Quit smoking and add some years back to your life

Is it time to quit smoking?

Starting in October of 2012, cigarette companies will be required to use nine graphic warning labels recently unveiled by the US Food and Drug Administration, on the top half of every cigarette pack and on 20 percent of every poster ad.

Some are grisly like showing the top half of a cadaver after an autopsy while others show smoke drifting towards a young child’s face.

They estimate that over 200,000 people will quit smoking in the first year based on this aggressive strategy.

For about 6 months back in college, I was a casual smoker (it took me about a week to finish one pack!). I first started because of the social scene I traveled in and the “cool” factor many of us are tantalized with in movies and on television.

But then I said to myself, “what the hell am I doing?” Here I was concerned about trying to eat right and exercise to keep my heart working properly and yet I was pumping my body with a toxin I knew wasn’t good for me. Then after my great aunt died from a long battle with lung cancer (she smoked for over 40 years) I knew it was time to quit smoking once and for all.

I understand that smoking in an addiction, which is hard to quit.

But seriously, why bother wasting your time eating a healthy diet or working out at the gym if smoking is still a part of your daily routine? If you’re going to make a conscious decision to try and support a “healthy” lifestyle, isn’t this one place you should definitely start?

I hope that these new graphics will help to sway people from starting and urge many current smokers to quit. But truthfully, I’m not sure that they will, for you yourself need to realize there’s a real benefit to quit smoking. Here’s hoping you do.