32 ~ Sunday, May 24, 1992 - North Shore News

No time like the present

. TWAS a great procrastinator when it came to quitting
smoking. I always knew I wanted to do it, but just not at
that very moment. The time was never right. ,

I kept putting it off, saying
“1'li quit tomorrow.’ Another
day ... another week ... another
year ... another decade ... the
longer I put if off, the harder it

ime.

I always had an excuse. “1°11
quit smoking just as soon as I
take my vacation.” *‘I don’t want
to spoil my vacation going
through withdrawal, i711 quit
smoking just as soon as I go back
to work.”

And so it went.

I was inclined to focus more on
the difficulties of quitting smoking
instead of the benefits. The
rewards always seemed so abstract
to me.

However, now that I have seven
smoke-free weeks behind me, I
am happy to report the rewards
have been overwhelming.

Quit to Win

April 10 to May 31

Starting with my health, what a
difference a few weeks can make!
Already I’ve noticed that I’m
breathing easier, my sinuses have
* cleared up, my smoker’s cough is

gone and my chest pains have
disappeared. :
My energy level has shot way
up, and I feel more physically fit.
I don’t wheeze when I get up in
the morning. I don’t cough when
IL laugh. I don't huff and puff
after climbing a flight of stairs.
My senses of taste and smell
have come to life. Food — par-
ticularly fruit —- never tasted so
good. And I never knew what a

on

By Robyn Brown
Contributing Writer

spring rain smelled like until
recently.

Next are the financial rewards.
Smoking was getting pretty darned
expensive. Just in the past seven
weeks, I’ve save more than $250
(based on $50 per carton and a
pack-a-day habit).

I’ve been putting all my ex-
cigarette money into a special ac-
count, and by this summer I will
have saved enough to buy myself
a canoe.

I’ve always wanted to own a

canoe, but, like quitting smoking,
I've put it off for years. I thought
it seemed appropriate to buy one
with the money I save from not
smoking. Thus, accomplishing one
goal achieves another.

Next are the social benefits of
being a nonsmoker. I am part of
the nonsmoking majority instead
of the smoking minority. When
I’m with a gathering of people, I
can stay and socialize instead of
having to excuse myself to go
have a smoke. And I can sit where
I want in restaurants and public
places.

Another benefit. of quitting
smoking is the wonderful sense of
freedom. Freedom not to worry if
I have enough cigarettes with me.
Freedom not to be chained to an
ashtray. Freedom not to be a slave
to the habit.

A few facts about smoking...
® CIGARETTES ARE HARMFUL.

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of heart disease,
lung cancer, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Finally, I think the best reward
I’ve gotten out of quitting smok-
ing is the satisfaction of having
contro! in my life — which in turn
has given me greater self-respect.

Since making the commitment
to participate in the Quit to Win
contest, ] am proud to have fina!-
ly accomplished a goal that I had
been promising myself for a long,

long time.

I finally got around to it and it
feels great!

Quitting smoking is one of the
hardest things I've ever struggled
with, and now that I’m winning
the battle, I feel like if I can do
this, I can conquer anything.

Anything, perhaps, except con-
vincing my dad to quit smoking!

NORTH VANCOUVER CITY LIBRARY

NO
FINES ©
till June 8

121 West 14th Street

Each year, 38,000 Canadians (more than 100 a day) die
from the effects of smoking. .
When you stop smoking, your body will repair much of
the damage caused by the harmful effects.

SMGKING AND PREGNANCY.

Some of the harmful substances in cigarette smoke pass
from the mother to the baby through the placenta — nic-
otine reduces blood supply by constriction of blood
vessels, and carbon monoxide can reduce oxygen supply
up to 40%,

Babies of smokers are up to eight ounces smaller at birth.
The risk of miscarriage among smokers is almost double.
There is a 28% greater risk of stillbirths and deaths dur-
ing the first weeks of life.

SMOKING AND FACIAL WRINKLING.

Wrinkling of the skin is more common and occurs at an
earlier stage in smokers than nonsmokers. Skin tissue is
robbed of the nourishment provided by oxygen from car-
bon monoxide in smoke.

Smokers in the 40- to 49-year age group are likely to be
as prominently wrinkled as nonsmokers who are 20 years
older.

North Vancouver

LOSs?

See us for good hearing
aid service — sales, repairs,

batteries and advice.

Government Licensed.

North Western
Hearing Centre

985-5552 |

~— Reprinted from the B.C. Lung Association’s ‘‘7 Days to

Freedom.”

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