Reasons to Quit Smoking

Ready to quit smoking? Every smoker has their own personal reasons for quitting. Here are some common ones. Think about what is most important to you.

Your Health

According to the Surgeon General, quitting smoking is the single most important step a smoker can take to improve the length and quality of his or her life. As soon as you quit, your body begins to repair the damage caused by smoking. Of course, it's best to quit early in life, but even someone who quits later in life will improve their health.

Your Wallet

It's expensive to smoke cigarettes. In some places, a pack of cigarettes costs more than $10—and prices keep rising. Even if a pack costs "only" $5 where you live, smoking one pack per day adds up to $1,825.00 each year.

Your Convenience

Smoking is a hassle. More and more states and cities have passed clean indoor air laws that make bars, restaurants, and other public places smokefree. Are you tired of having to go outside many times a day to have a cigarette? Is standing in the cold and the rain really worth having that cigarette? Wouldn't it be easier if you could choose to go outside only when you want to and not when you need to?

Your Friends and Family

Cigarette smoke harms everyone who inhales it, not just the smoker. Whether you're young or old and in good health or bad, secondhand smoke is dangerous and can make you sick. Children who live with smokers get more chest colds and ear infections, while babies born to mothers who smoke have an increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Both you and the people in your life will breathe easier when you quit. Ex-smokers don't carry the scent of smoke on their clothes and hair, and their homes don't smell like cigarettes. Better breathing can mean better sleep at your house: Not only are smokers more likely to snore, so are non-smokers who breathe secondhand smoke on a daily basis.

Your Quality of Life

Here are some ways being a nonsmoker may affect your life:

• Because smoking interferes with your sense of taste, food tastes better when you quit.
• Your sense of smell also improves, so get ready to really enjoy the scent of flowers or fresh-cut grass.
• You'll be able to make it through a long movie or an airplane flight without craving a cigarette.
• Within a few weeks after quitting, your smoker's cough will disappear and you'll have more energy.
• See how quickly your body responds to your decision to quit smoking on the benefits of quitting timeline.