Introduction
Weight Control Tips
Calories and Diets
Metabolism
Exercise
Stress Reducers
Stress Control Tips

Introduction

Don't use smoking as a way to control your weight. There are better ways. Once you've quit, you will feel healthier and more energetic. Stress is a normal part of daily living but smokers carry the extra burden of nicotine induced stress. A cigarette restores the level of nicotine that your body has come to need but that's not real relaxation. It is just temporary relief from the tension caused by your need for a nicotine fix. Let your body return to its normal state.

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Weight Control Tips

• It is common to gain weight after quitting smoking for this gain will be less than 10 lbs but for a few it can be substantially more. Some people actually lose weight. However, the health complications from this weight gain are very small when compared to the risks of continuing life as a smoker. Our suggestion is to do things in order. First, stop your tobacco use. When that has been done then deal with any weight gain.
• Monitor your weight. Aim for a healthy weight.
• Know what you are eating.
• Eat several small well balanced meals. This maintains constant blood sugar levels and helps prevent the urge to smoke.
• Eat slowly. Take time to enjoy your meals. Food will taste better now that you have quit smoking.
• Drink a glass of water whenever you feel like smoking or nibbling.
• Make not-smoking your #1 priority!
• Don't eat more than you need or use.
• Be active!
• Eat at regular times. Avoid uncontrolled nibbling.
• Choose low fat snacks: popcorn, raisin, rice cake, carrot/celery sticks, melba toast, pretzels, fruit, etc.
• Eat when you're hungry, not when you're bored.
• Avoid sugary and spicy foods that trigger a desire for cigarettes. Use less salt.
• Drink 8 glasses of cold water every day.
• Drink lots of liquids (i.e. Fruit juices)
• Go easy on the starches.
• Avoid junk food.
• Avoid high calorie sweets.
• Eat lean meats.
• Eat lots of salads with light dressings and eat your greens.
• Eat fresh fruits and veggies.
• Avoid fried foods.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Eat a real breakfast.
• Start your meals with clear soups or appetizers (celery/carrot sticks).
• When you finish a meal, get up from the table right away.
• Plan all your meals and snacks.
• Always shop from a list.
• Add colour to your meal. Make it appealing.
• Take a lunch box of healthy, low-fat nibbles to work.

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Calories and Diets

How do people determine the number of calories they need?

Everyone's caloric needs are different. People who are more sedentary (spend most of their day sitting) don't need as many calories to maintain their weight. Adults can use this formula to calculate how many calories they need to maintain their weight:

Weight in pounds x 15 (sedentary) = calories per day
Weight in pounds x 20 (active) = calories per day

Healthy weight ranges according to Saskatchewan Health:

People can usually lose weight by eating fewer calories and increasing their physical activity. Check with a physician before starting a weight loss program. Be realistic in your goals.

The following formula may be used to estimate the daily number of calories needed by a moderately active person to lose one pound per week.

(Desired weight x 15 (or 20)) - 500 = permitted daily intake of calories

When planning a diet, do not only use a calorie guide. Make sure you are getting enough nutrients in your diet; use Canada's food guide to select a variety of foods. Also choose foods that are low in fat.

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Metabolism

The reasons for gaining weight after quitting are not yet understood. Medical research has not been able, so far, to provide the definitive answer.

Changes in the body's metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories) may account for why many smokers gain a few pounds soon after quitting smoking. Smoking increases the smoker's metabolic rate, and seems to make it easier for the body to expend calories and harder for it to store them - contributing to a lower body weight for smokers. Studies show that nicotine and/or food will increase the resting metabolic rate. The combinations of these two will increase the rate higher than either by themselves. When the smoker quits smoking, more calories are converted into tissue = weight gain.

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Exercise

The most calorie burning activity for most of us is walking. If you walk briskly for 15 minutes a day, 5 days per week, in 10 months you'll burn an extra 20,500 calories (6 lbs). If you exercise more, you may notice an increase in appetite, but this should be offset by the number of calories you burn up in exercise.

Benefits of Exercise

• reduces stress and tension
• makes you feel more energetic
• it revitalizes you (more beneficial than sleep)
• strengthens your heart and lungs
• helps retain calcium and strengthen bones
• helps you sleep better
• can lower elevated blood pressure
• keeps muscles strong
• helps burn calories
• helps with weight maintenance
• gives a psychological boost

Your Exercise Plan

It should follow the FITT principle:

F-Frequency: to crank up your metabolism, exercise three times per week with rest days between exercise days.

I-Intensity: at a comfortable level, take into consideration any physical limitations you may have, you should not be out of breath when exercising (this means that you are no longer using fat as your source of fufuel).

T-Time: take time to warm up and cool down.

T-Type: activities reflect your preferences and interests. Choose activities you enjoy!

How Can I Do It?

• plan your action
• get off the bus 4 or 5 blocks before your usual stop
• park half a mile away from the bus station
• take the dog for a walk
• catch up on the day, walk with your spouse/friend
• walk at lunch time
• use stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
• try not to use shortcuts
• bicycle; skate; cross-country ski; swim; jog; play badminton, tennis

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Stress Reducers

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.
2. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn't get mowed this weekend.
3. Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count'em.
4. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate or sleep or read without interruption? The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the next hour is almost nil.
5. Distinguish needs from wants. Our basic physical needs translate into food, water and keeping warm. Everything else is a want. Don't get attached to wants.
6. Monitor your body for stress signs. If your stomach muscles are knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax your muscles and take some deep, slow breaths.
7. Talk out your problems with a friend. It helps to relieve confusion.
8. Do a favor for someone every day.
9. Stop negative self-talk: "I'm too fat, too old,...".
10. Delegate responsibility to capable people.

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Stress Control Tips

You need stress in your life! Too much stress, however, can seriously affect your physical and mental health. Make the stress in your life work for you, not against you. It is unique and personal to each of us. What may be relaxing to one person may be stressful to another.

Here are some suggestions for ways to handle stress:

• try physical activity
• share your stress; talk to someone
• know your limits
• take care of yourself
• make time for fun
• be a participant
• try cooperation instead of confrontation
• create a quiet scene
• avoid self-medication; drugs do not remove the conditions that caused the stress in the first place.

(Source: National Institute of Mental Health)

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