The Top Five Excuses Not To Quit Smoking Now - And How To Handle Them

Have you ever resolved to quit smoking but decided the time wasn't right. Or perhaps worries such as gaining weight were holding you back?

You were experiencing the mind's wonderful ability to justify putting off an action seen as painful. For smokers the range of excuses is almost limitless. Here are the five most popular together with some ideas for handling them.

Smoking keeps me relaxed. Without cigarettes, I'd be a bundle of nerves.

Guess what? Smoking only relaxes you because you're addicted. If you're a non-smoker, which you can be in a few weeks, you don't need that 'relaxation'.

Nicotine cravings create stress and puffing on a cigarette relieves that stress. It's not real serenity, just a cycle of mood swings controlled by the level of nicotine in your body. Get rid of that and the accompanying illusion of relief and you can find real relaxation.

Smoking keeps my waistline trim.

Well, maybe. But at what cost? Other than the pernicious effects from inhaling hot tobacco smoke laden with poisons, many smokers light up instead of eating. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies. To make things worse, smoking itself depletes the body of nutrients. Smoking depletes the body of vitamins, especially vitamin c and bioflavinoids - the very nutrients that can protect you against the ravages of smoke.

The fact is that many people do put on some weight when they quit smoking. But this can be dealt with. Putting on a few pounds is far less damaging than continuing to smoke. And once the nicotine monster is slain, you can work on your figure. In fact many ex-smokers find their weight returning to normal after a period without cigarettes. Their bodies return to normal.

It's too late now. I've been a smoker for decades. It's part of my life.

It's never too late to quit. And smoking is never part of normal healthy life. The sooner you quit, the sooner your body starts to renew and revitalize itself, clearing out the accumulated sludge of years of abuse. No matter how long you've been smoking, after 24 hours of quitting, your body will be free of carbon monoxide. Your lungs are clearing out mucus and other debris. After a year, your risk of a heart attack will fall to half that of a smoker. And it gets better and better as time goes on.

But what about my social life? When I get together with my friends, we always have a smoke.

Unless you can persuade them to quit with you, you may have to avoid your smoking buddies for a while. And you'll have to make some lifestyle changes too. As part of your quit-smoking program you should identify the triggers and situations that make you light up and avoid then for a while. It's all part of the social habit component of smoking addiction. You don't have to become a hermit. Just advise your group of what you're doing and ask for their support and understanding.

It's a bad time right now. I've got a lot on. I don't need more stress. While it's true that you should choose a reasonably stress-free time to quit, don't let this make you procrastinate forever. All our lives are stressful with cigarettes or not, so understand that stress will come and find ways to deal with it without reaching for the cigarette pack. You should get a grab bag of techniques together to help you handle stress and craving before you quit. Always be prepared.

The fear of quitting smoking throws up a range of excuses that the smoker uses to justify continuing his habit. Understanding them can go a long way to helping you quit.

Lloyd Morgan is a writer on health matters and reformed smoker. For more tips to quit smoking please visit: smokefree.ampawan.com