Quitting Smoking in Sao Paulo

My New Year’s resolution was to stop smoking. Therefore, the challenge starts overcoming fear and looking for help.

I’m not keen on taking strong medicines so I researched the Internet and talked to people who stopped. There are not many things to help you to stop smoking besides medicine and nicotine patches (so I chose patches). In Brazil I found just one brand of patches, NiQuitin and they’re not cheap. The process takes 3 months and you can spend around 250 USD.

The patches come in 3 phases – strong, medium, and light – and I had a hard time finding them around the city. I found it at the drugstore Drogasil although it still never had the whole treatment available. But I decided patches would only help and, for someone who’s smoked for 35 years, I had to do more.

I like going to the gym, but I had to love it, meaning double the exercises, do lots of aerobics and eat healthier. I started Cardio Wave a kind of indoor skating. It helps you to stop smoking because you feel your body working and see fast results. I was also afraid of gaining weight and so exercises could help me stay fit and even reduce some weight. I started cycling and walking fast for 1hr day. Our Mayor implemented cycle paths through the city of Sao Paulo in order to inspire people to leave their car at home and get a bike; therefore it is easier nowadays.

And what about the skin? Everyone knows that smoking harms skin and I was concerned about that too as smokers lack vitamin C which is important for the skin. I decided to buy Bionatus vitamin C tablets and nourishing creams that can hydrate and that have vitamin C and E like The Body Shop Vitamin Moisture cream for night and day or Vichy LiftActiv serum 10 which also helps with antiaging.

And for my teeth? Brazilians take their teeth quite seriously and having a natural white smile is huge culturally. Smokers do get yellow teeth but until recently in Brazil you were not able to buy any teeth whitener besides toothpaste. I recall people bringing these items from abroad; some of my friends still ask me to. Oral-B launched the first teeth whitener treatment a couple of years ago, the 3D White. One of my friends bought this and thought it was good on the front teeth but not so good on the back teeth which were harder to reach.

If OTC teeth whitener doesn’t work there is also the dentist who can use a laser or gel on your teeth to whiten them. In Brazil almost everybody has professional teeth whitening and OTC is more for people who cannot afford/ don’t have time for the dentist. The professional teeth whitening negatives are the price, having to go to an appointment and also the trust in the chemicals used and trust in the dentist.  But it's common and everyone does it once in a while.

It’s still too soon to talk about results but I’m confident I’ll overcome this bad habit in 2015 and my health and skin will get better and I won’t gain any weight.