This is a valid fear, because it does seem like many people who quit smoking put on a few pounds (and some put on a lot more than a few!).  Why is that?  And does it have to happen to everyone who quits smoking?

First, understand that nicotine is a stimulant, and as such it does increase your metabolism a wee bit.  Naturally, when you quit smoking and no longer ingest nicotine on a regular basis, your metabolism will slow down slightly.  However, when I say “slightly,” I really mean SLIGHTLY.  Not enough to make you balloon up to the size of a blimp.

Even better, the effect is temporary and there are simple steps you can take to help keep your weight in balance.

- Drink plenty of water.
Smokers are often dehydrated as it is, which makes your body hold tighter to the water it does have.  One good way to get your body to release excess water is to drink plenty of water!  As contradictory as it may sound, your body will easily let go of retained water when you keep yourself well-hydrated.  The general recommendation is 64 ounces per day, and more if you are overweight already.

- Clean up your diet.
The temptation to snack on sweet and salty foods when you quit smoking may be strong, but try to avoid doing so.  Instead lean more toward plenty of fruit and vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats.  Instead of chips, try snacking on small amounts of nuts and seeds (because they are so packed with protein and fat, you don’t need more than an ounce or two at a time – way less than the entire bag of chips you would have gobbled).  Rather than candy, try some fresh or dried fruit.  Also avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugary soda pops.

- Start an exercise regimen.
Check with your doctor first to be sure you can safely withstand physical activity, and then get moving!  You’ll probably want to keep it moderate to begin with, like brisk walking or swimming.  Don’t be surprised if your lung capacity has greatly diminished if you’ve been smoking for a long time – but it will usually come back the longer you remain a non-smoker and continue to exercise regularly.  As you get stronger, gravitate toward more strenuous forms of exercise, like weight training, dancing, or running.  The better you feel physically, the less tempted you’ll be to abuse your body with junk food or cigarettes.

- Don’t replace one addiction with another.
Sometimes when people quit smoking they pick up another bad habit to replace it, like eating pounds of chocolate or gulping down those mega-double-whipped-chocolate-caramel-1000-calorie lattes.  Your primary objective in quitting smoking is to look and feel better while adopting more healthful habits.  Replace cigarettes with carrot or celery sticks, salads, fresh water, and deep breathing.  You’ll feel much better than you would by giving in to the temporary buzz lattes and chocolate provide.

- Don’t sweat a few pounds.
If you DO see the scale go up a few notches, don’t let it get you down!  Remember that it’s temporary.  The more you focus on getting your body healthy and strong, the more quickly those pounds are going to drop back off again.  Better yet, don’t even step on the scale while you’re working through the withdrawal from quitting smoking.  Who needs the pressure?  Instead, keep affirming that you are doing something wonderful for yourself, and you’ll be in much better health in the long run.

How To Quit Smoking And Not Gain Weight is a post from: Stop Smoking Now

One of the reasons why smoking is seductive and pleasurable for many people is because they keep telling themselves that they enjoy it!  Think about that for a moment.  They tell themselves constantly that they love smoking, they need to smoke, they want to smoke.  So they smoke.

This same concept can be used in reverse – to get yourself thinking and feeling that you DON’T want to smoke.  However, you don’t want to insert references to smoking in your affirmations, simply because you already have a belief that smoking is pleasurable.  Once that connection has been made in your subconscious mind, any thought of smoking is going to trigger a strong desire to smoke.
Instead, you can use affirmations to emphasize the benefits of not smoking – without mentioning smoking at all.

Here are some examples:
I love being able to breathe freely.
I love taking good care of my body.
I nourish my body with healthy habits.
I deserve a clean, healthy body.
My teeth are white, my skin is glowing and I feel great!
I can change my habits by changing my mind.
I honor and respect myself always.
I am strong enough to overcome any challenge.
I feel so free.
I take one step at a time to where I want to be.
I trust my inner guidance to lead me to a state of perfect well-being.
I believe in my ability to do anything I desire.
How to Use Affirmations
Affirmations work best when they are recited repeatedly and while giving your full focus to them.  Not only should you say the words, but you should also do your best to call up the corresponding FEELING associated with the words.  For example, if you say, “I feel so strong and empowered” you should actually make an effort to feel that way.  This does take practice if you are not used to controlling your emotional state, but it gets easier the more you do it.

Constant repetition many times a day is important also, because you are attempting to override existing beliefs in your subconscious mind.  A belief is nothing more than a thought you have thought many, many times before, until eventually it becomes your “truth”.

For example, the belief that smoking calms you down.  Physiologically, smoking does not have relaxation benefits but many smokers have convinced themselves that it does.  Because they believe this, they seem to feel more relaxed after smoking.  To override this belief, you need to replace it with an opposing belief – like affirming that you feel calm and relaxed already, so there is no need to smoke in order to relax.

The example affirmations above will help get you started, but feel free to write your own too!  Think about the aspects of smoking you enjoy, and come up with a phrase that affirms you already feel that way (again, not mentioning smoking!).

Likewise, think about how you feel as a non-smoker and emphasize those positive qualities too.

Affirmations do take time to fully sink in to your subconscious mind, but just like your old beliefs were formed, consistent repetition and reinforcement will help them become permanent.

Stop Smoking Now With Affirmations is a post from: Stop Smoking Now

One of the reasons may be that smoking is for the most part a socially acceptable habit (though this is acceptance level is declining steadily), but there are also other reasons why smoking is such a powerfully addictive habit.

1)  Physical addiction

Nicotine is a powerful drug that acts directly upon receptors in your brain.  These receptors are stimulated by nicotine, resulting in several different physiological responses such as elevated heart rate, blood pressure and respiration, and increased mental alertness, among others.  The longer you ingest nicotine, the more of these receptors you develop.  Over time, these receptors become less sensitive to nicotine and begin to require increased doses to achieve the same level of stimulation.  When you try to stop smoking, feelings of intense discomfort (known as withdrawal) will occur.
People have described nicotine withdrawal symptoms as “demons” or “torture” because they are so strong.  Most people report feelings of intense restlessness, irritability, fatigue, dizziness, and even flu-like symptoms or chest pain.
Physical withdrawal symptoms can often be eased with the use of nicotine replacement products like gum, patches and lozenges, but many people feel that these products only delay the inevitable by keeping the ex-smoker hooked on nicotine.  Still other people claim that using nicotine replacement products helped them conquer one aspect of quitting at a time – for example, the psychological or emotional repercussions, before tackling the physical addiction.

2)  Emotional addiction

The emotional connection to smoking can easily be as strong as physical dependence upon nicotine.  There are a variety of reasons why people smoke, but one of the most common reasons that develops over time is an emotional “crutch” or “cover”.

Many smokers report using smoking as a coping mechanism for feelings like anger, frustration, boredom, stress and sadness that they don’t know how to deal with otherwise.  Rather than processing their emotions, they reach for a cigarette (or cigar, pipe, etc.) and distract themselves from it.

Of course, this doesn’t really help them deal with unpleasant feelings, but they believe it does.  When the smoker tries to quit smoking, they suddenly find themselves overwhelmed with difficult emotions and no way to handle them.

One of the most effective ways to handle these errant emotions is to find alternative ways to process them when they come up.  Journaling, venting to a friend, exercise, meditation and affirmations are often helpful.  The important thing is not to bottle up your emotions and avoid them, because they just keep coming back until they are fully processed and released.

3)  Psychological addiction

Still another powerful connection to smoking results from the physical act itself: psychological dependence.  Since most smokers smoke many times in a day for years at a time, they get very comfortable with the act of smoking, always having a cigarette, cigar or pipe in their hand and mouth.  Even if a person is successful in reducing physical cravings and dealing with their emotions, they still may struggle with a sense of loss or aimlessness.  The activity that used to occupy so much of their time and attention every day is now gone and they don’t quite know what to do with themselves.

One good way to conquer this type of dependence is to change your smoking routine in the weeks leading up to your quit date.  For example, if you tend to smoke while driving, talking on the phone or watching television, gradually reduce your smoking habit during those activities.  Smoke in locations where you normally wouldn’t, like standing outside.  When you finally do quit for good, you’ll have an easier time engaging in your normal activities without missing the act of smoking so much.

Now knowing all these, you need a great stop smoking program. Click here to get yours now with no risk needed.

Stop Smoking Program | Smoking Is A Threefold Addiction is a post from: Stop Smoking Now

Despite these well-known risk factors, however, many smokers find themselves needing a more personal reason to want to kick the habit; possibly because the threat of “maybe” contracting a deadly disease just doesn’t seem likely (the old, “it will never happen to me” syndrome).

This article is going to share some easy steps to help you come up with your own powerful, compelling reason(s) to quit smoking once and for all.
1)  First, take a few moments to jot down on a sheet of paper the negative aspects of how smoking makes you feel.  You can include actual physical problems like shortness of breath and fatigue; as well as feelings like embarrassment that your clothing and hair may stink; feeling like an outcast stepping outside to smoke while everyone else stays inside socializing and having a good time; or even your fears, like dying young and leaving your children before your time.
Write down as many reasons as you can, and try to make them reasons that really matter to YOU – not just what other people have said to you or you’ve heard others say before.
2)  When you’re done with your list, look it over carefully.  Read each item on the list, and really think about how it feels to experience that situation in your daily life.  Now choose the top three reasons that are most repulsive to you and circle them.

Take another sheet of paper and write a longer description of each of those three items.  For example, if one of your top reasons was “to not die young and abandon my children”, write a paragraph or two about why that is important to you.  How would it affect your children if you died before your time?  How will your smoking impact them, now and in the future?  Will your smoking addiction encourage them to smoke later in life?  Continue writing until you feel you have identified your core reason for wanting to quit smoking.  This may seem like a morbid exercise, but it can be incredibly powerful.  Being a smoker for a long time desensitizes you to the true long-term effects of smoking.  This exercise jars you out of the haze of denial.

Now go through this same process for the other two important reasons on your list.
3)  When you’ve got your three descriptions written, read them over again.  Now take a final sheet of paper and write a description of the opposite outcome.  When you do quit smoking, what will happen instead of those other experiences?  For example, you might write that you will be around to love your children and grandchildren for many years to come, your kids will be really proud of you for quitting, they’ll be blessed with a healthy, strong parent that has the energy and stamina to play with them, and so on.

Do this for all three reasons you described earlier.

Carry these lists with you and read them slowly each day, really paying attention to how they make you feel.  With enough repetition, you will actually begin training your brain to view smoking as an unpleasant, dangerous activity – which will make quitting easier when you decide it’s time.

While this may not remove the discomfort that comes along with nicotine withdrawal, it will certainly help you to stop seeing smoking as a harmless activity and instead see it for what it is:  a true threat to your health, happiness and longevity.

If that isn’t enough reason to quit, what is?

Stop Smoking Now? Why? is a post from: Stop Smoking Now

Now more than ever there are plenty of natural methods to help you quit smoking – without harmful chemicals and the side effects that often come along with them.
Below you’ll find information on some of the most common natural methods to quit smoking:

- Herbal supplements
Unfortunately, there are no definitive studies that confirm the effectiveness of herbal supplements in reducing the effects of nicotine withdrawal.  Personal feedback also varies; some people say it helps, others say not.  But if you’re interested in exploring the possibilities, start with these herbs commonly used for smoking cessation:  St. John’s Wort, lobelia, ginseng, valerian, skullcap.
Some of these herbs are actually smoked in a pipe or hand-rolled cigarette, while others are taken orally as supplements.  Note also that herbal supplements can be dangerous for some individuals.  They are not regulated by like prescription drugs, so knowing the proper dosage and safe usage guidelines can often be hit and miss.  Another concern is that some herbal supplements can interfere with prescription medications or aggravate existing medical conditions.  If you are unsure whether herbal supplements are right for you, consult your healthcare practitioner.
- Alternative treatments
Many people report success in quitting smoking with the use of alternative treatments like acupuncture, acupressure, hypnotherapy, EFT (emotional freedom techniques), meditation and visualization, massage and reiki.  Some of these treatments focus on clearing the thoughts and beliefs that lead you to be a smoker, while others claim to clear the human energy field (aura) and promote healing on an energetic level.
It’s interesting to note that these modalities are most often effective when people believe they will be.  If you are not open to these types of treatments, it’s doubtful that they would be effective in reducing your urge to smoke.  Of course, the same could be said for any type of treatment: if you believe it is helping, you will be successful in abstaining from smoking.

- “Cold turkey”
Probably the best known natural method to quit smoking is simply stopping, commonly referred to as “cold turkey.”  There’s no doubt that it’s the most final way to become a non-smoker, but it’s definitely not easy for some people to do.

It is possible to combine the cold turkey method with less intense natural methods, like cutting back gradually for a few weeks or having one or more hypnotherapy sessions before making the final leap.
Are natural methods better than traditional methods to quit smoking?

It depends who you ask.  Manufacturers of nicotine replacement products not surprisingly claim that using gum, patches, lozenges or nicotine inhalers work the best.  Drug manufacturers claim that prescription medications work the best.

Individuals who have successfully quit smoking report that different methods worked best for them – some natural, and some traditional.

In the end, you are the best person to decide which method will work for you.  There’s no shame in using any method, provided it’s safe and helps you meet your ultimate objective: to be a non-smoker.

How to Quit Smoking with Natural Methods is a post from: Stop Smoking Now