Categories

It's pretty hard to have a positive attitude about quitting smoking after putting a lot of time and money into a hard-earned habit of 50-years. To know how serious this habit is, remember the words of Mark Twain, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times". The advantages of quitting smoking stares us right in the face no matter which corner we stand on: an increase in health, better quality of life, letting the body heal itself, and living a cleaner life without smoke bring the total to the hard fact--over half of those who smoke will die from a serious form of smoke-related illness.

Unfortunately, what we don't seem to hear about as much are the nasty symptoms or side effects of nicotine withdrawal, an ugly situation which brings most smokers running back to the "pack-a-day habit" in order to bring that good ol' comfortable nicotine level back up. But quitting smoking not does have to be ugly and boring if a person remains positive about it "unless" one can justify it with some pretty serious thought-processes:

·         Most people who justify smoking use it as a dedicated form of exercise, feeling it would be pretty detrimental to their health by quitting. Reason? They walk to the store every day to purchase their cigarettes on a daily basis. Without smoking, how would they get their exercise?

·         The smoker's hacking cough comes in pretty handy when calling in ill to the office, especially when one is really not sick in the first place.

·         While smoking when walking a toileting dog, the act of holding a cigarette is better than watching a dog toileting on the neighbor's well-manicured lawn. This way you can remain a victim of circumstances.

·         Smoking is an act of rebelling against society. Plus it beats the heck out of body piercing and tattooing.

·         And truth be known, in the early days smoking was cool and being like the Marlboro man. To quit now, would be "not-cool."

By now, it is pretty obvious that the reasons for smoking are pretty lame. At least to a non-smoker. But on a serious level, the side effects of nicotine withdrawal in smoking will hurt and make one very ill unless a person has a strong will to remain positive about why they are quitting in the first place. And being aware of things are pretty important also, such as the very last cigarette will cause blood sugar levels to dip within the first couple of days after quitting. Being one of the first obvious symptoms that will appear, low sugar can cause a person to feel as if they were on an oxygen level deficiency—dizziness, light-headedness, behavioral changes, nausea, and concentration lapses.

The reason for the dip in sugar levels is that nicotine will "excite" organs when a person smokes, contrary to the fact many people feel that nicotine supplies the system with sugar. When a person quits smoking, that level of sugar will not be available due to the absence of nicotine in the body. To handle this, typically a non-smoking person will consume more sugary food in order to attempt a balancing act---with many non-smokers exhibiting a serious weight gain because of this. To handle this, drink lots of fruit juice within the first couple of days instead of eating lots of sugar items. Sleep lots due to being tired and having no energy and eat well. But try to stay busy.

The hardest thing about not smoking anymore is to keep the hands and mind busy, even though things like the patch or pills keep the nicotine cravings down. Sucking on hard candy or chewing nicotine gum are good things, but going for walks or taking up a hobby removes the mind from the continuous thinking of "oh no!! no more cigarettes!"