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\nWilma can\u2019t point to a specific reason she started smoking cigarettes. Her siblings smoked, and by her early teens she was sneaking cigarettes from her sister \u2014 beginning an addiction that would last 30 years. In her mid-forties, Wilma decided that she needed to stop smoking.
\n\u201cI realized I was too young to feel this bad and too old to be messing around with smoking anymore,\u201d she says. After several unsuccessful attempts to quit in the past, Wilma quit for good in 2007. She got advice from her doctor and used a prescription to help. She also got support through an online program. She threw out her lighters and ashtrays and started exercising more.
\nToday, at 49, she enjoys activities \u2014 and a lifestyle \u2014 she never dreamed of as a smoker. She is training as a yoga instructor (yoga was one of the exercises that helped her cope with nicotine withdrawal) and for a half marathon. She also eats healthier foods than she did when she smoked.
\n\u201cOnce you quit, it opens up so many possibilities that you don\u2019t see when you are caught up in the addiction,\u201d Wilma says. \u201cI\u2019ll also admit, as a woman, vanity was part of my motivation to quit, too. I want to look as young as I can for as long as I can \u2014 and smoking just wasn\u2019t going to help.\u201d
\nWilma hopes her story can inspire others to quit and is proud to be a part of the Tips From Former Smokers\u00ae campaign. \u201cI want to be an inspiration for others to quit smoking, even if it\u2019s just one person,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s your health.\u201d
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Wilma, 49, Texas; quit smoking in 2007
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