How to Prevent Weight Gain when You Quit Smoking

Perhaps very few people admit this but many individuals start smoking in order to lose weight and fear they will gain weight if they attempt to quit. It is normal to gain a pound or two of weight after you quit smoking especially if the techniques adopted involve eating or chewing something. You have to know that by adopting the proper strategies, the weight gain during the time of quitting can be kept under control. Keep in mind that putting on a pound or two of weight is way better than inviting lungs and heart diseases and different type of cancers. 

The most trivial question one may ask is why people tend to gain weight while they are making efforts to cut down on the cigarettes they are smoking. Nicotine is inarguably the most active substance in a cigarette. Incidentally, nicotine is an appetite suppressant in its nature, meaning it decreases the urge to eat and generally results in person eating smaller amounts of food. If the person quits smoking their urge to eat will increases and this will result in additional weight gain in different body areas, especially the stomach and the thighs.

Other than that, normal tobacco intake burns about a couple of hundred calories each day. So, it is natural to put on additional weight during the period of quitting. Although the exact amount of added weight varies from person to person, people generally put on anything from 1 to 10 pounds. Still, most often 5 to 10 pounds are added to the weight of the person if they successfully quit smoking. This added weight is not too much and by getting involved in a little physical activity the weight can be brought back to normal levels. 

It is advised by many successful quitters that keeping oneself busy with some activity is a very beneficial thing. It helps to distract you from thoughts of having a smoke. This strategy works for many people. In fact, it is often said to be effective for all. However, there is a drawback here as well - people start over-eating and enjoy junk food to keep their mouth busy. Even in between meals people have something in their mouth and keep on munching on it. This results in added calories into the system and in extra weight.

A common mistake committed by people attempting to quit is to go back to their smoking days after getting scared by the added weight. This must be avoided. The person should stick to the mission for getting rid of their unhealthy smoking habit, rather than start smoking again which will lead to damaging the body and increasing the risk of many medical conditions further.

There are various activities one can do to enhance your efforts to quit cigarettes. Most people suggest adopting a workout routine. Working out is a healthy activity even when one is not trying to quit smoking. Working out on daily basis is highly advisable to avoid many unwanted medical conditions. It is not necessary to spend hours in the gym and shed sweat to keep the body in good shape. Filling half an hour or so with light exercises and jogging, brisk walking or light walking (or whatever the health permits and the medical practitioners approves) is enough. Persistence is a key here, so working out lightly but regularly on daily basis is a sure success path. There is no need to tell you that even when the person feels that he or she has got rid of their smoking habit completely, continuing with the work out plan is more than recommended. In fact it is mandatory.

Instead of depriving the body of food it makes more sense to respect the body's new demand of more food. The reason for doing so is very simple - depriving the body of food results in irritation and makes the process of quitting smoking even more difficult than it needs to be.

However, the thing that can be controlled here is the amount of calories taken. So, instead of taking high-calorie foods, healthy light snacks can be included in the daily diet, especially in between meals. Other than that, avoiding soft drinks and reducing or completely avoiding alcohol is a good way to shed away those extra pounds. Complete diet plans including beverages can be retrieved from many online sources.