The Connection Between Smoking Cessation and Weight Loss

At Matthews Internal Medicine, we try to help all of our patients live a healthier lifestyle. That means helping them avoid bad habits, like smoking. Our smoking cessation experts can help you drop this nasty habit and lower your risk for major health issues down the road.

There is one thing that some smokers worry about when quitting though. The question we hear a lot is “Will I gain weight?” This is an understandable concern. Smoking speeds up your metabolism, so some smokers are concerned that quitting will lead to them burning less calories. This increased metabolism is all thanks to the nicotine that you ingest every time you smoke a cigarette. It causes your body to use up more calories faster. Smokers could think that cutting out nicotine means weight gain, but there are some reasons to believe that smoking cessation won’t cause this problem in every patient. For many people, quitting smoking can actually lead to weight loss.

One reason for this is that smokers that quit actually lose belly fat in the long run, according to a recent study. In one trial, smokers quit with the help of their doctors and smoking cessation drugs. The ones that returned to smoking after eight weeks actually ended up with more belly fat. So if you quit smoking, know that you’re already better off after a mere two months.

The other reason that smoking cessation can help you lose weight is that you’ll find it easier to partake in physical activity. Aerobic activities like walking or jogging can boost your metabolism, help you stave off weight gain, and make you feel better. Just aiming for thirty minutes of activity per day can provide a big boost, but smokers might find it hard to walk or jog for even this short amount of time.

Other studies show that even when smokers gain weight after quitting, it’s not as pronounced as you might think. Around half of smokers gain less than ten pounds. Big weight gains are not the norm. In addition to physical activity, you also have to focus on your eating habits when you quit smoking. Some people replace their nicotine craving with a craving for high sugar or high fat snacks. If you can avoid that temptation, you won’t have to worry as much about weight gain.

Even if you do end up gaining weight, a smoking cessation program still offers more benefits than a slight weight loss would. A few extra pounds won’t affect your health as negatively as smoking does. When you quit smoking, you lower your risk of heart disease and certain types of cancers dramatically. This health benefit more than offsets the detriment that a small weight gain represents.

If you’re serious about quitting smoking and keeping off the extra pounds, our physicians can help. Our preventative care experts and smoking cessation pros are ready to help you live a healthier, smoke-free lifestyle.