Smoking Cessation
And Weight Gain

There's an odd relationship between people who stop smoking and weight gain. One part of it is due to being able to taste food better once they stop and realize how much they enjoy it. The other part is that, like smoking, eating is sometimes a habit that a person can get into, and will eat when they're not hungry, just to have something else to do.

This isn't a myth either; studies have shows that nearly 60% of both men and women gain at least 15 to 20 pounds within six months of their attempts to quit smoking, and explains why almost 50% of women smokers worry about gaining weight if they do decide to stop. Of course, if one has to do one or the other, gaining a little bit of weight is much preferred to smoking.

Still, the fear of weight gain by women is real, and it seems women even know this, with many indicating that they use smoking as a way to lose weight. Women are more than four times likely to admit to it. And it's not just adult women, as a 2002 Centers for Disease Control study showed that high school girls trying to lose weight were 40% more likely to be smokers.

Smoking speeds up the metabolism by stimulating the central nervous system and other organs. At the same time, it increases the amount of energy a person uses, which helps them burn more calories. When a smoker quits, their metabolism slows down, and it takes time for it to get used to the body not having that extra stimulus anymore.

However, weight gain isn't an absolute. Though many people do gain weight, at least half of the rest lose weight, not because of any special changes in their body but because, when they cease to smoke, they've also decided on other positive life changes, which may include exercise and dieting. Therefore, increasing physical activity is usually encouraged when someone stops smoking. It doesn't take a whole lot, but it does take some effort, which should be easier because people can breathe easier once the effects from smoking start being reduced.

Making changes in how one eats is integral to not gaining weight also. Planning meals, and only eating at those times, will help stop random or binge eating. Watching portions, of course, helps keep one under control also. And adding a snack here or there will take the edge off cravings; think of it as a treat for giving up smoking.

Also, there are foods to eat that help stimulate better health and will keep one's weight down. Vegetables are obviously at the top of the list, along with some fruits, and those recommended contain antioxidants and phytonutrients, which help cleanse the body of bad stuff, which includes nicotine, and helps to reduce the effects that the body absorbed while smoking. Research has shown that smokers, oddly enough, don't eat many foods high in antioxidants, probably because cigarettes dull taste buds, and therefore vegetables on their own aren't palatable enough for them.

Also, chemicals known as free radicals are in cigarette smoke, and they reduce the amount of Vitamin C in the body, even if smokers happen to drink a lot of orange juice. Therefore, it's recommended that they increase the amount of Vitamin C when they stop smoking to help the body become healthy once more.

Overall, it's hard for smokers to make a case that staying skinny is a better thing than gaining a little bit of weight. With weight gain, there are ways to get one's body back in shape and under control; with smoking, the only thing a person can do is quit.

© Smoke Not So Much 2009

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