A milestone quickly approaches...

OMG! in less than 7 days, I will have been smoke free for a full year!


I never thought the day would come that I'd be able to give it up, but it did. May 10th, 2008 was my magic day. Now, almost a year later I am still goin strong, happy and glad to be where I am. I think its cause to celebrate! Maybe throw a party. Any reason for cake right?

Yeah, I still think about it. But then I think about how much better off I am now.

Every day 100,000 people around the world stop smoking. Half of the people who smoke will be killed by their habit - for every person that smokes forty a day and is still going strong at the age of 60, there is another person who died of lung cancer at 50, or had a disabling heart attack at 45.


But, it's not all doom and gloom! As soon as you stop smoking, your health will start to benefit. Within a few days, your blood pressure and heart rate will return to normal, the nicotine will be removed from your body and your breathing will improve. Within as little as 6 months, your risk of heart attack, lung cancer and other smoking related diseases will start to fall.

And here's another thing...if you think all you're getting is tobacco, you better think again.

These are just some of the chemicals found in cigarette smoke.

Acetone - nail polish remover
Acetic Acid - vinegar
Aluminium - metal
Ammonia - used in toilet cleaner
Arsenic - rat poison
Benzene - industrial solvent
Benzoapyrene - diesel exhaust fume
Butane - cigarette lighter fluid
Cadmium - rechargeable batteries
Copper - electric wiring
DDT - insecticide
Dieldrin - insecticide
Ethanol - used in anti-freeze
Formaldehyde - preservative for dead bodies, wood, and fabrics
Hexamine - barbecue lighter
Hydrogen cyanide - an industrial pollutant
(also used in America for executions in poison gas chambers)
Lead - fishing weights
Magnesium - flares
Methane - gas created by decomposing rubbish
Methanol - rocket and car fuel
Naphthalene - moth balls
Nitrobenzene - petrol additive
Nitrous Oxide Phenols - disinfectant
Polonium 210 - radioactive compound
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) - a cancer-causing chemical also found in diesel exhaust and other combustion products
Silicon - computer chips & non-stick frying pans
Silver - jewellery
Stearic Acid - found in candle wax
Titanium - metal
Toluene - industrial solvent
Vinyl Chloride - raw material to make plastic
Zinc - used to make galvanised steel

I don't know anyone who'd like a mouthful of anything on that list!

I've said it before and I will say it again...QUIT. Use whatever means you have to, patches, gum, acupuncture, hypnosis - anything! No, it's not easy, I won't delude you; but you don't have to do it alone.

http://www.mainehealthforum.org/index.php?mod=%2Flibrary%2F&act=showcategory&CID=904

http://www.tobaccofreemaine.org/quit_tobacco/Maine_Tobacco_HelpLine.php

"You don't actually smoke. The cigarette does all the smoking, you are just the sucker!"

Rock on with your bad self and good luck quitting! I'll help you celebrate!

H