Quit Smoking-Gain Weight

Number 1 Barrier To Quit Smoking

Many smokers are afraid of weight gain and use this excuse for their failure to quit smoking. Smokers worry that their weight gain posed a greater risk than their present smoking habit. When you are smoking just one pack of cigarettes per day, you would actually be roughly 125 pounds overweight. How's that for the truth?

The fact is that many, but not all, ex-smokers do gain some weight after they quit. One study found that 60 percent of men and 51 percent of women ex-smokers put on extra pounds. But the degree of weight gain is relatively small in most cases. The average long-term weight gain for quitters is about 5 pounds, and in one study, 23 percent of quitters actually lost weight.

Smokers weigh less because smoking depresses the appetite for certain foods, while quitters, whose appetites are not suppressed, gain weight because they take in more calories. Nicotine may also alter the smoker's metabolism so that smokers burn more calories and convert fewer calories into fat. In addition, smoking serves as a meal terminator (rather than taking a second or third helping or dessert, you are likely to stop eating and have a cigarette).