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Stop Smoking: Exercise Can Help

I made a confession earlier – today I took the first step in stopping smoking. I am not lighting a cigarette. I am cleaning out the ashtray. I am dismantling my ‘smoking area’ where I go to smoke. I am changing habits formed over 20 years of addiction in order to break that addiction and put myself in the non-smoking section of the restaurant. Exercise Can Help When you are trying to quit smoking, it can be incredibly hard and not just because of the withdrawal symptoms and the changes in daily habits, the rise in stress levels, but also … Continue reading →

Nicotine May Help Depression

Let me just say this first: don’t start smoking just because you’re feeling blue. However, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have been studying the effects of nicotine on symptoms of depression. In a recent study, they took non-smoking volunteers with symptoms of depression and asked them to wear a patch. Some had a nicotine patch; others had a drug-free placebo. The participants were given questionnaires over the course of the study. Those who wore a nicotine patch for at least eight days reported a significant decline in depression symptoms. The folks at Duke University Medical Center want to make … Continue reading →

I Have a Confession to Make

Good morning readers, I have a confession to make. I turn 35 next April and I have been a smoker for nearly 20 years. Today, I am making a concerted effort to stop smoking altogether. I nearly did it when I was pregnant with my daughter, turning a nearly two pack a day habit down to just 4 cigarettes a day that lasted until I was done breast feeding and then somehow, went right back to where it was before. I’ve tried quitting before and the longest I lasted was six weeks with no cigarettes and then one day, all … Continue reading →

Stress Busting for Men & Women

According to John Gray, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, but they are both down here on Earth when stress strikes. In fact, stress is the one area where men and women are actually both on the same page because they need some of the same stress busting even if their stress comes from different sources or is demonstrated in different ways. Among the best stress relievers shared by men and women both: Regular sleep Reducing caffeine Regular exercise But there are some differences between men and women, besides the obvious. Among those differences are that women … Continue reading →