Articles by Lou Ryan on ArticleSnatch.com

Stop Smoking Easily and Permanently

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:01:06 -0400

Permanent smoking cessation — it’s not just a pipe dream. In fact, learning how to stop smoking forever is relatively easy, as long as you understand what smoking is. Smoking is often categorized as a physical addiction, but the truth is that smoking goes much deeper, and has much more complicated roots. To stop smoking permanently, you have to uproot the addiction at its source, which means understanding the psychological and emotional components of the addiction. Even the most die-hard smokers will acknowledge that smoking is not physically attractive. Yet, simply focusing on the physical manifestations of smoking will not help you quit permanently. So many people have tried and failed to quit due to their insistence on treating smoking as simply a physical problem. Effective smoking cessation programs focus on ridding you of the desire to smoke, which means identifying what emotional triggers are affecting you and prompting you to light up. Once you understand where your desire to smoke comes from, you can effectively shut it down. This mental release is deeply powerful, and defeats the addiction that most cessation programs are unable to tackle. **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smoker]]> smokers]]> stop smoking]]> smoking quit]]> smoking]]> cessation]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Smoking: An Emotional Addiction, Not a Physical One

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:41:34 -0400

Smoking has always been associated with a feeling. Watch practically any Hollywood film shot before 1970, and smoking is associated with glamour, prestige, and a certain worldliness otherwise denied to those without a lighter and the ability to effortlessly blow smoke rings. So why do so many people assume that smoking is primarily a physical addiction? Smoking is instead an emotional experience, and as such, is impossible to quit unless the smoker is willing to admit how deeply smoking is bound up with feeling. For some, smoking is about the control and mastery of one’s emotions. In popular cinema, when a particularly stressful event befalls the protagonist, he often takes the reflex action of lighting a cigarette to deal with the situation. In real life, although the events may not be as dramatically staged, the impulse is exactly the same. For others, smoking is a way to elevate themselves above a difficult situation. Think of any of the iconic musicians whose cigarettes casually dangle on their lips. With this simple gesture, the musicians convey an attitude of invulnerability. In real life, smoking can often provide the smoker emotional shelter from the difficulties of daily life. **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smokers]]> stop smoking]]> smoking quit]]> smoking]]> cessation]]> to quit smoking]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Quit Smoking By Changing the Way We Feel About Cigarettes

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:42:46 -0400

Quitting smoking isn’t just about finding new ways to keep your hands occupied—it’s about changing the way we feel about cigarettes. Although many smoking cessation programs focus on the physical aspects of smoking, the root of the addiction is buried deep within our emotions. Without changing the way we feel about cigarettes, we will continually lapse and start smoking again. This is why so many people try to quit smoking and fail—they haven’t figured out that the real addiction isn’t physical. The idea that cigarettes represent the promise of relief to so many problems is deeply ingrained within us. As smokers, we are not simply responding to the ingredients encased within the paper wrapping; to us, cigarettes are something we can always rely on to help us through a difficult or stressful part of our lives. Unfortunately, when we stop learning to deal with emotional problems as they occur, and rely instead on cigarettes, we forget that our emotions can be dealt with in a healthy manner. Cigarettes become a much more important part of our emotional lives than they should be; **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smoker]]> smokers]]> stop smoking]]> smoking quit]]> smoking]]> cessation]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

The Truth Behind Why People Smoke

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:03:24 -0400

Nicotine is often cited as being one of the most addictive substances on earth; but, despite its intoxicating nature, the truth behind why people smoke is not rooted solely in a simple physical craving. Smoking, like many other addictions, is also heavily based in an individual’s psychological outlook. Almost anyone can train themselves not to pick up a cigarette, but it is far more difficult to train the mind to stop imagining smoking as a pleasurable activity. Smokers who do manage to permanently quit do so not because they’ve managed to effectively hide their cigarettes, but because they’ve trained themselves to no longer desire them. Smoking cessation is so difficult in part because without removing the psychological impulse to smoke, a relapse is almost inevitable whenever stress triggers a familiar path that the brain believes can only be ‘solved’ by taking a puff on a cigarette. Removing this link, and finding a new way of conceptualizing the importance of one’s health, are vital components of any successful smoking cessation plan. Stress, especially in the modern era, is problematic. Many people develop coping mechanisms to help handle the seemingly endless deluge of problems and surprises that confront us daily. **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smoker]]> smokers]]> stop smoking]]> smoking quit]]> smoking]]> cessation]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Quit Smoking With Your Body and Your Mind

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:01:33 -0500

Deciding that you’re going to quit smoking is a little like deciding that you’re going to climb Mount Everest. Rarely, if ever, does anyone plan to scale the peak in one day. Climbing a mountain takes preparation and an understanding that it is not a single step, but a series of movements, spaced out over a carefully planned journey, that will get you to the top. The same method applies to quitting smoking; you have to accept that it is a process with different stages that will be accomplished over time. Smoking cessation is not only a physical process, but a mental one, too. Not only does your body crave nicotine, but you mentally crave the release of tension associated with smoking. Quitting smoking is about learning how to change your underlying psychological addiction. Addiction is never simply a matter of taking away the tangible substance; it’s about altering the behavior that made that substance a necessary part of your daily life. Learning how to confront your own psychological attitudes toward smoking is a process that takes time, but will ultimately reward you with a much clearer sense of who you are, and how you want to live your life. **End Summary** Topics: Addicted to food]]> overeating]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Confronting the Psychology of Food Addiction

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:57:47 -0500

When you think about an emotionally traumatic experience, like breaking up with your significant other, is your first impulse to eat something to calm down? Do you think about food when facing other stressful scenarios, such as talking to someone you don’t particularly like, or even the idea of just getting through your day? If so, you are showing the classic signs of being addicted to food, and as a result, you are probably also overweight. If you resort to eating as way to combat your emotional stress, you have a dangerous psychological addiction that is affecting your physical health. But how do you overcome an addiction to something as necessary as food? Food addiction, like other addictions, starts in the brain. Physical addiction is always much easier to cure than psychological addiction, because unlike physical addiction, psychological addiction is rooted deep within our neural pathways. We build profound emotional connections with our addiction. Every time we have a stressful feeling, we will automatically start thinking about eating to help combat that stress. This is the brutal truth of addiction. In the case of food, we are surrounded by it all day, throughout the year. **End Summary** Topics: Addicted to food]]> overeating]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Are You Eating Too Much?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:18:47 -0500

Unlike alcohol or cigarettes, food is something that everyone has access to, and is expected to take part in. While developing an addiction to food is incredibly easy, understanding that you have an addiction to food can be incredibly difficult. At what point does a helping of ice cream turn into a lifetime of hoarding sweets? When do we blur the distinction between eating because we are physically hungry, and eating because we are emotionally unfulfilled? Whenever it happens, and for whatever reason, food addiction is real, and the only way to deal with it is to start understanding why you eat the way you do, and how you can start eating in a more healthy way. Of course, different people respond to food in different ways, and the underlying motivators of addiction vary from person to person. Ask yourself this question: if you’re sad, is your first response to eat something? How about if you’re stressed out, or angry, or tired? If you generally eat in these circumstances, you’re probably addicted to food. Simply put, you are using food to deal with your emotions. Addiction starts in the brain and manifests in our behaviors. **End Summary** Topics: weight loss]]> smoking cessation]]> cognitive based programs]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Understanding The Behaviors Behind Smoking

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:45:59 -0500

Smoking isn’t simply about putting a cigarette between your lips and lighting up—it’s about a relationship, a dependency, and a way of taking comfort in something unhealthy. Many smoking cessation programs encourage you to substitute gums or other substances for your smoking addiction. However, by utilizing a substitution method, these smoking cessation programs fail to address the underlying urge to smoke. To truly free yourself from a smoking addiction, you need to understand your psychological addiction to smoking and not simply find another substitute. A complete cessation of smoking is reliant on a mental change in perspective. To truly quit, without having to ingest any pills, gums, or other substitutes, or experience undue anxiety or stress, you must begin to eliminate cravings and replace them with a healthy mindset. To quit smoking, despite what many smoking cessation programs may tell you, is not simple, or a matter of a few quick steps. The most effective smoking cessation programs teach you how to quit smoking psychologically, which is the first and most important step to physically quitting. This process involves opening yourself up to understanding your relationship to smoking. Why do you feel the need to smoke? **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smoker]]> smokers]]> stop smoking]]> smoking]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the smoking cessation industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation , and other cognitive based programs.

Compulsive Overeating and Diabetes

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:41:50 -0500

The behavior of compulsive overeating leads to the condition of being overweight, which is a heavily cited factor in the development of the blood sugar disease known as diabetes. Type II diabetes, which is the form of the disease usually diagnosed in adults who have a compulsive overeating disorder, features symptoms including blurred vision, increased urination, and infections in the feet and legs. Diabetes can also result in a variety of complications, including kidney failure, heart problems, and blindness. The first step in avoiding diabetes is to stop compulsive overeating. The best way to prevent compulsive overeating is to understand the psychological factors involved, eliminate the behavior, and ultimately prevent the development of the crippling and life-long disease of diabetes. What is Diabetes? Diabetes is essentially a surplus of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. Insulin, which is created by the pancreas, normally combats the oversupply of glucose in the blood of healthy people. However, in a patient with diabetes, the pancreas is unable to supply insulin, requiring the patient to seek outside insulin injections. Because there is no pill form of insulin, injections and a newly proposed nasal spray are the only methods of receiving insulin. **End Summary** Topics: weight]]> weight gain]]> fat loss]]> fast weight lose]]> losing weig]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss , smoking cessation, and other cognitive based programs.

Understanding How to Lose Weight Permanently

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:40:02 -0500

Many weight loss programs emphasize a so-called ‘cold turkey’ approach to food, or a restrictive diet. Both of these approaches fail to factor in long-term goals. You may have tried weight loss programs like these, but had little or no success staying fit. Simply put, it is exceptionally difficult to deal with deep-seated cravings, when what we crave is not actually what we need. In our culture, it is easy to develop an unhealthy relationship with food, but seemingly impossible to reform that relationship. How do you change the way you eat when it is such a vital part of your life? Usually, weight loss programs focus primarily on short-term weight loss goals, such as dropping a given amount of weight in time to wear a bikini for summer. While this is a laudable accomplishment, it is a short-lived goal that has no real long-term sustainability. What happens after you lose the weight and wear the bikini? How do you keep the pounds from returning? While exercise, calories, and healthy foods do play an important role in losing weight, the key factor to establishing a good relationship with food is how you conceive of eating. **End Summary** Topics: weight]]> weight gain]]> fat loss]]> fast weight lose]]> losing weig]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The author has many years of experience in the weight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss , smoking cessation, and other cognitive based programs.

The Need For Self Help Programs

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:47:00 -0400

Self help programs are the hot stuff in this modern world. So what does self help exactly mean? As the phrase indicates, depending on thyself to improve the lifestyle and habits is the main motive of self help. You will be well aware of the fact that there are thousands of self help programs available today. Most of these self help programs have already gained huge popularity worldwide. If self help is a mentality to improve lifestyle with own help, what is the need of the self help programs? Just keep on reading the article to find the answer for this question. Self Help Doesn't Come Naturally To Everyone Self guided improvement mentality will not be a quality of a person by birth. Though there are some people out there who are good enough in handling personal problems and managing their lifestyle on their own, there are many other people who need some kind of assistance here. There are many people who need great motivation to understand the importance of self help to lead a happy and healthy life. This is where the online self help programs come in to play. **End Summary** Topics: smoking]]> smoke]]> quit]]> smoker]]> compulsive overeating disorder]]> compulsive overeaters]]> weight]]> weight gain]]> fat loss]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Our author has did a lot of research in studies related to dangers of chewing tobacco and different diseases come to smokers . He has many articles online listing the endangers due to smoking.