Just about anyone who has smoked cigarettes, or indulged in any other form of tobacco use, can associate with Jennifer Zimmerman's struggle. My bout with nicotine came about when it was suggested to be a remedy to my personal lifelong battle — my size, XXL. Before that, I had been an anti-smoker, had even created a poster that hung above my TV which read: “Please do not smoke. We love you too much to let you.” In 1978, I had just turned 26 when my brother-in-law, who had begun fighting an adult-onset battle of the bulge of his own, told me that smoking cigarettes made it easier to stick to a diet and lose weight. His advice proved true for the first year, or so. But the more my body became accustomed to the nicotine intake, the less effect it had on my appetite. In addition to my “yo-yo” dieting habits, I developed yo-yo smoking habits as well. With a little more than a year of smoking under my belt, I began “quitting.” I'd quit for a day, smoke for another three weeks; quit for a week, smoke for another three months. My first successful, total “quit” lasted from late 1981 through early 1985 — three and one half years. In 1985, after about five months of taking breaks with a chain-smoking co-worker at Allegheny Valley Hospital, I began smoking a cig once in awhile along with her. Within a few weeks, I was smoking full-time again. Smoking wasn't quite as bad during the warmer of the spring, summer and fall months when I could take my dirty habit outdoors. In the wintertime, the musty smell of stale smoke and cigarette butts indoors was sickening. I remember spraying Windex on my livingroom window and watching the clear blue liquid run down the glass in brownish streaks, thinking, “Is that what I'm putting into my lungs?”From my “born again smoker” experience in 1985, I yo-yo'd my way through another three years, until I successfully quit — for the last time — again, in 1988. My family doctor told me that smoking cigarettes was more of a health risk than being overweight. My 1988 successful quit lasted almost two years. By late-1989, I was smoking again.For those of us who have a tendency to become physically addicted to nicotine, I have found that the only way to successfully quit, and stay quit, is to make major lifestyle changes. l Stop going to bars and lounges. Drinking alcohol sparks the need for nicotine. l Try out new activities, such as hiking or biking, and get high on adrenaline and Mother Nature. l Cut down on caffeine. Caffeine also sparks the craving for a cigarette. l Spend less time with family members and friends who smoke and more time with those who don't. l Consider the cost. A one-pack-per-day cigarette habit today can run anywhere from $85 to $120 per month. l Grab a white hankie, light up a cig, inhale deeply, hold the hankie tightly across your mouth and exhale. See the brown yuck? It now has been more than 12 years since I've smoked a cigarette. What worked best for me, and keeps me smoke-free, is having an anti-smoking spouse. Just marry an accomplished whiner-complainer, someone who is great at woodworking, remodeling and yard work, so you'll have incentive to hang on and endure the whining and complaining that is keeping you from lighting up. Anything that helps keep you from puffing on a cigarette, or a cigar, or a pipe, is worth it.

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