Quit Smoking Monday Messages

Padding Big Tobacco's Pockets

My mother smoked for 38 years and when she decided she was done with it, she stopped on a dime. She quit cold turkey and never looked back. To this day, the first thing she'll mention when talking about the benefits of quitting is the money she's saved. Now, I tend to feel that the money is the least of the savings, especially when compared to the lives this killer habit steals on a daily basis, but with recent events concerning the U.S. economy, the amount of money we spend on smoking is a topic worth exploring.

In another 10 days, I'll celebrate 7 years away from my own 26 year smoking habit. To say I am grateful to be free of nicotine addiction is an understatement of grand proportions. I spent nearly 16 of my 26 year habit hating the fact that I was a smoker, yet I went on lighting up, day in and day out, seemingly powerless to quit. I finally found the right combination of ingredients for long-term success when I quit smoking on October 29, 2001 however, and I can say now with 100 percent certainty: I will never go back. Never!

One of the tools I use to keep my memory fresh about just how far I've come is a little program called a quit meter. It runs quietly in the background on my computer, and keeps a running tally on how much smoke-free time I've accumulated, along with other interesting tidbits of information, like how many cigarettes I haven't smoked and how much money I've not put into Big Tobacco's pockets.

Eleven Thousand Dollars Saved...

To date, my quit smoking statistics are:

Quit Time: Six years, eleven months, two weeks, six days, 23 hours, 16 minutes and 30 seconds.

Cigarettes not smoked: 63,699

Money(U.S. dollars) saved: $11,147.37

Life saved: 31 weeks, 4 days, 4 hours, 15 minutes.

Another important statistic, but one that is impossible for a program to calculate, is the quality of life saved. Smoking cessation enriches our lives far beyond what we can imagine when beginning this journey, and the benefits of quitting continue to unfold far into the future.

If you're still smoking, get mad at Big Tobacco and make the commitment to take your life back, one simple day at a time. You can quit smoking, and it's a choice you'll never regret making.

And by the way, my mother, who quit over 25 years ago after smoking for 38 years, is healthy and still going strong at 83 years young!

It's never too late to quit smoking. Quit now.

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Take The Quit Smoking Monday Pledge

Healthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we’re here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

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