Chapter One: Facts and Fictions about Quitting Smoking and Managing Your Weight Congratulations! The fact that you opened this book shows that you have taken an interest in quitting smoking and improving your health -- and for that alone you deserve a pat on the back! Think it's time to kick the habit? You may feel overwhelmed by the idea or aren't sure that you're ready to do it. Maybe you have even tried to quit before but found it to be too hard and decided not to. Whether you're a first-time quitter or a seasoned veteran, quitting smoking is not an easy thing to do. For most people, there are plenty of obstacles that get in the way. But rest assured, 44.8 million ex-smokers have shown that it can be done, and we are here to help!
If you are especially concerned about gaining weight when you quit, this book is for you. Fear of weight gain is a common reason why people, especially women, do not even attempt to quit smoking. Although statistics vary, as many as 60 percent of men and 51 percent of women gain weight when they quit; 25 percent of women gain in excess of 15 pounds.
We present several strategies and helpful tips here for getting past the obstacles to quitting smoking and on to a healthier way of life -- without expanding your waistline. Even if you aren't ready to quit yet, focusing on improving other parts of your life, like becoming more physically active or making healthier food choices, can bring you closer to that goal. If you have tried to quit before, we will help you use your past experience to find ways to quit that better fit your lifestyle -- so that you can stay smoke-free for good.
Many people think that quitting smoking is either something you can or cannot do. This way of thinking makes the thought of quitting smoking, becoming more physically active, and eating healthier seem like a major test of character. But quitting is not an "all-or-nothing" undertaking. It's really about learning how to make healthy choices -- one day and one choice at a time. This book will teach you a variety of skills and specific strategies for dealing with difficult situations that test your commitment to quitting, like the urge to smoke a cigarette with your morning coffee or after a meal. Quitting smoking is the result of many individual choices.
Many of the techniques in this book are based on the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking® Program and its comprehensive guide to quitting smoking, 7 Steps to a Smoke-Free Life (1998, LifeTime Media, Inc., Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). We combine the wisdom of American Lung Association programs with our own research on smoking, physical activity, and eating habits, and years of firsthand clinical experience. We have helped thousands of people like you quit smoking and improve their health, and we will provide you with many proven methods for doing the same.
Based on our research and experience, we see quitting smoking, physical activity, and healthy eating as a system of habits that are essential to the overall picture of your health. By working on any one of these elements, it will become easier to make changes in the others. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, and combined with the habitual nature of smoking, quitting can be a difficult thing to do. Many people use unhealthy foods as a replacement for their smoking habit and as a way of coping with cravings for nicotine. This is part of the reason why smokers tend to gain weight when they quit. We want to help you form new, healthier habits. This means replacing your cigarette addiction with a different kind of "addiction" -- satisfying that feeling of wanting something in your mouth by eating some fresh strawberries or carrot sticks. Or by getting addicted to your new aerobics class or a daily walk around the block. Ever notice that people who exercise regularly say they can't live without it? The key is to find physical activities that fit into your lifestyle and healthy foods that satisfy your hunger and taste good. We'll provide you with a firm plan for eating healthier foods and getting more physically active so you can overcome your addiction to smoking and formulate new habits that will keep you healthy and trim.
Timing is key to this process. This book is organized around the physical and psychological changes you may experience over time when you try to quit smoking and manage your weight. This schedule is not set in stone. It is a structure that can help you more easily track your progress and plan your next steps. For example, if you get stuck at any point, you can go back to an earlier lesson and reinforce what you have learned. This happens to most people, so please don't be hard on yourself if it happens to you. The idea is to create and follow a program that you will stick to -- one that fits with your routines, but also one that will get you to break some of your not-so-healthy habits and adopt healthier new ones.
Before we move into the core of the program, there are some basic facts about smoking and weight management that you should know. Knowing the basics may help to settle your fears about quitting. In the following pages, we will help you better understand the relationship between smoking and weight gain, and how quitting may affect you physically and emotionally. This information can help prepare you to make decisions about how and when you want to begin the program. Beginning with the facts, the information in this book will supply you with a broad array of tools for becoming a healthier and more energetic person overall.
Introduction to Smoking and Weight Management The Facts about Quitting and Weight Gain
Quitting smoking is a really tough thing to do, and many people decide not to quit because they are afraid they'll gain weight. You may have tried to quit before and gone back to smoking because you gained five or ten pounds. If these scenarios sound familiar, you are not alone. Many people experience the same anxiety when trying to quit: People gain an average of 10 to 13 pounds when they stop smoking, and many of them return to smoking to lose that weight. This is especially true for women. Experts have found that fear of weight gain is a significant barrier for women who want to quit, and some studies show that women are more likely than men to recognize that they use smoking as a weight-loss strategy. Women are four times more likely than male smokers to report fear of weight gain as a reason for starting to smoke again. Fear can be an obstacle for anyone trying to quit smoking, but it is also one that can be resolved. Just keep the many rewards of quitting in mind: you won't smell of tobacco, you won't be forced to excuse yourself from social situations to smoke a cigarette, you will feel confident and in control. You'll be on the road to looking and feeling more healthy and vibrant! And within a couple of weeks to a month, you will have decreased your chances of heart attack and stroke, you'll breathe easier, your eyes and throat will be less prone to irritation, and walking and other forms of physical activity will get easier. Don't be afraid of living a healthy and smoke-free life!
This is not to say that weight gain is not a real problem for people trying to quit smoking. Keep in mind that some people actually lose weight when they quit smoking, mostly because they make other healthy lifestyle changes in the process, such as becoming more physically active and eating healthier foods. One study, however, showed that major weight gain (roughly 30 pounds or more) occurs in almost 10 percent of men and a little more than 13 percent of women who quit smoking. The risk of being a "supergainer" is greater among those who smoke more than 15 cigarettes per day. People who smoke almost a pack or more a day may want to pay special attention to managing their weight when they quit. But those who smoke at this rate or more are also at higher risk for other negative health effects of smoking.
Regardless of your level of risk, don't let these numbers discourage you or prevent you from attaining your goal. Millions of people have quit successfully and many of them have done so while keeping weight gain to a minimum. It can be done! Just keep reminding yourself that the strain on your heart from smoking a pack a day is like carrying around 75 to 100 extra pounds of body weight. And, quitting can add 5 to 10 years to your life. To help you reach your goal, we have designed a program that will help you stay motivated and make use of easy, hassle-free ways to achieve your objectives. Rather than taking a rigid approach to quitting, we believe that a solid, flexible plan that leaves room for the ups and downs of daily life will keep you on track toward a more healthy and smoke-free life.
Quitting and Weight Gain: A Vicious Cycle When smokers try to quit there are many factors at play, and weight gain is one of them. Pressures to be thin are indeed very strong, and cigarette companies don't make it any easier. They like to play on your desire to be thin, especially if you are a woman. Ads present smoking as a way of controlling weight and coping with life's pressures. Why do you think advertisers tell us that "You've come a long way, baby" and call the product "Virginia Slims"?
Many people get trapped in a vicious cycle of quitting smoking, gaining weight, and going back to smoking. But this merry-go-round of quitting and smoking again doesn't work. Most of the time people do not end up taking off all the weight they gained in the first place, and so they are still smoking cigarettes and endangering their health. Plus smokers then feel frustrated and angry with themselves for failing. This makes it even harder for them to get motivated to make the next attempt to quit.
The best way to get off the merry-go-round is to stop using smoking as a means of managing your weight. This book offers you alternatives that take into account your desire to quit and manage your weight, safely and successfully. Remember, it can and has been...
