Even small children know that cigarettes cause serious damage to the body. Objectively, this is the absolute truth. However, there are nuances that testify in favor of nicotine, which is hated by many, which consoles heavy smokers. For example, he is able to maintain body weight within normal limits. Many people who quit this habit report serious weight gain after quitting smoking. But is it worth it, does it compensate for the destruction that cigarettes bring with them? At the same time, you need to understand that quitting smoking and not gaining weight is quite possible.
The power of prejudice
Any prejudices have no scientific basis and do not bring any practical benefit to humanity. Studies have shown that people who decide to quit nicotine addiction can gain no more than 4 kilograms in a year after giving up the bad habit.
In rare cases, an increase in body weight of six to eight kilograms occurs. But even such an increase in muscle mass quickly returns to normal if you know the reasons why it occurs and regulate the metabolic processes in the body.
I'll smoke so I don't want to eat!
Yes, smoking really reduces appetite - I tested it myself.
Scientists have studied this “side” effect of cigarettes.
It turned out that the reason for this is still the same nicotine. It affects the acetylcholine receptors of our central nervous system in such a way that more hormones are produced, which are responsible for our feeling of “fullness” with food.
So it turns out that I smoked and didn’t feel like eating, but I quit and a healthy appetite appeared (though multiplied several times by the desire to smoke)
Reasons for weight gain and rules for losing weight after quitting smoking
Nicotine, entering the blood of a smoker, helps to increase the level of the hormone dopamine, which is produced in the centers of the brain responsible for receiving pleasure; it seems to a person that smoking gives him peace of mind, relaxation, reduces appetite, and helps to overcome stressful situations.
A sharp cessation of a bad habit forces the brain to look for new pathogens that can compensate for the reactions that occur in the body under the influence of nicotine tar.
As a rule, delicious food becomes a natural substitute for cigarettes. A person begins to eat a lot and often, satisfying the feeling of hunger and receiving new taste pleasures from food.
If this process is not controlled, then it is quite possible that weight gain will occur after quitting smoking. But such a reaction is neither obligatory nor natural.
In order not to expose the body to severe stress, it is important to quit smoking correctly. You should determine the start date for life without cigarette smoke and think in advance about a diet that will prevent excess weight gain.
To do this you need:
- two weeks before the start, reduce the level of carbohydrates in the menu;
- give up alcohol;
- stock up on clean drinking water - to relieve intoxication you will need to drink at least two liters per day;
- prepare low-calorie snack foods that will serve as a substitute for smoking breaks for the first time;
- think about how you can replace your first morning cigarette;
- create a training program - after all, sport is the best replacement for all bad habits
What happens to the body when you quit smoking
As soon as a person decides to leave a bad habit in the past, nicotine, along with a full range of dangerous chemicals, stops entering the body. Scientists have told you what will happen to your body by day of the week so that you can prepare for unpleasant effects.
- Already in the first day, carbon monoxide is almost completely eliminated from the blood. The remaining nicotine is completely metabolized, but moderate anxiety will be felt, as if something is bothering you, but it is not clear what.
- Taste buds acquire their primary properties, they begin to send the correct signals to the neurons of the brain, so food seems richer, tasty, aromatic, and pleasant. The gastrointestinal tract can “please” with unexpected constipation. Insomnia and anxiety may occur.
- Already on the third day, the level of dopamine, which nicotine successfully replaced, begins to stabilize, and therefore the mood will improve. At the same time, the brain and heart will be much better supplied with oxygen. At this point, the risk of a heart attack is reduced by nine times.
- Intestinal peristalsis, which moves its contents to the “exit”, reacts negatively to the absence of the stimulant nicotine. Therefore, against the background of a general improvement in the condition, problems with the gastrointestinal tract may arise. At the same time, the psyche suffers, anxiety and irritability increase. For drug addicts this is called withdrawal. At this moment, it will not hurt to support the body with appropriate medications.
- Already on the fifth day, coughing up sputum becomes easier, and the urge itself is much less frequent. All systems of the body begin to gradually recover, a person begins to feel the real taste of food and drinks, and the previously lost sense of smell appears.
- By the sixth day, problems with the gastrointestinal tract and intestinal motility should completely go away. However, the nervous system is still in an irritated, highly excited state. Just then a strong thirst begins to be felt - the body needs to wash away the remnants of toxins left behind by cigarettes.
- Many throwers say that the seventh is the most difficult. The general condition is leveling out, but the nervous overstrain of the last few days is especially noticeable. I want to give up everything, wave my hand, lighting the “last” one. Under no circumstances should you do this, otherwise you will have to start all over again. To normalize mental state, many recommend yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and other similar practices.
How to find out how much you will gain when quitting smoking?
Scientists from Pennsylvania have identified certain patterns that allow both doctors and patients to calculate estimated figures for how much a person can actually gain weight if they stop using tobacco products.
They base their data on 10 years of observation of more than 12,000 study subjects. The main indicator for calculations is the number of cigarettes a person smoked per day.
If there are no more than 15, then the patient has nothing to worry about. The data suggests he won't gain any weight at all.
If he consumed more than 25 cigarettes every day, he could gain 10 kilograms within a year of quitting smoking.
Overweight smokers are at risk of gaining only 7 kilograms over the same period.
Thus, knowing about expected weight fluctuations, you can choose programs and diets for recovery.
How to avoid gaining weight by quitting smoking?
There are several recommendations on how to avoid gaining weight by quitting smoking. First of all, they relate to nutrition and physical activity. In addition, experts advise preparing in advance to quit smoking. Then it will be much easier to quit and avoid weight gain.
Proper nutrition
Features of a proper diet
When quitting smoking, you don't need a strict diet. This is especially true in the first weeks, when the body is already under severe stress. However, it is worth changing your diet by taking the following steps:
- reduce the consumption of fatty, hot, highly spicy foods;
- try to avoid fried foods, it is better to bake, stew or steam;
- reduce the amount of sugar consumed;
- add fresh vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs to the diet;
- increase consumption of fermented milk products.
You cannot suppress your appetite with snacks, fast food, or baked goods.
Allen Carr Method
Many people recommend the technique outlined in the book by the famous Allen Carr. She describes in detail how to quit smoking and not gain weight. The main idea is that the process of quitting the habit is comfortable, which means that in the absence of fears and discomfort, the quitting smoker does not need to relieve stress by eating food.
Breathing exercises and acupuncture
Unconventional, but quite popular methods to quit smoking are breathing exercises and acupuncture.
With acupuncture, influencing certain biologically active points on the human body helps overcome addiction. The craving for smoking is noticeably reduced, which allows you to give up cigarettes easily, quickly, comfortably, and, as a result, not gain weight.
Some breathing exercises greatly facilitate the process of getting rid of nicotine addiction. In addition, systematic exercise has a beneficial effect on the state of the nervous system and the entire body, relieves stress, irritability, and improves appearance. If you do exercises regularly, it will be much easier to quit smoking without gaining weight.
Homeopathy and dietary supplements
There are many modern medications that help alleviate a person’s condition during the period of quitting smoking. They promote intensive cleansing of the body from toxins, reduce cravings for nicotine, and stabilize the psycho-emotional state. In addition, supplements normalize metabolic processes, which means they partly influence the fact that, after stopping smoking, a person remains in shape and does not gain weight.
How to replace the habit of smoking?
To avoid gaining weight when you quit smoking, you need to consider options for replacing cigarettes. They could be:
- fresh vegetables, fruits;
- dried fruits (in small quantities);
- low-fat yoghurts;
- crackers.
Cracker
You can chew chewing gum, eat candy (without sugar), drink a glass of water. Any activity related to concentration will help you distract yourself from the desire to smoke. Some, for example, train sleight of hand and learn to do card tricks.
How to deal with excess weight?
First of all, don’t lose heart and overcome your fears. If you change your eating habits and change your drinking regime before quitting smoking, it will be much easier to control your weight.
It is necessary to develop a health program and visit either a swimming pool or a gym. If these sports do not inspire you, then you can replace them with morning jogging or evening walks in the fresh air.
Do not forget about fractional meals, include juices and low-calorie foods in your diet.
Experts also recommend monitoring the frequency - you should not allow more than two hours between meals.
Get your body in order
Patience + control are the main guidelines for those who do not want to gain weight after quitting smoking. You have to be prepared that if you quit smoking, you will want to eat more, and you will gain weight much faster than before. To avoid gaining too much weight, you need to:
- Watch your diet. Eat in moderation and avoid high-calorie snacks.
- Gradually increase physical activity so as not to gain weight.
- Take measures to activate “dormant” metabolism.
- Restore health that suffers when a person smokes a lot of cigarettes.
If, despite all the measures taken, a person notices excess weight, then the gained kilograms must be removed according to the rules: adjusting the diet helps to lose weight, improving the sports program does not allow further gains. The main thing is not to touch cigarettes: if you smoke one or two cigarettes again, then all your efforts will be in vain.
Your Narcologist warns: what not to do?
If the patient has firmly decided to quit smoking, but still doubts that he may gain weight after this, then all of the above recommendations should be taken into account.
It is better to start the fight against extra pounds in advance. It is necessary to eat small portions every 2 hours, drink plenty of fluids, and choose a vitamin complex to help the body quickly restore metabolic processes.
Under no circumstances should you use drugs that suppress hunger. Low-calorie snacks or juices are much healthier.
Quitting smoking will rid the body of strong poisons that enter it from the burning tars contained in cigarettes. As a result, blood vessels and lungs will be cleared of toxins, liver cells and metabolic processes will be restored.
The benefits of such a solution are many times greater than the minimal risk of weight gain, which is easy to control and eliminate.
Does smoking help you lose weight?
The less a person eats, the slower he gains pounds. Is it possible to lose weight from cigarettes and how do they affect weight? A smoker's appetite is reduced due to a decrease in the amount of insulin in the blood from tobacco smoke.
In addition, cigarettes stimulate the release of adrenaline into the muscles of the digestive organs. Nutrition, in fact, is replaced by smoking, which is the reason for weight loss. This bad habit increases metabolism, so cigarettes help you avoid gaining extra pounds while remaining thin.
Possible reasons
The popular theory that smokers lose weight is wrong. Perhaps some nicotine lovers actually lose weight, but smoking also makes them fat, and this is a scientifically proven fact. This is connected only with the individual reaction of the body to the effects of nicotine, and how it will behave is unknown. We can only say unequivocally that the result of such an impact will be unfavorable. Each cigarette contains more than 4,000 toxic substances, which, when used systematically, lead to changes in the functioning of all internal organs: endocrine glands, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular, respiratory systems, and so on.
Nicotine also causes a malfunction of the pituitary gland and adrenal glands, which leads to increased formation and improper distribution of internal fat, in addition, smoking causes fatty degeneration of the heart muscle.
Cigarettes slow down normal bowel movements, killing intestinal bacteria and causing constipation.
Most smokers suffer from inflammatory processes in the digestive organs, including stomach ulcers or gastritis, and the ability to distinguish tastes and smells in such people is significantly reduced.
