According to a recent survey, nearly 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions will fail to stick to them, as many lose motivation and focus instead on the downside of not achieving their goals. Whether it’s alcohol, caffeine, chocolate or nicotine, most of us will have set ourselves a new year’s resolution to give something up. You might start out with good intentions but let’s face it, once you’re addicted to something, giving it up isn’t easy.
There are the withdrawal symptoms, the cravings and the amount of willpower needed to banish unwanted addiction from your life. Even when you succeed, you might still suffer with headaches and feel anxious, depressed and shaky. Nicotine is both a stimulant and relaxant. It promotes both adrenal hormones but can also act on the feel-good chemical serotonin, which is why it’s so addictive. When you quit, you can feel low and crave more sweet foods, which is what happens when your serotonin levels drop.
Start the new year by making healthy lifestyle changes such as eating better, getting more physical activity and quitting smoking. While quitting can be difficult, it can be done, especially with the help of professional support.
“If quitting smoking tops your list of New Year’s resolutions, the Kentucky Department for Public Health recommends the use of one or a combination of its free tobacco cessation resources. “The first of the year is a great opportunity to make healthy lifestyle changes,” said Irene Centers, manager of the Health Promotion Branch in DPH. “Quitting smoking is the single most important step smokers can take to improve their health.”
“Kentucky’s smoking rate – at 24.8 percent – remains the second highest in the country, and we have an excessively high population of people being exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes,” said Centers. “We strongly encourage those trying to quit smoking to use quit assistance resources. It’s not only the best decision for an individual’s personal health, but for the health of those around them.”
“Health organizations and health departments across Kentucky and the nation are gearing up to assist smokers who want to begin 2012 free of tobacco. Programs like the Cooper/Clayton Method to Stop Smoking combine nicotine replacement therapy with group counseling and behavioral modification over a 12-week period to help smokers quit. Most health departments in the state offer the Cooper/Clayton program and many will start new groups in early January.”
Read more about Kentucky offers free resources to those trying to give up tobacco at: KYforward.com
Recently gaining popularity in the USA and elsewhere, the electronic cigarette brands are rapidly providing former tobacco smokers with a product that emits a water vapor solution and can be used almost anywhere. Places that have outlawed cigarette smoking have welcomed the odorless electronic versions of cigarettes with open arms.
Unlike nicotine patches and gum, electronic cigarettes are designed to be fun. There are regulars and menthols, as well as chocolate and strawberry. The e-cigarettes aren’t marketed as a way to quit smoking, but as an alternative to smoking. What makes the electronic cigarette more than just the latest curiosity is the enthusiasm it has inspired among respected anti-tobacco activists.
It doesn’t burn at all. Instead, it uses a small lithium battery that atomizes a liquid solution of nicotine. What you inhale looks like smoke, but it’s a vapor similar to the “stage fog” used in theatrical productions. It even has a teeny red light at the tip that lights up with each drag, just like the ember of a real cigarette. Besides being a killer, tobacco use is expensive. Most smokers directly spend more than $1,000 each year just on cigarettes and not counting the added costs of transportation, higher life and health insurance premiums and other indirect costs.
As many people make their New Years Resolution to quit smoking, you can expect the popularity of electronic cigarettes to continue to grow. While not legally sold as quit smoking devices, the general consensus by ex-tobacco smokers is that electronic cigarette smoking satisfies the need by delivering the same act of smoking
Start your new year right by quitting the tobacco for good. Visit 1800ecigarette.com for tips on how to stop smoking now.
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