Although quit­ting smok­ing frees peo­ple from cig­a­rettes, many peo­ple gain weight…lots of weight sometimes.

Quitting smok­ing is a smoker’s great­est lib­er­a­tion. Kicking the habit can take years and over­com­ing the huge chal­lenge is part of what makes being released from nico­tine bondage feel so good. No more wor­ry­ing about can­cer, heart dis­ease and an early death from the count­less other dis­eases peo­ple acquire from cig­a­rette smoking.

I have been a smoker for seven years. At my worst, I smoked a pack and a half of cig­a­rettes per day. I did not know I was addicted to smok­ing until I began try­ing to quit cold turkey three weeks ago. Since then I have chewed on straws, bit­ten my nails and fid­geted a lot. I have also inhaled food like a vac­uum. I went from hav­ing three small meals a day to eat­ing every­thing in site all day long. In three weeks, I have gained nine pounds.

Weight gain is one of the many rea­sons why peo­ple have a hard time quit­ting smok­ing, espe­cially women. A female friend of mine said weight gain is the very rea­son she has not attempted to quit because she’s strug­gled with her weight all her life that she would rather risk can­cer than be fat.

According to the Mayo Clinic, most peo­ple typ­i­cally gain between 5 to 10 pounds. within the first three weeks of quit­ting. The myth is that there is con­stant weight gain. However, once the first cou­ple of weeks are in the can, the urge of the oral fix­a­tion of smok­ing dies down and so does weight gain.

The rea­son why so many peo­ple gain weight while quit­ting smok­ing is that nico­tine is an appetite sup­pres­sant. Nicotine slightly increases metab­o­lism and assists in burn­ing calo­ries. When peo­ple quit smok­ing, their appetite and metab­o­lism return to nor­mal, which may leads to weight gain. Also, people’s abil­ity to smell and taste food improves dur­ing this process, mak­ing food more appealing.

Quitting some­thing you like to do really sucks. The truth is, I did not quit smok­ing because I wanted to improve my health. I decided to quit on a bet with my boyfriend and since I hate when he is right, I will just have to suffer.

Even though quit­ting often means weight gain, exer­cis­ing seems like not too hard a task to incor­po­rate into one’s life. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Human Health and Service’s Weight-Control Information Network advises that peo­ple not try to lose the weight while quit­ting smok­ing because it will lead to smok­ing relapse. Although doing both things at the same time would be the ideal, I sup­pose I will have to sup­press my van­ity. I guess I’d rather be chubby than have cancer.