How many of you resolved to give up smoking this year? How’s that going? Have you stuck to your resolve? Harder than you thought? Giving up smoking is a very hard thing to do it’s true, especially if you’ve been a smoker many years, but the benefits to you are enormous. Did you know that by giving up smoking you are immediately halving your risk of a heart at tack in the next 5 years? Unfortunately I see the long term effects of smoking every day in my patients, and they’re not pretty (the symptoms that is, not my patients - they’re all incredibly good looking) - chronic breathlessness, chest pain, that awful phlegmy smoker’s cough, and let’s not forget premature ageing of the skin..... If you’re having trouble sticking to your guns, try reminding yourself of the excellent reasons why you decided to quit - improved health and exercise tolerance, cheaper insurance premiums, saving yourself thousands of dollars a year, being able to enjoy a night out in a non-smoking environment. There’s good evidence that going cold turkey is quite an effective way to quit. You can get nicotine patches on prescription to help with the withdrawal symptoms. Make a list of things to do when you feel like a cigarette, and stick it up on your wall - go for a run, bake a cake, visit your grandmother(and take the cake), plant a veggie patch, floss your teeth. You get the idea. A lot of people complain about put ting on weight when they give up. This is because the ex-smoker feels the need to have something in their mouth, and nicotine is an appetite suppressant. Try chewing sugarless gum and having very low calorie snacks on hand. Get an exercise regime together. Remind yourself that you’re not actually hungry, it’s just a symptom of giving up and it will go eventually. If you end up having a cigarette or 2, don’t despair - start again tomorrow. Don’t give up on giving up!