A friend of mine who smokes and whom I've never been able to convince to quit, came to me recently on her own suggesting she might need to quit.
This was a surprise as she has always told me in the past that she refused to stop smoking if it meant any weight gain.
Since she came to me this time, I was greatly intrigued.
She had recently seen an ad on television which definitely emphasized weight loss - skinny models but they all had some sort of smoking related disease to go along with their excellent bodies.
My friend thought this was an excellent commercial to reinforce for those that as a weight loss aid, smoking leaves a lot to be desired.
We both gained an education from the conversation that followed.
My friend explained that she had tried once before to quit smoking and had even made a plan beforehand. Still, she gained weight and eventually started smoking again.
Her "plan" was to quit and that was it - she never considered what would happen if she experienced trouble in the plan.
Additionally, she hadn't taken into account just how ingrained smoking was in her life, not just the addictive nature of cigarettes.
To help her in her second attempt to quit smoking, we decided to look at what was wrong with her first plan to stop smoking.
My friend first attempted to give up cigarettes completely.
What she didn't count on was that smoking was so much of a habit that she felt something was missing when she'd drive to work, take a coffee break, take a lunch break, etc.
Food seemed to be the easiest solution. Grab a muffin with coffee. Have desert after lunch instead of the cigarette. This worked until she realized she had quickly put on weight. Not to worry, she also had a plan to diet. She chose a popular diet that had worked for her friends but failed to take into consideration that she didn't have the same food likes and dislikes as her friends.
As predicted, the diet quickly disolved and she gained even more weight.
Exercise - what could be wrong with that? Nothing, until I discovered that like her rigid smoking cesation plan and diet plan, she was working out twice a day, six days a week. Keep in mind that her existing exercise routine was to walk to and from her car in the parking lot at work. She stuck with the plan for a couple of weeks and then quit.
"Moderation in all things." I asked my friend to keep that as a daily mantra and to use that as the basis of her next plan to get healthy.
We talked about how her goals to stop smoking, lose weight and exercise were great but she needed to work up to the original goals she set - not start with them.
First, stopping smoking was good but she could have looked at some other options to going "cold turkey" if she found this difficult.
For example, She could have chosen a stop smoking date and reduced the amount of cigarettes she smoked each day by one until she reached her goal of zero cigarettes.
She could have also made a plan for not giving up if she did slip up and have a cigarette. What was her support plan? Did she have someone to call? What other natural aides where available. She could have researched this better.
My friend's plan of dieting was also changed. What my friend needed was not another fad diet but something she could live with. Otherwise, she would simply go back to the same bad habits.
I suggested that my friend see a doctor to determine her current physical condition. This would enable her to chose an exercise routine based in reality.
She could also join a gym and let the professionals there, who already have the expertise, design a program for her.
When you start out slowly have have a lot of short term goals that are acheivable, you will have more interest in a diet and exercise plan that is difficult or even impossible to achieve.
Over time you will see results in the way your clothes feel, how you feel fuller with smaller meals and hopefully, feel better without the cigarettes and their undesirable attached health issues.
In the end, she chose my Weight Loss Breeze Program and has seen amazing results. The program is all natural and the exercises easy enough to accomodate even beginners.
EL331001 - 15266
This was a surprise as she has always told me in the past that she refused to stop smoking if it meant any weight gain.
Since she came to me this time, I was greatly intrigued.
She had recently seen an ad on television which definitely emphasized weight loss - skinny models but they all had some sort of smoking related disease to go along with their excellent bodies.
My friend thought this was an excellent commercial to reinforce for those that as a weight loss aid, smoking leaves a lot to be desired.
We both gained an education from the conversation that followed.
My friend explained that she had tried once before to quit smoking and had even made a plan beforehand. Still, she gained weight and eventually started smoking again.
Her "plan" was to quit and that was it - she never considered what would happen if she experienced trouble in the plan.
Additionally, she hadn't taken into account just how ingrained smoking was in her life, not just the addictive nature of cigarettes.
To help her in her second attempt to quit smoking, we decided to look at what was wrong with her first plan to stop smoking.
My friend first attempted to give up cigarettes completely.
What she didn't count on was that smoking was so much of a habit that she felt something was missing when she'd drive to work, take a coffee break, take a lunch break, etc.
Food seemed to be the easiest solution. Grab a muffin with coffee. Have desert after lunch instead of the cigarette. This worked until she realized she had quickly put on weight. Not to worry, she also had a plan to diet. She chose a popular diet that had worked for her friends but failed to take into consideration that she didn't have the same food likes and dislikes as her friends.
As predicted, the diet quickly disolved and she gained even more weight.
Exercise - what could be wrong with that? Nothing, until I discovered that like her rigid smoking cesation plan and diet plan, she was working out twice a day, six days a week. Keep in mind that her existing exercise routine was to walk to and from her car in the parking lot at work. She stuck with the plan for a couple of weeks and then quit.
"Moderation in all things." I asked my friend to keep that as a daily mantra and to use that as the basis of her next plan to get healthy.
We talked about how her goals to stop smoking, lose weight and exercise were great but she needed to work up to the original goals she set - not start with them.
First, stopping smoking was good but she could have looked at some other options to going "cold turkey" if she found this difficult.
For example, She could have chosen a stop smoking date and reduced the amount of cigarettes she smoked each day by one until she reached her goal of zero cigarettes.
She could have also made a plan for not giving up if she did slip up and have a cigarette. What was her support plan? Did she have someone to call? What other natural aides where available. She could have researched this better.
My friend's plan of dieting was also changed. What my friend needed was not another fad diet but something she could live with. Otherwise, she would simply go back to the same bad habits.
I suggested that my friend see a doctor to determine her current physical condition. This would enable her to chose an exercise routine based in reality.
She could also join a gym and let the professionals there, who already have the expertise, design a program for her.
When you start out slowly have have a lot of short term goals that are acheivable, you will have more interest in a diet and exercise plan that is difficult or even impossible to achieve.
Over time you will see results in the way your clothes feel, how you feel fuller with smaller meals and hopefully, feel better without the cigarettes and their undesirable attached health issues.
In the end, she chose my Weight Loss Breeze Program and has seen amazing results. The program is all natural and the exercises easy enough to accomodate even beginners.
EL331001 - 15266
About the Author:
Christian Goodman is a well known health researcher and author of several revolutionary natural health alternative methods. One of his recent breakthroughs is his natural Weight Loss Breeze Program. You can learn more about Christian on his Natural Health Alternative Blog.
