You have finally shaken that crutch and you have quit smoking, you have high hopes that your new healthy lifestyle outlook will stick and you plan to get back in shape while the iron is still hot. Let me first applaud you for a job well done, to quit smoking is quite a feat and you have achieved it, keep strong and don’t stop your winning streak against smoking. However if you are reading this while just about to wrestle with the whole quit smoking fiasco, you can read more about it on another blog post I had. This can really help you get a leg up against that giant you are about to tackle. Now that smoking is out of the way, you can start building towards a healthy lifestyle, don’t worry we won’t dive right into it but I’m here to help you out and give you some really useful tips to get back in shape.

Start it off slow – Your body is still recovering from the beating it took while you were smoking, your lung capacity isn’t optimal, you probably lose your breathe quite easily and you are having a hard time keeping up with all the other runners/joggers/bikers or so on. No worries, don’t let this dissuade you. Some research says that a few days after you quit smoking, your blood cells should be in better working shape however if you haven’t been working out or living the healthy lifestyle, those could be big factors. Don’t rush and don’t get frustrated with short and quick workout sessions, you’ll need to build up your fitness. I won’t lie to you, this will be an upwards battle but the fact that you’ve quit smoking, you’re already going in the right direction.

Having a fitness buddy is always a good idea, whether you hit the gym or do yoga!

Have a check up with your doctor – Don’t you worry, now that you’ve quit smoking and you are trying to get into a healthy lifestyle, the doctor will help you out. Some people don’t like getting chewed out by their doctors, and quite frankly if you are a smoker, they have been hounding you to quit already. Well now that you have, now is the time you will need your doctor’s help more than ever in fact. Your doctor can now tell you just how fit you are or how you are doing after you’ve quit smoking, this will help you figure things out. You don’t have to do this alone and you should seek as much help as you possibly can in order to get into shape.

Get a workout buddy – Getting into the groove of a workout, especially if you haven’t done it in a long time or ever in fact, is a little difficult for some people. So when in doubt, call in a friend. Ideally this friend has been bugging you to quit smoking for quite awhile, and is an avid fan of the healthy lifestyle, I’m sure you must know someone like this, anyhow he or she should be thrilled to help you start your workout, if you’re lucky they have been doing this for quite some time now and have some great tips to try out. This will really help you stay on track when you quit smoking and get into the rhythm of working out, that way you’ll have an easier time heading down the road of a healthy lifestyle, which in the end is what you want.

Join a class – When in doubt, and when a visible active, healthy lifestyle friend isn’t readily available – then join a class instead! There are a ton of classes all over the place, but since you just quit smoking or you’re just starting to get back into the healthy lifestyle, maybe don’t join a hardcore one right away as that can really leave you out of breath. Take the time and join a beginner’s class so that you can get the groove of things and allow the whole quit smoking to really sink into your system, this will allow you to test out several classes to really figure out an exercise or cardio that works best for you. Don’t be afraid to try them all and fail, at the very least you tried and again maybe you’ll luck out on the first try.

Make sure to start and to keep doing it – As hard as it is to start the healthy lifestyle, constantly exercising is a challenge in itself. So after you quit smoking, you have to make sure that you actually do try to get fit. You have to keep moving, otherwise you’ll never really get anywhere at all. Again I’ll be frank, after you quit smoking, starting the healthy lifestyle and all, starting to workout and keeping at it will be quite a hurdle to overcome but it makes it all the more satisfying if you work on it little by little everyday.

Have a good diet under your belt – Diving into the healthy lifestyle after you quit smoking is a good idea, in fact I’d say it’s a great idea, but it’s not all about exercise and not lighting up a cigarette. You need to keep your nutrition in check by eating the right foods and getting the proper vitamins in your system. Smoking has caused quite a bit of deficiency especially if you’ve been smoking for years at a time, it probably worked your body over quite a bit, and now you have to make up for the damage. Decide on a good diet, preferably one with a lot of greens and other vegetables, with healthy meats if you do choose to eat that and you’ll be cruising the healthy lifestyle street in no time.

Gear up on living a healthy life and get on a good and nutritious eating habit.

Stay off the cigarettes! – Needless to say, when you quit smoking and want to really get into a healthy lifestyle, don’t return to smoking. A lot of people tend to falter when things don’t go their way, maybe it was a bad workout or perhaps they just couldn’t get the hang of their cardio program, either or they get stressed and end up lighting a cigarette or two, thinking it won’t do too much harm. Sadly that’s when they fall back on their crutch, one cigarette becomes two, then three and then a pack, and so on, don’t do it. You already quit smoking, why would you want to go back? You realize it was difficult to quit smoking and you’ve experienced it already, why allow yourself to feel it again? To stay on a healthy lifestyle track, you cannot start smoking again, quit smoking and stick to it.

There you have it my healthy lifestyle friends, when you quit smoking you made a promise to your body and to yourself, to become healthier. Now that you are planning to get back in shape, you are enforcing that promise by taking it to the next level. I applaud you once more and really hope that you can continue down the road of the healthy lifestyle and that you continue to quit smoking for pretty much all of your life, everyone deserves a long and healthy life. Stay healthy!