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It is highly publicized that most smokers are slimmer and gain weight less quickly than non-smokers. This is due to nicotine's appetite suppressant effect. But it's when you stop smoking that weight gain becomes a big issue.

And most doctors and 'experts' will tell you that it is ok to put on a few pounds when you quit smoking, because the health effects are nowhere near as bad as those associated with smoking.

But that doesn't help you, does it! Because, to many of us our self-image is extremely important. And only a few extra pounds can seem like the end of the world!

The average smoker who quits will put on 6-12 pounds. BUT, and this is a very big but, most people don't know the REAL reasons why you as a smoker can gain weight when you quit smoking.

Most people think that they will put weight on because without nicotine, their appetite returns to 'normal' - normal being the level it was at before they started smoking. So they conclude that it is down to them eating more, and then their analysis of the situation stops there.

So YES smokers gain weight when they quit smoking because they eat more.

But if you stop for five minutes and think about WHY you eat more, you can put several pieces of information together to ensure that you actually PREVENT weight gain rather than having to 'deal with it' or 'accept it' like you are told by doctors and experts.

Here are the main reasons why you eat more and therefore gain weight when you stop smoking:

1. Your appetite increases as nicotine leaves your body

2. You may be used to finishing a meal with a cigarette - when there is no cigarette there is no cue or signal that the meal is over so you keep eating - after every meal every day for weeks

3. Without your usual cigarette you can begin to get fidgety, food is an easy way to keep busy and replaces the desire for food

4. Eating has long been know as a comforter. Through a chemical reaction, eating releases dopamine (the bodys natural pleasure drug) into the brain. So many people eat to comfort themselves. We eat to feel better when we are depressed, when we are bored, after a break up with a partner, because we lack self-esteem and to cover up or beat many other forms of discomfort.

5. You may decide to go on a diet when you quit smoking - to prevent that 'inevitable' weight gain. But what you may not realize is that by going on a diet you are hurting yoursel.

This is because

a.) By 'Giving Up Smoking' you are already depriving yourself of a pleasure or crutch

And when this is combined with

b.) A diet - or food deprivation (because that is all a diet is - you can't eat your favourite foods)

You actually feel worse! Not only have you had to stop smoking but now you are depressed because you are giving up your favourite foods too! The result is that you either gorge yourself on food or you start smoking again.

6. Snacking replaces the habitual cigarette every hour or so and keeps the hands busy

7. Once you've quit you enjoy food more due to the improved senses of taste and smell

8. Eating helps ease withdrawal symptoms - the irony here is that you suffer withdrawal symptoms because your body is crying out for food - not because it is crying out for nicotine! By eating you are helping to ease withdrawal symptoms but you are eating in excess which brings the added problem of weight gain.

There is a simple solution to this 'massive problem' that prevents millions of smokers worldwide:

Give your body the foods that it needs but in more concentrated doses and find ways to enjoy life that do not involve food.

So, firstly to prevent weight gain when you stop smoking you should stock up on natural fruit juices. Not cordials, diluted juices or from concentrate. Natural fruit juices provide the sugars (food) that your body has been missing out on since you started smoking. When your appetite increases, the juices provide you with concentrated forms of food and vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

Juices such as fresh orange juice and grapefruit juice and cranberry juice are especially good for you when you quit smoking because they contain Vitamin C.

Vitamin C helps the body's extraction process when it removes nicotine from your body - a major cause in withdrawal symptoms.

So by drinking plenty of fruit juice and by also taking vitamin and mineral supplements, you are giving your body all the natural foods that it needs but without eating large amounts of food and therefore gaining weight!

Secondly, it is highly important for many reasons that you continue to enjoy your life after you quit smoking, and I personally believe that it is important that you enjoy your life MORE as a non-smoker than you did as a smoker! What's the point in giving up something you enjoy?

Most people strive for and go to work so that they can achieve a more enjoyable life. So why not take the same approach when you quit smoking?

By finding a new source of pleasure you can ensure that you are not relying on food to comfort and help you though a tough situation and you are ensuring that you are keeping busy, which helps to keep your mind off smoking and eating!

Gaining weight is NOT an inevitable part of stopping smoking. By analysing your eating behaviour and taking a few simple steps you can actually PREVENT weight gain and to an extent withdrawal symptoms.

Don't let your fear of weight gain prevent you from stopping smoking.

Daniel Fargher
Quit Smoking Specialist
Stop Smoking For Good

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