Smoking Cessation and Weight Gain

If I quit smoking I will gain weight!

This is a common belief but it is not necessarily true. What is true is that cigarette smoking is associated with bad eating habits, and during smoking cessation these habits can cause a gain in weight.

Nicotine is a appetite suppressant, which allows smokers to easily skip meals. During smoking cessation, many people experience an increase in their appetite. If you are not careful about what you eat, this can result in a weight gain.

Smokers also have a tendency to eat quickly so that they can light up after the meal. Unless they learn to eat more slowly, they will finish eating before everyone else and may be tempted to take second helpings. This can put on extra pounds.

Cigarette smoking can provide oral gratification for some people, so they may need an oral substitute during smoking cessation. This is fine as long as the things you are putting in your mouth are healthy like carrots or celery sticks, but it is sure to result in a weight gain if you substitute candy for cigarette smoking.

Eat Healthy Foods

All of this boils down to one point - if you eat a lot of high calorie food while you are quitting smoking, you are going to gain weight. But if you eat healthy snacks such as celery sticks, carrots, broccoli, and fruit your weight gain will be minimal.

This is especially important for passive activities like watching TV. Because your attention is focused, you may be relatively unaware about what is going into your mouth. If you associate TV with cigarette smoking, try keeping a bowl of healthy snacks close at hand as substitutes for cigarettes.

Exercise

In fact, eating healthy snacks is a good way to combat the urge to smoke. If you feel like lighting up, why not have a carrot or a dish of yogurt instead. Keep your refrigerator and cupboards stocked with such things as herbal teas, fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts. These all provide excellent alternatives to cigarette smoking.

Sufficient exercise is always important, but don't be tempted to reform all of your bad habits at the same time. Your decision to give up cigarette smoking should be your main focus at least for the first couple of months. After that, as your smoking cessation program is well underway, it is a very good idea to exercise on a regular basis.

Exercise will make you feel good and reinforce your decision to give up cigarette smoking, and may also help you shed those extra pounds you may have gained.