Sweat More to Smoke Less

Smoking is an addiction. Kill it

A worse addiction, smoking has the potential to ruin a smoker’s life and throw him/her off balance. Despite repeated government-promoted ads about the effects of smoking hazards on the body not many individuals pay heed to them. Once you get used to smoking the body craves for nicotine daily to carry on regular day-to-day activities. But this craving lands the body’s organs in trouble. Read more about the disadvantages of smoking and its impact on the human body from the website www.firsteatright.com. Any smoker must think of quitting smoking though it is far more easily said than done. But if you are trying to quit smoking whole-heartedly then relying upon physical activity and starting to exercise can help you succeed in overcoming nicotine dependence and withdrawal symptoms steadily.
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Exercise has the ability to help people develop good health habits, maintain these habits and lead a clean lifestyle that includes eating healthy and stopping to smoke. Even a 2007 journal review on 12 different studies showed that moderate-intensity exercises such as cycling or walking can minimize nicotine craving and its related withdrawal symptoms including stress, anxiety, irritation and lack of concentration. Another study showed that as minimum as 15 minutes of exercising a day helped participants pay less attention to smoking cues (such as seeing other people smoke) and hence, prevent them from succumbing to smoking again.

The initial two weeks of withdrawal symptoms are larger than one could imagine and the following six weeks of intermittent craving are also quite difficult for the individual. Despite these difficulties and hardships, the benefits that the individual reaps after quitting smoking are enormous. Exercising helps the person who has quit smoking in several ways including:

• Limits weight gain (it happens sometime after quitting and many fear to quit owing to this too) in many people
• Reduces stress, increases energy and improves mood all of which are symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
• While exercising and until an hour after it the urge to smoke or any symptoms of withdrawal are absent
• Aerobic exercises such as walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and running makes the heart beat faster, strengthens the heart and reduces your urge to smoke.
  
  

The Silver Lining
The logic behind the positive effects of exercise on smoking has been revealed by a group of scientists who have cautiously scrutinized the mechanism of how exercise protects the body against nicotine dependence and withdrawal. Exercise increase the activation of a type of receptor called as α7 nicotine acetylcholine (a target of nicotine) and decreases withdrawal symptoms. It is better to start exercising with some useful tips given below:

• Exercise at a dedicated time daily which helps you follow a routine and helps you against skipping exercising any day of the week
• Incorporate exercise in your daily routine such as taking the steps instead of the elevator or parking your car farther away from the parking lot at office
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes daily or on most days of the week. If you don’t have time for a full 30-minute session it is ok to split it into 3 10-minute sessions.
• Rather than sticking like a leech to one form of exercise it is better to change your routine every now and then to avoid getting bored which in turn makes you quit exercising in sometime
  
  

Above all, the exercise plan should be challenging enough to help you groom physically as well as moderate enough to prevent you from getting stressed which hinders your ability to recover. Trying to follow an exercise schedule that might be too hard to follow will never take you anywhere as it only adds anxiety and stress to life. You can start with a week and then gradually move forward to total body workouts with the help of an instructor. Also, quitting smoking helps you recover your total sense of taste and smell and you can start planning for a healthy diet plan. Don’t be too rigid on the diet as restrictions to your food as well as your smoking habit can impose a sense of frustration and maybe make you quit in between. Take it slowly.

Quitting smoking is not a joke and it needs sustained efforts and support to come out successfully. Besides helping to quit smoking exercising helps to maintain your health by keeping your blood glucose and pressure levels in control, reduces the risk of heart disease and also helps you avoid putting on weight. Above all, you feel happy and confident with a total boost to your energy and this helps you undertake new challenges and look forward to newer goals.