While you want to stop, you might not know what happens to your body when you quit smoking. In addition to nicotine, cigarettes contain many chemicals that affect your health in very damaging ways. It might be difficult to believe, but healing begins within 20 minutes when you quit smoking.

Within the first 20 minutes of quitting, your healing process begins. Your blood pressure decreases, your pulse rate drops, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increases. These benefits will continue to improve your health for years.

After eight hours of quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal and the oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.

At 24 hours, your chance of a heart attack decreases.

At 48 hours, your nerve endings begin regrowth and your ability to smell and taste improves.

And the benefits of quitting smoking are just beginning.

Between two weeks and thee months of stopping, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier, and your lung function increases.

Your worst nicotine withdrawal symptoms subside within the first month. After that, you learn how to decipher and reprogram the psychological urges to smoke that you’ve all built up over the years.

Starting as early as a month after you quit smoking, and continuing for the next several months, you may notice significant improvements in coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath.

At one year smoke-free, your excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker.

Once you put a year between you and the last cigarette you smoke, congratulate yourself! Be grateful for the freedom you have created for yourself. The benefits of the positive choices you’ve made will continue to grow as you move forward from here.

For all of the work it takes to shed your addiction to nicotine, the incredible feelings of freedom and control you’ll be rewarded with when you quit smoking are just the beginning of the benefits headed your way.

At two years smoke-free, your chance of achieving long-term success with quitting tobacco increases significantly. Smoking relapse rates drop off sharply after two years.

At five years after quitting tobacco, your stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.

At 10 years smoke-free, your risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers and your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases. Your risk of ulcers also decreases.

At 15 years smoke-free, your risk of coronary heart disease is similar to that of people who have never smoked, and your risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked.

It may be difficult to imagine yourself as an ex-smoker with 15 years of freedom from the habit. It is possible, and it starts with a first step of making the commitment to quit, and then taking action. From there, it’s just a day-by-day process.

Now that you’ve seen what happens to your body when you quit smoking, you’ll want to stop as quickly as possible. Don’t let smoking waste any more of your life.

The Great American Smokeout is just two days away and if you’ve decided to quit smoking we want to congratulate you! There are steps you can take to ensure your success with giving up smoking this year.

1. Designate your quit day – mark it on your calendar and tell others about it so they can support you.

2. Plan your entire day – know when you’re going to get up, who you’re going to hang out with, and what you’re going to eat. Change your routine from the everyday. Take a different route to work, eat in a different place, drink tea instead of coffee.

3. Plan ahead for when you think the urge to smoke might come and decide how you’re going to handle it.

4. Keep active and drink lots of water and juices.

5. Buy yourself a treat – do something special to celebrate your success.

6. Take one day at a time and remind yourself of why quitting is important to you.

7. Enlist the help of a professional. Visit www.cancer.org/docroot/subsite/greatamericans/smokeout.asp to have someone from the American Cancer Society’s Quitline personally contact you.

And remember to take things one day at a time. Every day that you remain smoke free is a step closer to a healthier life.

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.

12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

1 year after quitting:The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.

5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker’s. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease.

15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker’s.

*Taken from The American Cancer Society

While you want to stop, you might not know what happens to your body when you quit smoking. In addition to nicotine, cigarettes contain many chemicals that affect your health in very damaging ways. It might be difficult to believe, but healing begins within 20 minutes when you quit smoking.

Within the first 20 minutes of quitting, your healing process begins. Your blood pressure decreases, your pulse rate drops, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increases. These benefits will continue to improve your health for years.

After eight hours of quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal and the oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.

At 24 hours, your chance of a heart attack decreases.

At 48 hours, your nerve endings begin regrowth and your ability to smell and taste improves.

And the benefits of quitting smoking are just beginning.

Between two weeks and thee months of stopping, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier, and your lung function increases.

Your worst nicotine withdrawal symptoms subside within the first month. After that, you learn how to decipher and reprogram the psychological urges to smoke that you’ve all built up over the years.

Starting as early as a month after you quit smoking, and continuing for the next several months, you may notice significant improvements in coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath.

At one year smoke-free, your excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker.

Once you put a year between you and the last cigarette you smoke, congratulate yourself! Be grateful for the freedom you have created for yourself. The benefits of the positive choices you’ve made will continue to grow as you move forward from here.

For all of the work it takes to shed your addiction to nicotine, the incredible feelings of freedom and control you’ll be rewarded with when you quit smoking are just the beginning of the benefits headed your way.

At two years smoke-free, your chance of achieving long-term success with quitting tobacco increases significantly. Smoking relapse rates drop off sharply after two years.

At five years after quitting tobacco, your stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.

At 10 years smoke-free, your risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers and your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases. Your risk of ulcers also decreases.

At 15 years smoke-free, your risk of coronary heart disease is similar to that of people who have never smoked, and your risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked.

It may be difficult to imagine yourself as an ex-smoker with 15 years of freedom from the habit. It is possible, and it starts with a first step of making the commitment to quit, and then taking action. From there, it’s just a day-by-day process.

Now that you’ve seen what happens to your body when you quit smoking, you’ll want to stop as quickly as possible. Don’t let smoking waste any more of your life.