Becoming tobacco free is easier when you learn the real facts about quitting smoking.
The Myth about Weight Gain
For many, they might refuse to quit smoking at first because they’re afraid of gaining weight. But while some people do gain weight when they stop smoking, it might not be from the cigarettes themselves. When you quit smoking, your taste buds begin to heal, allowing you to taste foods in ways you may not have been able to taste them for a while. As a result, you might eat more than you would have before. Yes, it’s true that smoking does increase your body’s metabolism, but only by about 100 calories per day. Knowing this, you will want to get in the habit of eating healthy before you stop smoking to avoid any possible weight gain, though it’s unlikely you would gain more than a few pounds.
How Quickly Your Body Heals
Some also thing that your body doesn’t heal after quitting smoking – and it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s healing at all when you’re going through smoking cessation withdrawal symptoms. But from the time you take your last drag of a cigarette, your body is repair the damage. Your blood pressure will begin to return to normal, your heart will not beat as hard, your blood’s oxygen levels will return to normal, etc. And that’s just in a few minutes after stopping smoking. In five years after quitting, your heart attack risk is almost the same as a person who has never smoked before. In ten years, your body may be just as healthy as if you had never smoked at all.
Stopping smoking does help you have a brighter health future. And while you might have some troubles at first, you are making a difference in your body with each cigarette you don’t smoke.