It's hard to kick a bad habit, and it is even more difficult for women to quit smoking cigarettes than men.  Although federal data show that women and men have about the same success rates when giving up smoking, researchers have found that women have a much harder time throughout the process.

From her research, Carolyn Mazure, a psychology professor at Yale School of Medicine, believes women resort to smoking to help increase positive moods, manage the pressures of every day life, and control weight gain. She notes that women are more "vulnerable to the negative effects of stress and are more likely to relapse back to smoking in the face of stressors" as compared to men.

Actually, smoking creates more stress than it alleviates and essentially makes people feel emotionally inferior, says a December 2008 study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. So instead of coping with your stress by lighting up a cigarette (or binge eating or drinking alcohol), consider these tips that can help reduce your stress:

                1.    Go for a walk
                2.    Eat a well-balanced diet
                3.    Cut out caffeine
                4.    Practice deep breathing exercises
                5.    Seek professional help

More reasons to quit smoking

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In January, Kimberly Clark was one of three parents profiled on the TODAY Show Calls It Quits. (You can read her story here). We caught up with her again recently to find out how she's doing.

Her update:

I have tried not to be one of those "quitters" that constantly recites how long it has been since their last cigarette but lately I have been counting. "It hasn't been even 3 months yet?" seems to be what pops into my mind. Three months is a hot button for me because that is when I have failed, and gone back to smoking, a few times before. I will not do that again! But it does seem like my quit date, January 30, was a very long time ago.

My biggest sadness is that even after not having the physical craving of nicotine, that the craving can still be so strong. It should get easier - and I'm sure it will - but even today as I write I want a smoke! How can that be after 2 months and 16 days?

I have faltered in my 'quit' and smoked for a couple of days when I was away on a business trip. I convinced myself that it "wouldn't be a big deal" and "that I would get back on track" (which I did) but it has put that monster back into my brain. The monster that says "you can have one - it won't be a big deal" when you already know it will be. I don't want to go through the mood adjustment and the sense of disappointment again. I am committed to staying quit.
 
--Kim Clark

With tax on cigarette packs hitting above the $1 mark across stores today, it's not surprising that more smokers are thinking about saving their money...and their health. What is surprising is that they seem to be avoiding help from the most likely place--the doctor's office. According to a survey released today by the American Legacy Foundation, more than one in five smokers has never talked to their health care provider about quitting.

 

Why so shy? Only half of the survey respondents think that their doctor should help them quit smoking, and those who did talk to their doctor about smoking felt more negative emotions, like guilt, uneasiness and embarrassment, rather than positive feelings.

 

Limited resources may be to blame as well. Most of the survey participants who talked to their doctor did not get the information they needed to quit successfully. While the combination of counseling and medication is recommended as the most effective method to tackling nicotine addiction, fewer than half of the smokers were recommended a smoking cessation medication or given the resources to quit.

So what's a smoker to do? Start a discussion with your doctor and ask about the different smoking cessation medicines available to you as well as information on counseling programs and classes. Read about some surprising reasons why you should quit, get quit-smoking tips from Dr. Nancy Snyderman and, for parents, read the American Legacy Foundation's 10 Things Parents Can Do to Prevent Their Kids From Smoking.

--Mary Choi