FACTS About Quitting Smoking & Weight Loss

Do not pay much attention to those who claim that quitting smoking makes people gain weight. This comment was started by nicotine companies who wanted to scare people into thinking it is better to keep smoking than get fat.

The truth is, once you have quit smoking for a few weeks, your body sends more oxygen to your muscles, and you also have more energy from quitting smoking. As a result, increased energy helps non-smokers get motivated to work out, and the workouts are much more effective as the additional oxygen to the muscles help build more muscle, which helps burn fat.

The irony is, contrary to popular belief, smoking actually makes you fat!
The toxic chemicals in the cigarettes not only destroy your health, it also causes excess belly fat and raises your blood sugar levels because they stimulate the natural stress response in your body. The belly fat that smoking causes is known as smoker's belly.

According to a study of 21,000 women and men, smokers have more belly fat. What's more is that belly fat is more closely associated with more adverse effects(diabetes, heart disease, etc.) than fat elsewhere in the body.

Researchers examined the association between smoking and body fat distribution. After adjusting for several factors that could affect fat distribution, they found that individuals who never smoked had the smallest waist-hip ratio; current smokers had the largest.

Among current and former smokers, waist-hip ratio increased as the number of cigarettes they smoked increased, suggesting that smoking not only leads to increased belly fat but also to a reduction in lean muscle mass.