Quit Smoking Cigarette
Ask avid smokers why they do not quit and you will hear a dozen reasons. The most popular reason they give for not stopping smoking is simple: they do not want to gain a lot of weight once they stop. Giving up smoking does not mean that you have to pick up a new habit like pie eating contests. It doesn't automatically mean that you will gain weight. And it doesn't automatically mean that people who do gain a few pounds after they stop smoking do so because they are mindlessly eating. You might be shocked to find out why some people actually do gain weight.
For some people, food is just bland and boring, the means to keep their body moving and nothing more. Ask a smoker to describe their food and they will use far less adjectives than does a non-smoker and the reason is obvious. Years of smoking dulls the taste buds and the sense of smell so the food for the smoker is not going to have the bursting palette of flavors that the non-smoker is enjoying. To the smoker, it might as well be cardboard, to the non-smoker, it is Beethoven concerto of flavors. Once you manage to give up smoking, your sense of smell and your sense of taste will return and you will be treated with the full range of flavors of all of your favorite foods once again.
If you know that you are going to stop smoking, then start a walking program right before hand. Instead of smoking right after dinner, then take a walk. You can use this gentle exercise whenever you are craving a cigarette or whenever you start craving foods that are on your list of bad snacks. Get a selection of healthy foods in your home before that first day and make sure that you have a range of flavors and textures for no matter what kind of craving pops up on you. Gum is another answer and is actually beneficial to most people who are trying to quit smoking without gaining a ton of weight.
A recent survey asked a group of smokers if they would rather stop smoking or if they would rather be overweight. Almost all of them said they would continue smoking rather than become overweight. Almost everyone said they would rather put their health at risk to keep up a bad habit rather than to gain weight and possibly put their health at risk that way.
Smoking is more than just a habit, it is an addiction. The theory is that people who become smokers are obsessive compulsive people, unable to do things in a casual way. That being said, you can't say that you will automatically gain weight if you stop smoking because you are implying it is a habit rather than a physical addiction. You might have withdrawals and cravings, but you can get through them. You will have issues that might lead to a pound or two of weight gain, but you can lose that as well. It is important to stop smoking for your health, and to do so as quickly as possible. |
