6 Tips for Weight Control

for Ex-Smokers
About 80 percent of people who quit smoking gain weight at first. The types of foods you eat can help you keep your weight under control. Try these suggestions:

1. Limit fats. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories, compared with 4 calories per gram in proteins and carbohydrates. Most foods have labels that make it easy for you to check the fat content, so you may be surprised at how much fat is hidden in common foods. Figure out which low-fat foods you most enjoy, and keep these in mind when grocery shopping and preparing meals.
2. Focus on the foods you can eat rather than what you shouldn't eat. Your diet can include plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lean meats.
3. If you have the urge to snack, cut up carrots, cantaloupes, and strawberries, or eat pretzels rather than chips. Some ex-smokers also like drinking ice water or sucking on ice cubes or Popsicles.
4. Limit or avoid high-calorie sweet foods. People seem to like sweet foods after quitting smoking, but remember that they quickly add calories.
5. Change your eating habits. Perhaps you are used to having a cigarette after a meal, but because you've quit you might want to eat more. Get up from the table right after each meal and find something else to do. If you eat to cope with stress, find other ways to manage it, like relaxing with deep-breathing exercises.
6. Record what you eat each day for a week in a diet diary. This might help you see whether you're eating more than you should. Eating, like smoking, is sometimes done unconsciously. We often don't realize how all the snacking between meals adds up until we see it on paper. Do this for a week and figure out how you can make changes.

Last updated: April 2007
Source: Smokefree.gov: www.smokefree.gov .