Archive for the ‘Quit Tabacco’ Category

Are you one of them who wake up incredibly grouchy, especially on cold winter mornings? Admit it, you are secretly jealous of those ‘morning people’ who not only manage house chores in record time, but also keep their spirits up as they cheerfully set to tackle the day’s assignments. The funda is simple- they i.e. their brains are all set for the day and yours unfortunately are not.

Morning people are not born that way. They become that way through certain practices and lifestyles- just the way you have become a regular sourpuss in the morning by years of practice. Lets see what you can do to wake up smiling and have a great day ahead every day.

• Had a great sleep? First things first. Nothing will help improve your morning tempo unless you have had a good night’s sleep- advantage of well-rested body, mind and all that! So please work on polishing your sleep hygiene before doing anything. The best sleep strategy you can follow is to try going to bed and getting up in the morning at the same time.

• Morning Shower: You know what they say. “Whatever makes you feel lazy to follow is probably good for you”. A cool morning shower may top this list which includes daily exercise, diet control etc. Yes, you hate the cold plunge, we know. But it’s a good (rude?) wakeup call to your brain and you feel dynamic and energetic enough to face whatever is thrown at you.

• Energetic Music for Energetic Morning: If slow soothing music is an aid to good sleep hygiene, then it can work in reverse. That is, if you put on some lively music in the morning, will you be able to stop your body moving and get geared up? Mix up a few jazzy numbers and try it. Who knows, you may even be game enough to go for a morning shower.

• Having fruit juice to fire up brain cells: Having juice with breakfast is the best way to ensure essential nutrient intake that you often miss in the whirl of junks and fizzies. Fruit juices have everything you need like vitamins and minerals to keep you chirpy and productive all day. Some of those Ads do talk sense once in a while, don’t they?

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The rings of smoke encircling a sturdy face might look cool in a movie; but you know that it isn’t so cool in real life. Lighting a smoke multiple times a day can certainly burn out your chances of being healthy. Most smokers hold on to this habit, thinking along the lines of ‘I have been smoking for years (or months). It has already affected my health & wont make much difference if I stop now’. Get real guys, your body begins to recover from the bad-effects of nicotine & additives, the minute you quit. Elevated BP, heart rate, body temperature; all start to return to normal while lung capacity improves and breathing becomes easier.

And quitting is not as near-impossible a feat as its made out.

Certainly You Can Do It! The Catch Lies in “How?

• Self help! No outside support! Your will-power and determination will be your armamentarium for fighting the urge within.

• Be prepared and find ways to suppress your cravings for smoking. Fortunately, the strongest of cravings will last not more than 5 minutes. Keep yourself ready with a handy chewing gum or a mouth-freshener instead.

• Abstain from triggers such as coffee or alcohol. If your craving to smoke is conditioned to alcohol, coffee, or any other ritual that you wish to do along with smoking, try and mend your ways to something else.

• Keep low on your stress meter. The moment you decide to quit smoking, your stress levels will start to go down. Gear yourself up with some light exercises such as yoga or meditation to better cope with stress. Learn stress relaxation exercises to reduce stress and to avoid relapse.  
  

• Joining a support group for smoking cessation will surely help you quit as problem shared is problem halved.

Some Thumb Rules to Put a Thumb On

• Know your smoking urges and triggers and throw them in the ashtray.
  

• When you try to quit smoking, remember that the first few days will be the toughest. Irritability, mild depression, slowness, and tiredness are common to occur. Don’t bother and remain diligent with your aim.

• Indulge yourself a new interesting activity to help deviate your attention and suppress your urges. Listen to soft music while on the move or indulge yourself into some creative hand work or hobbies like painting, write blogs / poems, pottery.

Are you still waiting to decide on your quit date?

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Being sober at a party won’t make you a party pooper. Don’t ever feel obligated to drink, even to ‘fit in’ with the crowd. Though phrases like ‘everybody does it’ fly around a lot, ‘everybody’ is definitely inaccurate. As a matter of fact, most people might offer you a drink as a polite gesture, but care two hoots if you drink or not. And you can afford to stand firm in the health standpoint with a NO placard. If you are underage, it is illegal to consume alcohol. If you have crossed the first line of age bar, then remember to drink in moderate level that is safe and enjoyable and does not pose any health risk to you.

Have you ever wondered why legal drinking age is 21-25 in India when you can vote at 18? No, it is not regressive as you may feel. Brain is not fully developed until our mid twenties. So it is common sense that boozing before 25 can leave lasting & negative impact on your cognitive skills.

And being a woman, you need to be smart enough to leave alcohol out of the battle of sexes. Do you think matching men drink for drink will achieve anything except a head-splitting hangover? Now if you truly, enjoy drinking that’s a different matter altogether. But you still need to know How Much Drinking Is Safe Drinking or Where to Draw the Line.

Are you proud of your great tolerance level? Here’s a wake-up call. If your alcohol intake is increasing, it means that your drinking has started to affect your body & deteriorate your health steadily. It DOESN’T mean that you have developed higher tolerance or capacity or whatever you want to call it. Due to factors like age, weight, physique and health history, alcohol affects women differently than men. Apart from health, your oblivious state can even be more dangerous as there are risks of date-rape drugs, unsafe sex & unplanned pregnancy. Please keep your safety guard on…

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Did you know! Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s largest killers, claiming 17.3 million lives a year. Risk factors for heart disease and stroke include raised blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, smoking, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, overweight, obesity and physical inactivity. In partnership with WHO, the World Heart Federation focus on “One World, One Home, One Heart” (source courtesy: WHO – World Health Organisation)

Just as a healthy mind is an indication of a healthy body, in the same way, a healthy heart is an indication of a healthy lifestyle and routine. When you eat healthy, exercise daily, stay away from health enemies like smoking and alcohol drinking, etc., then this is the route to a happy living with a healthy heart.

Is Your Heart Healthy?

You will be amazed to know that women are at equal risk to heart problems as men. But, you can avoid the risk of developing the heart disease by following inculcating a few daily habits. For this you first need to know the risk factors that cause the disease. Now, there are two types of these risk factors; one type consists of those factors that can be changed and other type includes the ones that you cannot change. But, the good news is that, most of the heart problem risk factors can be changed.

The chief factors causing heart problem are as follows:

What can you possibly do to avoid heart problem completely?

The earlier you start to improve your heart-health; the better will be your chances to have a healthy heart. You can immediately inculcate the following habits in your daily life:

• Have a healthy diet plan including mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains or cereals, fish, and pulses.
• Avoid having a large quantity of saturated fats, instead switch to vegetable oils.
• Quit smoking.
• Incorporate some physical activity in your daily routine like using stairs instead of lift or brisk walking.
• Prevent diabetes by limiting your sugar intake.

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When you can stop hard drugs, you do not want to. When you want to stop, you can’t. Say NO to Drugs… United Nations report 1 million registered & over 5 million unregistered drug abusers in India.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26 is a United Nations annual observance day that stands for the resolve to build up action and support to accomplish the goal of a global society free of drug abuse.

Drug addiction involves drug or psychotropic substance abuse in spite of its damaging psychological, physical and social consequences. Certain hard drugs like heroin and cocaine are highly addictive and ensure swift emotional, psychological or a physical dependence. Remember whatever the reason is – boredom, curiosity, accessibility, for thrill or peer pressure, there is always a better alternative. Drugs do not solve problems. In fact it adds more to your existing problems.

Today’s youth is more prone to drug abuse than ever due to over exposure, easy accessibility and peer pressure. Parents need to come out of the cocoon of ‘my child won’t do anything like that’. Anyone can fall prey to this menace. Know that your child might try out drugs. So you need to know about drug abuse to talk to your child in an informed way. Don’t just shove vague advices like ‘don’t take drugs, it’s bad’. Be frank and tell how it take control of your brain and makes one dependent on them. If your kid understands that you know what you’re talking about, they WILL listen to you.

Street drugs make life worse, not better

Choose a good time to talk, when your child is relaxed, or when the subject comes up during dinner, TV news or simply regular discussions. Or, if they are using drugs, don’t confront them when they’re high on drugs. Being a good friend to your child’s friend’s help as peer pressure is a strong trigger to drug abuse. This is not for any CID-giri but just to make sure that they are not involved in substance abuse. In case you find that your child is using drugs, don’t panic. Yes, it is hard to contemplate. But you need to face it with a cool head if you want to help. Let them know that you’ll be always there.

Newspapers and TV media highlight cases of drug abuse and trafficking from time to time but the problem is huge and but there’s little action. Country’s entire youth is being crippled of life. Only when social awareness peaks will this heinous crime stop hogging the headlines and ruining lives. We have to combat against this menace in unison and everyone has to bear the responsibility to safeguard our future.

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Tobacco is the killer of nearly 60 lakh people every year, including 6 lakh unfortunate second-hand smokers. World Health Organization estimates this figure is likely to rise to 80 lakhs by 2030.

As every year, yet another World No Tobacco Day has arrived, requesting you to refrain from tobacco and smoking for this day. This is to show that, yes, you can have fun as well as face whatever life throws at you without the aid of nicotine jabbing your brain. And hopefully you’ll chuck this habit. Tobacco, ranging from desi bidi to high profile cigars, has no favouritism and has no qualms in harming all organs in your body. Smoking is linked to at least 15 types of cancers including lung cancer and breast cancer. Every odd puff you inhale damages your lungs, blood vessels and cells.

Quit It To Breath Life...

Young people in their 20s and early 30s may not feel any difference about their health due to smoking. Just go for a short jogging. Your 5 minutes you’ll be wheezing painfully and then you’ll realize how much your lungs are damaged. Isn’t lack of stamina in this age something to be ashamed of? Your decision to quit may have multiple reasons- to set a good example to kids, presence of a pregnant woman in the house or just to take charge of yourself.

Have you attempted this before? Don’t be disheartened, it does take time, effort and perhaps 2-3 goes to get rid of tobacco from your life. Your reasons to smoke (socializing, as stress relief etc) needs as much attention. How else will you replace cigarette with something beneficial to you like physical activities, a hobby or some smoke-free family time? When you quit, it seems like your day is one long, nonstop craving for a puff. But did you know that most cravings last only 3-5 min? this you can easily tackle by diverting yourself with a friend’s company, a hobby or physical activities like brisk walk.

Start today and stick to it. Yes, there might be a party tonight where you’d usually fag. Don’t adjourn. Do you have a post-lunch or dinner cigarette routine? A recent study says that certain foods like meat make smoking more agreeable. But foods like fruits, veggies, cheese etc make smoking horrible. So swap! Same logic applies to drinks. Smoke and alcohol is deadly combo; increases your chances of mouth cancer by 38 times. Fizz drinks, booze, tea and coffee add more kick to your cigs. So swap these with water and fruit juice. It won’t make you a big bore. This arrangement is just until you break the habit. Then you can get back to your daily dose of caffeine.

“Tobacco has already maimed my internal organs and health. Why should I quit then?” The excuses smokers come up with can be quite hilarious. But the truth is that body starts to show its gratitude in mere 20 minutes when after you quit. Your BP and pulse turns normal. After a day, your lungs begin to clear. Your body will be free of nicotine in 2 days while your senses perk up. You’ll see the difference in your breathing before 3^rd day; easy and energetic. Your blood circulation improves in no less than 2-3 months. And these benefits will only improve and increase…

So are you ready to quit smoking on the World No Tobacco Day?

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