Posts Tagged ‘Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor’

25
Jun

Naturally Quit Smoking – Part 2: Action

   Posted by: Dr. Tonia Mitchell ND    in Quit Smoking

Okay, so you’ve read Naturally Quit Smoking – Part 1:  Preparation and you’ve taken some of the preparation steps and now it is quitting time.  You’re ready.  You know you’re ready.   Your family knows, your friends know, your co-workers know – heck even the mail person knows.  You are even pretty sure your dog suspects something is up.  It’s time to take action!

The first action you have to take is actually a NON-action.  The first action (non-action) is to not smoke.  Easy right?  Ha!  I know you’re probably rolling your eyes.   Below are some tips to help you actually do (not do) this.

Soooo… what to do when the craving hits?

Cravings feel like they last forever but actually fade in two minutes. TWO MINUTES.  One hundred twenty seconds.  Half the length of a standard pop song.  You need to create a plan to make it through those cravings as the non-smoker you are (see how I’m already coaxing you to think of yourself as a non-smoker?).

 To naturally quit smoking try any (or all) of The Doable Ds:

  • Delay: wait 2-5 minutes and the craving will pass. Occupy your mind or your body with another task or activity.
  • Distract: change your surroundings: take a walk, call a friend or support person, change your meal routine, repeat your affirmations, sing a song, do a dance, eat some vegetables (carrot sticks, celery sticks), do a sudoku puzzle, do your dishes, do MY dishes…
  • Deep Breathing: this will help you relax and provide a new focus during cravings.  Breath deeply and slowly into your belly.
  • Drink Water: at least 2 litres a day will keep your mouth busy, fill you up, decrease cravings caused by dryness and help you detoxify.  You may also drink herbal tea.  Oatstraw (Avena Sativa) is a great option to reduce cravings and calm the nervous system.  It should be available as a loose tea at your local health health food store.
  • Day At A Time: do not concern yourself with the next year, next month, next week or even tomorrow.  Once you’ve quit, concentrate on not smoking from the time you wake up until you go to sleep.
  • Develop the attitute that you are doing yourself a favour by not smoking.  Do not dwell on the idea that you are depriving yourself of a cigarette.  You are ridding yourself of smoking because you care enough about yourself and your health to want too.  Affirm your choice: I am becoming healthier.  I am a non-smoker.  I enjoy my smoke-free life.  I make healthy choices in my life.
  • Don’t smoke automatically: Be aware of the actual act of smoking.  Catch yourself before you light up a cigarette out of pure habit.  Make yourself aware of each cigarette by using the opposite hand or putting cigarettes in a unfamiliar location to break the automatic reach.  If you light up many times during the day without even thinking about it, try looking in a mirror each time you put a match to your cigarette and you may decide you don’t need it.
  • Depart: get out of the area that is making you think you want to smoke.
  • Diet: I don’t mean reduce your calories or starve yourself.  I use “diet” to mean all the foods that make up your daily eating routine.  Proper nutrition is paramount to naturally quit smoking. Often cravings happen at times of low blood sugar. People often fill the nicotine void with comfort or disease-promoting foods – and then put on weight.  Instead consider these alternatives.  I mentioned carrot and celery sticks earlier.  I bet you can think of some other healthy snack options for when those cravings hit. I recommend protein with every meal or snack and eating whole foods like VEGETABLES, Vegetables, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans.  Oh, and vegetables.  It is beneficial to avoid refined foods such as sugar, white flour and candy. Refined grains and sugars disrupt blood sugar levels and can aggravate smoking withdrawal symptoms. Sugar substitutes increase sugar cravings.  Coffee can cause cravings and dehydration – causing further cravings, so it might be useful to avoid that too.   I know right?  With what are you left? A healthy body which will serve you much longer than a cigarette or that donut or that cup of coffee will. I bet (hope) there are things that you love in your life more than these vices.  Leaving them in your healthy dust will allow you to enjoy the things you love a lot longer.
  • Do Exercise: Moving your body is very important to improve mood and reduce cravings – it can even create the same feelings of euphoria that cigarettes can.  Exercise for 30 minutes every day.  Try walking to work, walking after dinner, take a friend to yoga!

What will happen when you quit?

Nicotine is a chemical in tobacco that is highly addictive. It is actually cleared from the body quite quickly. It is important to be aware of the possible side effects of nicotine withdrawal so you can be prepared to deal with these symptoms which might include: headache, difficulty sleeping, nausea, depression, irritability, fatigue, anxiety, poor concentration, constipation, craving for sweets, increased appetite.   Symptoms can occur for about 1 week and then are reduced.

Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes that continue for years. Source: US Center for Disease Control

20 Minutes After Quitting: Your heart rate drops. 12 hours: Carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. 2 Weeks to 3 Months: Your heart attack risk drops & your lung function improves. 1 to 9 Months: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease. 1 Year: risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s. 5 Years: stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker’s 5-15 years after quitting. 10 Years: lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s. Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases. 15 Years: Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a non-smokers. That is pretty powerful stuff.

Naturopathic medicine is a safe, effective and natural approach to you and your family’s health.  Naturopathic doctors can and will empower you to live a healthy lifestyle while treating and preventing disease.  Find more information on the services I offer at Arbour Wellness Centre at Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor. You can also follow me on my blog.  Happy Healing!!

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16
Jun

Naturally Quit Smoking – Part 1: Preparation

   Posted by: Dr. Tonia Mitchell ND    in Quit Smoking

I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to tell you that smoking is a health hazard and puts you at risk for a number of chronic health problems.  You probably also know how icky it is, especially for the non-smokers around you.  So, I’m not going to tell you any of that.  My passion is helping people feel better and living healthier lives and I’m going to tell you about your options to naturally quit smoking.  This post will be about the preparation.  There will be another post shortly about the action.   I have had great success working with my clients to support their decision to quit smoking and we’ve been able to do it without the use of medications.

Perhaps you are here reading this post because you’re interested in quitting.  (Congratulations!!). To naturally quit smoking (in fact to change any habit) it is important to acknowledge that there are distinct phases of behavior and change that one goes through.  People go through them at different rates.    Take a look at the list below.  Into what stage do you think you currently fall?

  • Precontemplation (not yet acknowledging that there is a problem behaviour that needs to be changed)
  • Contemplation (acknowledging that there is a problem but not yet ready or sure of wanting to make a change)
  • Preparation/determination (getting ready for change) ** keep reading for tips below
  • Action/willpower (changing behaviour) ** learn more in a future article at healthtopics
  • Maintenance (maintaining the behaviour change) and
  • Relapse (returning to older behaviours and abandoning the new changes)

Usually my clients who are hoping to naturally quit smoking are in the contemplation/preparation stages (if they were precontemplative they wouldn’t think the habit needed changing).  One of the first things I do is suggest they read: Allan Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking.  This book has helped a lot of people to look at their habit differently and give them the mental conviction to quit.  It is a great resource for my patients and works beautifully with my treatments (which include a combination of stress reduction techniques, herbal and vitamin support, food suggestions and acupuncture).  I recently had one patient who came to me about 3 weeks before her arbitrary “quit date.”  We decided to do acupuncture to support her throughout her quitting process.  She came back for the 2nd treatment a week later and asked, “What did you do to me?  I want to keep smoking until such and such a date, but whatever you did to me last week has caused cigarettes to revolt me.  I can barely get through 3 puffs!”  She is now happily NOT smoking and getting healthier every day.  She said it was easy to naturally quit smoking and she didn’t have any cravings.

So how can YOU prepare yourself?

Think and write! Seeing words on paper can really help solidify the details of your habit.  What are the pros and cons of smoking?  What are your smoking patterns?  When or where do you smoke?  With whom do you typically smoke? Are you aware of any emotional triggers? Why do you want to quit smoking?  Why will your life be better when you quit?

Set a date! Pick a calendar date.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be a time that you project to be low stress… in fact, sometimes it’s better to pick a time of high stress.  Tell people when you intend to quit.

De-Stress! Learn techniques to reduce and modify your stress.  Yoga, meditation, walking, exercise, calling a friend, yelling in the back yard – what ever works!

Save! Think of all the money you will be saving when you naturally quit smoking.  Plan a fun gift for yourself after a certain amount of time past your quit date.  Use some or ALL(!) of the money you would have spent on cigarettes.

Clean! Tidy certain areas in your house and car and designate them as smoke free zones.  Throw out cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays.

Grossify! Make smoking unpleasant.  Buy a different brand.  (Get acupuncture, apparently :)).  Smoke alone if it is a social activity for you.  Face your smoking chair towards a wall.  Collect all of your butts and put them in a clear jar as a visible reminder.

Cut and delay!  Cut your intake.  Smoke only half of each cigarette.  Don’t carry cigarettes.  Try to delay the first cigarette of the day by one hour.  Cut out the people that do not support your choice or that might influence you to smoke.  This is about you and your health.

It is possible to quit smoking. Millions have done it before you and you can too. If you’re feeling nervous about doing it on your own, employ the help of a professional.  I know my clients really benefit from a holistic approach, one that supports them emotionally, nutritionally and energetically.  Stay tuned for the next post on action.

Naturopathic medicine is a safe, effective and natural approach to you and your family’s health.  Naturopathic doctors can and will empower you to live a healthy lifestyle while treating and preventing disease.  Find more information on the services I offer at Arbour Wellness Centre at Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor. You can also follow me on my blog.  Happy Healing!!

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7
Dec

Healthy Holiday Tips – Get Your Sweat On Not Your Sweet On

   Posted by: Dr. Tonia Mitchell ND    in Nutrition

‘Tis the season.

Parties, huge meals, home baked goodies, sugar plums, candy canes and eggnog are just a few of the temptations we face at this time of year.

So many people toss up their hands and let slide all the progress they made toward their health goals in the previous months, figuring that the temptation of the season, the sense of guilt and obligation to enjoy friendly food gifts or thoughtful meals or even just the frantic busyness is no match for their will power.  Are the holidays really that hopeless?

I believe it is possible, with the following healthy holiday tips, to get through the season so that come January you still feel good about your progress, you still feel like you’ve honoured yourself and your health program, and you’re not rushing off to buy a gym membership in an attempt to shed that extra December padding.  All it takes is some planning and mindful dedication.

  1. Schedule time for yourself.  If you don’t you won’t get any.  Use this time to move your body in your favorite way – get your sweat on, not your sweet on.
  2. Stay hydrated.  Drink water throughout the day.  Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces per day (eg: if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces in a day).
  3. Don’t underestimate the possibility of the re-gift.  If you are given a box or a basket of goodies pass it off to a different recipient.  Bring it as a hostess gift or have it out on the food table if you are hosting your own party, donate it to charity – anything!  If you don’t feel like it would be a good choice for you, don’t choose it.  Compare when you put your hand on a hot stove, you automatically pull it away from the heat to prevent injury.  If it hurts, don’t do it.
  4. Snack nutritiously.  Mandarin oranges and pomegranates are in season at this time of year and full of anti-aging nutrients and fiber.  Always have quick access to veggie sticks or a small handful (10-12)  of almonds or walnuts.  You’ll have less room for treats and you will be less prone to seasonal infections.  Definitely have a snack before you leave for those holiday parties.

Let’s talk about some healthy holiday tips that will specifically address surviving those seasonal socials events.

  • Eat a healthy snack or meal before you leave.  Check.  We covered this.  Don’t starve yourself leading up to the event because you will have the tendency to over eat and your make your body panic and start storing everything you put in your mouth.
  • Talk a lot and listen more.  Your lips will be so busy conversing that you won’t be crunching.  Have these conversations away from the food display so that you’re not tempted to chew during the chat.
  • Choose the healthy options at the party: the veggie sticks, salsa, hummus, small amounts of cheese or nuts and of course fruit.  Before you dig in, ask yourself if you’re actually hungry or are feeling something else, like boredom, social awkwardness, nervousness or guilt.  Choose a small plate and put food on it instead of grazing – that way you know how much you’ve eaten.  Discard the plate and/or napkin when you’re finished so you don’t refill it.
  • Keep “The Deal.”  For every drink you have, refresh yourself with 2 glasses of water and for every sweet you eat, nourish yourself with 2 vegetables.  That’s “The Deal.”  Keep it.  Shake on it with a friend and hold each other accountable instead of holding each other’s rum and eggnog while you’re grabbing another butter tart.
  • If it’s a potluck celebration, bring a healthy, guilt-free dish.  Lead by example; your friends and family will thank you for your healthy holiday tips.
  • Be wary of drinking your calories.  Also, the more alcohol you drink the more likely you are to make less than ideal food choices.
  • Lastly, chew gum or keep a mint or two in your pocket to remind yourself your tongue has retired for the evening.

So you’ve blown it.  You gorged.  You don’t feel well physically or emotionally.  What now?  These healthy holiday tips might be the most important:

  1. Forgive yourself.  You’re only human.
  2. You may have fallen off the wagon and on to the dessert cart, but it is never too late to jelly roll yourself off and start over.  One lapse does not have to seal your fate.  Your progress is not destined to spiral into an over eating abyss.  One bad day, one bad hour, one bad food choice is not the end of the world.  Consciously decide to stick to your plan.
  3. Don’t starve yourself the next day to compensate for your over indulgence.  Choose fresh, nutritious foods and good, clean water.
  4. Sometimes it helps to strive not for weight loss over the holidays but weight maintenance.  At least then you’re unlikely to see a higher number on your scale.
  5. A little self reflection might prove worthwhile as well.  Ask yourself why you over-indulged.  Did you feel pressured?  Did you feel guilty?  Did you want to please someone? Keep in mind, that your health belongs to you and no one else.  You are in charge, you make the calls and no one but you decides you how you treat yourself.  Your greatest gift to yourself is practicing good health promoting behaviors, some of which I discussed in these articles: Natural Cures for Constipation and Stress Reduction Techniques.

I hope you find these healthy holiday tips practical and valuable.  I wish you and yours a safe and healthy holiday season.

Naturopathic medicine is a safe, effective and natural approach to you and your family’s health.  Naturopathic doctors can and will empower you to live a healthy lifestyle while treating and preventing disease.  Find more information on the services I offer at Arbour Wellness Centre at Nanaimo Naturopathic Doctor.

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