It’s Entirely Natural - Articles

We all know why we shouldn’t smoke and now you are ready to take that first big step to quitting. Here are some tips to help and support you in your attempt to quit smoking.

Draw upon the strength within you to accomplish tasks just as you have done for other goals. Think of a time when you needed to reach a goal and you were successful. What did it take for you to finish the task that time? Where did you draw your strength from? Did you have encouragement from someone special? Were you working on a team? Did you receive any special training or help in any way? Think of what you used to be successful that time and see if you can duplicate that support during the time that you plan on quitting smoking.

Make a list of all of the reasons why you want to quit smoking. This list will become your motivation during those times when you feel that you are weak in your resolve to pursue your goal. Your list should include all reasons (loved ones, health, money etc.). Keep the list visible during the day and evening so that you can refer to it when necessary.

Let everyone you know and trust in on your plan to quit smoking so that they can uplift you and lend you encouragement. Ask them to be supportive in a non-judgmental way if possible.

Seek help before you quit so that you will be aware of how quitting will affect you mentally, emotionally and physically. Knowing ahead of time will allow you to prepare yourself and those who will be in contact with you. There may be times when you will be irritable, or anxious as you fight the pangs of withdrawal.

Seek the advice of your medical professional as you can receive some helpful tips and support that way too.

Keep yourself busy during the time that you will be quitting so that you will not have time to think about not smoking. One way to stay busy is to start an exercise program. Start slowly if necessary to allow your body to adjust if you are not used to exercising.

Learn ways to relax including deep breathing. Find a quiet time where you can be alone. It only needs to be about 5 minutes of your day. Slowly breath in and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Close your eyes during the deep breathing so that you can relax more. You can add imagery to your deep breathing exercises by imagining yourself being smoke-free and enjoying life. Imagine yourself having extra money to do fun things or buy things for your enjoyment. Imagine being able to run or do a sporting event that you may not have been able to as a smoker.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Quit Smoking.

---

Tags: motivation, Quit Smoking

There are many health and social benefits that you will realize immediately after that last cigarette has been extinguished. There are also financial benefits to quitting your smoking habit.

There is a high financial cost to smoking that most smokers don’t stop to think about. When you quit smoking the financial reward will be instantaneous. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $4.49 including taxes, this computes to $1,635 each year of your habit. Think of all you can do with that amount of money! The cost of smoking is far more than the actual amount you pay for your smokes. The cost includes the higher rates you will pay for insurance, cleaning bills, and teeth cleaning, it can even include the cost incurred if you lose your job. Companies have made announcements that they will no longer employee smokers. 1% of employers will not even hire smokers. The main reason - health insurance rates and in lost productivity due to more sick days from employees who smoke and also from loss years due to premature death of the smoking employee. Companies such as Weyco, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Alaska Airlines, Tacoma-Pierce County (Wash.) Health Department, and Union Pacific have all instituted some kind of smoker-hire policy according to a MSN Money article.

The social benefits start with the fact that your clothes won’t spell like smoke anymore and your breath won’t stink. These two facts alone will translate into an increased popularity. When you go out to eat, you can have a wide range of choices because now you can choose restaurants and not worry about being banned because of smoking.

Although you cannot undo the damage to your health that smoking has caused, you can prevent further health damage by quitting now. Your body will start to heal almost immediately. The healing will be felt when your blood pressure returns to a more normal range and your circulation improves. You will reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke and also lung cancer.

Now that you are not smoking, your teeth will stay white longer and your breath will be fresher. Your vehicle won’t smell like a smoke stack and people won’t look in disgust as you walk by anymore because you won’t be leaving a cloud of disgusting smoke around you.

There you have it; your benefits include better health, your world will smell better and the food will taste better too. You will have more money to spend on whatever you wish because you won’t be spending it on cigarettes. People will enjoy being around you because they won’t have to put up with your foul-smelling cigarette smoke and your teeth won’t get stained up anymore with tobacco. You probably won’t miss those cigarette burns either, will you?

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Quit Smoking.

---

Tags: cigarette smoke, nicotine, nicotinic receptors, Quit Smoking, second hand smoke, smoking habit, tobacco addiction

There are many smokers who have quite the habit by going cold turkey. Most will tell you that they did so without much in the way of preparation. Usually going the cold turkey route is something that is not thought out or pre-meditated, it just happens. Usually the smoker goes cold turkey in response to an event like a close friend or loved one dying of lung cancer, or perhaps they lost someone in a house fire that was caused by careless cigarette smoking.

To quit smoking this way, usually involves a drastic and very emotional motivator. The event usually is something that shows the smoker in a very dramatic way that smoking has caused a lot of grief or harm to someone and smoking becomes so distasteful that quitting becomes the only option. The smoker simply stops and the motivator is so vivid in their mind that every time the urge to smoke occurs the motivator zaps the urge and the person remains smoke-free.

There are times when the motivator to quit cold turkey is a pregnancy announcement and mom decides that the baby’s health is more important then the pleasure received from lighting up yet another smoke. Sometimes the motivator is the health of another person that is living in the same household as the smoker.

Whatever the reason, the timing is usually in a way that prevents the smoker from putting much thought or planning into the act of quitting. To succeed the smoker either needs to be able to stay focused on the motivator or to have a constant reminder of the motivation to quit. A pregnant mom can tape the ultrasound picture on her refrigerator or bedroom mirror as a reminder of the life growing inside of her that needs her to quit smoking. A father of an asthmatic son may need to hear his son wheezing and watch him reach for his inhaler to serve as a reminder that he needs to make his home smoke free.

Having gone cold turkey without a plan does not mean that you need to continue without one. You can devise a plan and can enlist the help of family and friends anytime. Speak with your healthcare provider about your decision to quit smoking and ask for advice and support groups.

After you have quit the smoking habit, you can still let others know of your decision and surround yourself with non-judgmental supportive individuals. Negative people will only drag you down and make you feel like you cannot succeed. Surrounding yourself with positive energy allows the positive energy to flow through you and gives it the ability to bring about positive changes in your life.

Whether you are going cold turkey or have designed a plan to quit you are likely to run across feelings of irritability, being tired, cravings at every turn and the need to put something in your mouth.

Here are some tips to help you survive:

• Understand that being irritable tired or out of sorts is to be expected.
• Make sure you drink lots of water all day and evening.
• Do something physical like going for a swim or walk to keep your mind active and off your cravings.
• Surround yourself with support - people who can help you to resist the temptation to smoke.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Quit Smoking.

---

Tags: cigarette smoking, cold turkey, constipation, Quit Smoking, smoke free, tobacco addiction

No one should try to quit smoking alone. Let your friend, family, and co-workers in on your plan to quit the habit. Those you know and trust can now help you to stay smoke-free. Support is vital to achieving your goal. Enlist the help of your healthcare professional so that he/she can help you decide what smoking plan is right for you.

If co-workers know that you are quitting they will probably do their best to not aggravate the situation and may insist on smoking out of your sight or sound.

There are lots of support groups for individual, couples and friends. These support groups are filled with people who are all going through the same situation and can give you comfort and support.

A spouse or significant other can help you to get through the withdrawal and encourage you to eat properly, get adequate rest and assure that you are getting all the good things you need to aid your body during this stressful time.

Your healthcare provider will know the best way to help you so you have the best chance at success. They can direct you to community support groups and better group information guides to community support groups. Don’t be shy; they are people just like you.

Evaluate nicotine replacements and search out support groups, especially online, where people gather who are using these nicotine replacements. This is an easy way of gaining first hand knowledge about any side effects, how effective it is at stopping cravings and ease of use. Forums are an excellent resource for any ailment so that people can ask questions; get a unique perspective on what your next step will be.

If smoking was an activity that you did just to relax you will need to find alternative method. You may use music to soothe; stretching exercises also work well to soothe tired muscles. Finding what ways smoking answered a need within us and then addressing that need in a healthier manner will allow us to be successful at becoming healthy.

Sometimes the best way to quit is to quit with a friend. The two of you can design a plan that will allow both exploring their individual needs and coming back together for all of the community events. You can support each other and keep each other on track.

No one has to quit smoking alone in a society where everyone can communicate across the global channels of the Internet. Find a “quit smoking” focus group and join. Read past posts and introduce yourself. The forum is a good place to go when you have immediate questions about anything in your plan.

It is never too late to quit smoking. You never have to go it alone. Support is just a mouse-click away.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Quit Smoking.

---

Tags: Quit Smoking