Tips to Manage Your Weight after Quitting Smoking

The Types of Foods You Eat can Help You Control or Lose Weight.

1. Limiting fats is one way to control weight. Fats are loaded with calories. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories compared to 4 calories per gram in proteins and carbohydrates. So you can eat the same amount of food that is low in fat and still lose weight. Today many foods have less fat. Also, most foods have labels that make it easy for you to check the fat content. You may be surprised at how much hidden fat there is in common foods. Come up with low fat foods you most enjoy and keep these in mind when preparing or purchasing meals.

2. A better way may be to focus on the foods you can eat rather than on what you should not eat. Your diet can include plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and lean meats.

3. If you have the urge to snack you may want to cut up carrots, cantaloupes, and strawberries, or eat pretzels rather than chips. Some ex-smokers also like drinking ice water or sucking on ice cubes or popsicles.

4. Remember that sweet foods also tend to add calories. As stated before, people seem to like sweet foods after quitting. If you reduce or avoid high calorie sweet foods weight gain will be less likely. If you must have sweet foods, there are now a lot of products with sweeteners in them that are low in calories.

5. Another way to reduce caloric intake is to change your eating habits. For example, perhaps you are used to having a cigarette after a meal, but since quitting you have been eating more. You may want to get up from the table right after your meal and find something else to do. Some people eat to deal with stress. If this is the case, you may want to find other ways to deal with these feelings. Try relaxing or deep breathing exercises.

Exercise after quitting smoking is good for many reasons:

1. Exercise burns calories.
   
   First, exercise burns calories. Exercise such as walking, jogging, or swimming can burn off 200 to 600 calories per hour. Not only do you burn calories but your metabolism increases and you burn calories at a higher rate for up to 24 hours after exercise.

2. Exercise depresses appetite and makes you want to eat less.
   
   Most exercise depresses appetite. When you exercise, fat is broken down and released into the bloodstream. This acts as a built-in appetite depressant. This makes you want to eat less.

3. Exercise cuts down urges for cigarettes.
   
   Third, exercise is hard to do while smoking. Many smokers do not enjoy exercise because less oxygen reaches their heart and muscles. This can cause cramps and shortness of breath. Quitting smoking makes exercise easier and more fun. Without the carbon monoxide from smoking in your system, exercise may seem more fun. You may not want smoking to get in the way of those good feelings.

4. Exercise helps you to deal with stress.
   
   Last, you can use exercise as a healthy way to deal with stress, boredom, and tension. Exercise helps relieve tension. It has been found to improve well-being. Exercise also improves the skin, body tone, and strength.

Weight Control Tips Conclusion

Most people gain less than 10 pounds after quitting smoking, and most of this is lost later. However, studies show that people who make changes in their eating and exercising habits do not gain much after quitting smoking, if any, weight. If you do gain weight, you are still far better off than if you were smoking. Also remember that muscle weighs more than fat so if you are exercising while maintaining your weight you may be gaining muscle rather than fat, which is a good thing.

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