Hope you had a great weekend! I was away for most of it, in beautiful Whister, BC for a stagette (aka bachelorette party) for my soon to be sister-in-law! We had a great time!
So my Monday started out with the usual routine of heading to the gym. As I was leaving, I saw someone come into the gym parking lot and they had just put out their cigarette. So of course my first thought is how smoking negatively affects your health, and typically, smokers aren’t the people you see going to the gym regularly.
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I was actually a casual smoker in college. I worked at a restaurant part time, and it was just something that everyone “did”, and it was accepted. We’d hang out at the back of the restaurant and have a smoke break. For me, I could take it or leave it. I never had a strong addiction to it, and it was easy to give up (thank goodness!). Even when I did smoke, I still would exercise (not near as consistent as now), but I do know it affects your cardio greatly! Heavier smokers have a very hard time getting their cardio up, and building endurance. Their lung capacity isn’t up to snuff.
My husband was addicted to smoking for many years. He quit 5 years ago, and hasn’t looked back. He had quit a couple times before that, but always ended up starting again. When he quit for good, he got help from a particular book (along with his own motivation of wanting to quit!).
“The Easy Way To Stop Smoking” by Allen Carr
You can buy it on Amazon. Allen Carr also has a great website. Obviously, different things work for different people, but this happened to work great for my husband. He really enjoyed the physiology behind the book, and it make him look at smoking from a completely different perspective.
My dad is another person in my life that was a smoker. He was a life-long smoker. I think he said he had started when he was 14 years old! He’s been a non-smoker for just over 3 years. He vowed to quit when our little Sienna was born (his granddaughter). He wanted to improve his health and he finally nipped it in the bud (so proud of him!!!)
Over the years, he had also quit a couple times, but started back up again. Since he had been smoking for so many years and he had a strong addiction to the physical need for smoking, he sought the help of medication. Through the advise of his doctor, he went on a drug called Champix…
He found it worked great for him, as he said it took away the cravings for cigarette’s. (Since it is a drug, and I honestly haven’t done much research about drug interactions etc, and I’m not a doctor, remember to always go to your doctor to talk about new medications).
Today versus 10-15 years ago, smoking has become socially unacceptable…big time! I don’t know about where you live, but here in Vancouver, Canada, you can’t smoke in any bar, restaurant or club, and you need to smoke at least 50 meters away from most buildings! I know its not like this everywhere, but I think these new laws have given people the extra push to stop smoking. That, and the fact that a pack of cigarette’s costs close to $10.00 now I think (but don’t quote me!).
I know when you have a smoker in your life, and you choose to live a healthy lifestyle, its hard to watch them slowly ruin their health. But from what I’ve learned (and same goes for people in your life you want to lose weight), it always has to be on their own terms, and no amount of nagging will help your cause.
When they make the decision they want to quit, you can put your best foot forward to support them with whatever they may need (emotional support, distraction, or getting new hobbies).
But, after seeing what I saw outside the gym today, I was compelled to share my experience and of my loved ones. I hope this post can potentially help a few more people out there turn from “Smokers” to “Non-Smokers!”
