Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) provides much lower levels of nicotine compared to cigarettes, and it’s released much more slowly. As the amount of nicotine is much lower, it’s much less likely to be addictive.

When you stop smoking, your body misses the nicotine. Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) give you a lower dose of nicotine, which helps to avoid strong withdrawal symptoms. Some studies have shown that using NRT to quit smoking doubles your chances of success.

NRT helps to wean you off nicotine gradually. NRT comes in several forms, including:

• patches – to stick on your skin,
• Tablets, lozenges and chewing gum, and
• Inhalers, and nasal sprays.

Not only they come in different form, they also come in different strengths and release nicotine at different speeds. To illustrate, nicotine is released within a few minutes from nicotine gum, nasal sprays, lozenges and tablets. However, it may take a few hours for the nicotine to be released from nicotine patches.

Addiction to nicotine is related to the speed at which it’s absorbed into your blood. It’s therefore very unlikely to be addicted if you’re using nicotine patches. However, addiction may be more likely with other forms of NRT where the nicotine is absorbed more quickly. So even though you are still taking in poison using NTR, the dosage is much smaller.

To avoid becoming addicted to NRT, you got to follow the instructions carefully and take no more than the recommended dose. If you are still worried, talk to your doctor or counsellor.

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In my humble opinion, weight gain isn’t a big deal compared to the health risks which are caused by the smoking habits. You can gain weight but you can lose weight too. There are so many ways to shed those unwanted pounds. Yes, losing weight could be as tough as trying to quit smoking, but if you can do one, you can achieve both.

Why do ex-smokers gain weight?

About half of the ex-smokers gain weight after they stopped smoking. There are 2 reasons:

1. Nicotine in the cigarette accelerates the digestion process. There is very little nicotine stored in the blood tissues. After people quit smoking, nicotine burns the food and fat content at slower rate. This results in saturation of fat in the body parts.

2. Continuous smoking affects the taste sensation of the tongue. So when ex-smokers stop smoking, their sense of taste and smell improves. They find that food taste better, which encourages them to eat more.

How to stop smoking without gaining weight?

An individual can stop smoking without gaining weight by taking these steps

1. Engage in sports and games: Calorie burning will help shed some fats, and also, increases the strength of muscles.

2. Eat healthily: Don’t take large quantities of red meat and don’t drown yourself in soft drinks. Take more white meat and consume more vegetables, fruits and whole grains instead. Also, just take more boiled, parboiled, steamed or even stir-fried food and less of grilled, barbecued and deep fried stuff. What tastes good might be bad for you. What tastes bland might be wonderful after you have acquired a taste for it.

3. Keep away from alcohol. It contains high calories. Red wine is good but according to experts, one should not consume more than 1 or 2 glasses a day.

Stop smoking can be challenging because you experience big changes physically, mentally and emotionally. You cannot be doing everything at one go, so do be patient. It takes time for things to change. Give your body some time to heal from the various damages arising from smoking. Even if you gain some weight initially, remember 2 things. Firstly, these unwanted weight can be shed. Secondly, your health is more important. By changing your lifestyle, smokers can curtail or prevent weight gain and transform into a hale and hearty nonsmoker.

Start your new life with less caffeine, more sleep, no stress, and without all those harmful chemicals in the cigarettes!

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Why is stop smoking during pregnancy tough?
Mothers-to-be are experiencing lots of changes physically, mentally and emotionally and the thoughts that nicotine, tars and other harmful chemicals in the cigarettes will hurt the babies torment them further. Yet, the thought of going cold turkey frighten and irritate them more. Can you imagine having both withdrawal pains with morning sickness like nausea, tummy cramps, etc?

What’s the consequences of smoking during pregnancy?
I have discussed at my FAQs on Stop Smoking post that “The baby may be born underweight, premature or dead. It has a higher risk to develop lung infection and other diseases. Some will die in the first year. If the baby survives, it may suffer from certain physical and mental deficiencies as it receives less oxygen. The smoke inhaled by a pregnant woman, whether directly or passively, will reduce the amount of oxygen to the placenta.”

So, is it easier to quit smoking during pregnancy through smoking aids?

Nicotine Patch
Some women used nicotine patches to make quitting less painful. The nicotine patches releases small amount of nicotine so that there is less withdrawal pain or discomfort for the smokers. Between continuing smoking during the pregnancy period and using the nicotine patch, the latter is the lesser evil. Still, the mothers-to-be are still taking in nicotine – no matter how small the dosage. The other problem is that the mothers-to-be must not smoke during the use of a nicotine patch because it could have very harmful effects to themselves and the babies. Smoking and using the nicotine patch concurrently can cause an overload of nicotine in the body and this can cause a bad reaction.

Herbal Products
Many women have achieved success by using non-nicotine products to quit smoking. Such smoking aids are composed of herbal combinations that relieve the effects of nicotine addiction naturally. Women have taken these types of quit smoking products at all stages of their pregnancy with little or no negative health effects to their babies because it’s purely and herbal remedy.

Hypnotherapy
Yet others prefer to use hypnotherapy because this method guides them to take care of the pain and discomfort beyond the physical aspect. It also addresses mental and emotional issues.

Mothers-to be- should give strong consideration to what they think will be best for their babies during pregnancy. It’s definitely necessary to quit smoking somehow so you can give your baby the best chance of staying healthy during your pregnancy.

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However, deep down, you know it’s a load of BS.

If you cannot even be honest with yourself, don’t even bother to start stop smoking. You will fail! You don’t have a clear intention to quit in the first place. You don’t even have an iota of commitment to make starting possible. You obviously do not have a plan on how to quit smoking painlessly.

Unless you are willing to look at yourself brutally and admit that you are indeed bound to cigarettes, you will always be enslaved. You will not get your freedom. Be honest with yourself, forgive yourself, then make a positive change.

These words of wisdom from Earl Cassel should help you to decide who you want to be:

I Won’t is a tramp,
I Can’t is a quitter,
I Don’t Know is lazy,
I Wish I Could is a wisher,
I Might is waking up,
I Will Try is on his feet,
I Can is on his way.
I Will is at work,
I Did is now the boss.”

When you said you’ll try, the tendency is you will do so for a while and then you give up.

When you said you want, it’s likely you will persevere but whether you will ultimately succeed will depend on your level of commitment.

When you said you choose to be a quitter, you are declaring an intend and stating your commitment.

Who are you in your quest of stop smoking?

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Why don’t I like stop smoking aids? Aren’t they supposed to make smoking painless and more bearable? Yes, they do make you feel less of the withdrawal discomfort. However, why are you feeding your brain and body with another poison when the existing poison is still hurting your health? I don’t believe in using a poison to kill another poison, no matter how small the dosage is. This is especially when there are hypnotherapy which is painless, harmless and effective. In case you are unaware, most stop smoking products that are available without a doctor’s prescription are themselves nicotine-based. And, you already know that nicotine is one of the most harmful chemicals in a cigarette. The gum, lozenges, sprays, inhalers, and even patches are all designed to allow a smoker to ease out nicotine addiction without suffering strongly from withdrawal. Stop smoking products will level out the nicotine cravings so that they are tolerable, and keep the body supplied with a small amount of nicotine while it detoxifies from the chemicals which have accumulated over years of smoking. Take heed that nicotine-based stop smoking aids should never be used in combination with cigarettes or with each other. Doing so can easily result in a nicotine overdose.

If you feel stop-smoking aids work for you, go ahead to do whatever is best for you. Just check with your doctor or pharmacist before you try them. A prescribed or recommended aid from a medical practitioner seems a better choice than advertisements.