If you quit smoking this Monday, you’ll notice some major benefits in just two days.

Whether you’re just planning your quit or you’re well into your journey, it’s helpful to understand all that you get back almost immediately when you kick the habit. Let’s take a look.

Your food tastes better.

A Hospital in France noted that tobacco’s chemicals are known to cause a loss of taste in smokers, as well as structural changes to the fungiform papillae of the tongue – where taste buds are found. Meaning smokers are more likely to have a low-functioning sense of taste than non-smokers. Fortunately, the return of your sense of taste is among the many benefits of quitting smoking, and is this sense is normally recovered quickly.

Your sense of smell improves.

Your ability to taste and smell things are closely interlinked, and smoking inhibits both. Much of the reason smokers lose their ability to taste foods is due to the decrease in their sense of smell. Breathing in the hot fumes of cigarette smoke can be toxic to the olfactory senses. On the plus side, recovering your sense of smell is one of the first changes many smokers notice when they quit.

Your breathing improves.

Even young athletes in otherwise top physical condition don’t perform as well if they smoke because over time, smoking causes the lungs and heart to work harder. Two days after quitting, simple activities like walking up the stairs feel easier. It’s a natural side effect of quitting, since giving up smoking decreases your shortness of breath.

Your hair, breath and clothes small better.

There’s no mistaking the smell of cigarette smoke. Very few people, especially non-smokers, think it’s a pleasant smell. If you smoke, you’ve probably become used to the smell and don’t realize how strong it is. Cigarette smoke deposits a carcinogenic residue on everything it touches, including hair, skin and mouth. You may not feel it, but it’s there, releasing a smoky odor. Additionally, Nicotine makes you sweat more, and taints the way your sweat smells. The best way to undo all these things? Quit smoking. Your body will smell better in no time.

Pretty amazing right? Next week we’ll look at a timeline of all the good things that happen to your body health-wise when you quit.