Smoking is harmful to your health and quitting is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your health but many people are concerned about gaining weight when they quit smoking. It’s a common concern. Many people do gain weight when they quit smoking. Does this have to be your experience as you quit smoking? In this article we will look at how you can manage your weight as you quit smoking to avoid or minimise weight gain.
Why Does Weight Gain Happen After Quitting Smoking?
Before reviewing the tips, it’s helpful to understand why gaining weight is often a common offshoot of quitting. Several factors contribute.
Metabolism Usage: Nicotine, the addictive ingredient in cigarettes, causes your body to burn calories more quickly. When you stop smoking, your body’s calorie-burning rate might slow down. In turn, this can make you gain weight if you don’t adjust your eating habits.
Greater appetite: In part because nicotine suspends appetite, those who quit smoking can experience greater appetite than they’re accustomed to, and therefore more prone to overeating than when they were smoking.
Oral Replacement: smoking is a mouth-to-hands motion, and nicotine is addictively habit-forming; so, often after quitting, people substitute foods instead. Now, they snack more, especially on junk food.
Stress Eating: Perhaps you’ll quit smoking, which is a major lifestyle shift – and who knows, maybe you’ll become stressed, anxious or moody about the change and turn to food to cope.
Knowing about these influences might help you take action to control your weight while you quit.
Strategies to Avoid Weight Gain After Quitting Smoking
1. Focus on Healthy Eating Habits
In order to avoid gaining weight, the best thing is eat properly. It doesn't mean you have to diet, but just pay more attention to these things.
First, increase your consumption of foods rich in nutrients, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meat. All these foods are satiating, meaning you don’t need as much of them to feel full. For example, eating an apple rather than a high-calorie snack such as cake can fill you up and provide the same energy as the cake, but it contains fewer calories.
It also means limiting how much you eat. Eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day can sustain metabolism and prevent overeating. Plan your meals and snacks in advance so you are not at risk of making rash or impulsive food decisions.
2. Stay Active and Exercise Regularly
It is important to lead an active lifestyle and to quit smoking. The friction will help you keep your figure and add positive emotions and reduce stress. Both factors can adversely affect the success of the quit attempt.
This Response has been written by Christian Jarrett, whose latest book is The Adaptable Mind: A New Approach to Understanding Intelligence (2016), published by Pantheon. You don’ super-fit workouts – just walking, swimming or cycling can help. At least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week is a good goal, if you’re starting out from scratch. Build slowly. Begin with five or 10 minutes a day, spread over the day rather than all in one go. Increase the intensity or amount of activity as you get fitter.
You can also try strength training, which can help build muscle, boost your metabolism (which can take a hit after you’ve stopped smoking), and help your body maintain a healthy weight.
3. Manage Stress Without Turning to Food
Because smoking and eating too much are often due to stress, you need to cut out the stress. You need to stop the smoking and the eating - and learn healthy ways to ease stress. Deep-breathing exercises, meditation or yoga can help ease your mind and body.
Another way is to take part in hobbies or activities that you like to do. This might include reading, gardening, painting, playing a musical instrument or anything else that catches your fancy. These activities can help to distract you, especially if you find yourself reaching for food out of boredom.
It can also be helpful to build your support system. Surround yourself with friends or family and a support group who can help you stay encouraged and understand as you rid yourself of smoking and conquer your weight.
4. Be Mindful of Emotional Eating
Emotional eating can become a big problem once you quit, so it helps to tell the difference between hunger and craving. Ask yourself if you are hungry before you munch on a snack, or are you reaching for food because it’s a ‘habit’, because you’re stressed, depressed, or ticked off at your boyfriend or girlfriend?
One strategy for taking control of compulsive munching is maintaining a food diary. Track what you eat, when, and how you feel in the moment. You might then see patterns of craving and notice cues – things such as stress or loneliness – that prompt you to reach for things you don’t need to eat.
When you do get emotional hunger, eat for your emotions, but eat more healthily. If you’re stressed, reach for a cup of comforting herbal tea, not potato chips. These small shifts will lead to healthy changes over time, and you’ll feel better – and thinner – as a result.
5. Stay Hydrated
Hydration is a critical yet under appriciated element to quitting smoking. Sometimes, what you think is a sensation of hunger is actually just thirst. Increasing your water consumption during the day can help you feel fuller as well as stave off those unnecessary nibbles.
Water plays a crucial role in removing toxins out of your body and after quitting smoking it is even more important to drink plenty of it. It is recommended to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Replace sugary drinks or soda with water or herbal teas.
Embrace a Smoke-Free, Healthy Life
Quitting smoking is a life-changing move and, with the right approaches, it needn’t be followed by a weight gain. Be prudent, aim for balance, and don’t forget the graveyard of half-filled cravings is strewn with people battling to keep their weight under control. Staying active, eating healthily, minimising stress and being mindful of your habits are of paramount importance to stay healthy and avoid weight gain when you stop smoking.
There’s no reason for you to put on weight during your quit attempt. In fact, if you take these steps now, you’ll be more likely to quit and to become healthier. Hang in there, and give yourself the time and patience to adjust to these changes.
Every day you stay cigarette-free is a victory, and the strategies you’re accumulating now will help you continue to build healthy lives without cigarettes.