Afraid you’re going to get fat if you give up smoking? Gaining weight is the #1 most used excuse for men and women who are afraid to quit smoking. But if you’re serious about your health, you know you have to quit the habit. Studies show that nicotine actually helps the body burn about 200 more calories a day, so quitting does mean you’re facing a challenge.

Remember it takes only 21 days to make something a new habit. 

To make up for the difference in calorie-burn once you stop smoking, try using a nicotine-replacement gum or patch to help reduce cravings and hunger while you’re quitting. Don’t replace your cigarette habit with a food habit, unless you promise to just munch on veggie sticks instead (minus the dips and dressing).

Remember greens with no dressings or dips, celery, lettuce, and green onion to name a few.  

Instead, pick up a journal every time you want to reach for a cigarette and write down your thoughts to remind yourself why you’re quitting. Distraction is the key. And finally, compensate for the loss of calorie burn by cutting back on calories here and there during your day and by making it a point to be more active throughout your day. You can easily make up for the difference in calories simply by adding a 20-minute walk to your day and leaving the mayo and cheese off your sandwich at lunchtime.

Exercise will reduce the munchies and those cravings.

Remember the doctor that told the man to walk 2 miles a day to lose weight. After 30 days the man called the doctor for a checkup. The doctor said how are you doing? The man said greta I lost 10pounds. The doctor said how is everything else in your life ? The said really bad. The doctor said what? The man said you said to wlak 2 miles a day and I am 60 miles from home and my wife, but I lost the 10 pounds. 

These little sacrifices are worth the bigger goal you have in mind – being smoke-free and smokin’ hot.

If you need more help go to BLINDGEVITY  or email me at blindguy55@msn.com

Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, is a complex mixture of gases and particles that includes smoke from the burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe tip (sidestream smoke) and exhaled mainstream smoke.

Secondhand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.

Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.

Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30% and their lung cancer risk by 20–30%.

Breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk.

Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms in children and slows their lung growth.

Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.

There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous.

You CAN quit smoking. Quitting smoking has immediate as well as long-term benefits for you and your loved ones.

If you really want to quit email me and I can get you into my clinic where I teach you to quit smoking.

Email me at blindguy55@msn.com  or http://blindgevity.com

A friend of mine recently blogged that she was feeling like an addict. She has been off of  nicotine for 9 days and 23 hours, but she’s still struggling with the process.

“Smoking has bothered me for a long time, at least since I got pregnant. I always think about my child and husband and about what I’m doing to myself. Sometimes I feel good, there is no more guilt about what I do to myself. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than sitting on my front porch smoking and reading. I wanted to quit so that I wouldn’t be tied down to an addiction, but I still feel that I am. I count the days. If you told me I could smoke one now with no consequences, I would in a heart beat.”

This is something that everyone goes through when quitting smoking. One of the definitions of an addict is to occupy (oneself) with or involve (oneself) in something habitually or compulsively.

It is important to understand what you’re up against when quitting and extremly important to seek support while quitting. Afterall, anyone with a true addiction can rarely do it by themselves. Quitting smoking is just as pivotal to your long-term health as quitting a hard drug is to your short-term health.

As an addict, smokers should treat themselves as addicts and seek the help that they need while quitting smoking.