Managing Weight Gain While Quitting Smoking

When a person decides to quit smoking, they tend to gain some weight, usually five to ten pounds. This is a common occurrence, but it is not guaranteed to happen to everyone. There are a variety of reasons why a person might gain weight when they quit smoking. Most people experience weight gain as a result of nicotine withdrawal cravings. Instead of smoking, the person eats. This increase in daily caloric intake, usually in the form of snacks, and causes the person to gain some weight. Another detail that should be taken into consideration is that people who have just started their quitting program are not normally quick to start working out regularly. This is at least partly due to the fact that the bad effects of smoking do not immediately go away. Wheezing, shortness of breath, and other negative side effects of smoking take time to dissipate. Psychological factors related to smoking and weight gain should also be considered. For example, the heightened heart rate that smoking causes also helps a person to maintain a lower weight. This benefit pales in comparison to the damage caused by smoking over long periods of time, such as fatty tissue build up in arteries. The main reason why most people who quit smoking gain some weight is that they eat more and do not exercise. Knowing what the main cause of the weight gain is means that it is also an easy problem to deal with. If you are going to quit smoking, plan on eating a healthy diet and sticking to a well organized exercise program so that you do not gain weight while quitting. Willpower is another important part of not gaining the weight that often comes with quitting smoking. You have to want to eat right by, for example, eating fruit when you have a craving for a cigarette. You will have to work hard to choose healthy snack options, like fruit, instead of higher calorie, more sugary foods. Balance is necessary when it comes to portions as well. While the substances that enter the body by means of smoking cigarettes are being flushed out of your system of the course of a couple weeks, it would be wise to postpone the diet and exercise. Two weeks is not long enough to gain a lot of weight. Even though drinking a lot of water will make you seem heavier, it will get flushed out of your system. All that water, however, is a big help because it flushes toxins out of your body faster than normal. Also, drinking water when you are craving cigarettes is a zero calorie activity. If you stick to your plan you can successful quit smoking without gaining weight. Richard McLagan has been writing about various topics on the internet for over 10 years. His latest project is about McCulloch chain saws, chainsaw sharpening and other related topics. Ezine Articles By Richard_McLagan

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