Quit Smoking and Weight Gain

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking. Quitting is one of the best actions you can take to improve your health.  You may be concerned about gaining weight but try not to worry about it as you quit. Focus on stopping smoking first and then continue to improve your health in other ways, such as reaching and maintaining a healthy weight for life.

Every cigarette you smoke makes your body burn calories faster but is also harmful to your heart. Once you quit you are no longer getting this temporary effect. Instead, you are burning slightly fewer calories on a daily basis. If you gain a few pounds when you quit, do not dwell on it. Instead, feel proud that you are improving your health. Quitting smoking will make you feel better in many ways.

Regular physical activity will help you avoid large weight gains when you quit smoking. It will also boost your mood and help you feel more energetic. You will be able to breathe easier during physical activity after you quit smoking. Aim to be physically active at a moderate-intensity level (one that makes you breathe harder) on most, if not all, days of the week. You can accomplish this by breaking it up into shorter sessions it does not need to be done all at once. After you quit smoking and are ready to lose weight, you may need to increase your intensity level to achieve your weight loss goals.

Heavy smokers and people who have smoked for a long time may gain a few pounds after they quit smoking. Unfortunately, smokers often use this fact to justify continuing to smoke. But this weight gain isn’t inevitable.

Weight gain can be avoided by eating less and exercising more. And if you’re making poor food choices now, simply eating healthier foods and drinking more water at least 2 litres per day.

Some of the reasons why quitting smoking causes people to gain weight:

• Smoking increases your metabolism, the rate at which you burn calories. So quitting smoking will cause your metabolism to decrease a little to its normal rate.
• People who quit smoking are inclined to eat more because they reach for snacks as a substitute for cigarettes.
• People who quit smoking are inclined to eat more because food tastes better!

The primary reason that people gain weight when they quit smoking is that they tend to eat more, and you can control that. If you can keep from turning to food in place of cigarettes, and make a few adjustments to your eating and exercise habits, you won’t have to gain any weight at all.

Although gaining weight is not desired after you stop smoking, keep in mind that the overall health benefits of quitting outweigh the health risks of weight gain.  By quitting smoking, you are taking a big step to improve your health. Instead of worrying about weight gain, focus on quitting. Once you are tobacco-free, you can work towards having a healthy weight for life. You know that smoking is bad for you.

Remember you don’t have to gain weight if you quit smoking. You will be healthier, have more friends and more money, and smell better.