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.
Her biggest concern historically, is that she is already overweight and can't risk the weight gain by giving up cigarettes.
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 admitted that this was one of the first commercials she'd seen that truly spoke to her - she might be thin but smoking was still killing her.
We both learned a lot from the conversation that ensued.
My friend admitted that she had tried to quit smoking a couple of years before but it was difficult, she gained weight and she started smoking again.
While my friend had a plan, she had no contingency if anything deviated from this plan.
My friend also hadn't realized just how much she smoking was tied into her daily activities and how it wasn't just giving up nicotine.
We decided to look at the flaws with her first plan to quit and from that, create a new plan for her.
The first thing my friend did was to completely quit cigarettes without gradually cutting back. She thought this would be the easiest way to give them up.
This is where my friend discovered what a habit really was. What would she do when she woke in the morning with no cigarette? What would fill her time on the drive to work without a cigarette? What would she do on her coffe break without a cigarette?
FOOD! That was obviously an easy filler. Who doesn't like food? Food doesn't cause lung cancer! This plan actually worked for awhile since she wasn't smoking. What was the result? Pretty much what you'd think - she gained weight. Of course, this didn't fit well with her second goal of dieting to lose weight. The diet she chose was a poor one, based on her likes and dislikes. While she stuck with the plan for awhile, the choices were limited.
My friend found herself bored with her available food choices and the diet soon became a thing of the past.
The third part of my friend's plan was to exercise. Great idea right? It could have been, however, my friend didn't want to start by walking - she wanted to run. She chose unrealistic workout routines and naturally, she found them too difficult and quit right away. In fact, she also injured herself by chosing such a difficult routine and was even less mobile than before.
"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.
The first thing she should have done was consider how removing cigarettes all of a sudden would affect her. I explained she was already ahead of the game, having gone through this once before. She new "cold turkey" wasn't for her.
Research has shown that chosing a date is important, which she did, but she never made any attempt to reduce her cigarette intake gradually before that date. An end date is good but she needed to have smaller goals of reducing her intake as well.
What happened if she did backtrack? My friend had no support system in place - no one to tell her she isn't a complete failure and that she doesn't have to give up. My advice was to find a "buddy" to quit with.
Her second attempt at a healthy lifestyle, to diet also had problems because she chose a diet that she couldn't stick to. She should have seen a doctor or nutritionist to help her make a realistic diet plan.
Once my friend had a physical, she could design an exercise program that worked for her - not a marathon runner.
From there, she could have found a gym and a personal trainer to develop a moderate plan for exercise that increased gradually.
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.
My friend was able to see that she would be able to tie her smaller goals together and I assured her that if she worked hard but in moderation, she would see results.
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
Her biggest concern historically, is that she is already overweight and can't risk the weight gain by giving up cigarettes.
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 admitted that this was one of the first commercials she'd seen that truly spoke to her - she might be thin but smoking was still killing her.
We both learned a lot from the conversation that ensued.
My friend admitted that she had tried to quit smoking a couple of years before but it was difficult, she gained weight and she started smoking again.
While my friend had a plan, she had no contingency if anything deviated from this plan.
My friend also hadn't realized just how much she smoking was tied into her daily activities and how it wasn't just giving up nicotine.
We decided to look at the flaws with her first plan to quit and from that, create a new plan for her.
The first thing my friend did was to completely quit cigarettes without gradually cutting back. She thought this would be the easiest way to give them up.
This is where my friend discovered what a habit really was. What would she do when she woke in the morning with no cigarette? What would fill her time on the drive to work without a cigarette? What would she do on her coffe break without a cigarette?
FOOD! That was obviously an easy filler. Who doesn't like food? Food doesn't cause lung cancer! This plan actually worked for awhile since she wasn't smoking. What was the result? Pretty much what you'd think - she gained weight. Of course, this didn't fit well with her second goal of dieting to lose weight. The diet she chose was a poor one, based on her likes and dislikes. While she stuck with the plan for awhile, the choices were limited.
My friend found herself bored with her available food choices and the diet soon became a thing of the past.
The third part of my friend's plan was to exercise. Great idea right? It could have been, however, my friend didn't want to start by walking - she wanted to run. She chose unrealistic workout routines and naturally, she found them too difficult and quit right away. In fact, she also injured herself by chosing such a difficult routine and was even less mobile than before.
"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.
The first thing she should have done was consider how removing cigarettes all of a sudden would affect her. I explained she was already ahead of the game, having gone through this once before. She new "cold turkey" wasn't for her.
Research has shown that chosing a date is important, which she did, but she never made any attempt to reduce her cigarette intake gradually before that date. An end date is good but she needed to have smaller goals of reducing her intake as well.
What happened if she did backtrack? My friend had no support system in place - no one to tell her she isn't a complete failure and that she doesn't have to give up. My advice was to find a "buddy" to quit with.
Her second attempt at a healthy lifestyle, to diet also had problems because she chose a diet that she couldn't stick to. She should have seen a doctor or nutritionist to help her make a realistic diet plan.
Once my friend had a physical, she could design an exercise program that worked for her - not a marathon runner.
From there, she could have found a gym and a personal trainer to develop a moderate plan for exercise that increased gradually.
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.
My friend was able to see that she would be able to tie her smaller goals together and I assured her that if she worked hard but in moderation, she would see results.
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
About the Author:
Christian Goodman is a popular 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.
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