Quit smoking today – Enjoy its benefits!

Everyone knows that smoking is injurious to health. But, the number of smokers continue to soar, which is surprising because smoking addiction robs you off the various joys in life. There are also various benefits to smoking which actually dampen the advantages of smoking.

Smoking addiction – What you miss

    • The joy of the senses - Your sense of touch, taste and smell make life beautiful. You are robbed of this when you smoke. Smokers experience a gradual reduction in their sense of touch, taste and smell. A number of smokers are unable to enjoy their food or even intimacy with their partners.
    • The joys of a happy family - A heavy smoker finds it difficult to enjoy his/her family life. A few minutes spent with the cigarette take center stage rather than the sheer joy of spending time with the family.
    • The joys of feeling and looking fresh - A smoker will tell you differently, but a majority of the smokers never feel refreshed enough to feel good about their day. Not only don’t they feel fresh, but incessant smoking makes them look haggard at all times.
    • The joys of a safe breathing home - You can try all you want, but second hand smoke is going to take a toll on your family. Even if you don’t smoke inside the home, it’s going to affect your family, especially your children. It’s going to have some serious health implications.
    • The joys of a healthy lifestyle - Smoking takes many years off your life. You become prone to various health risks and you are constantly suffering from ailments like coughing, wheezing etc. You are missing out on the best years of your life, if you smoke.
    • The list just goes on and on when it comes to the things; you might miss because of smoking.

Quit smoking – Benefits

The health benefits of smoking aren’t just an arbitrary claim. These benefits are an outcome of various studies, which prove that smokers can experience the benefits of quit smoking as soon as they stop smoking.

  • Within day of having quit smoking an ex-smoker’s blood pressure and pulse rate can see a drop
  • The carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the blood can drop to normal levels around 2 days after smoking cessation
  • An ex-smoker experiences an improvement in lung function and blood circulation after around 2-12 weeks of quitting smoking
  • One year after smoking cessation, the risk of suffering from a coronary heart disease halves as compared to that of smoker
  • Risk of suffering from lung cancer death becomes half of that of a smoker, after more than 10 years of quitting smoking
If you have been a non smoker for all of 15 years and counting, your risk of suffering from heart risks like coronary heart disease and stroke is the same as those people who have never smoked in their lives.

Apart from these benefits, you experience an improvement in the general quality of life. The food that was literally tasteless suddenly seems delicious. You are also able to smell better; what’s more you lose that stale smoky smell that had clung to you all this while. The financial benefits of quitting smoking are also tremendous. You can really add up your savings by not buying any more cigarettes. This money can be put to better use elsewhere.

Quit smoking – Various tips

A smoker is always going to find it difficult to quit smoking. But, these tips might be able to ease your quit smoking process.

  • You can do anything, if you put your mind to it. A feeling of self belief is a pre-requisite if you are to stop smoking. Develop a determination to quit smoking.
  • Every single minute of the day, keep the benefits of smoking cessation in mind. Don’t forget why you are trying to stop smoking.
  • Joining a support group will help you get in touch with other smokers, who are trying to quit smoking. The fact that there are others like you, will give a fillip to your confidence.
  • Think about choosing a prescription smoking cessation medication that will ease your quit smoking process.
  • Celebrate each week, which you remain quit. This will help you look forward to another smoke free week.
  • Identify smoking triggers and remain shy of them.
  • Whenever you have a craving for a cigarette, do something else that’s going to help distract your mind from the craving

This is just a very small list of tips that will help you quit smoking. Before quitting, draw up a list of ideas that will make the quitting process easy. You might find that there are an infinite number of tips that are going to help you quit smoking for good.