That's Fit

Think of your cell phone as a diet coach, your quit-smoking partner, your own personal health manager. Really. Just sign up with these three companies and your cell phone will help you stay well.

INTELECARE
For $5 a month, text messages, e-mails, or voice mail reminders will alert you about prescriptions and appointments.

QUITEXT
If you wish to kick your smoking habit and have a spare $20, supportive tips and advice will come your way for six weeks.

SENSEI
You log your weight-loss goals and fitness habits and you'll get daily meal recommendations and weekly grocery shopping lists. Motivational notes too. All for $6 per week.

'I'll take you on vacation if you quit smoking,' I told Jon a few months ago. An incredibly stressful situation at work lead to him taking up the habit again, much to my chagrin. And I've been doing what I can to get him to quit again, but to no avail. 'Thanks, but I have to do it for myself if it's going to last.' he tells me.

And the infuriating thing about it all? He's completely right. According to recent research, bribing smokers with incentives and prizes if they quit doesn't work, especially in the long run. So what does work? Social support, buddy systems and nicotine replacement therapies all have better success rates.

What made you quit? Or what's kept you from quitting?

I'm the first to admit I'm competitive. I like to get on treadmills next to people who are running hard and set mine to go faster. I play basketball with boys. I push myself to do my best at everything I do, and I always thought that was a pretty good trait.

However, recent research by psychologists Gregory Miller and Carsten Wrosch showed that those who throw in the towel when facing unattainable goals were healthier than those who never give up. They had fewer health problems overall and showed fewer signs of psychological stress.

Well, that's fine and good, but I can't help but wonder about the health benefits of a sense of accomplishment. What do you think?

I wrote in November that The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg was kicking butts. Tired of her smoking habit, she vowed to rid herself of cigarettes by December 15. So how's she doing? I found out today while watching Whoopi and crew interview Law & Order star S. Epatha Merkerson, herself a cold-turkey quitter after 23 years of smoking.

Whoopi is smoking one cigarette a day, she reports. She didn't meet her targeted end date, but what do you think? Poor performance? Or pretty good progress?

Whoopi is still determined to kick butts once and for all. Actress Merkerson's advice to her: Drink lots of water. Whoopi, who says she is plenty dehydrated, was thankful for the words of wisdom.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Ms. Fitzness, I stopped smoking five months ago and have put on about 1.5 stones (21 pounds)! When is the best time to try and diet? I don't want to try and do too many things at once. I exercise regularly as I have my own horse and am always out and about. Thanks in advance, Lisa

A. Hey Lisa. Congratulations on your success getting rid of smoking! Smoking is one of the absolute worst things one can do to themselves, and your decision to quit is one of the best. Hooray! I'm literally doing a little 'happy dance' here at my laptop for you.

Now for your question about when you should begin dieting. Easy answer. NEVER! Never diet, lady! Diets are temporary behavioral changes that only lead to temporary results. Screw that! You are in this for the long term, sister, and no diet can last forever. What to do then? Gradually become more and more deliberate about what you put in your mouth. Seek out low fat, low calorie, high nutrition type food. Before you decide on any meal or snack, ask your self which would be the healthiest choice. Trade french fries for a baked sweet potato. Choose grilled poultry or fish over hamburgers. Find some calorie free beverages you enjoy as well.

It's a fact -- 80% of smokers gain weight when they quit. So which is a worse habit: being overweight or being a smoker? Both have been shown to lead to cancer.

The answer, of course, is to be neither overnight nor a smoker. Yes, it is possible. So if you're thinking of quitting smoking, don't let potential weight gain deter you from taking that important step. Arm yourself with the facts and set out to defy the statistics.

Everyday Health has some tips to help soon-to-be-ex smokers from piling on pounds:

-Limit the fat you're eating -- it's high in calories
-Instead of focusing on what you can't eat, focus on what you can eat -- there are a lot of great foods that are weight-friendly.
-Avoid sweets.
-When you get the urge to snack, snack on fruits and veggies
-If you're used to having a cigarette after a meal, develop a different habit like having a cup of herbal tea after meals.
-Record what you eat in a food diary.

Whoopi Goldberg is all about honesty these days. She just recently declared her own personal war on smoking -- "Whoopi Kicks Butts" is the slogan used on her talk show The View -- and now she's speaking out about her love for junk food, the love that's caused her to gain 50 extra pounds.

"Folks don't tell the truth about sex and money or about what they eat," says Whoopi in the November 11 issue of Parade magazine. "But I'm not going to lie to you: I love potato chips, big bags of them. I love junk food. Not sweets. I like salt."

Whoopi isn't hiding the fact that she's been indulging of late. The extra pounds aren't hiding either, she says, which is why she's back on her diet. It's meat, vegetables, protein, and fruit for this Oscar-winning star who knows this is the way she's supposed to eat.

Whoopi has quite a challenge ahead of her. She wants to be completely done with smoking by December 15, and now she's taking on a major diet overhaul. The work may be hard. But the rewards will be oh so sweet.

WOW. My post about Whoopi's quit smoking venture has generated a bunch of discussion among readers. Right now, there are 91 comments -- and what powerful and inspiring comments they are.

Reader Janet says: I kicked a 14-year smoking habit by picking up a new habit -- a boyfriend who eventually became my husband. He didn't care if I smoked but I did. I quit for good one month before our wedding and we have been married 11 years next week! If I had a cigarette now I am sure I would vomit -- and that is enough of a deterrent for me! I highly recommend slowly phasing out an old habit with a healthful, positive new one.

Reader Mary says: I smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day. I thought about quitting for years. Until one evening while I was driving home, I decided to try not to light up until I got home, then I decided to wait until I got ready for bed, then I decided to wait until morning.....etc etc etc....I lived like that for a couple of days and haven't had a cigarette since. All you have to do is put them down and the rest will take care of itself....

I caught a minute of ABC's The View on Tuesday and learned that co-host Whoopi Goldberg is trying to quit smoking. Good for her.

"I want to be done by December 15," Whoopi told her audience. A wise plan, considering smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to 10 different cancers, and accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet one in four Americans still light up.

Smoking is by far the leading risk factor for lung cancer. And it is far more dangerous for women than men. Now wrap your head around this fact: The nicotine found in cigarettes is as addictive as heroin. If that's not reason enough to stop smoking, I don't know what is.

So you've quit smoking. Good for you! You're one step closer to a healthier, longer life -- unless you pack on the pounds, in which case you'll compromise your health in other ways.

To help you manage your weight while you resist the urge to smoke, Dr. Cindy Pomerleau, Director of the Nicotine Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan, offers these seven tips:

• Start the day with breakfast, not a cigarette. A satisfying breakfast can help deflect the urge to smoke. Avoiding the meal might sound like a good way to avoid unwanted calories, but it's not a sound weight-management strategy.

Yesterday, I published a post citing the fact that 95 percent of those who successfully lose weight somehow go on to regain the unwanted pounds within a few years. Now I've happened upon this statistic: 50 percent of people who start an exercise program quit within the first three to six months.

Hey, it happens. I know. In my combined 37 years on this planet, I've cycled in and out of exercise programs more times than I care to count. And while I seem to be doing OK right now -- I do something fitness-related every day -- there's just no telling what might throw me off my course. That's why I always try to remember why I exercise.

I exercise for energy -- even when I'm tired, I force myself to do something. Inevitably, I feel recharged when I'm done. I exercise for strength -- I want strong bones, strong muscles, arms powerful enough to hoist my littlest growing boy into the air on occasion. I exercise for a lean body -- I've seen results, and I don't want to lose them. I exercise for a healthier heart -- my low resting heart rate always tips off my doctors that I'm challenging myself aerobically. I exercise for peace of mind -- I need to escape the madness of my family unit now and then, and I always feel invigorated when I return home. I exercise to boost my mood, ease my worries, diminish my stress, refocus my thoughts, recharge my spirit, and perhaps most important: To keep breast cancer from paying me a return visit. Recent research links five weekly hours of strenuous exercise to a pretty significant cut in breast cancer risk. That's reason enough for me to keep huffing and puffing.

What if somebody said you could get your nicotine fix, just as fast and just as effectively as smoking, but without the smoking? Next Safety Inc., a new company based in North Carolina, says it can do just that with a new device it's hoping will be approved for use soon. It's a small machine that allows users to inhale nicotine directly, which provides for faster and more direct brain absorption than nicotine gums and patches do.

As of now the device is still in the testing stages and waiting for FDA approval, but it looks like it might be the next big thing. Will you be on board if it comes to a pharmacy near you?


Via Engadget

I don't smoke, but if I did and somebody gave me this ashtray I don't know if I would laugh or cry. I think at this point even the die-hard smokers who have no intention of quitting know it's an unhealthy habit, but this might be taking things a little far even for someone like that. It's an ashtray that not only looks like a real pair of lungs (I've seen them before) but it screams and coughs when you put a cigarette in it. How long will somebody actually use this thing before it gets the batteries taken out or gets kicked across the room?


Via Book of Joe

Ronald Martinez has become a celebrity in New York City, but not for reasons he would have wished for. Ronald Martinez was a smoker, and he had to have his larynx removed due to throat cancer. His story, told in his own words through the artificial voice box he now needs to communicate, has been enough to frighten thousands of New Yorkers into quitting smoking. The campaign, entitled "Nothing Will Ever Be the Same," has made quite the impact with 92% of New York citizens reporting they've seen at least one of the anti-smoking ads.

As successful as it's been, the Ronald Martinez anti-smoking campaign may or may not continue in the future, as the direction of New York's anti-smoking efforts are up for review and they are "looking at all options." What do you think -- time to move on to something new and fresh or stick with something that has worked in the past?

Smokers looking for a way to quit now have yet another option: Thrive nicotine replacement gum by Novartis. Just approved by the FDA, Thrive is designed to help smokers kick the habit in 12 weeks. The bold mint flavored gum tingles as users chew it and lasts about 30 minutes.

1 in 5 American adults smoke, but the majority of that number admit to being interested in quitting. That's a good thing, and hopefully this new Thrive gum will be also because smoking kills as many as 438,000 people every year. What a horribly large number of people dying from something completely preventable!