^{Bye nicotine... hello clean living.}

I've started out smoking when I was 19. Curious as I am, I wanted to know what's with smoking. Maybe I could admit to myself now, I wanted to be popular with my girlfriends and desperately wanted to be “in”.  Not that I have inferiority complex, but even at a younger age, I wanted to be always on top of everything. Be it with my circle of friends or my family, I always wanted to be noticed. I remember putting aside money from my daily school allowance just so I could have a pack of menthol cigarette during my college years which I would keep safe and hide inside my room.

A packet of cigarette lasts for a week with me before when I was only feeding my curiosity, until it became a stress and tense releaser for me, and I could already finish a pack of a cigarette in 3 days. Stressed, depressed, tensed, all those I felt when I went and worked abroad. My cigarette was always there for me to help me ease up my negative feelings. That was my thinking before. Until I could say I became addicted to it. My mind not only my bud is looking for it.

I'm already 28, and proudly wants to let the whole world knows I QUIT SMOKING! Not a single day for 8 years of my life have I not tasted a cigarette. But now, I totally got rid of it! For me, it's only a matter of self-discipline. 2 years back I wanted to convince myself I'd quit smoking but I couldn't. I'd try to quit for a few days, and after I see my friends smoking, I again crave for it. In my heart, I want to quit smoking, but something inside me tells me and dictates me not to. Yes, believe it or not, I have that weird feeling.

I wanted to prove myself I could quit smoking and won't need any help from others. And I did. One morning when I woke up, (just a couple of months ago), I faced the mirror, and said to myself I can do it. I told myself it's a big test for me. I convinced myself I won't continue having a successful life ahead of me if I couldn't pass this test. And it started there.

If you have made the decision to quit smoking, congratulations! Not only will you improve your own health, you will also protect the health of your loved ones by no longer exposing them to second hand smoke.

Many women who smoke worry that they will gain weight if they quit. In fact, nearly 80 percent of people who quit smoking do gain weight, but the average weight gain is just five pounds. Keep in mind, however, that 56 percent of people who continue to smoke will gain weight too. The bottom line: The health benefits of quitting far exceed any risks from the weight gain that may follow quitting.

So, I encourage you smokers to give yourself this big test of smoke-quitting and disciplining yourself. See and feel the great after effect it could give you. I myself am a good example. I never felt so good the way I feel now. Give it a try, who knows you'll be successful this time.