Stop blowing smoke—here's how

Dance Magazine, August, 2004 by Suzanne Martin

HOW DID YOU START YOUR DAY? With a couple of cigarettes and a soda? It's a cliche by now, but in spite of many well-publicized Surgeon General warnings, it's still a typical dancer's breakfast. Why do dancers smoke despite by now well-known health hazards? How can they stop? The reasons--and the ways to quit may be a surprise.

It makes sense that smoking and professional dance go hand in hand. First, smoking is a proven weight deterrent and many dancers fight a constant battle to keep pounds off. Besides being an oral pacifier, nicotine also speeds up your metabolism, an added attraction for dancers always looking to find an edge.

Finally, in the dance world, smoking still retains a bit of glamour. A year or two ago I saw a boy, probably only 14, puffing away as I arrived at the entrance of the San Francisco Ballet School. I asked him why he was smoking. He obviously didn't need to lose weight since he was one of the scrawny ones who always asked for body-building tips. To my dismay, he said he did because the principals did. He simply wanted to be like them.

While some dancers smoke only when they're in their teens, women dancers tend to continue smoking deep into their professional years. According to Christen Arden, DDS, of the Department of Oral Biology and Indiana University Nicotine Dependence Program, more women than men rely on smoking as a coping response to stress. The weight gain associated with quitting is of particular importance to them. Arden says that a six- to twelve-pound increase is typical in the first year of abstinence.

If smoking keeps off weight and helps with your emotional state, what's so bad about it? As Karen Clippinger, MSPE and one of the editors in chief for the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, explains in a recent issue, in addition to increasing the likelihood of cancer and heart disease, smoking is a "gateway" drug. Tobacco is often the first in a line that leads to harder drag abuse. Smoking also irritates asthma, increases the risk of early heart trouble, and causes bone thinning. The list of negatives is almost endless.

How have some dancers stopped? Amy Seiwert of Smuin Ballet was lucky. She says she was able to quit because she really only smoked when she was unhappy or stressed. Another ex-dancer didn't have such an easy time. She tried repeatedly and finally reduced her daily intake little by little. She carried around a pack of cigarettes with her in her purse for years, just in ease she needed one. She describes herself as a smoker who isn't smoking.

SO HOW CAN YOU dance, quit, and stay lean? Your physician may be willing to prescribe a dependency medication such as Buproprion to help yon over the initial hump. Another alternative is a program such as Smokenders, which uses group support to help people quit. Still another might be an online coach like psychologist Blair Price at www.quitsmokingcoach.org. Price's eight-week counseling has a high success rate and is completely accessible by e-mail on a daily basis.

Price gives a chronological progression of the benefits of quitting: Within 48 hours you begin to improve your sense of taste and smell, and by about two weeks your lung function may up its capacity by 30 percent. Price's web site offers many free tips as well. She warns to avoid triggers such as alcohol consumption during your first three months of stopping, since many people associate the two. Her advice on weight control: Wear a nicotine patch, or chew the gum, in gradually diminishing amounts.

Give yourself a year in order to reset your metabolism, especially if you're a long-time smoker. Get educated, find support, set realistic goals, and you'll end up smoke-free. Even better, don't start, and discourage those dear to you to do the same.

Suzanne Martin is principal physical therapist for Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. She also has her own practice in physical therapy and Pilates.