Women smokers differ from men smokers. They may share the
basics of what they call an “addiction,” but have different
reasons for smoking and stopping, and different strengths and
weaknesses that alter their experience.

As a woman, here’s how you may have substantial advantages over
men in quitting:

1. Women are better at getting help and giving help to each
other. That means if a woman wants or needs to quit, she can
more readily ask for her friends’ help, and that support from
girlfriends will be more motivating to her than it would be to a
man.

2. Women smokers often stop cold for pregnancy. The most
fortunate stop in preparation for becoming pregnant. Others need
the impetus of discovering they are already pregnant. The strong
desire to have a child, particularly one who is born healthy,
and to avoid defects that a smoking mother can cause in vitro,
are powerful motivators to many women who deeply desire to be
mothers.

This was brought home to me many times in my smoking-cessation
work with women. A woman who says she failed to stop smoking
many times before often does so easily because she wants to have
a baby, or because one is already on its way.

With all the publicity around smoking in general, and smoking
while pregnant in particular, it is a rare pregnant woman who
smokes. At least in company.

If a woman can stop for pregnancy and nursing, and often for
raising the young child, she has already developed the habit of
not-smoking, and the addiction to clear lungs, fresh breath, and
a clean, healthy mouth. She can simply choose to “stay stopped.”

3. Women smokers are concerned about how smoking will affect
their children physically. And because they usually spend more
time with their children than men do, the concern is both acute
and valid. The danger of secondhand smoke, especially to young
lungs, has been a growing concern in recent years.

4. Women smokers are aware that children may smoke because they
grew up watching their mother smoke. Mothers realize how much
influence their behaviors wield over their children, and worry
about promoting dangerous habits.

5. Women smokers worry that smoking affects their looks. They
are sensitive to the “smoker’s wrinkles” long-time smokers
acquire at the corners of their smiles and around their lips, in
addition to the dehydrated skin that is often seen on women who
have smoked for many years.

Women have thinner, finer skin more deeply affected by
wrinkles, and because wrinkles on women are not considered
attractive, they work to avoid wrinkling. For many women, young
and old, beauty continues to motivate. In this case, that’s
quite useful.

Are there ways women smokers are disadvantaged in quitting
smoking? Frankly, there are two particular ways. First, women
are often more concerned about their weight than men. If they
convince themselves that smoking keeps them thinner, they may
set themselves up to be lifelong smokers.

But informed women know that most smokers gain no more than a
few pounds, if any, when they first quit. One theory is that
this is the drying affect that smoking creates (think beef
jerky); as nonsmokers, that lost water weight is regained
briefly. Once the body is used to being nonsmoking, those pounds
drop off.

In fact, those who huffed and puffed as smokers—and couldn’t
exercise—often enjoy working out energetically once they’ve quit
and regained oxygen flow.

These women become slimmer, trimmer, and tighter than they ever
were before. And because their tastebuds are no longer inhibited
by the smoking habit, they regain their sense of taste (and
smell!), and can enjoy every bit of pleasure from smaller
morsels of food.

The second “disadvantage” for women quitters is the flip side
of their #1 advantage: the influence of girlfriends. Just as the
supportive friend makes quitting easier, the friend who tempts
the former smoker to smoke “just one” can wipe out all those
good efforts. Choose friends well, and ask for support from
those who will truly help and not sabotage. Recognize “smoking
saboteurs” who prefer having you as a fellow smoker.

About The Author: Wendy Lapidus-Saltz is a certified
hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner who helps people break
unproductive habits and create productive ones. Based in
Chicago, she is known for her unique smoking-cessation program.
For more info on her program visit nonsmoker4life.com

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