Giving up smoking

My friend in Ireland is a serial smoker. She is also a serial quitter. But last month her husband had a heart attack and they laid the blame at the feet of cigarettes.

No surprise then that she, her husband and her adult son have decided to quit together. Imagine - a household with all three of them giving up smoking at the same time!

She's given up before, but usually some stressful situation or other has triggered the start of smoking again. Sometimes not even stress, sometimes it was a social event such as a family wedding, or just 'the girls' out for the night, or just the fact that she fancied a smoke.

But she's always wanted to quit, knowing that it's not good for anyone's health. What could I do, tucked away in England? Well, it's obvious really, I bought her the 'quit smoking in 28 days or less' programme of course.

After the first few days I asked her how it was going. She said it was OK - a bit 'supercillious', but that actually she kept going back to it and that it helped her keep on track.

She's quite a strong minded lady my friend, so I'm sure that she will do it this time. When I've nudged her about giving up smoking before, she basically hasn't wanted to, but this time? This time, I think, given the help of the programme and the best motivation in the world (the health of her family), I think she will do it.

I'll keep you posted.