Stop Smoking and Get in Shape

There are hundreds of methods out there for quitting smoking, in this article, I will explain the most popular of these as well as putting my spin on them as well as suggesting some of my own techniques.
Firstly there are Nicotine patches, nicotine patches are well advertised and a very popular method of quitting smoking, the patches release nicotine into your blood to reduce the nicotine cravings that you get having stopped smoking, the idea is that over time, you reduce the dosage of nicotine until you no longer have cravings. This method has proved successful although, this is very much an aid, without any will power, you will crumble.

Secondly will power, and going cold turkey, if you have enough will power in life, you can do anything, including quit smoking, you've just got to want it enough, having read my previous article, you should know how serious the consequences are of smoking, and more importantly the benefits of quitting, this in itself should give you the motivation and the will power to stop smoking, the key is wanting to do it for yourself, so you yourself can reap the rewards of the beneficial effects. A very successful method if you do need that extra motivation is to tell all your friends that you have quit on the first day, your friends will be really pleased for you, this gives you an extra incentive to stop as your friends will be disappointed to see you restart, and you may feel rather embarrassed, an excellent incentive for not restarting. Will power is essentially needed for all methods of quitting, if deep down you don't want to quit, then it is likely that you won't. You owe it you yourself to quit.

A method my mother used to quit was that when she came down with the flu (probably intensified due to prior smoking), she felt too ill to go off for a cigarette, and so seeing as she was already feeling miserable and was stuck in bed was an excellent time to quit, this proved very successful and cruised through the first 2 weeks, and from there on it was plain sailing, use times when you cant smoke anyway as a platform to quitting!

Acupuncture has been shown in scientific experiments to help people curb their smoking, and therefore if other more conventional methods fail, this is a good alternative to help you quit, again will power is required, and this is an aid, opposed to a cure, having talked to several people who have undergone acupuncture as an aid to quitting, I have only had positive responses, most saying that it helps reduce their cravings!

A rather drastic measure is to change your social circles, hang around with friends who are non smoker rather than smokers, this will make you feel guilty for lighting up around them and as a result will give you an extra incentive to kick the habit!

Exercise more and have a goal, by exercising more, you will improve your fitness, smoking will obviously only hinder your progress and therefore give you an extra incentive to quit as you strive to reach your goal. Further more, the endorphins released due to your exercise will make suitable replacement for the ones released when you have a cigarette, giving you that feel good factor. It will also negate any fears of putting on weight while you quit!

There is no real easy way to quit, my advice would be to combine a number of the above methods for the best result, make sure you keep your hands busy at all times so you don't start reaching for cigarettes to occupy your fingers. Most importantly if you do relapse, read my previous article to remind you of all the reasons why you should quit, and then remember the age old saying, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

It has long been documented that smoking is bad for your health, although many smokers don't like to admit it or choose to ignore the fact completely and cruise through their life getting less and less fit, with the risks of cancer increasingly steadily for every year that they smoke, a recent report that I read claims that smoking on average cuts a whole 10 years off your life while reducing your performance in the gym and around the track, making your skin age faster, and making you smell. Every year in the UK over 114,000 deaths were attributed to smoking a related cause; that is a lot of deaths!

A few reasons why you should quit now!

It Kills and Damages You
Each cigarette contains over 4000 chemicals, and when bunt produces many noxious toxins including the 3 major damaging toxins that are Carbon monoxide, Tar and the addictive nicotine. These obviously have several consequences. What is not often known is that the main cause of death as a result of smoking is cardiovascular disease; this is due to the fact that smoking accelerates the hardening process of cholesterol in arteries narrowing arteries or even blocking them, as a consequence blood clots are far more likely to occur. Lung cancer occurs due to the harmful chemicals entering your lungs in the form of smoke, ninety percent of all people who develop lung cancer are due to smoking, one in 5 people who are heavy smokers will die of lung cancer, and do you really want to be one of these people, a statistic? There are several other ways that smoking will help lead you to an early death including mouth cancer, throat cancer, coronary thrombosis and many more, another side affect you, or your partner may want to bear in mind that it can lead to impotence!

It Harms and Kills Others
Passive (second hand) smoking has been shown to kill and damage, take Roy Castle for example, who didn't smoke, but died of lung cancer as a result of playing the trumpet in smoke filled pubs and other venues, a tragedy indeed. Do you really want to be responsible for the death of a close friend or a family member, I doubt it! Smoking while pregnant is hugely dangerous for the unborn baby, if all mothers to be quit smoking during pregnancy it is estimated that roughly 4000 babies that die would survive each year. Smoking also makes you and your property smell of cigarettes, and when first impressions count, this is far from ideal!

Reasons why you should quit

- Smoking takes an average of 10 years off your life, do you want this?
- Smoking makes your skin age faster, making you look old before your years.
- Smoking costs a huge amount of money, in the UK if you smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, then quitting would save you roughly £1500 a year, that's a lot of money.
- Smoking destroys your sense of taste and smell, stop smoking and enjoy the smells and flavours of the world.
- Smoking is bad for your fitness, destroying alveoli in the lungs; this in turn lowers your VO2 max as your body can no longer absorb oxygen into the blood as quickly as a non smoker.
- Smoking makes your breath smell, stains your teeth and makes your clothes and belongings smell.
- Smoking increases your chances of becoming impotent.
- Smoking negatively affects hormone levels!

In the next article, I will give you methods and advice on how to quit. After reading the above it should be pretty clear to you that quitting is the best option for you, and those around you, and even may give you the will power to quit.