Beat Nicotine Cravings

 

Tips to help overcome the desire to pick up a cigarette after you've quit smoking

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually start within hours & peak two to three days after your last cigarette. Sometimes they last just a few days, but they might continue for several weeks. Here's how to stay strong in your resolve to break your nicotine addiction.

It's not surprising that smokers trying to quit have cravings for cigarettes. They're dealing with both nicotine withdrawal symptoms & an entrenched habit.

The smoking habit is usually extremely strong & smoking has become linked with certain activities & daily routines. Perhaps you're used to having a cigarette first thing in the morning, or with coffee, or while you work. If that's the case, then it's very likely that you'll have cravings for cigarettes at each of these times.

Start to wean yourself from cigarette cravings by breaking familiar patterns that are linked to smoking:

• If you're in the habit of smoking after meals, make sure to leave the table as soon as you finish eating. Start a new, healthy habit, like taking a short walk after each meal.
• Whenever possible, avoid situations where you know you'll have the urge to smoke, particularly in the first few days of nicotine withdrawal.
• Spend as much time as possible in places where smoking isn't allowed. Make your home & car smoke-free zones by asking others not to smoke there.

Think ahead, plan ways to handle cravings & learn to cope with them. You increase your coping skills each time you successfully handle a craving for a cigarette. Have a plan of action or a distraction ready for times you feel the urge to smoke.

Your doctor may also recommend using a pharmaceutical product to help cope with the nicotine dependence or, as some call it, nicotine addiction. Nicotine replacement therapy using a patch, gum, spray, or other product can help reduce cravings during the withdrawal period.

Here are some things you might do when you feel the urge to smoke:

 

Change the scene:

Get up & move around, go into a different room, or go outside.

Change your thinking:

Try to find a way to redirect your thoughts away from the idea of a cigarette. Remind yourself of your reasons for quitting & tell yourself that smoking is not an option.

Exercise:

It reduces cravings, helps relieve stress, improves mood & can help to keep you from gaining weight.

Breathe deeply:

Visualize the fresh air filling your lungs & remind yourself of the health benefits of quitting smoking. Learning relaxation & meditation techniques could help.

Drink fluids:

Water & juice are good choices - if you're concerned about weight gain, dilute juice. It's best to limit caffeine & alcohol while you're going through nicotine withdrawal, particularly if you associate them with smoking.

Have a substitute:

Eat a healthy snack, chew sugarless gum, or have a piece of hard candy or a mint when you have the urge for a cigarette, but be sure to avoid any foods that you associate with a cigarette.

Hold something in your hand:

Try a pen, coin, or paper clip; so that you have something to do with your hands, the way you did when you were smoking cigarettes.

Talk to someone:

Call a friend or relative or speak with a sympathetic person in your office.

Be more active:

Get involved in an activity you enjoy. Do a puzzle, send an e- mail, playa musical instrument, knit, write in your journal, organize your photos, play a video game. Find an activity that will occupy your hands & change the focus of your thoughts.

Delay:

Tell yourself you must wait 10 minutes before you have a cigarette. By then, the urge may have passed. If not, try another IO-minute wait. Cravings usually come & go, lasting for only a brief period of time. Remind yourself that the craving will pass. The nicotine withdrawal period will pass, too.

Smoking is expensive:

Set aside the money you're saving by not buying cigarettes & use it for a treat, or save up for a vacation or a major purchase. Be sure to congratulate yourself for going without cigarettes.

Working Women’s Beauty Care

 

A career woman is a very busy woman. She has not only to go to office & handle a lot of exacting chores but she has also to look after the household following her responsibilities at the desk. This leaves her with little time to look after herself & yet she needs to look neat & attractive in her place of work.

What you require is to take one day off every week & reserve it for beautifying yourself. Make it Sunday when usually everyone has a holiday. This day should belong exclusively to you. Rest, relax, beautify yourself & see how the next day you will not only look more beautiful & attractive but be lighter/brighter both in body & spirit. This one day beauty care is not only meant to beautify you but it is also health-giving & prolongs your youthfulness. On this day be as lazy as possible, stay in bed as long as you like & stay off the telephone because talking takes as much energy as working.

Take a light diet on this day to give your over worked digestive system a rest. Here is a sample of the Sunday diet:

 

BREAKFAST

• One glass orange juice.
• Cornflakes with milk.
• Tea or coffee.

MID-MORNING

• One cup skimmed milk with 1 biscuit. (You can substitute milk for tea or coffee.)

LUNCH

• Steamed chicken or fish.
• One green or yellow vegetable.
• One salad of raw vegetables.
• Fruit of choice.

MID-AFTERNOON

• Tea, coffee, milk or soft drink with 1 biscuit.

DINNER

• Soup.
• Mutton stew.
• Bread.
• Fruit.

BEDTIME

• One cup skimmed milk with honey.

After taking your breakfast, rest for a while & then go in for your bath. Lock yourself in & get to work. Start with chores like defusing your legs or arms, dealing with superfluous hair on the face, washing & setting your hair & doing your nails. All these chores need to be done regularly for a well-groomed look.

Fill the bathtub with lukewarm water & put in a few drops of your favorite essence. Then, lie back in the tub & try to keep your mind blank think of absolutely nothing for 10 minutes or try to dwell upon happy things. Let your arms & legs float in the water, splash them around a little & let the ripples in the bath water float over you. Get out of the bath, pat yourself dry & give yourself a facial.

After all this, you should emerge from the bathroom, both refreshed & invigorated. Now have your lunch & go to bed. Do not talk, do not gossip, do not work, for this day is for you & for the next six days you will be for others-what a relaxed, beautiful & changed person you will be!

As regards the skin, clean your face both morning & night because, as you are out in the open for long periods, your skin takes on more dust & grime than the women who stay at home.

However tired you may be after a late night, do not hop into your bed without removing every trace of your makeup otherwise your pores will get clogged & your skin will become sick. Every night before going to bed give your skin a little nourishment by rubbing in a little cream of milk blended with lime juice & a pinch of turmeric powder. Use only a dusting of powder, a soft shade of lipstick & a touch of rouge for the office. Always carry your makeup kit with you to do yourself up before leaving for your home.

Pay greatest attention to your personal cleanliness so that you will not only feel fragrant but also fresh & lively the whole day through. So use a little bath essence, toilet water & dusting powder. Also use deodorant regularly.

Insomnia

 

Insomnia can often be traced back to un expected source. Learn about pitfalls that cause it.

If you're regularly exhausted by mid afternoon, you're not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can be dangerous: Tired people are more likely to have car accidents, while chronic tiredness can increase your chances of developing diabetes & hypertension. Surprisingly, you may be sabotaging your own efforts to get some rest. Learning to recognize the most common sleep thieves can help.

 

Caffeinated Beverages

Caffeinated beverages like coffee can perk you up (though only temporarily) by blocking body chemicals that induce sleep & increasing the production of adrenaline. However, caffeine stays in the body for up to 12 hours & can cause insomnia. To avoid this effect, cutting caffeine completely out of your diet is advised. There's no evidence that any amount of caffeine is good for you.

 

Sleep Apnea

This disorder, which causes people to momentarily stop breathing during sleep, can cause disruption of deep sleep, resulting in a tired feeling the next day. Sleep apnea commonly occurs when a person's airway becomes blocked during sleep, resulting in loud snoring. If your partner tells you that you have a snoring problem, consult your doctor who may prescribe a continuous positive airway pressure machine to prevent your airway from becoming blocked.

 

Working or Eating on Bed

Using your bed as a place to work or eat can cause you to associate it with these tasks, ultimately leading to sleeplessness. That's when a treatment called sleep restriction can be helpful. You cut out all those activities & then re-associate the bed with sleep. It's one of the most effective treatments for insomnia.

 

Electronics

Reading interesting content on the Web or watching an engaging TV program right before bed can keep you awake by stimulating your mind. Even the bright light emitted from the television or computer can wreak havoc with your sleep. Turn off your electronics a couple of hours before bed to ensure they don't ruin your rest. Give your brain a chance to wind down from the day.

 

Children

Parents know all too well the effect a wakeful child can have on their sleep. Habits like frequent nighttime nursing & allowing your child to sleep in your bed can shortchange your own rest. To keep the little ones in bed putting children to bed drowsy but not asleep is suggested, so they learn to fall asleep on their own. If your children are having trouble sleeping well, consult your pediatrician.

 

Anxiety & Allergies

Conditions like anxiety & allergies can also cause insomnia or lessen sleep quality. Treating the root problem is often the best way to take care of sleep difficulties. Treatment for allergies depends on the source of the allergic reaction; talk to your allergist if your allergy symptoms are affecting your sleep.

 

Working Overnight

If you have a job that requires you to work overnight, you may not be getting the deep sleep that you need because the body tends to sleep more lightly during daytime hours. Barring a job change, try mimicking nighttime conditions while you sleep by making your room as dark & quiet as possible & using eye <, masks/ear plugs. Also, try to keep the same overnight schedule on your days off.

 

l2-Hour Snooze On Weekend

After a week of shortchanging yourself on sleep, taking a l2-hour snooze on the weekend may seem like the perfect antidote. But sleeping in can throw off your sleep-wake cycle, causing you to stay up until the wee hours of the morning on Sunday nights, which means you're tired all over again on Monday. For maximum restfulness, go to bed & wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.

 

Avoid Exercise Before Going To Bed

Getting your exercise in the morning or early afternoon will help you sleep better at night, while working out close to bedtime may keep you awake because of the rise in body temperature that it causes. (Cooler body temps help you feel sleepier.) To avoid exercise-induced insomnia, finish up your workout at least three hours before bedtime.

Natural Skin Glow

Exercise is great for your health & can also help improve the look of your skin. Regular physical activity & sweating out the toxins can boost skin health & add a natural glow.

 

Skin Health

You know how great you feel after a tough workout - a long run, bike, exercise machines, or a good game of tennis. Though you're sweaty & exhausted, you notice the exhilaration shows in your glowing skin. Your skin is flushed from more than that healthy sweat you just worked up - exercise can really improve your overall skin health & quality. Exercise offers a number of benefits for your skin & should be considered an important part of any skin care regimen. So add a vibrant complexion to good health & a toned body when reviewing your reasons for getting in a daily workout.

 

Beyond heart health & bone building, exercise has a positive effect on your skin's appearance, too. Here's why:

 

 

Sweat Purges Body Toxins

 

Sweat purges your body of toxins that can clog pores & plague your skin with pimples & blemishes. The body only has so many mechanisms to rid itself of toxins - the kidneys, the liver & the skin. Exercise increases blood flow to the skin, increases neuronal stimulation & allows the sweat glands to increase their functions & rid the toxins. Once you sweat out those toxins, it's important to wash them off - you don't want to leave them sitting on your skin. Always shower after a workout to prevent bacterial or fungal infections that may occur from dirt clogging up your pores.

 

The more toned you are beneath your skin, the healthier your skin will look & feel. The stronger/firmer your muscles are the more support your skin will have & the more firm & elastic it will appear. Toning your muscles may also help to minimize the appearance of cellulite, the dimply fat that often strikes thighs & buttocks. You can't exercise cellulite away, but you can help it look better.

 

Exercise Boosts Blood Flow

 

Studies have shown that regular exercise boosts blood flow enough in type 2 diabetics to help reduce the risk of skin problems that lead to amputation. Exercise gets the blood flowing & that increased blood flow carries more oxygen to the skin. The boost in blood flow & oxygen to the skin cells also carries nutrients that improve skin health, supporting all the effort you make with moisturizers other skin care products on the skin surface.

 

 

Exercise Relieve Stress

 

Exercise has long been known as a great way to relieve stress. Those mind-body benefits may extend to your complexion. Though studies are small, some show that stress may worsen, if not actually trigger, acne. Stress may also trigger flare-ups of psoriasis. It's known to boost hormone production & suppress the body's ability to heal, but regular workouts can keep stress & possibly hard-to-manage skin conditions under control. When you're feeling tense, let exercise keep any frown lines at bay, too.

 

Exercise Gives Your Skin Natural Glow

 

Exercise gives your complexion a beautiful, natural glow. When you exercise, your skin begins to produce more of its natural oils that help skin look supple & healthy. While that can naturally moisturize skin, remember to cleanse your face gently as part of your skin care routine when you shower to prevent any breakouts.