Recovery Weight Gain
According to the Surgeon General, about half of smokers believe that nicotine helps them in controlling their weight. The obvious question becomes, do weight-concerned smokers endorse exaggerated beliefs associated with nicotine suppressing bodyweight?
Research suggests they do.[1] It also suggests that education may help correct exaggerated weight control beliefs, making recovery more inviting.
Sadly, escalating weight gain can gradually erode recovery motivation to the point of making 50% odds of the average smoker losing 13-14 years of life seem more appealing than another pound.
There, it's critical to note that a female smoker who is 64 inches tall (163cms) would need to gain 93 pounds (42kg) before experiencing the elevated risk of chronic heart disease generated by smoking.[2]
As Joel teaches, recovery's battle line is extremely easy to see. As a nicotine addict, "you can't administer any nicotine. There is no gray area here. Eating is more complicated. You will have to eat for the rest of your life."[3]
For many, initial weight gain associated with nicotine cessation can be frightening. It isn't unusual to see up to 5 pounds of water retention weight gain during the first week.[4] It's normally associated with physiological changes and the pounds are easily and quickly shed.[5]
Nicotine increases release of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH or vasopressin). ADH prevents us from dehydrating by increasing water retention.
According to Joel, during withdrawal some people experience a rebound type effect, where the normal effect of the drug is actually exacerbated when the drug is stopped.
"That temporary increase is likely what is causing the water retention (bloating) effect that many people notice when they first stop smoking," writes Joel. "The effect can go a few days and at times, even into the second week."
Still, most experience weight gain lasting beyond the second week. But why?
It's normal to notice food starting to taste better as early as day three. And normal to reach for food as a substitute hand to mouth psychological replacement crutch. And normal to attempt to replace missing nicotine generated dopamine "aaah" sensations with "aaah"s from extra food.
And, now that nicotine is no longer providing instant energy via your body's fight or flight response, it's normal to need time to discover how to avoid the onset of hunger by fueling the body sooner and regularly.
It is also entirely natural to experience a metabolism change associated with our body no longer needing to expend energy in attempting to expel tobacco toxins, and no longer feeling nicotine's stimulant effects in making our body's organs work harder.
Metabolism is all the chemical processes that occur within a living cell that are necessary to keep it alive.[6]
These processes themselves consume energy. Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR is the rate at which the body expends energy while at complete rest.[7]
Addicted to a fight or flight stimulant which activates hypothalamus acetylcholine receptors, nicotine prepares the body to fight to the death or run for its life.
Will arresting our addiction decrease our BMR, resulting in weight gain? Most studies examine short-term weight gain with little or no attempt to determine if the gain is due to diminished BMR, extra food, or less exercise.
One long-term study followed weight change and body mass index for 36 months. It found that the contribution of smoking cessation to the BMI increase was practically negligible with no considerable long-term weight gain.[8]
But most shorter studies report weight change results similar to those shared by the U.S. Surgeon General.[9]
That report found that although four-fifths of smokers gained weight during recovery, the average weight gain was about 5 pounds.
A 1991 study found slightly greater increases but also found that they weighed nearly the same at one-year follow-up.[10]
A 2009 study similarly found no significant differences in weight gain over the long term.[11]
How to gain lots of extra weight
Recovery heralds an end to nicotine's arrival and replenishment relief sensations. Some find themselves camping out inside the refrigerator or potato chip bags where they aaah themselves sick with food.
Others intentionally invite weight gain to justify relapse. It's a costly ploy.
Most of us used nicotine to satisfy subtle urges and wanting for more every waking hour of every day. Over-eating cannot replace nicotine's stimulation without leaving us as big as a house.
Binge eating
Binge eating reflects a loss of control, that is, being unable to stop eating or control what or how much food is consumed.[19]
While eating, it's beneficial to chew food more slowly. Doing so helps digestion begin sooner and can reduce how much we eat.
If you should find yourself reaching for extra food, reach for healthy, low-calorie foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits.
Fear's unburned calories — imagine being so consumed by fear of failure that you withdraw from life. Bodyweight will climb if daily energy expenditure declines while calories remain the same or increase.