endsmoke.com

Giving up smoking is tough. But I’m giving it a good go. Went to the shop this morning to buy a paper, used the debit card, computer says no,
How is this possible? I got paid today, I’m nowhere near my limit, my bank seems to think that a few transactions from my card the weekend previous in Lincoln is deemed “suspicious” and blocked my card. Great, just what I need, smoking pangs and no Guardian.

Ah well things to keep me busy, replace one addiction with another, decided that computer consoles are an ex smokers godsend, I’m playing anything, even games designed for 6 year olds, anything to keep my mind off smoking. It works too. I would recommend it, drinking so much tea as well, tea is good.

Keep positive, I used to be such Athlete, waking up at 6am to put a couple of hours training in on the mountain bike before school, these days the only exorcise I get is a five a side football match once a week… and I’m the goal keeper.

Anyway that’s the update for today, still holding out.

I have been an avid smoker for many years, I smoke about 10 a day, I also drink, other than these indiscretions I’m a healthy 29 year old male. But i hate smoking, I hate it because I just cant quit, I have tried everything, patches, gum, event those crazy nasal spray inhalers,(i just ended up getting addicted to them for a short period of time as well! – whilst still smoking.) But nothing works, and you know why? BECAUSE I HAVE NO WILLPOWER. It’s my own fault, there is no other explanation, I fail where others succeed.

In fact I live with two people who gave up Smoking for new year, they not only gave up smoking but they gave up drinking alcohol and eating. Well Eating junk food, giving up eating completely would have been a little drastic.

Anyway they succeeded, the changed their life, and yet I’m still burdened with the fags.

Over the next few days im going to try and cut down, to smoke less. and I’ll let you know how i get on.

With the New Year looming ahead, im sure you have contemplated giving up smoking, a great way to count the number of days you have quit smoking is to mark off the days on a calendar, Calendars provide visual gratification, and can help you keep positive and focused. With so many designs, shapes, colours and sizes to choose from you’re bound to find an ideal calendar for everyone! As well as having access to purchase from shops, the internet now provides a wide range of sites where you can browse through the calendars at your leisure from the many sites that are online. These sites offer a wide range of catering for every need, designs range from wall calendars, to desk ones, calendar cards and some specially designed to be carried in your wallet. The great thing is that calendars allow you to personalise the font, the pictures down to the smallest detail so it’s perfect for you. As well as for friends and family – they can also be used to promote your business, and is a great way of keeping a relationship up with your business clients. Alongside calendars many sites also offer other promotional gifts which can be used as promotional items at business fairs and as a small giveaway to customers. Some items offered are rubber stamps, key rings, stationary, and mugs and even clothing.

If you are looking at buying a new home you may want to seriously consider quitting smoking. Those who smoke often find themselves with higher insurance premiums due to the obvious fire hazards that come with smoking in your home.

Another benefit, is that if you stop smoking you can install fire alarms in your house. This will help to reduce insurance premiums further as you are less likely to make a fire claim if you put these precautions in place.

Just think, if you quit smoking you will not only be saving money on all those cigarettes you would normally be buying, but you will also be saving on your home insurance as well. It’s no question that not smoking really benefits your pocket as well as your health.

We are all free to do what we want in our own home but that smell that permeates the entire fabric of your house can put off potential buyers if you are looking to sell.

Smoking is becoming less and less popular and people are no longer prepared to put up with people smoking around them, much less move into a house where it will take a very long time to move the smell of cigarette smoke.

Like most smokers there will often be ash stains in the house as well, and buying a house is a very big decision, so buyers often want things to be just right. So…along with the many other health benefits of giving up smoking, quitting is a real consideration you will want to make if you are looking to sell your home.

The NHS Stop Smoking Services have been in place for ten years this September and in those ten years it is estimated that approximately 70,000 lives have been saved as a direct result of it.

Anyone who has ever been addicted to cigarettes knows how hard it is to stop, and the UK led the way in helping smokers by being one of the first countries to offer free stop smoking support.

Over the years the NHS has adapted its approach to help all sorts of different people to stop their smoking habits. They now offer lots of different approaches, recognising that different people respond better to certain techniques than others.

Overall, since the NHS Support has been in place the percentage of smokers in the UK has dropped from 28% to just below 21%. This is a great achievement and is also due to the result of government policies of not allowing smoking in public places. However nothing can be taken away from the support that the NHS has offered those thousands of people who have now successfully stopped smoking.

Let’s hope that eventually with NHS support the number of people smoking can be reduced to an even smaller percentage of the population.

We all know that smoking can cause illnesses but now a UK study has found that smoking, put together with high blood pressure and high cholesterol can cause death up to ten years earlier than those who live otherwise healthy lives.

The study, conducted in 1967 to 1970 looked at a collection of middle-aged males. From this collection 42% were smokers, 51% had high cholesterol and 39% had high blood pressure. When the study was followed up in 2005 it was found that already 13,501 had died.

The study concluded that men which had all three risk factors, Smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol could expect to live until 74 where other males which are healthy and do not have any of these risks could expect to live up to ten years longer than this.

Ten years is a very long time so if there was ever a reason to give up, surely this would be a very good one!

We followed a lot of our European counterparts by banning smoking in public places, and the health benefits of this are obvious helping to prevent the issues associated with second hand smoke. But should we now take this further and follow our European counterparts example again by banning the display of tobacco in all our local shops and supermarkets.

Results from both Iceland and Canada suggest that this could have real benefits. Since introducing the ban, both countries have seen a drop in youth smoking rates.

Studies at the university of Stirling and research performed at the Centre for Behavioural Research also confirm this.

Obviously the results of any such ban in this country would take time to have any real effect, but if we are serious as a country about reducing the amount of young smokers and trying to combat the cancerous effects of smoking then this is surely the way to go. What do you think?

Whilst smoking your body is under an increased risk of developing serious diseases and serious health problems. All major organs are put under increased pressure and research shows that smokers compared to non smokers develop a wide range of both short and long term health problems. Anti Smoking campaigns highlight the effect on your body. Below are just a few areas that are damaged.

Mouth and Throat – bad breath, stained teeth, gum disease and damage to your sense of taste. The most serious damage is risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat and gullet.

Skin – smoking reduces the amount of oxygen to the skin making it age quicker and look lifeless.
Bones – causes bones to get weak and brittle. Women are 10 % likely to suffer from osteoporosis than non smoker.

After quitting smoking both yours and those around you will start seeing the benefits. You will reduce your risk of developing illness, disability or death caused by cancer, heart or lung disease. For those loved ones around you, they automatically get protected as they will no longer be exposed to second-hand smoke. This in turn reduces the chances of your children developing asthma or glue ear. For yourself the benefits are endless, breathing and general fitness levels improve, fertility levels and a chance of a healthy baby are improved as well so it’s not just you who reap the benefits but your whole family.