Quitting Smoking and Weight Loss

Congratulations!! You are very smart in your attempt to gain knowledge before making the life altering decision for weight loss and quitting smoking simultaneously. By acquiring the needed knowledge it will be easier to quit smoking and lose weight because you will be able to understand how your body is reacting.

If you have smoked ten to twenty years you will gain weight easier than a person who has only smoked five years or less. The longer you have smoked the easier it will be for you to gain a few pounds when you quit smoking, unless you prepare. The average person may gain up to ten pounds when they quit smoking if they do not make any adjustments to their diet, or activity level. You do have the ability to control your weight gain by making healthy eating choices and increasing your level of daily activity. You do not need to train for the Olympics, you just need to put down the remote, and get up off the couch, and go for a daily walk, or join a gym. You need to exercise at least three or four times a week. Weight gain when you quit smoking in not inevitable.

You will need fewer calories after you quit smoking because nicotine artificially keeps your body weight lower. Nicotine accelerates your body's metabolism, and this may result in short term weight gain, unless you increase your activity level. Also when you quit smoking you may gain up to five pounds of weight through water retention. When you quit smoking make sure you drink plenty of water to allow your body to flush out the water instead of retaining the water. As odd as it may sound, the best way to prevent water retention is to drink more water.

 

You should increase your level of activity before you decide to quit smoking when trying to lose weight. Making healthy changes to your eating habits will prevent weight gain by controlling the amount of calories you eat. Try to reduce your chances of gaining weight by being more physically active, and improving your eating habits before you stop smoking.

Are you addicted physically, or are you addicted emotionally? Nicotine is only craved physically for approximately 72 yours once you stop smoking. (Other chemicals in cigarettes will cause this time period to vary.) From that point on it is purely an emotional desire, or even one out of habit. Do you always reach for a smoke when you jump in your car, or after a meal? In your quest to quit smoking you must know whether your basic desire for a cigarette is physical or emotional. You may need to battle the cigarette urge differently at first, and then shift gears after the 72 hours elapse. No matter what you decide to do you can take comfort in acknowledging the following facts:

• Losing weight by itself will make a healthier you.
• Quitting smoking by itself will make a healthier you.
• Losing weight and quitting smoking is an extremely healthy thing to do.

If you would like to try an interesting experiment, go buy one pack of plain old roll your own tobacco. Smoke as many of those cigarettes as you like, and you will be amazed to learn that you will still crave your brand of smokes. Roll your own tobacco does not add the thousand of chemicals in it to keep you addicted. The reason why you will still crave your brand of smokes is because the companies add chemicals to keep you hooked to their brand. Tobacco in itself is only craved for 72 hours, all those other hours are spent wanting all the junk that was thrown in to keep you addicted. If that is not enough to get you to quit, then what will? If you are afraid you may gain some weight quitting' you just need to prepare yourself.

Weight gain is probable when you quit smoking, but it does not have to be inevitable. It all comes down to choices and those choices are going to have to be made by each of us on an individual level. If you choose to be then, then you are choosing a healthier you. If you choose to be smoke free then you are choosing a healthier you. Quitting smoking and weight loss is up to you!