Preventing Weight Gains When Quitting Smoking

Keeping Weight Down

Many smokers are worried that they will put on weight when they stop smoking, however in reality only a small number of quitters put on more than just a few pounds.

Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your health. You would have to put on at least 56 ponds of weight before the risk to your health comes close to that from smoking.

Weight gain is most likely to occur in the first months of quitting, with the average gain being around 6-11 ponds. On average, however, smokers tend to weigh this same amount less than non-smokers anyway.

Smokers usually weigh less than non-smokers because nicotine speeds up the body’s metabolism by up to 10%. This difference could also be because smoking affects the taste buds making eating less enjoyable.

A few simple changes to your diet and exercise habits can counteract the artificial way

in which nicotine increases the metabolism.

This is because the slimming effects of nicotine are relatively small and compare to around 150-200 calories a day or 7-9 grams of fat.

You can compensate for this by:

• Eating fruit, low-fat cereal bars or yogurt instead of potato chips or chocolate
• Snack from Vegetable Platters with low fat dips
• Cutting out one alcoholic drink per day if you drink regularly

Make Sure You Don’t Go Hungry

You may find that your appetite increases once you stop smoking. As your sense of smell and taste comes back you may become more interested in food.

The role cigarettes played in your daily routine can be a problem. For example, without an after-dinner cigarette at the end of a meal, you may be tempted to eat extra food.

Consuming 20 cigarettes a day meant you were putting your hand to your mouth about 200 times a day - so it's not surprising that you want to replace this habit and may use chips, candy and chocolate in doing so.

To avoid this, eat little amounts of food often so you avoid becoming hungry. Try to eat 3 main meals and have 2 or 3 healthy snacks during the course of the day

That may sound like a lot of food but it isn’t if you practice portion control. This is about regulating your appetite and not the quantity of food you eat. So instead of eating a sandwich, yogurt and fruit for lunch just eat the sandwich and save the yoghurt and fruit for the mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.

It also makes sense to keep healthy snacks around such as grapes, rice cakes, or yogurt ready for emergency hunger or cravings.

Be Sure to Exercise Regularly

Exercise is a great way of keeping your weight down and can act as a distraction in the early days of your quit; in addition to this, taking up exercise when you quit acts as a symbol of your commitment to improved health and a positive healthy lifestyle.

Exercise increases your sense of well-being and reduces stress levels, and just 30 minutes of brisk walking is enough to burn up the 200 calories that 20 cigarettes used to. If you keep at it exercise helps to increase muscle mass, and therefore boost metabolism, which means burning up more calories.

The issue of weight should not put you off trying to quit smoking, and it’s important not to panic if you do put on a few pounds during the early stages of your quit. Weight gain can be addressed later on once you’ve got used to being a non-smoker.