Canadian Medical News

The decision to quit smoking can be one of the best decisions that you will make in your lifetime. Quitting smoking leads to better health, a cleaner lifestyle, and more money in your wallet. Quitting smoking is also an extremely difficult choice that can lead to headaches, crankiness, sleeplessness, and dry mouth. However, these symptoms last a week or two at the most whereas the benefits last a lifetime. If you really want to quit but can’t seem to manage it, there are plenty of products and groups that exist solely to help you quit.

If you look at smoking in a strictly logical manner, it is a wonder that people ever start to smoke in the first place. Smoking is expensive. In big cities a single pack of cigarettes can cost five dollars. Even if you live in low tax state and buy a cheap brand, you are still spending two or three dollars a pack. A conservative estimate of one pack a day comes to sixty spent on cigarettes per month and seven hundred and twenty dollars spent on cigarettes per year. You are literally burning your money with each puff. Doesn’t that make you want to quit?

Then think of the health benefits. Cigarettes contain tar and toxic gases like the kind that come out of the tailpipe of your car. Those poisons get into your lungs, decrease your lung capacity and are the leading cause of lung cancer and heart disease. Quitting smoking also improve your outer appearance. Your hair, breath, and fingers will no longer smell like smoke. After you stop staining your teeth with tobacco tar they will start to return to their natural white color. Your clothes, car, house, and even pets will smell natural again.

To quit smoking involves a lot of willpower, but it can be done. There are many steps you can take to break your habit of smoking and your addiction to nicotine. First, avoid places where you know people will be smoking. Thankfully, many cities have passed bans on smoking in bars and restaurants, so you can still go out and enjoy yourself. Find other people who are trying to quit or who have quit successfully. You may know someone, or you can find a large support community on the internet. Let these people be the outlet for your frustrations. Even if you find yourself irrationally yelling for a few days, it is better than continuing to smoke for a lifetime.

In addition to emotional support, you can get physical support from nicotine replacement products such as patches or gum. You can even smoke herbal cigarettes for a while if the action of smoking something will help you. Just keep persevering and you will be able to quit smoking in no time.