How to Deal with the Symptoms of Smoking Withdrawal

Okay, you’ve decided to quit smoking. You’ve gathered all your information and you’ve developed a plan. But you’re still worried because you’re unsure of what to expect after you quit smoking. To help your plan to quit succeed take a moment to look at the most common symptoms of smoking withdrawal.

One common symptom of smoking withdrawal is that you may experience some dizziness during the first one or two days. If this happens to you just take a quick break. The dizziness will pass.

Another common symptom that some people experience with smoking withdrawal is headaches. These can appear at any time during the first couple of weeks. If you do experience headaches after you quit smoking, the best thing to do is to try and relax. Most people just take their usual headache remedy. You can also use other common headache relief methods like a cold cloth on the back of your neck. If you think your headache is due to stress take a short walk. In fact, after you quit smoking walking should be part of your plan. Not only is it a great stress relief tool, it also improves your breathing.

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What to Do When Stress Leads to Depression

Depression hurts both mentally and physically. When you feel depressed, you just want to lie on the sofa while the television drones on in the background. You aren’t really watching anything that takes too much energy. But you don’t even feel like reaching for the remote to change channels.

The last thing you want to do is go outside – but it’s one of the best cures for depression and is exactly what you need to do. When you’re feeling depressed the challenge is acting against what you feel most inclined to do. Yet if you get moving, you’ll find surprising relief from the stress and depression that seems to choke you.

Repeated medical studies show that exercise is necessary to regain a sense of self-control. What’s more, while you exercise you’re thinking of something besides what’s stressing you. It also provides you with a better night’s sleep, which helps your immune system rally against your stress factors.

One thing you don’t want to do when you feel stressed to the point of depression is to place too many demands on yourself. You’ll feel overwhelmed.  So you have to start with some simple, specific steps, such as: (more…)

Healthy Weight Loss Options

All over the country, 365 days a year, tens of millions of Americans are obsessively trying to lose weight. When it comes to weight loss, there are many options to choose from, but no matter what option you choose, you will probably face many obstacles and frustrations as you diet with this program or that, all to no avail.

When you Google weight loss you have hundreds of fad diets to choose from: the cabbage soup diet, the Atkins diet, vegetarian diet, all protein diet, no-fat diet and every imaginable combination in between. Most people are looking for the newest fad diet or quick weight loss solutions. The problem with these “quick weight loss” or ‘fad’ diets is that, while you may be losing weight so long as you adhere to a strict regimen of the approved foods, it’s impossible for most people to sustain them. So you lose the desired 20 or more pounds, adhering to just those ‘allowed’ foods, but the menus soon become so boring and restrictive, that eating is more a ritual than a satisfying experience. Soon, once you shed the unwanted pounds, as your palate rebels from the boring foods you’ve been eating and the restriction of calories, you’re more than ready to get back to the pleasures of “real” eating. Then you shoot back up to the weight you were before or, in most cases, even more!

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Your Circadian Clock and Sleep Cycle Stages

When operating properly your body’s internal clock tells you when to sleep and when to wake up. It also controls your sleep cycle stages. The scientific name for this function is known as the circadian clock. This internal mechanism controls your sleep cycle by monitoring your body temperature, hormone levels and your general level of alertness.

Behind your eyeballs are a cluster of neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that sends rhythmic signals to your pituitary gland. Your pituitary gland then sends chemicals including melatonin into your blood. Studies have found that it is the build up of melatonin that causes drowsiness.

There is another neurotransmitter, a chemical called adenosine that is produced while you are awake. Your cells produce power to get you through the tasks you need to do each day and adenosine is a bi-product of the use of that power. Adenosine builds up throughout the day to a level that tells your brain its time to sleep. The longer you resists the more adenosine and melatonin build up and you feel sleepier and sleepier until finally you have no choice but to fall asleep. While you sleep these hormones are broken down by other bodily functions and your circadian clock is reset. Then the cycle starts all over again.

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