HOW TO STOP SMOKING WITHOUT PUTTING ON WEIGHT

So the best way to control your weight is to gum up your body with four thousand chemical products?

Let’s think about this...

You didn’t start to smoke because you wanted to control your weight. You started because you were curious, or to be like your friends. Then... Oops! One day you discovered you’d become addicted to smoking. But... It was too late!

Once you were addicted to cigarettes, you started to smoke more, which changed your metabolism. Your weight may have been affected as a result. This is a possible secondary effect of nicotine addiction!

Nicotine can affect your weight in three main ways :

• Cigarettes greatly diminish your sense of taste and, therefore, the desire to eat and the joy of eating.
• Cigarettes reduce the feeling of hunger.
• Cigarettes slightly increase your metabolism, which therefore burns a few more calories a day due to the stimulation of nicotine.

This possible side-effect of nicotine addiction may seem beneficial. However, it quickly proves to be very costly over time, since you experience :

• Overall health loss
• Insignificant impact on weight for many smokers :
  • Tobacco in no way gives you energy – it takes it away! Less energy means less desire and ability to be active, which means you use up less energy. This can increase the odds of gaining weight.
• Increased danger of strokes for women on the pill.
• Premature and unavoidable negative impact of tobacco on your looks :
  • Tobacco affects your complexion and causes premature wrinkles because it reduces the flow of oxygen to your cells and reduces absorption of nutrients that are essential to your health.

There is a healthier and easier way to control your weight:

• Be as active as you can every day (and the more active you are, the more you will want to continue!), eat a mix of high-quality foods, and drink water on a regular basis.

If you’re afraid you’ll gain weight when you stop smoking (more than 5 to 10 pounds of fat, because if you’re active, you’ll gain weight as muscle), we suggest you see a nutrition specialist or visit the following sites :

• http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
• http://www.medicinenet.com
• http://www.nutrition.gov/