Šalje: QuitSmokingSupport.com [bwprice@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 18. rujan 2000 4:16 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingSupport.com Newsletter: Volume 3 Number 26 QuitSmokingSupport.com - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com In this issue for Sunday September 17, 2000 **Won't quitting make me fat?** **Seven sizzling ways to stop smoking!** Welcome to QuitSmokingSupport.com's Newsletter! If you feel that the material in this newsletter may be of benefit to anyone that you know please feel free to pass it on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What's New On QuitSmokingSupport.com: **** Visit our NEW Quitting Smoking Bulletin Board at: **** http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/76750 The support there is awesome and there's ALWAYS someone there online posting. With over 600 posts a day, it's the most popular quit smoking bulletin board on the Internet! Be sure to visit our "Remembering Those We Lost From Smoking" section at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/remembering.htm This section is devoted to remembering those we have lost through the effects of smoking. Many precious lives have been lost from the ravages of smoking. Please feel free to email us at: support@quitsmokingsupport.com and provide any information that you want us to add to this section. What are the benefits of quitting smoking: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/benefits.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sponsor Advertisement: Make sure you visit QuitSmoking.com Excellent Information and Products to Help Smokers Quit! http://www.quitsmoking.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seven sizzling ways to stop smoking - by Jeff Siegel Jeff Siegel has written extensively about health and nutrition issues for a number of major magazines, including Men's Health, Healthy Woman, and Boy's Life. Quitting smoking is one of the most daunting challenges you'll face in your life. It's an addiction that is both physical and psychological?but it can be done. In fact, you'll have plenty of company: 1 million Americans quit every year, and almost 50 million Americans are former smokers. You've seen the warnings. Heard the discussions. Received the advice. Listened to your kids nag you about it. You know you should quit smoking?know all too well that you should quit smoking?but you never seem to get around to it. Well, now is the time to get around to it. "You know, there's no magic bullet, no device that will make it easy," says Jenny Duffey, who smoked for 13 years before quitting in 1989, and has written a book and taught seminars on quitting. "You have to want to quit?really want to quit?before you can do it." There are certainly plenty of reasons to quit when you consider smoking's fatal link with lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease to the effects of second-hand smoke on your family. Even the tobacco companies, who have held out for more than 20 years, are finally admitting that there might be a relationship between smoking and death. Yet quitting is one of the most daunting challenges you'll face in your life. The mind and body connection: That's because smoking is addictive, both physically and psychologically. The physical addiction can be traced to the nicotine in each cigarette. It hooks you just as completely as its more disreputable cousins, such as heroin and cocaine, say researchers, and the withdrawal symptoms?cravings, anxiety, nausea, cramps, depression and dizziness?are similar. Like these other drugs, nicotine surges through the bloodstream and gives smokers a high; a quick jolt that makes them think they feel better. But what really happens is that smokers develop a tolerance for nicotine, which is why they go from a couple of butts a day as a teenager to 2 1/2 packs a day as an adult. The psychological addiction is, in its own way, just as bad. Smoking becomes second nature, like blinking or breathing. If you consider that one pack of cigarettes can turn into 150 to 200 puffs a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, you'll see how hard it is to deprogram yourself. The key to quitting: But it can be done. In fact, 1 million Americans quit smoking every year, and almost 50 million Americans are former smokers. "The thing to keep in mind is that almost everyone who quits has to try more than once," says Anne Davis, M.D., an associate professor of clinical medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and a past president of the American Lung Association. "You shouldn't be discouraged. It's more rare to quit on the first try than on the fifth. Some people have to try as many as 10 or 11 times." The key to quitting, say the experts, is patience and perseverance. "What you have to remember," explains Duffey, "is that your relationship with cigarettes is much friendlier than with other addictions. You don't see heroin addicts defending their right to shoot up." How to do it: Keep these points in mind when you quit: Know why you're quitting. Pick a reason that you believe in, be it for your family or for yourself. If you don't believe in your reason, it's that much harder to stop. Take each day one day at a time. Worry about not smoking for just one day, and not for the rest of your life. Besides, it gets easier to stay off the longer you don't smoke. The nicotine will be gone from your system in three to five days, and after about a month the worst of the withdrawal symptoms will go away. Change your environment. Think about the things that lead to lighting up, and don't do them. Get rid of the ashtrays at home. Don't pick up matches at a restaurant. Don't come back from lunch 15 minutes early to sneak in a cigarette break. Avoid places, like bars, where smoking is part of the atmosphere. Taper off. People have quit cold turkey, and it's certainly possible. But it doesn't make you any less of a man, says Dr. Davis, to try tapering off instead. "It doesn't mean you are weak, and don't have will power," she says. "What it means is that you realize there are other approaches that will work better." The key to tapering off is to cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke each day. One way to do this, says Duffey, is to delay the first cigarette of the day. She recommends the two-hour approach. If you have your first smoke at 7 a.m., try holding out until 9 for a couple of days. Then, push it back until 11, and so on. By the end of four weeks, you won't be smoking at all. Overwhelm the addiction. Studies show that devices such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum, hypnosis, support groups, and the like are the most effective when used in combination with each other. So if you're going to use the patch, it's a good idea to find a support group, such as classes sponsored by the lung or heart associations. Practice the three D's. When you feel like a smoke, delay. Try to think of something else. Breathe deeply, and count to ten slowly as you do so. Drinkwater, as much as eight eight-ounce glasses a day, which helps flush the nicotine out of your system. Dosomething else?chew gum, tap a pencil or crack your knuckles?until the craving passes. Keep a diary. This technique, which has also been used effectively with people who eat too much, is surprisingly effective. Each time you feel like a cigarette, write down the time of day, what you're doing, and how badly you want a drag on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 for the worst craving. A diary, says Dr. Davis, helps you to learn to unlearn the almost Pavlovian responses that make you want to smoke. "Just because you fail once doesn't mean you can't quit smoking," says Dr. Davis. "Half the battle is knowing that it may require several attempts, and feeling confident that you'll eventually succeed." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sponsor Advertisement: TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING? Using the Nicotrol Inhaler? * Harris Interactive invites you to participate in a research study designed to learn more about your experiences using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler. * Participation involves completing up to six short surveys over the next seven months, either by phone or internet. * Qualified participants will receive payment for each interview completed, totaling up to $60. * You must be over the age of 18 and using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler to enroll in this study. * For more Information Call: 1-877-889-8593 OR, go to: http://survey.harrispollonline.com/11662f.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Won't quitting make me fat? It's true that many smokers gain a bit of weight after quitting, even if they don?t actually eat any more than before. But the weight gain is trivial, six to 10 pounds. And besides, what are love handles compared to lung cancer? Still, it's true that a lot of people are concerned about putting on those extra pounds. In a 1996 survey, about 75 percent of women and 35 percent of the men said they would be unwilling to gain more than five pounds if they quit smoking. Three important points to keep you focused: ˇYou shouldn't let weight gain be an excuse not to quit or to relapse once you have quit. ˇYou can take the weight off, but experts recommend holding off on your dieting until after you conquer smoking first. ˇYou can keep the post-cessation poundage to a minimum with brisk walking, a great form of exercise that takes no special equipment. Whatever form of exercise you choose, it will take your mind off your craving and will help alleviate the depression that many smokers feel after they quit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Take care and have a great week! Blair support@quitsmokingsupport.com QuitSmokingSupport.com http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to nosmoke-unsubscribe@listbot.com Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb