How to avoid weight gain after quitting smoking

How to lose weight the right way

Keeping physically active is good for your overall health, protecting you from heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. 

If you work out, even if you gain some weight after quitting smoking, your bones and muscles will become stronger, and you’ll feel better about yourself and your mental health. 

Combine working out with eating healthy food, and you can maintain a healthy figure even after quitting smoking.

Food

If you’ve put on a few pounds since quitting smoking, it’s probably because you’re eating more calories than you’re burning. 

To avoid gaining extra weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Usually, it’s easier to cut calories from your meals than to work them off with exercise.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make huge changes to eat healthier. Studies show that small adjustments can help you lose weight gradually. 

You can safely shed those extra pounds by focusing on healthy foods and watching your portion sizes.

Don’t worry—you can still enjoy your favourite foods while trying to lose weight! 

For instance, consider baking instead of frying, and swap out unhealthy options for fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy. 

It might also help to keep a food diary where you jot down what you eat and how often, so you can spot any good or bad habits.

Doing something active

Adding exercise to your routine can help with weight loss, but many people misunderstand calorie burn. 

For instance, you can burn around 350 calories swimming laps for 30 minutes, but you might not be able to do that daily. 

Instead, skipping a litre of soft drink can save the same calories.

Studies show that doing 10 minutes of cardio three times a day is as effective as a 30-minute session. 

Find cardio activities you enjoy, like running or swimming, to stay motivated. If you exercise regularly, you may feel hungrier, which can lead to overeating. 

When this happens, just keep in mind how much you need to work out to catch up when you give in and eat more than you should.

Quitting smoking doesn’t cause weight gain; it’s about managing your diet afterward. Watch your portion sizes and consider a healthy snack before working out.

Building muscle is a great way to burn more calories, even at rest. Strength training two to three times a week, like lifting weights or doing push-ups, can help reduce body fat.

Setting weight-loss goals

If you are overweight, you may be more likely to get sick. Even if you only lose 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight, your health risks can go down and sometimes even go away.

You may also have more energy, feel less joint pain, and get a better night’s sleep if you lose weight. Setting goals is a good way to lose weight and keep it off.

Thinking of long-term goals can help you work towards a healthier way of life. Try to make changes to your life that will help you stay at a healthy weight now and in the future. Research shows that a diet you do for a few weeks and then stop is not the best way to lose weight and keep it off in the long run. To lose weight in a healthy way, you need to make long-term changes to the way you eat and exercise.

Don’t rush

Studies show that people are more likely to keep the weight off if they lose it slowly and steadily. Health experts say that a healthy way to lose weight over time is to lose 1 to 2kg per week. That is better than trying to lose a lot of weight all at once.

Set your sights low

Break a long-term goal into a series of short-term goals to make your plan more manageable and keep you accountable over the long haul. If you want to lose 10kg in three months, for example, you might set different goals for each month. 

Try to lose 1.5kg a week for the first month and 0.5kg a week for the next two months. Most people lose weight faster in the first month than in the second or third.

Look at the whole picture

Even if you don’t lose weight, eating better and moving around more is good for your health. Try setting goals that aren’t just about losing weight. Instead, think about how your body feels and what it can do. Think about what else a healthy diet and regular exercise can do for you, like teaching you how to cook better, letting you try new foods, and giving you more energy.

Watch how you’re doing

Keep track of your progress as you try to lose weight. There are many tools for weight loss tracking that you can use online or on your phone. Visit the iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store to look at tools for your smartphone that can help you track your progress.

Change goals as necessary

Most days of the week, relying on healthy eating and physical activity can help you reach your weight loss goals in a healthy way. But holidays, trips, and other special events can make it harder to lose weight. 

To lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you eat. Increasing your physical activity is one way to do this, while balancing activity to what you eat in a given day can also help you maintain weight loss goals. Here are some rough estimates of how much exercise it takes to burn off the calories in some favourite treats:

• A 90g bag of chips: Strength training for 1 hour and 30 minutes
• An energy bar: Climbing up and down stairs for 25 minutes
• A medium order of hot chips: Bicycling for 1 hour and 35 minutes
• A large vanilla latte: Jogging for 50 minutes