subject: Smoking and weight gain [print this page] Smoking and weight gain Smoking and weight gain
One of the common fears associated with smoking cessation is that it can follow uncontrollable weight gain. While it is true that some people can get up to 9 kilos during the first years of abstinence from smoking, other more optimistic studies have shown that the initial growth tends to reach its maximum after six months and that many people return to their normal bodyweight within twelve months after the cessation.
Those who intend to quit but are not sure that will manage such a feat, they can find solace knowing that former smokers who make regular physical activity are more likely to control their weight than those who maintain sedentary habits.
U.S. researchers investigating the weight gain after smoking for 9000 women, found that physical activity was very important in weight control during the first two-year period after the break.
The "light" smokers (24 or fewer cigarettes per day) of the study having 1-2 hours of intense physical activity each week seemed to take an average of 2.2 kilos compared with the "heavy" smokers (25 cigarettes per day or more), who gained almost twice the weight.
The researchers then discovered that the more exercise, the better was the control of the weight. When levels of physical activity increased more than 2 hours per week, light smokers were able to keep the weight increaseto 1.5kilos and heavy smokers at 3 kilos.
The tendency to develop stores of body fat is due to slow metabolism when nicotine is withdrawn from the body because, like caffeine, nicotine is able to slightly increase the metabolic rate. Smoking and nicotine may also have other physiological effects that affect behavioural and sensory mechanisms, and, correspondingly, affect food intake and cause an increased desire to eat, when a person quit.
The actualmechanisms have not been determined yet but research shows that up to 70% of the weight gain observed may be due to increased calorie intake. In this study, women seemed to have increased their consumption of food and drinks of 227 calories per day on average.
For those who intend to quit smoking but are worried about the risk of weight gain the key seems to lie in addressing the problem from both sides of the equation of energy balance.
The design of 5 points
Incorporate some kind of exercise into your daily routine and work out more than two hours during the week.
Incorporate three short sessions of 25 minutes to strength training to reduce the physiological age that declines in muscle mass and thus metabolic rate.
Keep food diary for five days before quitting.
Keep food diary after you stop smoking. Compare this with your diet diary and identify whether when you smokedyouate less, and what kinds of foods you consume.
Learn how to face difficult times and get ready toeatfruits and snacks low in fat at such moments.
Besides the meaning of weight loss should always be the same as the meaning of healthy weight loss. For sure smoking does not include health instead as everyone is aware is the cause of many problems.
