Old Habits Die Hard

Smoking is a habit and not an addiction. It’s often a strong habit as it is often associated with fitting in and survival. Pavlov was a Russian psychologist that trained dogs by ringing a bell when he fed them. Eventually, he got to the stage where when he rang the bell, the dogs would salivate and expect food. You see, he trained them well.
As a smoker, this is exactly what you have done. You have trained yourself well to smoke with certain circumstances and triggers. You have trained yourself to smoke when you get stressed, drink alcohol, after meals etc. […]

Why Shock Does Not Work

At Quit Smoking in 60 Minutes in Capalaba, I have been carrying out my own survey on the effect of the horrible pictures that they put on cigarette packets and the cost of smoking. Both these measures have been implemented to reduce the number of people who smoke.
In almost 100% of the people that I have surveyed, the picture on the pack has made no difference at all. I ask people if they know what the picture is on the pack and does it make them want to give up. In just about all cases, the person does not know […]

What Do You Want and Why Do You Want It?

If you want to quit smoking or you are considering quitting it is wise to be very clear on why you want to quit and what you want by quitting. At Quit Smoking in 60 minutes in Capalaba I always take time to find this out as it helps to keep you focused on quitting smoking.
I suggest that before you come to a quit smoking session you first write down a list of why you want to quit. This will give you greater clarity and resolve. It is surprising the number of people that come to me to quit smoking […]

Plain Packaging of Cigarettes

Since the 1st December 2012, all cigarettes in Australia have to be sold in plain packaging.

First impressions in Australia indicated that smokers feel that cigarettes taste worse in plain packaging – an unexpected side effect. The tobacco industry acknowledges that packaging is an important part of the sales of cigarettes. Still, it seems this packaging gives some preconceived ideas of how cigarettes taste.

Studies comparing existing branded cigarette packs with plain cardboard packs bearing the name and number of cigarettes in small standard font found plain packs significantly less attractive. Additionally, research that asked young adults to use plain cigarette packs […]

Advantages and Disadvantages of Smoking

Die-hard cigarette users claim many benefits to smoking, some are the following:

Peer group acceptance if peers smoke
Performance enhancement in tasks
Concentration
Stress Relief
Some smokers enjoy the taste
Smoking is like a friend

There are issues with most of these perceived advantages. If a smoker attempts to change peer groups, they could find smoking to be a barrier to acceptance. The performance enhancement is minimal after the first few cigarettes a smoker has in their lifetime; from that point on, it is just a perception of enhancement based on the memory of those initial cigarettes. Weight loss and stress relief could be as effectively obtained […]

Smoking Gun

I came across this story that was in the news.

Two drunks were messing around when one challenged the other to shoot him with cigarette butts. He wanted to see what it would feel like! His friend loaded an antique rifle with cigarette butts, placing black powder behind the butts so that they would be fired from the rifle. He then shot his friend from a distance of 2 metres. The butts penetrated the ribcage of the person who wanted to experience being shot by cigarette butts. He died of three cigarette butts penetrating his heart.

Fortunately, we do not use this […]

Smoking Sends Your Love Life Up in Smoke

For much of the last century, smoking was highly glamorised in glossy magazines, billboards and movies. Rugged, chain-smoking sex symbols like the ‘Marlboro Man’ suggested that sucking away on a cigarette could make men attractive to the opposite sex — and for many years, they were right.

These days things are different. There’s nothing sexy about bad breath, stained fingernails and a total disregard for your partner’s lungs. Read on to find out how smoking can send your love life up in smoke.

Your partner’s health

Remember, your smoking doesn’t only affect your health but the health of those you love too. “Non-smokers […]

Set Yourself Up for Success

People who want to quit smoking often want to set themselves up for failure, this may be consciously or unconsciously.

When people come to me at Quit Smoking in 60 Minutes in Capalaba, they can tell me all the reasons why they want to quit smoking but very few reasons why they cannot quit smoking.

In their minds, they see smoking is a crutch or a friend. Many people see that smoking as a way to help them destress. Many people from the Cleveland, Wynnum and Manly areas say they cannot handle a stressful situation without smoking. The answer is that you […]

Some Chemicals Found in Cigarettes

Here are some hidden chemicals you can find in a cigarette. The toluene in glue and cigarettes is a toxic substance that produces euphoria and irritation of the airways and lungs. Cadmium is extremely poisonous and can be found in cigarettes, it results in kidney damage. Tar is an ingredient found in roads and tires, as well as cigarettes. A two-pack-a-day smoker inhales one gram of tar a day. That is a quart of thick, gooey tar inhaled a year. Mothballs contain naphthalenes, also found in cigarettes. This proven poison causes reproductive and brain breakdown. The arsenic used to kill […]

Does Smoking affect your skin?

Are you a smoker with an “it won’t happen to me” mindset? If your health is not enough to stop you, is the price of your good looks?

It’s a fact — apart from sun damage, smoking ages the skin faster than anything else. So why are so many still lighting up?

Smoker’s face

Medical dictionaries coined the term in the ’60s to describe the ageing effect cigarette smoke has on the skin. Wrinkles, a grey, lifeless complexion and bony contours were the words used — surely enough to scare off any potential smokers? Apparently not: 27 per cent of Aussie women […]

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