Fear of gaining weight is a primary reason that many women and men cite for not quitting smoking. One study conducted by University of Michigan Health Systems reported that 75 percent of the women smokers questioned would not be willing to gain 5 lbs., and 50 percent were not willing to gain any weight, to quit smoking.
Weight control, therefore, is an important risk factor for smoking cessation failure. Before smoking your last cigarette, organize a plan that includes joining a gym, scheduling regular exercise, arranging time with friends and buying healthy foods. By committing to a healthy lifestyle as part of your smoking cessation program, you may find that, not only do you not gain weight, you actually look and feel leaner and fitter than ever.
Workout
Instead of burning a cigarette, burn calories. If you enjoyed the endorphin-rush your body released when you smoked a cigarette, you will enjoy the endorphin-rush triggered by a workout. Nicotine triggers your body to release natural endorphins, which explains one reason for cigarettes' addictiveness. Endorphins create the alert, calm feeling many smokers experience. Exercise triggers these same endorphins, and so you can continue to enjoy the alert, calm feeling, but with the added benefit of looking and feeling healthy.
Exercise with Friends
The Framingham Heart Study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, investigated the influence of social networks on behavior and health. The study concluded that smoking cessation spreads within families, peer groups and coworkers. Friends tend to quit smoking in clusters, meaning that whole groups of friends quit smoking together.
Your friends who have recently quit are likely experiencing the same concerns about weight gain. Gather the group of friends who formerly enjoyed sharing a smoke together and share a healthy activity. By participating as a group in walking, hiking, yoga, basketball or other physical activity, you can socialize with and support each other while burning calories.
Eat Healthy Foods
Immediately upon quitting, some people feel hungrier. This increased hunger usually fades after a few weeks. Satisfy your body's desire for increased calories with fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Vitamins in these healthy foods will provide fuel for your new exercise program, and the high fiber content will help you control your weight.
Avoid Processed and Sugary Foods
Water retention accounts for some of the weight many individuals gain immediately upon quitting smoking. You can limit water retention by avoiding high-sodium foods, such as processed products. Refined sugars create glucose spikes and crashes that make you feel jittery and then tired. By reducing these exaggerated fluctuations in moods produced by shifting glucose levels, you can eliminate a source of cigarette craving while eliminating a source of empty calories.
Oral Habit
After putting something in your mouth throughout the day everyday for years, the habit is hard to break. In response to this sudden change in habit, individuals may substitute food for cigarettes. A former smoker may eat, even when not hungry, to satisfy this oral habit. Find low-calorie means of satisfying the oral habit, such as chewing gum, eating veggie chips, sucking on grapes, munching on dried fruits or biting into carrot sticks.
