This week has had its heavy bits for a lot of us, so I would love to fill the comments with the opposite for a change. Tell me one small thing you are looking forward to, however ordinary. A show you’re currently watching, a home-cooked meal by someone you love, a flowering garden, or a grandchild visiting. The little ones count the most. I’ll start. I am looking forward to sipping hot coffee in the morning tomorrow, because it’s been chilly here for days now. Makes me sleepy too! 🥱 What’s yours? Z

I came across something this week that I thought to share with everyone here. Barack Obama, all through his years in the White House, was quietly fighting the same fight we are. During the stressful moments, he was smoking up to half a pack a day, and he leaned on nicotine gum to stop. What struck me was how honest he was about how hard it was. He once said he was, in his own words, "95 percent cured, but there are times where I mess up." A man with the most demanding job on earth, still slipping now and then, still getting back to it. If that is not permission to be kind to yourself on the days you wobble, I do not know what is. The thing that finally tipped him over was his daughter Malia catching the smell of it on him and pulling a face. Truly, oftentimes, it’s something small and ordinary that moves a person. 🙆🏻‍♀️ Here is the piece if you want a read: https://www.thelist.com/299001/this-is-what-finally-convinced-barack-obama-to-quit-smoking/ What is the moment, big or small, that made you want to quit? Z

Someone joined us last week, and with everyone getting back into the swing of a new week, I want to make sure we give them a proper welcome. Every time a new person turns up here, it means one more person decided they are worth the effort, and I never get tired of that. One lovely thing about being small is that nobody gets lost in a crowd, so a hello here really reaches someone instead of vanishing into a feed. If you have a minute today, pop into the comments and say hi to our newest member @Alison Koch!! A few friendly faces early on goes a long way. And while you are here, help me give them a running start. If you are further along, what is one thing you wish someone had told you in your first week? Big or small, silly or serious, it all counts. Z

Something I hear from people who have smoked for a long time is a quiet worry that the damage is already done, so why bother. I understand why it feels that way, and the evidence says something kinder. The American Cancer Society lays out what happens after your last cigarette, and the body starts making up ground faster than most people expect. Within a day, the carbon monoxide in your blood drops back to normal. Over the following months, your circulation improves, and the coughing and breathlessness start to ease. In the years after, your risk of heart disease and several cancers keeps falling, and it keeps falling whatever age you quit at. Their full timeline is here, and it is worth a look on a day the effort feels pointless: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/tobacco/guide-quitting-smoking/benefits-of-quitting-smoking-over-time.html

Cochrane, one of the most trusted names in medical evidence, reviewed 63 trials involving more than 40,000 people. They found that using a nicotine patch together with a faster-acting form, like gum or a lozenge, made people more likely to quit than using one form on its own. The patch holds a steady level in the background, and the gum or lozenge is there for the sudden spikes the patch cannot catch in time. Combination therapy works! The plain-language summary is here if you want to read it yourself: https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD013308_what-best-way-use-nicotine-replacement-therapy-quit-smoking What are you using at the moment, one product on its own or a combination? Z