[00:07.00]A healthy life
[00:08.75]Reading
[00:10.29]ADVICE FROM GRANDAD
[00:13.77]Dear James,
[00:15.73]It’s a beautiful day here and I am sitting under the big tree at the end of the garden.
[00:21.60]I have just returned from a long bike ride to the old castle.
[00:27.17]It’s amazing that at my age I am still fit enough to cycle 20 kilometres in an afternoon.
[00:34.69]It’s my birthday in two weeks time and I’ll be 82 years old!
[00:41.04]I think my long and active life must be due to the healthy life I live.
[00:47.28]This brings me to the real reason for my letter, my dear grandson.
[00:52.95]Your mother tells me that you have started smoking and that you are finding it difficult to give up.
[01:00.40]Believe me, I know how easy it is to begin smoking and how hard it is to stop.
[01:07.47]You see, when I was a teenager I also smoked and became addicted to cigarettes.
[01:15.13]By the way, did you know there are three different ways you can become addicted?
[01:22.08]You can become physically addicted to nicotine, which is one of the hundreds of chemicals in cigarettes.
[01:30.54]This means that after a while your body becomes accustomed to having nicotine in it and when the drug leaves your body, you feel sick, bad-tempered, or even in pain.
[01:44.10]You can also become addicted through habit.
[01:47.62]As you know, if you do the same thing over and over again, you become addicted through habit.
[01:55.67]Lastly, you can become mentally addicted.
[01:59.61]Some people believe they fell happier or more relaxed after they have a cigarette and so they begin to think that they only fell good when they smoke.
[02:10.69]I think I was addicted in all three ways, so it was very difficult to give up.
[02:18.24]But I did finally mange.
[02:20.90]When I was young , I didn’t know much about the harmful effects of smoking .
[02:27.96]I didn’t know it could do terrible damage to your heart and lungs or that it was more difficult for smoking couples to become pregnant.
[02:38.01]And I certainly didn’t know that my cigarette smoke could affect the health of non-smokers.
[02:45.38]However, what I did know was that my girlfriend thought I smelt terrible .
[02:51.62]she said my breath and clothes smelt and that the ends of my fingers were turning yellow.
[02:58.68]She said she wouldn’t go out with me again unless I stopped!
[03:03.95]I also noticed that I couldn’t run as fast any more and that I wasn’t enjoying sport as much.
[03:12.31]When I was taken off the school football team because I was too slow, I knew it was time to quit smoking.
[03:21.38]I am sending you some advice I found on the internet.
[03:25.92]It might help you to stop.
[03:28.27]I do hope so because I want you to live as long and healthy a life as I have.
[03:35.43]Love from Grandad
[03:38.59]How can I stop smoking?
[03:43.56]It isn’t easy to stop smoking, but millions have managed to quit and so can you.
[03:51.13]Here are a few suggestions.
[03:53.40]Prepare yourself.
[03:52.40]Decide on a day to quit.
[03:55.46]Don’t choose a day that you know is going to be stressful, such as the day of an exam.
[04:01.52]Make a list of all the benefits you will get from stopping smoking.
[04:06.28]At the end of the day before you plan to quit, throw away your last packet of cigarettes.
[04:12.52]Be determined.
[04:14.95]Every time you fell like smoking a cigarette, remind yourself that you are a non-smoker.
[04:21.79]Reread the list of benefits you wrote earlier.
[04:25.55]Break the habit. Instead of smoking a cigarette, do something else.
[04:32.53]Go for a walk, clean you teeth, drink some water, clean the house;
[04:37.78]in fact, do anything that will keep your mind, and especially your hands, busy.
[04:45.04]Relax.
[04:46.90]If you start to feel nervous or stressed, don’t reach fro a cigarette.
[04:51.96]Try some deep breathing instead.
[04:54.60]Learn some relaxation exercises and do them every time you fell stressed.
[05:00.95]Get help if you need it .
[05:03.98]Arrange to stop smoking with a friend so you can talk about your problems , or join a stop-smoking group
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