It is a worry almost as intense as the hand-wringing associated with quitting smoking itself. Anyone who tries to quit smoking is going to gain weight. One leads to the other and many feel there is no way around it.

What this really means is that the person who wants to quit smoking has become a pharmaceutical and product marketer’s dream – weight loss and smoking cessation are two of the most lucrative businesses in the world, accounting for billions of dollars each every year. The up side of that fact is that there are more products and commercially available “systems” on the market geared to help someone quit smoking without gaining weight than you could shake a pack of cigarettes at.

Why Gain Weight?

On first glance one would have to wonder, why would most people gain weight when quitting smoking? What does one have to do with the other? Essentially the main reason most people gain weight while quitting smoking is that they are substituting one oral gratification for another. Smoking is a self-soothing experience. When that is taken away, the body looks for another. Eating is the natural choice.

It also has a lot to do with habit. Quitting smoking means having to deal with overcoming an addiction to nicotine. Fighting the withdrawal symptoms and dealing with craving to smoke creates a great deal of stress. The stress leads to other cravings. For many people eating is a way of dealing with stress – and for quitters it is about the only one left. About the only other is “marital love,” as it was described in the movie, “The Great American Smoke Out,” starring Dick Van Dyke.

Fight the Power

There is good news. Potential weight gain can be minimized if smoking cessation is accompanied by a moderate increase in exercise or physical activity. This has the added benefit of keeping the person busy and their mind off smoking, one of the key points smoking cessation therapists stress in a quit-smoking plan.

Quitters worried about gaining weight suddenly have two checklists to maintain – one for staying off cigarettes and another for avoiding weight gain. Just as smokers should keep a diary to document when and where they are hit by smoking cravings, they also should keep a food diary of when, where, and what they eat. Just as the smoking diary can help the quitter avoid cravings, the food diary can give insight into when and what stresses trigger they to eat, especially important if binge eating is a problem.

feedback@stopthesmoke.com