Two weeks ago we buried my sister-in-law, Kelly…Kiki as we affectionately called her. It’s still hard to believe she is gone. I am thankful that she no longer has to suffer and that we had her with us five years longer than the doctors originally thought when she spent several days in the hospital back in 2009. We were told she wouldn’t leave the hospital then and if she did she only had a few weeks. If you knew Kiki, she had quite a stubborn streak and I guess she showed them!
In 2009 Kiki was diagnosed with COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She had smoked since her early teens and had tried to quit many times. After her official diagnoses I remember her begging my son, Bo to never start smoking that it is just to worth it. I know she would have given anything to be able to quit!
I claim to know nothing about smoking cessation.
I know tobacco is highly addictive and its just plain hard to quit. You may not have a tobacco problem but chances are someone in your life does. Guess what? They know it’s bad for them. They know they should quit. You don’t need to remind them of this brutal fact. It’s rude and comes across as uncaring. What should you do? Love them unconditionally and let them know that they are not bad people because the smoke and it doesn’t make you love them any less. Don’t think bad of them because they smoke, you may not be fully aware of how badly they want to quit or how many times they have tried or how bad they feel about themselves because they haven’t quit!
So how can you support the smoker in your life?
A smoker or tobacco user, just like anyone else, can improve his or her health by eating a nutritious diet. Just because a smoker is making one unhealthy choice doesn’t mean she should throw in the towel and believe eating healthy won’t do her any good if she can’t quit smoking. That is nonsense. Every little positive change can add up to big results over time.
I realize that just like its hard to quit smoking, it can also be difficult to change your eating habits. I am not an advocate of changing everything all at once. I don’t believe that this sets anyone up for success especially the smoker who may already feel bad about herself because she can’t quit smoking. Support the smoker in your life by encouraging him or her to add more fresh vegetable and fruits. Perhaps the two of you could challenge each other to find ways to incorporate more healthy fare or cut back on some of the processed foods the two of you may eat. Learn how to help the body reduce inflammation created from smoking and poor diet by eating whole foods lower on the glycemic index. Want more info on how to do this? Check out my Clean Up Your Diet Online Nutrition Program where I help you take the guess work out and show you easy steps to make small changes that can have a huge benefit to your health!
A tobacco user not only should be eating a health diet, but she should help her body get more of what it needs by supplementing with high quality pharmaceutical grade supplements. My product partner, USANA Health Sciences, is consistently one of the highest ranking supplement manufacturers in North America year after year. You can click here to take your own True Health Assessment and learn not only which supplements are recommended for you, but get an assessment of your health as a whole based on your answers with specific suggestions to improve your quality of life. (Please note it is not designed to diagnose any disease, nor should any of its recommendations be considered medical advice or a replacement for treatment from medical doctor.)
Kiki was one of my biggest supporters of my health and wellness business. She was usually always the first to like anything I posted on Facebook. I will miss her and her encouragement. I will miss how she used to send me articles she thought that I might enjoy and ask me questions about things she had read. She was never critical and always supportive. She was my cheerleader. She loved that I had a dream to #liveBIG and help others do the same.
Get healthy and #liveBIG!
Are you ready to make changes to your health? Better yet, are you ready to make changes to your health and your bank account? Do you want to #liveBIG but are not sure how to start and how to make changes that will give you the freedom to create the lifestyle you have always wanted? Don’t let life pass you by as you continue to accept the status quo! Know that you can be the person you have always dreamed of being and you can #liveBIG!
Join me and Elizabeth Rider, my friend, mentor and inspirational leader of Enlightened Living International, for a FREE Webinar on Wednesday, September 17th at 7pm CST. Elizabeth will be sharing with you the exact steps she took to grow her health and wellness business online and create a 6 figure income all while becoming more healthy herself! Mark you calendar now and make plans to join us for this exciting live event.
Click Here to Join!
This exclusive #liveBIG webinar will only be available once and no replay will be available! Join us and learn how you too can #liveBIG and become the healthy person YOU were meant to be! Can’t wait to see you there!
