It’s an interesting fact that many people hesitate to quit smoking because they are truly afraid of the weight gain that they think will follow. Many would rather be inhaling a cancer causing agent and some 4,000 toxins several times a day than have a few extra inches around their belly or thighs. But is there really a connection between quitting smoking and weight gain, and if so, what is the extent of that connection? Being overweight is not healthy either so should one be concerned about if one is considering an attempt at quitting smoking? And if there really is a connection, how bad is it?

It’s true that for many people there really is something of a connection between quitting smoking and weight gain. Many who have quit smoking have found that they have put on a few pounds after that and they have trouble taking off this weight as well. What causes a person that quits smoking to have weight gain and how can you avoid it if at all?

Understanding why quitting smoking and weight gain are connected is the first key to avoiding this problem. Most people who quit smoking have intense cravings and find that they have very nervous hands, meaning that they need something in their mouths to calm those cravings and something in their hands to keep them occupied the way cigarettes used to. What better way to accomplish these two things than to eat? Also, because most who quit smoking are jittery and anxious because of the nicotine cravings, they find that eating helps to calm them down. When we eat the body releases endorphins, which are those “feel good” hormones. So for most, the connection between quitting smoking and weight gain is that they simply replace smoking with eating. There’s no chemical process in your body that makes you put on weight as soon as you deprive yourself of cigarette smoke, but it’s your own habits that cause this.

Once you understand this connection between quitting smoking and weight gain you can better prepare yourself to avoid it if you quit smoking. Many smokers are also very sedentary since the smoking makes physical activity difficult, and this too makes the weight hard to take off. If you prepare yourself for the smoking and weight gain connection you can make a plan on what snacks to have in the house that will curb your cravings without making you overweight and you can make a plan on adding exercise to your routine as well.

And remember that while being overweight is not healthy, cigarette smoking is much worse. So while there is a slight connection between quitting smoking and weight gain it’s obviously worth the time and effort it takes to avoid this and quit anyway!

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