If you needed another reason to stop smoking, The Telegraph offers one up today, especially for “social smokers,” who often think they’re not as at risk for disease as their everyday smoking counterparts. New research shows that even the occasional smoke while you’re out with friends will put you at risk of cardiovascular and other problems just as much as if you lit up every day.
Please don’t look at this in the context that if one or two bad, why not just submit to your cravings and smoke whenever you want. Rather, look at it as an opportunity to quit while it’s still easier. Instead of preaching on how smoking damages your DNA for decades, or gives you cancer, or causes any number of other health issues, what I’d like to do is acknowledge that it’s a difficult habit to break, and offer ways to stop.
I believe the "secret" to quitting smoking is to get healthy first, which will make quitting much easier. Exercising is part and parcel of this plan, as research shows people who engage in regular strength training double their success rate at quitting smoking. Healthy eating is another crucial aspect that can't be ignored, and that’s where my new “Fat for Fuel” book can help.
Whatever you do, please don’t switch to e-cigarettes, which come with their own set of dangers and poisons. To that end, finding an emotional outlet to address your cravings, such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), can help clear emotional blockages from your system (some of which you might not even realize are there), restore your mind and body's balance and help break the addiction.