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American Morning

New You Resolution

Aired January 08, 2004 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In today's "New You Resolution," a closer look at Katherine Burkholder. We'll get to meet her today yet again. Thirty-one-years old, from Atlanta, has smoked half of her life more than a pack a day of cigarettes.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, Katherine has decided to kick the habit, but, since she's tried to quit before, she knows it's really going to be hard.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about that. But for her, starting the "New You Resolution" means quitting for good this time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Meet Katherine Burkholder.

KATHERINE BURKHOLDER, NEW YOU RESOLUTION PARTICIPATANT: Last week, if I got one time, I didn't know you smoked. I got it, like, 37 times, because everybody was, like, "Why are you in a healthy makeover? You always look so healthy."

GUPTA: She's a busy, single, young professional, with lots of friends, a pet bunny named Joe, and a deadly habit.

BURKHOLDER: In an hour I could probably smoke 10 cigarettes if I just sat here and did it, and it wouldn't be hard for me to do that.

GUPTA: She puffs up to a pack or more a day.

BURKHOLDER: So, I smoke pretty much all the time in the car.

GUPTA: Smoke breaks at work.

BURKHOLDER: Doesn't it look like fun? Don't you want to do it, too?

GUPTA: And outside in the evening.

BURKHOLDER: I just never have smoked in my house.

GUPTA: But now, she wants to kick the addiction for good.

BURKHOLDER: I'm not nervous about quitting. I'm nervous about staying quit.

GUPTA: She says she's quit 12 times already, with no luck. BURKHOLDER: I've tried cold turkey. I've tried medications. I've tried the patch.

GUPTA (on camera): You've tried it all.

BURKHOLDER: Pretty much.

GUPTA (voice-over): A big fear? Packing on the pounds.

BURKHOLDER: Well, and every time I've quit for more than a month, I've always gained at least 10 pounds, and it's kind of horrifying to gain that much weight that fast.

GUPTA: But there is also concern about her health as the years add up.

BURKHOLDER: There are not that many cases of people who, you know, have lung cancer at 31, but at 40 there are, or even 35. So, I think that's why it's important I quit now.

GUPTA: Her mom has begged her to quit for years, but says Katherine has just been too stubborn, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want to take any chances, especially as you get older, since she would have never have lit the first cigarette.

GUPTA: Despite a bad family history of heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer, Katherine passed her physical with flying colors, but her doctor, Douglas Radman (ph), still urges her to quit.

If you can quit now, later on in life most of the negative effects will hopefully have reversed themselves. And it's certainly the biggest gift you can give to yourself.

GUPTA (on camera): Where do you see yourself two months from now? What do you want to be doing?

BURKHOLDER: Two months from now, I would like to be able to sit for a couple of hours and not think I need a cigarette.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Maybe even longer than a couple of hours, hopefully. Katherine Burkholder is joining us.

You started smoking at age 15, smoking a pack a day or more since then, for the last 16 years or so. What made you start at age 15?

BURKHOLDER: I think I was just bored in high school. You have a lot of free time, so it was something to do.

GUPTA: All of messages out there about not smoking.

BURKHOLDER: Yes, teenagers don't really hear those very well. O'BRIEN: When you quit before, did you start smoking, again because you were horrified that you had started to gain a lot of weight pretty fast? Or did you also at the same time crave cigarettes so it kind of made sense in your own mind to start again?

BURKHOLDER: I think it just becomes where you think about it so much that you just can't not smoke. I mean...

O'BRIEN: So, it was less the weight gain than just you just couldn't get it out of your head.

BURKHOLDER: I mean, the weight gain definitely plays a part, but I think a lot of it, too, is just, you know, constantly thinking, you know, I can't have a cigarette, I can't have a cigarette.

HEMMER: Wow! You touched on it a little bit. When you the urge, how long before the urge passes?

BURKHOLDER: That depends. I mean, for different people it's definitely different and it's different times if I quit.

HEMMER: And for you?

BURKHOLDER: It can last for an hour where I think about it every two minutes for an hour, or it can just be, you know, oh, my god, I've got have a cigarette now, and then it will go away for a couple of hours.

HEMMER: Did you play mind games in trying to stop it?

BURKHOLDER: Yes, yes, definitely you play mind games, and you try to come up with...

HEMMER: What works for you then?

BURKHOLDER: I try to distract myself with thinking about other things -- you know, world issues, books.

O'BRIEN: Relaxing, world issues?

GUPTA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all of the world's problems.

BURKHOLDER: Anything.

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, we very much want you to succeed at quitting smoking, so we've talked to your doctor and we've talked to several top experts around the country as well about smoking cessation. They have given us the new prescription for a new you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURKHOLDER: It would be easier for me to get a Ph.D. than quitting smoking.

GUPTA (voice-over): Get ready, Katherine. We've got a formula for a new you. Your doctor says combining treatments is the secret to success. He prescribed Zyban for you. Take that along with nicotine replacement, like the patch, gum or lozenges.

Your doctor also prescribes counseling. He says constant support is the last key to success. Through a program called Intervent, you'll get one-on-one counseling available 24 hours a day for a whole year. You'll also get a personal nutrition and exercise plan. And last, a lung and heart scan to see if smoking has done any damage so far.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

So, Katherine, good luck.

BURKHOLDER: Thank you.

GUPTA: We very much want you to succeed. You've got a lot of support here. So, the plan is going to be to see how you can do over the next eight weeks, two months, and we'll see you back there and talk about that along the way as well.

A lot of viewers are interested in stopping smoking as well. They're going to be able to follow along with Katherine and hopefully kick your smoking habits at home as well. Check out cnn.com/resolution for more. Lots of information there.

And tomorrow...

O'BRIEN: So many people have this exact issue, and they're watching you, saying, all right, if she's going to do it today, I'm going to do it today.

GUPTA: We're getting tons of e-mails already of people who, you know, are really going to follow this story along. So, you're going to be an inspiration to lots of people.

And tomorrow, we're going to meet the new parents, Pam and Michael Kirkbride. They had a baby girl six months ago, and that little baby's arrival turned their lives upside down. Soledad, can relate to that.

O'BRIEN: And they're never getting it back.

GUPTA: Pam and Michael...

O'BRIEN: I hate to tell you, Pam and Michael.

GUPTA: ... they need to find that time to exercise, to eat healthy and get organized. Join us Friday.

HEMMER: Good deal. Katherine, good luck, OK?

O'BRIEN: Yes, good luck. We'll see you next week.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired January 8, 2004 - 07:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In today's "New You Resolution," a closer look at Katherine Burkholder. We'll get to meet her today yet again. Thirty-one-years old, from Atlanta, has smoked half of her life more than a pack a day of cigarettes.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, Katherine has decided to kick the habit, but, since she's tried to quit before, she knows it's really going to be hard.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about that. But for her, starting the "New You Resolution" means quitting for good this time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Meet Katherine Burkholder.

KATHERINE BURKHOLDER, NEW YOU RESOLUTION PARTICIPATANT: Last week, if I got one time, I didn't know you smoked. I got it, like, 37 times, because everybody was, like, "Why are you in a healthy makeover? You always look so healthy."

GUPTA: She's a busy, single, young professional, with lots of friends, a pet bunny named Joe, and a deadly habit.

BURKHOLDER: In an hour I could probably smoke 10 cigarettes if I just sat here and did it, and it wouldn't be hard for me to do that.

GUPTA: She puffs up to a pack or more a day.

BURKHOLDER: So, I smoke pretty much all the time in the car.

GUPTA: Smoke breaks at work.

BURKHOLDER: Doesn't it look like fun? Don't you want to do it, too?

GUPTA: And outside in the evening.

BURKHOLDER: I just never have smoked in my house.

GUPTA: But now, she wants to kick the addiction for good.

BURKHOLDER: I'm not nervous about quitting. I'm nervous about staying quit.

GUPTA: She says she's quit 12 times already, with no luck. BURKHOLDER: I've tried cold turkey. I've tried medications. I've tried the patch.

GUPTA (on camera): You've tried it all.

BURKHOLDER: Pretty much.

GUPTA (voice-over): A big fear? Packing on the pounds.

BURKHOLDER: Well, and every time I've quit for more than a month, I've always gained at least 10 pounds, and it's kind of horrifying to gain that much weight that fast.

GUPTA: But there is also concern about her health as the years add up.

BURKHOLDER: There are not that many cases of people who, you know, have lung cancer at 31, but at 40 there are, or even 35. So, I think that's why it's important I quit now.

GUPTA: Her mom has begged her to quit for years, but says Katherine has just been too stubborn, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want to take any chances, especially as you get older, since she would have never have lit the first cigarette.

GUPTA: Despite a bad family history of heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer, Katherine passed her physical with flying colors, but her doctor, Douglas Radman (ph), still urges her to quit.

If you can quit now, later on in life most of the negative effects will hopefully have reversed themselves. And it's certainly the biggest gift you can give to yourself.

GUPTA (on camera): Where do you see yourself two months from now? What do you want to be doing?

BURKHOLDER: Two months from now, I would like to be able to sit for a couple of hours and not think I need a cigarette.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Maybe even longer than a couple of hours, hopefully. Katherine Burkholder is joining us.

You started smoking at age 15, smoking a pack a day or more since then, for the last 16 years or so. What made you start at age 15?

BURKHOLDER: I think I was just bored in high school. You have a lot of free time, so it was something to do.

GUPTA: All of messages out there about not smoking.

BURKHOLDER: Yes, teenagers don't really hear those very well. O'BRIEN: When you quit before, did you start smoking, again because you were horrified that you had started to gain a lot of weight pretty fast? Or did you also at the same time crave cigarettes so it kind of made sense in your own mind to start again?

BURKHOLDER: I think it just becomes where you think about it so much that you just can't not smoke. I mean...

O'BRIEN: So, it was less the weight gain than just you just couldn't get it out of your head.

BURKHOLDER: I mean, the weight gain definitely plays a part, but I think a lot of it, too, is just, you know, constantly thinking, you know, I can't have a cigarette, I can't have a cigarette.

HEMMER: Wow! You touched on it a little bit. When you the urge, how long before the urge passes?

BURKHOLDER: That depends. I mean, for different people it's definitely different and it's different times if I quit.

HEMMER: And for you?

BURKHOLDER: It can last for an hour where I think about it every two minutes for an hour, or it can just be, you know, oh, my god, I've got have a cigarette now, and then it will go away for a couple of hours.

HEMMER: Did you play mind games in trying to stop it?

BURKHOLDER: Yes, yes, definitely you play mind games, and you try to come up with...

HEMMER: What works for you then?

BURKHOLDER: I try to distract myself with thinking about other things -- you know, world issues, books.

O'BRIEN: Relaxing, world issues?

GUPTA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all of the world's problems.

BURKHOLDER: Anything.

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, we very much want you to succeed at quitting smoking, so we've talked to your doctor and we've talked to several top experts around the country as well about smoking cessation. They have given us the new prescription for a new you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURKHOLDER: It would be easier for me to get a Ph.D. than quitting smoking.

GUPTA (voice-over): Get ready, Katherine. We've got a formula for a new you. Your doctor says combining treatments is the secret to success. He prescribed Zyban for you. Take that along with nicotine replacement, like the patch, gum or lozenges.

Your doctor also prescribes counseling. He says constant support is the last key to success. Through a program called Intervent, you'll get one-on-one counseling available 24 hours a day for a whole year. You'll also get a personal nutrition and exercise plan. And last, a lung and heart scan to see if smoking has done any damage so far.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

So, Katherine, good luck.

BURKHOLDER: Thank you.

GUPTA: We very much want you to succeed. You've got a lot of support here. So, the plan is going to be to see how you can do over the next eight weeks, two months, and we'll see you back there and talk about that along the way as well.

A lot of viewers are interested in stopping smoking as well. They're going to be able to follow along with Katherine and hopefully kick your smoking habits at home as well. Check out cnn.com/resolution for more. Lots of information there.

And tomorrow...

O'BRIEN: So many people have this exact issue, and they're watching you, saying, all right, if she's going to do it today, I'm going to do it today.

GUPTA: We're getting tons of e-mails already of people who, you know, are really going to follow this story along. So, you're going to be an inspiration to lots of people.

And tomorrow, we're going to meet the new parents, Pam and Michael Kirkbride. They had a baby girl six months ago, and that little baby's arrival turned their lives upside down. Soledad, can relate to that.

O'BRIEN: And they're never getting it back.

GUPTA: Pam and Michael...

O'BRIEN: I hate to tell you, Pam and Michael.

GUPTA: ... they need to find that time to exercise, to eat healthy and get organized. Join us Friday.

HEMMER: Good deal. Katherine, good luck, OK?

O'BRIEN: Yes, good luck. We'll see you next week.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.