Q: Will I put on weight ?
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This is a vitally important question because it is behind one of the most worrying trends in smoking: The idea that if you stop smoking, you will automatically gain weight. |
The Old Willpower Method
This is important.
There are two parts to this problem and it is important that we understand BOTH of them.
First, we need to be honest……
Yes, in the past, people DID tend to gain weight and certainly not lose weight when they gave up smoking.
But please remember this: This was BECAUSE most people tried to give up smoking using the old Will-Power Method alone.
They believed that……. when they gave up, they would feel terrible.
They were then told that the ONLY way to deal with these cravings was to endure them………and hope that, with time and persistence, they would go away.
They were advised above all…… to use their Willpower and FORCE themselves not to smoke.
And……finally, they were told…. to eat snacks or nibble this or that – ANYTHING, in fact to keep them busy and their minds OFF smoking.
Why eat?
Because the feeling or the ‘hunger’ for a cigarette is very similar to the feeling you get when you are hungry.
And so, in the past, people ate in the terrible mistaken belief that by eating, they could satisfy their craving for a cigarette and that it would help them keep their minds off smoking.
But of course it didn’t work…..
….And the MORE the feeling came back….. the MORE they ate in the belief it could help them.
So, we have to accept there was some validity for people gaining weight in the past when they tried to quit.
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But the CAUSE was not giving up smoking but HOW people went about the process of giving up smoking. |
If you look closely at how they went about it, you’ll see our old friend again : Fear.
People ate TO NUMB their
feelings.
Remember, when you give up smoking, you too will get these selfsame feelings – ‘I want a cigarette.’
And you will experience similar feelings when you realize that you cannot have one.
But unlike the old willpower method, you will not eat extra in order to ESCAPE or NUMB these feelings.
Why?
Because you will want to WELCOME and ACCEPT these feelings. You will WANT to transmute them.
These FEELINGS/CRAVINGS are the KEY to your success.
Please underline this:
The Old Way was to hate and fear these cravings – these uncomfortable bodily sensations.
You were told you had a big fight on your hands – these feelings would be unpleasant and overpowering .
And because the feeling you get when you want a cigarette is similar to how you feel when you are hungry, of course, you believed that by eating, you could satisfy these feelings or at least alleviate them.
But all you did was to temporarily block off these feelings.
By eating, you give yourself an excuse not to have to deal with and really feel these feelings.
You put off the evil day……..and started to put on the pounds.
Never forget that when you give up smoking, you will CONTINUE to have these empty, restless, insecure cravings for the first two or three weeks…..
Now, for the first time in your life, LET yourself have these feelings, these empty sensations in your body.
Actually feel them, moment-by-moment in your body. CALL THEIR BLUFF.
Sure, you will get the temptation to eat extra – to compensate – to ‘fill’ in the feelings you believe you are now lacking.
These desires are natural, normal.
They are not bad in themselves. And they are ONLY TEMPORARY.
Just feel them! Yes, it takes courage not to run away and try to escape by eating extra.
If you will just have patience and stay with these feelings you will discover your moment of truth – that these feelings are no big deal and that you can easily handle them. You don’t have to eat to escape from them.
Please underline: The belief that you will gain weight automatically if you stop smoking is a myth. In actual fact, if you practice this psychology correctly – you should lose weight!
However, there is one other issue we must deal with in regard to weight gain before we proceed.
This is the second part of the problem we mentioned earlier……..