Stop Smoking Expert The Midlife Gals (r) shares Stop Smoking management news and commentary at StopSmokingConnection.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817 http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817 http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/46939/interview Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:02:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) KK - "Oh, you're still a smoker, aren't you?"   Stranger - "Well, yes, if you must be so impolite, but how can you tell since I don't have a cigarette in my hand?"   KK - Du'uh...there is an invisible, foul-smelling cloud all around you. May I make a suggestion? This is what Sal used to do after smoking near a group of nonsmokers... She got some cream that she carried in her purse, rubbing it on her hands to cover the smell on... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/46939/interview http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/46938/timeline Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:01:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) Let's just start with the year 1938. I don't know why. Some of my details in the following time-line might not be entirely correct, but I don't care so don't send me any hate mail or statements like the guy last week who said, "Get your facts straight." That's just rude. Anyway...   1938Little Boy - "Daddy, what's a cigarette?"Daddy - "Well, son, this country was built on a crop called ‘tobacco' and the Native Americans... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/46938/timeline http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/43444/starting Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:13:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) We got a bit of a scare from our Ancient One's doctor a week ago, and I just got up, went to the 7-11 and bought a pack of red Winstons, went out to the deck and had a smoke. I didn't even think about it. I just rose like a person next in line at the DMV and drove like a crash dummy on Valium. After I smoked the cigarette...I felt better, calmer. This is when the plan began. My plan was to have a cigarette only in times of great stress. I... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/43444/starting http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/43443/stuck-middle Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:12:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) If you're a smoker, the lyrics to this famous song are meaningful in a completely different way:   "Trying to make some sense of it all,But I can see that it makes no sense at all,Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,'Cause I don't think that I can take anymoreClowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, Here I am, stuck in the middle with you."   The clowns to the left of me are the ones who say, "Just have a cigarette. You... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/43443/stuck-middle http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/38815/smoking Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:35:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) I've discovered that smoking does NOT cause good judgment. I used to think it caused good judgment, but why would I be smoking if that were true. When I was fourteen years old my judgment on just about everything was errant and sporadic at best. Hell, I'd grown up watching adults smoking in my home. Who has better judgment? Would that THAT were true, but as we who have become those adults now know, grown-ups don't know... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/38815/smoking http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/38814/smoking Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:33:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) “The Washington briefing, hosted by the American Legacy Foundation, addressed the presence of tobacco use in films and its proven influence on teen smoking.   According to the foundation, research shows that images of actors and characters smoking in youth-rated movies influence at least 200,000 American youth to start smoking each year.”   Here is something I find interesting.  How can ‘research&rsquo... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/38814/smoking http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/35323/replacemnt Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:51:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) When I quit smoking, I preferred to do it without depending on another source of nicotine. I knew that I might have withdrawal symptoms, but that I had the willpower to make it. It seems to me that using nicotine to quit a nicotine habit is like planning the murder of a hit man. You want someone dead, but the only one who can do it is the one you want dead.Some people use food as a calmer/downer when they quit smoking. That’s fine if... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/35323/replacemnt http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/34538/smoke-water Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:17:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) Just when you think you’ve heard everything in the stop smoking market, along comes an infomercial guy (which makes me immediately skeptical) who is selling a contraption that will not only deliver nicotine to your system (…except aren’t we trying to get the nicotine OUT of our systems)…anyway…a delivery system that also includes FAKE SMOKE!  People can be so creative, can’t they?   Here is... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/34538/smoke-water http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/32565/punishment Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:20:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) Smokers used to take a back seat to NO ONE unless that was where the ashtray was.  We were first class citizens and all you healthy people were in second class. We could blow smoke right in your face and you were too embarrassed to wave your arm and hold your breath because everyone would think you were RUDE.What was the MATTER with you people?? I know, I know…smokers were all powerful and usually extroverted types who wouldn’t... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/32565/punishment http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/32561/life-smoker Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:59:00 -0000 The Midlife Gals (r) When I was a smoker, each of my days was divided into cigarette sections. I decided that if I got up, made my coffee and opened the windows, I deserved and could completely enjoy my first cigarette of the day. I would not have my first cigarette until then and that gave me the feeling that I was not as pathetic as those who woke up, leaned over to light a cigarette and blew smoke rings into the rancid air blown out from the smokey night before... http://www.healthcentral.com/stop-smoking/c/55817/32561/life-smoker