Weight Gain and Anxiety when Quitting Smoking
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I know that many people are trying to quit smoking right now and now that we are in the second weekend of the new year they are really struggling to keep away from the cigarettes. I wanted to let you know that I understand how tough things are but the end is in sight and you will not have that urge anymore. Here are a couple things that bother a lot of people and get them thinking that smoking is not so bad. If you need a little more help then please go to the quit smoking reviews page
Weight gain after quitting smoking
One of the concerns that many people have when quitting smoking is the possibility of gaining weight.
It is actually one of the reasons why many people refuse to quit and why others will start smoking again when they see that they are starting to gain unwanted pounds. Most people will notice some weight gain when they quit smoking and on average the increase in weight will be approximately five pounds.
There are however many ways to make sure that you won’t put on weight and these are healthy lifestyle choices such as the correct food and good exercise.
Considering the major benefits you will be making to your health both now and in the future by quitting smoking you might as well go all the way and boost your fitness levels too.
The advantages of stopping smoking certainly outweigh any of the disadvantages of adding a few pounds of bodyweight.
Smoking does help people to keep their weight down and some fashion models smoke cigarettes because the nicotine in them speeds up the metabolism and that helps to burn fat due to the increased demand for energy. By burning more calories to supply the energy demands it is easier to remain thinner.
In addition to speeding up the metabolism nicotine acts like a stimulant and that can help to suppress the appetite.
A third way that nicotine helps people to stay thinner is because it causes the food to stay in the stomach longer and reduce the feelings of hunger.
These are definitely not good enough reasons to keep up the nicotine habit!
So you will need to make some lifestyle changes to retain your current weight once you stop smoking. The easiest and most obvious step to take is to make sure that you are drinking enough water throughout the day. This will help you to remain hydrated and it will also give you a fuller feeling in your stomach that will reduce the amount of hunger pangs you get. This will stop you from eating excessively and it will also help to boost your energy levels which will make it easier for you to do some form of exercise that will help to boost your metabolism in much the same manner as the nicotine has done but without the negative effects on your health.
This is not to say that you will gain weight when you quit smoking as a good percentage of people will actually lose weight. Just monitor your weight and no matter which direction it goes in you will always be better off from quitting even if you do gain a few pounds.
Anxiety problem while quitting smoking
Many people use the effects that nicotine can deliver to self medicate for depression and anxiety. It has been shown that the nicotine and other chemicals in cigarettes can help to improve the mood of a person and also to lessen the effects of anxiety.
While this is a temporary fix there is a need to tackle the underlying problem that is causing the depression as it can lead to more serious consequences.
It is also very difficult to quit smoking when you are feeling depressed as the withdrawal symptoms that can come from quitting smoking and not getting the nicotine fix can cause a person to feel depressed.
By treating the depression properly with counseling, medication or other means a person will have a better chance of quitting smoking.
Anxiety attacks will also need to be sorted before any attempts at quitting smoking are attempted as once again cigarettes contain chemicals that help to release norepinephrine which lessens the effect of anxiety and depression.
Without the cigarettes to release norepinephrine a person who is feeling depressed or anxious is likely to have increased levels of anxiety and this makes it difficult for them to maintain their composure when on a program to stop smoking.
This is a situation where other alternative methods of quitting smoking such as hypnosis and acupuncture can help add support to mainstream method such as nicotine patches, pills and gum.
Yoga is an excellent discipline to train the correct breathing techniques and by using these techniques in times of stress and anxiety similar feelings of control to those achieved from smoking can be experienced without the detrimental affect to health.
If you are quitting smoking and notice increased levels of anxiety it might be necessary to use a higher strength medication for your nicotine replacement and drop the strength at a slower rate to help cope with the changes.
Getting started quitting and staying off the tobacco can be hard but it is so incredibly satisfying to know that you are improving your life and that you have quit for good so you may need more help quitting smoking. If you need a little more help then please go back to the quit smoking reviews page that got you here in the first place.
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In my opinion if you want to quit smoking it is a purely psychological thing. If you need medication to get off cigs then you will be back on smokes after a time. If you want to quit smoking your own will is the only thing that really can help you staying of those killers forever.
Jeepers, I have put a pound a week on for every week I’ve stopped. That is 18 weeks now and I’m not impressed. I walk 30 miles a week and cycle now too. God only knows what I’d be like if I didn’t exercise. Jeepers. My sister started gaining and has gone back on the cigarettes and her excess weight just went in a fortnight. Jeepers.
I’ve been smoking for 20 years and I just turned 30. I’m the kind of person who worries alot and I get extremely emotional or anxious. Smoking a cigarette helps me curb those spaz outs. When I quit smoking, I snap at people and I get “bitchier” even meaner. Do you have any advice for those issues and how to control or eliminate them if I were to attempt to quit smoking again?