctors smoked at the nurses station when I was a student nurse.

Dad’s motivation did not work. I smoked for the next twenty-five years. I have been a successful non-smoker now for thirteen years. So I know the pain of smoking, coughing in the morning, smelling like smoke, health issues and the expense. There is hope and freedom as a non-smoker. I was very motivated to quit by the youth pastor at my church as well. I was working with the youth at the time and we were about to go on a service project trip to Belize. The youth pastor said that to be a good example for the youth I could not smoke on the trip. This was about five months before the trip. It was also about a month before my birthday. So I set my quit date as my birthday so I would never forget the day I quit smoking.

I also know the freedom that comes with quitting smoking! Let me encourage you. It can be done! You can be smoke-free for the rest of your life! I can tell you from first hand experience that the hardest part is making the decision to quit and the first several months after you quit. The urges get less and less as time passes. If you are ready to take the steps to quitting here are some tips that helped me. Please feel free to post comments with questions, successes and struggles. I will follow-up on any comments. Set a date that you plan to quit by. You will be more successful it you set that date for within 30 days. You are more likely to follow through if the “quit date” is soon.

Make a personal list of benefits to quitting smoking. Identify some motivators to quit smoking and write them down. I kept mine on the mirror and read it when I brushed my teeth. Keep this list where you will see it. Here is my list from all those years ago:

1. Better example for my patients and the youth at my church
2. Stop smelling like smoke
3. Save money
4. No more coughing or being short-of-breath
5. Avoid long term effects of lung disease, cancer and potential oxygen dependence when I get old
6. Save time by not taking “smoke breaks”
7. Overall better health for the rest of my life
8. I will lower my risk for stroke, cancer, heart disease, cataracts, wrinkles and early death.

I will follow-up with more information on quitting smoking. Quitting smoking is a process and one of the biggest positive life changes you can make. I will follow-up with more information on this positive life change over the next few blogs. Remember, feel free to leave comments or questions and I will provide answers and follow-up information.

February is Heart Month

February is Heart Month so it is only appropriate that I write about Heart Disease in
February. Aside from being a nurse for over thirty-five years I myself have been a Woman with Heart Disease for the past five years. So professionally as well as personally I am qualified to write about heart issues.

I will be focusing on the most important things you can do to protect your heart over the
next several blogs. A quick preview is:

~ Have an annual physical with your regular physician and follow through on their advice.

~Follow a Heart Healthy Diet - for more information seethe American Heart Association website at http://www.heart.org/ and see the section getting healthy. I will discuss some heart health eating basics in some future bogs.

~ Exercise Regularly - The American Heart Association recommends for heart health exercise, “at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity). 30 minutes a day, five times a week is an easy goal to remember, however you will also experience benefits even if you divide your time into two or three segments of 10 -15 minutes per day.”

~ Quit Smoking - We all know this is a huge benefit to health. I am living proof it can be
done. I was a very heavy (2-3 packs per day) smoker when I quit. I would not go
to non-smoking restaurants as I was a very committed (addicted) smoker. I will be sharing more insight on this topic in a few days.

~ Maintain a Healthy Weight - This is something you and your doctor need to determine what your number is. I have had weight problems most of my life and I am still a work in progress in this area to achieve my best health level. However, I am still a work in progress.

~ Manage Stress - There are sources for stress in our everyday lives. I have experience with stress and stress reduction that I will share with you.