You Smokers Can't Escape the Stench

The thing about smokers is that they stink up other people’s clothes, offices, furniture, cars and lives long after they put out that cigarette. The awful smell can be there long after you leave the building or even move to another city.

If you’re a smoker, have you ever been surprised after chewing breath mints and spraying a room (or your clothes and hair) with air fresheners when non-smokers still complain?

I’m a former smoker, and I never knew how bad I smelled until I quit and got some of my sense of smell back. Then it was my turn to be disgusted at myself.

Here’s why breath mints, smoking outside or spraying everything with air fresheners will never cover up the fact that you just can’t hide the stench.

If you’re a smoker, you can’t smell what is making others want to retch. Here’s why.

A recent study on the link between smoking and the loss of smell found that current and even former smokers found it difficult to smell butanol. That’s a substance used in odor testing because of its distinct and overwhelming smell. No wonder you can’t smell the stench you leave behind.

If you want more proof, just go to the Internet, and type “smoking smells” or “getting rid of smoke smell” in a search engine.

You’ll see loads of articles from non-smokers asking how to get rid of the smell of smoke from furniture smokers once owned, or cars they once owned, or clothes they once owned.

The smoker’s not around, but the smell still is. In some cases, the advice is just to throw out the smelly item because it’s so hard to get rid of that stench.

So, you might as well toss out those breath mints and air fresheners. You might fool yourself, but you’re not fooling anyone else.

Stop fooling yourself. Quit. I did. You can, too!

Don't Be a Fast Food Junkie

Here’s another reason to stop being a fast food junkie. There’s way too much salt in all that fast food.

According to a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, better known as the CDC, about 70 percent of American adults would benefit from a low-sodium diet.

But even though we should be getting about 1,500 milligrams of salt, the report says many of us are gobbling up 3,500 milligrams of salt. Too much salt can equal high blood pressure and heart problems.

So where’s all that extra salt coming from? According to the CDC, most of it’s coming from processed and fast foods – the same stuff that can make you fat. Take it from a former fatty! I once weighed more than 200 pounds, and fast food was a great way to feed my addiction!

So read the labels on your food. Stay away from fast food, period! If you fall off the wagon, just don’t do it again.

You, and only you, have a say about what goes in your mouth. But everybody else will know if you’re putting all the wrong things in your mouth, because you will look so unhealthy (and fat!).

I broke my addiction to overeating, and you can, too.

I Saw Another "Intervention" Show Last Night

I tape the show every so often to remind myself about the struggle of addiction. I certainly had an alcohol addiction for 12 years and my life revolved around it.

On this particular episode, it was about a woman Donna who was married and had 3 children. She didn't drink much until a few years after the last child was born, then she became an acoholic very quickly it seemed. We, the viewers, didn't get to see Donna without being drunk until the very end.

She would fall down, curse, say "I want to die" and swear constantly. The ex-husband said to her "you're going to die if you don't quit drinking." Her kids said the same thing. Her middle boy cried a lot when speaking of his mother. While watching this I was thinking how that bottle takes over a person many times, and they're caught in a world that they think they can't get out of.

The intervention took place. Donna was very upset that she was entrapped. She said she wouldn't go to rehab (she was drunk). Then when her middle boy spoke (after several other family members), something changed in Donna. She became open when she saw her boy cry and she said, yes, she would go to rehab.

She did, and if you watch the show you know that they will come back to the person and the rahab place a few months later. When they did, Donna looked like a new woman. She looked happy, she was doing her artwork, she had makeup on---that's my favorite part of the show.

Who knows if Donna will forever be off alcohol, but she's on the right road. Her kids were important to her and she was willing to give up the alcohol to be able to see her kids and have a life.

About the "God Stuff"

The word God has a way of making some people cringe or change the subject. Especially when people say, just turn to God. Or, let God change you. Or, let us pray. You know what I’m talking about, the people who roll their eyes at that “God stuff.” Maybe they think someone is trying to sell something. Is it God, or the people talking about God that makes others want to cringe or run away?

We all know certain people who use the word God in a way that’s overbearing or just plain wrong. History books are full of people like that. I’m a former drunk, smoker and overeater who turned to God to help me quit my addictions.

I can't say what God is. I don't know how God "works." But I do know there is something out there – and many use the word God – that helps us.

Share your “God stuff” stories with your comments to this blog.

Don't Live By Your Feelings

I went to a lecture yesterday and I heard the words "don't live by your feelings because you'll never have the life you want." I thought of my situation, having overcome 3 addictions.....yes I got over 3 addictions but I now must stay off (for me) alcohol, cigarettes and junk food.

The other day I was walking out of a store and I saw someone smoking a cigarette close to the door of the store. I smelled the cigarette and it smelled fantastic. Now if I'd have done what I "felt like" I wanted to do, I would have smoked a cigarette. But I made the committment a long time ago that I was done with cigarettes so within 2 seconds that thought was out of my head and I went on my way. But I remember thinking at that time how easy it would be for so many people to just decide to give in and have the cigarette because they felt like it.

Same thing with alcohol. I've seen so many people quit drinking for a year or 2 then something comes up in their lives that is difficult so they go back to the bottle, knowing they can quit any time they want. And the game starts all over again.

So I say don't live by your feelings. Decide what it is you want to do and do it. The good news too about deciding what you want and/or what you're going to do is that since the decision was made, there's no room for indecision.

You Know You're a Drunk When.....

You know how the jokes begins: You know you’re a redneck if … Or, you know you’re from New York if ….
Well, it’s no joke if you know you’re a drunk. Or suspect you are. Or want to print this out and anonymously send it to a friend who is a drunk. Take it from me, a former drunk.

You know you’re a drunk when …
• You really “need” a drink.
• You “have” to drink every day.
• You can’t remember saying no to “just one more.”
• You drink to avoid even the thought of withdrawal.
• You are fondest of places (like bars) where you can always get a drink.
• You are always thinking about that next drink.

Are you a drunk? Quit. I did. “I Quit” is the name of the book I wrote on quitting booze, cigarettes and overeating (www.dovelinpublishing.com).
Was it easy? No. I’m just an ordinary person who took an honest look at myself.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t pleasant. I asked for help from my family. I gave up “friendships” and stayed away from bars. I asked for help from a higher power. I did not do it alone.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. I’m free of my addictions.
Being a drunk is not a joke, and neither is quitting.
But I did it. You can, too!

Blunt Talk About Dumb Diets

Did that diet you heard about on late night television sound too good to be true? Guess what? It is.

Spring is in the air, which means more diets guaranteed to magically take that weight off are being advertised on television, in magazines, in newspapers and on radio. The warmer the weather gets, the hotter the claims by the makers of each new fad diet.

The Internet, of course, is loaded with bad diets, too. The good news is that you can also find reports on the Internet on how dumb and sometimes downright dangerous those fad diets can be for your health. So do your homework.

Go to Google.com or any other Internet search engine and type in “debunking diets.” Up will pop hundreds of articles that are sourced by scientists, doctors and solid research. One I found is at www.vegsource.com/attwood/zone.htm. It debunks six diets in one easy-to-read article.

If you’re overweight, rid your home of “bad” foods featuring refined grains, too much sugar and unhealthy fats, and cut your meal portions in half. One study found that meal portions are at least 25 percent smaller in other Western countries. Stock up on vegetables, fruits and whole grains. And start exercising more.

To help you get started, try this calorie and exercise counter from the American Cancer Society. You can personalize it, too. Go to: www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_6_1x_Calorie_Calculator.asp.

I once weighed more than 200 pounds, and now I’m at my right weight. I didn’t do it with fad diets (well initially I did until I learned to do it right), and that’s why I’ve kept the extra weight off for more than 20 years.

Want more tips and support? Go to www.dovelinpublishing.com.
Share your stories about dumb diets with your comments to this blog.