Not much else you can do but quit!
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Smoking-Ban-Sneaks-Up-On-New-Yorkers-Still-Puffing-Away-121610529.html
http://ow.ly/4Slgx
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Easier to Quit If You Hang Out Where You Can't Smoke - Like New York City
Very soon, you won't be able to smoke in New York City parks, the beach or Yankee Stadium (!!).
Not much else you can do but quit!
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Smoking-Ban-Sneaks-Up-On-New-Yorkers-Still-Puffing-Away-121610529.html
http://ow.ly/4Slgx
Not much else you can do but quit!
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Smoking-Ban-Sneaks-Up-On-New-Yorkers-Still-Puffing-Away-121610529.html
http://ow.ly/4Slgx
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Cost of Smoking and a Nifty Calculator
You know how much your cigarettes cost you - you shell the money out every time you buy a pack. In NYC, they cost $11/pack. Yipes. In Connecticut, they are $10/pack.
Look at what else your cigarettes are doing to your bank account and check out the calculator at the bottom:
The cost of your health
Life Insurance: Generally, your premiums are 3 times more if you smoke than if you don't smoke. Health Insurance and Medication: Many more health insurance companies are starting to charge more for health insurance plans that cover smokers. Smokers go to the doctor more; they have more heart attacks; they have more medical problems than non smokers. If you are going to the doctor more, because of your smoking habit, add in the cost of your co-pays and your prescription medication. For more on smoking and life insurance costs: http://money.msn.com/health-and-life-insurance/article.aspx?post=275e30eb-bad5-4884-929b-d459e2a823a1
Dental health: A yearly whitening costs $2-300. What about the mints and gum you buy to mask the smell of your breath?
The cost of your home, car and possessions
Home Insurance: Higher home owner's and car insurance premium payments.
Lower Value of Your Car, Home and Possessions: Many potential buyers are put off by the smell of tobacco in a home. It will be harder for you to sell your home. Same with your car. Used car sales people will knock off $1000 on your value of your car if you are trying to trade it in. (by the way, if your friends and family say they don't think your car/house smells, they are lying to save your feelings.)
Insurance on House and Car: Insurance companies know that smokers are more likely to start a fire in the house and more likely to cause a car accident.
Other costs
Getting a date: This is not a financial cost, but it's certainly a personal cost. Fewer people want to date a smoker and people find smokers unattractive. (Even smokers find smokers unattractive!)
Less Social Security: The average smoker dies at 66. So you would be paying in to Social Security or your pension, but you'll never have a chance to spend it.
Smokers Earn Less Money: Studies have found that smokers earn between 4% to 11% less money than their non smoking counterparts. Interesting.
Cleaning Costs: Cleaning your car or taking your "smoking coat" (the one you wear outside when you smoke in the winter) can add up to $100 a year.
The American Cancer Society Cigarette Cost Calculator:
http://ow.ly/4GPjW
Look at what else your cigarettes are doing to your bank account and check out the calculator at the bottom:
The cost of your health
Life Insurance: Generally, your premiums are 3 times more if you smoke than if you don't smoke. Health Insurance and Medication: Many more health insurance companies are starting to charge more for health insurance plans that cover smokers. Smokers go to the doctor more; they have more heart attacks; they have more medical problems than non smokers. If you are going to the doctor more, because of your smoking habit, add in the cost of your co-pays and your prescription medication. For more on smoking and life insurance costs: http://money.msn.com/health-and-life-insurance/article.aspx?post=275e30eb-bad5-4884-929b-d459e2a823a1
Dental health: A yearly whitening costs $2-300. What about the mints and gum you buy to mask the smell of your breath?
The cost of your home, car and possessions
Home Insurance: Higher home owner's and car insurance premium payments.
Lower Value of Your Car, Home and Possessions: Many potential buyers are put off by the smell of tobacco in a home. It will be harder for you to sell your home. Same with your car. Used car sales people will knock off $1000 on your value of your car if you are trying to trade it in. (by the way, if your friends and family say they don't think your car/house smells, they are lying to save your feelings.)
Insurance on House and Car: Insurance companies know that smokers are more likely to start a fire in the house and more likely to cause a car accident.
Other costs
Getting a date: This is not a financial cost, but it's certainly a personal cost. Fewer people want to date a smoker and people find smokers unattractive. (Even smokers find smokers unattractive!)
Less Social Security: The average smoker dies at 66. So you would be paying in to Social Security or your pension, but you'll never have a chance to spend it.
Smokers Earn Less Money: Studies have found that smokers earn between 4% to 11% less money than their non smoking counterparts. Interesting.
Cleaning Costs: Cleaning your car or taking your "smoking coat" (the one you wear outside when you smoke in the winter) can add up to $100 a year.
The American Cancer Society Cigarette Cost Calculator:
http://ow.ly/4GPjW
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Are You a "Social Smoker"? You Are Kidding Yourself
[I lifted the material in this blog entry from two publications, http://www.fitsugar.com/Health-Risks-Social-Smoking-15625455 and Harvard Health Publications]
"Occasional smoking," one or two cigarettes a week or 1/2 pack just when you drink with a certain group of friends, etc. can, and usually is, the beginning slide down a slippery slope. If you are an Occasional Smoker, please pay heed.
There is no safe level of smoking. I know you are saying that you are OK with it, but that is now. First you mooch, then you feel guilty about mooching, so you buy a pack, then you have the cigarettes, so why not smoke them? Then you buy another pack. Now you're a Smoker.
Dr. Rebecca Schane researched "light and intermittent smoking" and has much to say on the subject. There are many health risks associated with social and occasional smoking. These include "heart disease due to high blood pressure and cholesterol-clogged arteries, weakened aorta, premature death from cardiovascular disease, cancers (lung, esophageal, stomach, and pancreas), respiratory tract infections, delayed conception in women and poorer sperm function in men, slower recovery from injuries, cataracts, and poorer-related quality of life
"Additionally, social smokers are typically in social situations with other smokers, thus making them more vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke. Plus, social smokers are putting those around them at risk by smoking and thus producing secondhand smoke for those around them in their environment"
So if you consider yourself a Social or Occasional Smoker, quit NOW while it's easy.
How to do this?
1. Throw away any cigarettes you have.
2. Stay away from the smokers when you are drinking alcohol. Put your drink in your smoking hand and put something else in your other hand -- a glass of water or a straw.
3. No mooching.
4. Think about how your mouth and throat feel when you wake after an evening of smoking. Most people admit that they feel pretty disgusted in the morning after.
5. Realize that this really can be easy.
Over and out.
"Occasional smoking," one or two cigarettes a week or 1/2 pack just when you drink with a certain group of friends, etc. can, and usually is, the beginning slide down a slippery slope. If you are an Occasional Smoker, please pay heed.
There is no safe level of smoking. I know you are saying that you are OK with it, but that is now. First you mooch, then you feel guilty about mooching, so you buy a pack, then you have the cigarettes, so why not smoke them? Then you buy another pack. Now you're a Smoker.
Dr. Rebecca Schane researched "light and intermittent smoking" and has much to say on the subject. There are many health risks associated with social and occasional smoking. These include "heart disease due to high blood pressure and cholesterol-clogged arteries, weakened aorta, premature death from cardiovascular disease, cancers (lung, esophageal, stomach, and pancreas), respiratory tract infections, delayed conception in women and poorer sperm function in men, slower recovery from injuries, cataracts, and poorer-related quality of life
"Additionally, social smokers are typically in social situations with other smokers, thus making them more vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke. Plus, social smokers are putting those around them at risk by smoking and thus producing secondhand smoke for those around them in their environment"
So if you consider yourself a Social or Occasional Smoker, quit NOW while it's easy.
How to do this?
1. Throw away any cigarettes you have.
2. Stay away from the smokers when you are drinking alcohol. Put your drink in your smoking hand and put something else in your other hand -- a glass of water or a straw.
3. No mooching.
4. Think about how your mouth and throat feel when you wake after an evening of smoking. Most people admit that they feel pretty disgusted in the morning after.
5. Realize that this really can be easy.
Over and out.
Friday, December 10, 2010
If Obama can quit, so can you!
President Obama Quits Smoking
Go for it.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Great American Smokeout 2010 a Success
The phone was ringing on Nov. 10, the Great American Smokeout 2010! Nothing like a little push to help people quit smoking. (a push, and a 50% discount).
12 more people have quit smoking as a result of the Smokeout. (I've been checking on them and they are all doing just fine.)
The evil-doers at Philip Morris is quaking in their boots.
I can't wait to do this again next year!
12 more people have quit smoking as a result of the Smokeout. (I've been checking on them and they are all doing just fine.)
The evil-doers at Philip Morris is quaking in their boots.
I can't wait to do this again next year!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
1/2 Price offer to celebrate Great American Smokeout 2010
I am offering a half-price smoking cessation hypnosis program for smokers who decide to quit smoking on Thursday, November 18 – the Great American Smokeout.
Since 1977, the third Thursday in November has been designated as the Great American Smokeout by the American Cancer Society. On this day, smokers are encouraged to abstain from smoking all day or, at least cut back the number of cigarettes they smoke. Every year millions of smokers participate in the smoke out. Often, this simple step -- of not smoking for one day -- leads to a permanent cessation of smoking.
Since 1977, the third Thursday in November has been designated as the Great American Smokeout by the American Cancer Society. On this day, smokers are encouraged to abstain from smoking all day or, at least cut back the number of cigarettes they smoke. Every year millions of smokers participate in the smoke out. Often, this simple step -- of not smoking for one day -- leads to a permanent cessation of smoking.
The 1/2 price offer is an opportunity to reach more smokers; ones who hadn’t consider hypnosis.
Smokers ready to quit should go to the Contact page of my website, http://www.relaxationsuite.
Monday, August 16, 2010
How to Talk to a Smoker
As a hypnotist who specializes in smoking cessation, I receive several phone calls a month from frustrated, scared spouses, parents, grandparents and friends for advice on how to help the smoker in their lives quit. I feel their fear and frustration, but smokers quit when they are ready and nagging does not help.
Anyone who has a 13 year-old or was a 13 year-old knows that if you nag, the person who you are nagging will just dig his heels into the ground with a “Don’t tell me what to do” scowl. Stop nagging and use a different approach.
I submit the following tips on how to help the smoker in your life quit smoking.
I submit the following tips on how to help the smoker in your life quit smoking.
1. In a short (five or ten minutes), poignant conversation, tell the smoker you care about him and you would do anything he asks to help him quit. This is not an intervention. You are telling him how smoking is impacting you and other people (even pets) in the smoker’s life. Be specific: “Our son smart enough now to know the dangers of smoking and he’s scared you are going to die.” “I don’t want to see you wither away from cancer.”
2. Promise that you will never, ever bring the subject of quitting smoking again, until he is ready to discuss it.
3. Renegotiate your terms. You are doing something hard - you are going to stop nagging. You now have the power to change the arrangement the two of you had. If the smoker smoked in the house, send him outside. If he smoked in the car, ask him to stop. If he’s already smoking outside, you can still change the terms to “never smoke where I can see you or smell you.” The operative word here is “negotiate.” If the smoker says no to your first offer, ask for something else.
4. If you are paying for the cigarettes, on any level, STOP. If your spouse or child is depending on you for an allowance or other funds, tell him you will not fund the smoking habit. Do the math with smoker – “Cigarettes cost $7 a pack and you are smoking a pack a day. That’s $50 a week.” Deduct the amount of the cigarettes from the allowance. If you do not give him an allowance, but he lives rent free, start charging rent, at least the amount of the cigarettes.
(Be fair and give him one month’s warning if you start charging rent.)
5. Do not use children to plead your case or nag for you. You may scare the child or scare her more than she already is. However, if the child has come to you asking, “Why doesn’t daddy quit smoking?” or “I’m afraid Grandpa is going to die because he smokes,” you may refer the child to the smoker to answer the question. “I don’t know the answer, but you can tell Grandpa how you feel about this.”
6. Do not offer to pay for the patches, acupuncture or hypnosis sessions because smokers may say to himself, “If it doesn’t work, it’s not costing me anything.” Smoking costs money and a smoker needs a financial incentive to quit. You can offer to reimburse the cost of the patches or sessions after he has been smoke-free for six months or a year.
7. Keep your promise not to nag.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)