New Year 2009 Resolution: Quit Smoking!

Standing with your glass of champagne in your hand, counting down the seconds to twelve and the new year, you make a rapid status of your life. And this is when your New Year resolution takes shape. You decide you want to lose weight, see your family more often and quit smoking. But are your going to keep your New Year resolution? Hardly, for a decision to change a habit or behavior is not just something you just implements from one day to another – your decision must be given time to mature.

The key to success lies in careful planning and putting in some very specific goals that are attainable. Here are some quit smoking tips, that will guide you through the new year resolution of quitting smoking and how to keep it.

New Year resolution: I will stop smoking

You must really want to stop smoking. So think about the benefits of smoking and the benefits of giving up. Weigh your arguments against each other. If you decide to quit smoking, think of how it should be implemented.

Before you actually quit smoking, think about how and when you smoke now – your smoking habits. When you have a clear picture of your smoking habits, consider what your can do instead when you no longer smoke. Think of the alternatives – instead of a smoke break at work, you can eat a piece of fruit or go for a walk. Instead of smoking right after dinner, start chewing on your favorite chewing gum – this could be a nicotine chewing gum, if that is your preferred quit smoking method.

After you have quit smoking, your metabolism slow slightly down and you risk facing the much feared quit smoking weight gain. This can be avoided entirely by exercise, which also works well against the physical symptoms of smoking cessation, anxiety and restlessness, and when you are irritable.

Get support from others in the same situation by getting them to stop smoking at the same time, or by signing up for a smoking cessation course.

Should you take a cold turkey or gradual tapering off of nicotine products such as nicotine patch or nicotine gum? Or a quit smoking pill? If you have smoked for many years and / or have smoked several cigarettes each day, it may be helpful to use nicotine chewing gum in a transitional phase to take the top of the physical symptoms, so you can concentrate on breaking the habits that are not is so easy to change. But remember that nicotine chewing gum should not become a new addiction.

8 ways to keeping you New Years resolution:

1. You must really want it. Feel it in your heart, and not only in your head, or you might drop it again.
2. Set realistic and attainable goals. Your goal should be as specific as possible. Say for example, that you will quit smoking before March 1st, instead of just saying that you will quit smoking.
3. Focus on what you want to achieve instead of what you want to avoid.
4. Visualize the goal – imagine, for example, a more healthy version of yourself.
5. Plan carefully. You need to know what you would do in various tempting situations.
6. Get support from your environment.
7. Do not have a bad conscience, if you occasionally fall in. Blame will get you nowhere.
8. Evaluate your progress and praise yourself for the goal when you accomplish it.

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Quit Smoking Weight Gain – Can It Be Avoided?

How do I avoid the famous Quit Smoking Weight Gain?

Wheter you quit smoking with the help of a quit smoking pill, quit smoking acupuncture or some other quit smoking medication, you have to think about the quit smoking weight gain. The reason why some gain after a smoking cessation is usually the following:

• By smoking you keep your metabolism artificially high. When you quit smoking, your metabolism slips back to its natural level, and the body released its artificial stress condition.
• In addition, cigarettes provides a false sense of satiety.
• If you have smoked about 20 cigarettes a day, you put your hand to your mouth around 200 times in one day. This movement and putting something in your mouth may very well be missed by you body and mind, and therefore desire to replace it with something else. One obvious replacement is food!
• You might feel empty inside, because you miss the cigarette – your “good (?) Friend”. This emptiness you might now try to fill with food.

The solution can be found in the combination of healthy food and exercise. Until now, the cigarettes had control over your life and your weight. Now is the time to take control back again.

The food craving demands attention:

• Be aware of what and how much you put into the mouth.
• Keep yourself occupied with something in your hands (see also the answer to restlessness).
• Chew on a tooth pick or a “cheat cigarette” with menthol in it. Cut the carrots, pale celery, apples or other fruit and vegetables in small appetizing pieces and eat them.
• Eat sugar free candy.
• General speaking: eat about 25 grams less fat every day.

The exercise requires a little planning:

• Take your bike instead of car.
• Sign up for an exercise class.
• Borrow the neighbor’s dog for a daily walk.
• Stand up a little more often at your desktop.
• Exercise about half an hour more per day.

It is normal to gain 4-8 pounds in connection with a cessation. Most lose them automatically again after approx. 6 months. You must be as much ad 55-65 pounds overweight before you are close to the hazards of smoking! So do not fear the Quit Smoking Weight Gain and remember that the quit smoking benefits far exceeds the weight gain.

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