Quit for Chicks

So, you're young, you're fabulous, you smoke, and you hate it! If you want to kick the habit but don't know how, then read on...

Quit for Chicks is a new book by Kathy Buchanan which contains a foreword by supermodel Sarah O'Hare who gave up for good in August 2001 and says she feels great being finally free from her addiction. This pocket-sized support guide (which will easily fit into your handbag when temptation arises) is hot pink and costs less than a packet of cigarettes. It will help you say goodbye to cigarettes forever and will introduce you to a whole new world of fresher breath, cleaner hair and skin, decreased cancer risk and greater fitness.

"After working as a health editor on a glossy magazine plus watching friends go through the often painful process of giving up - or trying to give up - smoking I realised that there are several specific issues involved with women smoking and having difficulties giving up for good," explains Quit for Chicks author Kathy Buchanan. "The facts are that smoking affects women's looks, their health, their bank balance and often their social lives in a negative way. Smoking is also an epidemic, which is about to take over breast cancer as the leading cause of death in Australian women. With more young women than men, taking up the habit it is time to create a change."

Quit for Chicks is a friendly support guide written especially for girls, which will help you give up smoking for good and to be happy and healthy in your new smoke-free lives! There's medical advice from Dr Cindy Pan plus seven stories from different women from a super model to a stay-at-home mum, who each found their own different paths to success. They managed to kick their smoking habit for good and you can too. These are real women who achieved fantastic results - you can see how they did it and how you can too.

Examples of issues covered in this easy to read book are:- how not to put on weight and still give up successfully, what time of the month you should give up, how to keep a good social life and cope with friends who still smoke, how to get fit, look and feel better and save loads of money.

WORK OUT WHEN & WHY YOU SMOKE
When do you usually smoke? Is it when you are having a drink with friends, when you are driving on your own in the car or when you are feeling bored, stressed or lonely? You need to really think about when and why you smoke so you can prepare yourself to give up. Become aware of your smoking triggers and you'll be able to begin to cut down on your smoking. Try keeping a diary of your smoking habits.

STOP USING PUTTING ON WEIGHT AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO GIVE UP
Okay, lets face it - lots of girls mistakenly use not wanting to put on weight as the main reason they won't give up the nicotine. The facts are that as long as you don't replace your smoking with shoving lollies constantly in your mouth then you won't put on a lot of weight. Studies have shown that not everyone puts on weight and those who do should only put on roughly two kilos due to the metabolic change. In fact some people even lose weight like Marbecc Bonnici, 33, a sales and marketing administrator who'd smoked heavily for 14 years and who tells her story in Quit for Chicks. She did put on a few kilos in the short-term but ended up losing 15 kilos which gave her a kick-start to a new life. She says she now exercises regularly, has never been happier or felt healthier. Basically, the weight issue isn't a good enough excuse to use to keep smoking.

TALK TO YOUR 'SMOKING PALS'
If you smoke regularly with friends or co-workers then explain to them (when you aren't smoking!) that you are planning on giving up. Tell them why you are doing it, why it is so important to you to give up, ask them for their support - and for them to never offer you a cigarette again! - and tell them that you'll never try to talk them into giving up the habit unless they want to. It isn't nice to admit but many 'smoking pals' try to sabotage others from being successful in giving up as they secretly know they should give up too but for whatever reason, they aren't quite ready to let go of the habit. Just don't let anyone stop you doing what is important to you.

CREATE A CUSTOMISED PRE-QUIT SMOKING PLAN
Studies have shown the smokers who plan before they quit are more likely to be successful so make a plan to suit you and your lifestyle and stick to it! Here are some tips from Quit for Chicks to start you off...

• Throw away your ashtrays, cigarettes, smoking paraphernalia and take down any photos of you smoking. Get your teeth professionally cleaned, spring clean your house and your life.
• Look after yourself and find an exercise that you enjoy before you give up.
• Be honest with yourself about why you smoke and why you want to quit.
• Educate yourself about smoking and it's affects.
• Try cutting down on the amount of cigarettes you smoke or try putting out cigarettes once you have only smoked hal.
• Make a decision about how you'll quit. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about your options.
• Set a quit date and stick to it.

THINK OF YOUR LOOKS
If you want to look great then tossing those cigarettes for good is one of the best things you'll ever do for yourself because smokers get many more wrinkles than non-smokers do. Have a good look at an older woman smoker and you'll notice that her lips will be thin, with wrinkles imbedded in her lips, she'll also have more wrinkles around her eyes and will have a decidedly 'grey' pallor to her skin. Not pretty is it?! Just think that could be you in a few years...

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR DIFFICULT SITUATIONS
Decide ahead of time what you'll do if someone offers you a cigarette.

If the person doesn't know you have smoked:- the easiest thing to say is, "Thanks but I don't smoke" so they won't try to entice you. It will also help you if you say out loud that you are a non-smoker. Believe it and you can make it happen.
If you are feeling tempted - then deciding what you'll do before hand will help you. A great thing to do is to ask a truly reformed now non-smoker friend to be your 'quit smoking buddy' and call, text or e:mail them when you're feeling tempted or you are having a tough time. Or distract yourself by doing some exercise or going for a quick walk, write in your diary, read a magazine or refer to Quit for Chicks for inspiration (which is small enough to always carry around with you in your handbag).

QUICK TIPS FROM KATHY BUCHANAN, AUTHOR OF QUIT FOR CHICKS

• Giving up smoking could improve your dating life. Roughly 74 percent of Australian men don't smoke (source: Heart Foundation) so if you are single you could greatly increase you chances of finding love as lots of non-smoking men say that women smoking is a complete turn-off and they wouldn't consider seriously dating a smoker.
• Prepare yourself and your life. Schedule your quit date for the start of a long weekend or during a beach holiday so you'll be away from the stress and habits of your daily life.
• A recent study found that women who gave up smoking before and during their periods experienced more depression and stronger withdrawal symptoms than those who gave up later in the month. So, increase your chances of long-term success and toss those cigarettes soon after your period.
• Remind yourself of what you're doing by placing a photo of your partner, your family or your friends in your packet of cigarettes. Then whenever you automatically reach for one force yourself to look at it and remind yourself how much you love the special people in your life. Then try to restrain from smoking.
• Studies have shown that using two methods of giving up such as using nicotine patches and using a support group can increase your chances of success so give it a try.
• Call the Quitline 131 848 to order a free quit book or speak to a counsellor about quitting (24 hours-a-day free national counselling service) www.quitnow.info.au

BOX: THE BENEFIT.
The great news is that much of the damage caused by smoking is reversible but the sooner you give up the better. You'll also experience almost immediate benefits, as your body will be hard at work repairing itself within hours of quitting. Just think you'll be able to rid yourself of ugly tar stains on your fingers and teeth, have a decreased chance of developing cancer and other smoking related diseases such as emphysema. Super model Christy Turlington began to suffer from the early stages of emphysema plus her Dad died from the disease before she gave up cigarettes and set up a website to encourage others to do the same www.smokingisugly.com.

You'll also have clearer eyes, a glowing complexion, less wrinkles, better taste buds, you'll save money, save your friends and family from the effects of passive smoke and you'll gain a feeling of ultimate control - if you can quit the ciggies for good, you'll feel like you can do anything.

AFTER 24HRS: most carbon monoxide from smoking will be out of your system. Your lungs will be working better and you'll be able to do more before running short of breath.

• AFTER TWO DAYS: your senses of taste and smell will sharpen. You'll have fresher and cleaner breath, hair, fingers and teeth.
• AFTER A MONTH: your blood pressure should return to its normal level.
• AFTER TWO MONTHS: your blood flow to your hands and feet will improve and you'll have more energy.
• AFTER THREE MONTHS: you'll become more fertile. The lungs may have regained the capacity to clean themselves properly.
• AFTER TWELVE MONTHS: if you previously smoked a pack a day you'll have saved roughly $4,000 which is enough for a fabulous overseas holiday or a new designer wardrobe. Just think, if you smoke from the ages of 15 to 25 that's roughly $50,000 you are throwing down the drain.

Remember you can do it. So, good luck!

With a foreword by supermodel Sarah O' Hare, Quit for Chicks will help you change your life so that you can say goodbye to cigarettes forever. It includes advice from celebrity doctor, Cindy Pan, and stories from celebrities and other women who have quit for good and have never been happier. Quit for Chicks, Penguin, r.r.p. $9.95 is available in all good book stores.

Available throuh all good book stores and at www.penguin.com.au

Also see article on Natural Quit Smoking Remedies