While not everyone gains weight after they quit smoking, the average gain is thought to be somewhere around ten pounds.
It is likely for you to gain weight if you’ve been a smoker for a long time or if you smoke over a pack a day.
Here’s a list of things you can do to prevent gaining weight after giving up smoking:
Eat healthily
First thing’s first. Improving the way you eat will definitely help you with the process. Choose from a variety of foods, each day something else, something natural preferably while staying away from junk food or any other unhealthy type of food. Also, people tend to replace smoking with snacking so if you can’t help it at least make sure they are diet snacks.
Physical exercise
The next thing you can do to make sure you don’t gain weight after quitting is physical exercise. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to the gym every day, but that you should try and be a more active person.
Go out for walks, play with your kids more, at home or in the park, or simply do some other easy and pleasant activities. You’ll notice that because you’re no longer a smoker you’ll have a lot more energy and stamina and you’ll feel a lot better.
Cope with cravings
After you give up smoking, there will be moments in which you’ll feel the need to just have one more smoke. These carvings can come pretty often and you must learn to deal with them. An easy way to do this is by finding distractions that get your mind off cigarettes.
Try reading a book, do some work around the house or focus on your job. Watch a movie, do some crosswords, take a bath or anything else that will help get your mind off smoking.
If you feel you could do this better with the help of a friend, spouse or someone else close to you then don’t hesitate on asking for help. If it’s a person that cares about you, he or she will help you with the process.
Lastly, you should try and stay positive and keep an open mind. By having a positive attitude you’ll find it a lot easier to reach your goal than it would if you would be stressed. If you find yourself stressed, do things that usually relax you, anything that gets you in a good mood.
