Smoking and Weight Gain
August 6, 2009
It is after a person has quit smoking that they tend to put on weight. So for smokers the real battle begins after they have quit their bad habit. It is believed that as much as 80% smokers gain weight after they quit smoking.
Women are more prone to gaining weight after quitting smoking. They generally gain weight around their waist line which can cause severe trouble for health later in the form of stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease etc. Men are likely to gain less weight than women after quitting smoking.
What leads to weight gain after quitting?
Most of us believed that only smoking leads to increase in weight gain. The substance in tobacco that makes smokers addicted to the habit is nicotine. Nicotine increases the metabolism process. Thus when a person stops smoking their metabolism process doesn’t stay as effective as it used to be and hence people start gaining weight after they quit smoking. The metabolism decreases drastically and they start gaining more pounds. Also people start to eat more after they quit smoking. Due to withdrawal symptoms their food habits change and they start eating more.
What happens is that they don’t have anything to put in their mouth and just to get rid of that empty feeling they start easting. Also they suddenly realize that food actually tastes better. They no more skip meals like they used to when they smoked. So all this results in increase in weight gain.
How to lose weight?
Exercising is the best way of ensuring that they don’t put on any weight. Walking, jogging or even swimming can really help them in losing weight. Indulging in any form of physical activity can help them lose weight. For enhancing metabolism weight training is recommended. Such people should not even think of dieting as this might slower their metabolism speed further.
On feeling hungry it is best to eat fruits and vegetables instead of junk and high calorie food. Also after quitting people fail to realize the difference between feeling hungry or facing withdrawal symptoms. They confuse the latter with hunger and start eating more. This should be avoided. Chewing a gum is the best way of getting rid of not having something in their mouth.
All this can help people who have quit smoking not gain weight. It is best to keep in mind that weight loss results will start showing only after sometime. So they should not worry too much.
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