I knew someone who told me he didn't want to stop smoking because he was afraid of the weight gain.
You see, he knew someone who gained 15 pounds after he stopped smoking cigarettes.
That was enough evidence for this smoker to continue to elevate his risk of cardiovascular and lung disease for the rest of his life.
I'm always amazed how people think the experience of a neighbor or relative will be shared by themselves.
People fail to realize that everyone is different.
Everyone has different metabolism; everyone has a different nicotine addiction; like I said - everyone is just different.
However, many people do not put stock in research because it seems too far removed from their personal experience.
But as usual, the opposite is true.
A quality research study actually has a better chance of telling people what will happen to them because it pulls in many different people with different situations and physiologies.
In fact, it hopes to pull in several people of a particular physiology and mix that with several cohorts of other physiologies.
That's the genius of research, they are actually trying to get lots of cohorts mixed together in hopes of representing the population as a whole.
The last thing they want to do is just have one type of person in their study, especially when it comes to smoking cessation.
If they do focus in on one particular group of people then they say so.
For instance, they might look at smoking cessation in people who suffer from clinical depression.
Well obviously, that study isn't for everyone, but if you did suffer from depression, you may look at that research with more interest.
Research tell us that it is true, smoking cessation does lead to weight gain.
Research also tells us that a little weight gain is actually healthier for you than continued smoking.
It's the whole, "lesser of two evils" argument.
This is why many smoking cessation groups advocate exercise as part of the program.
For one, it offers a great distraction for smokers dealing with withdrawal cravings and two, it helps with the potential weight gain.
Adding a few pounds can always be dealt with later once you've stopped smoking.
So don't keep smoking because you want to shed a few pounds.
That's like taking an axe to your ingrown toenail.
It's a little excessive and the benefit pales in comparison to the side-effects.
Incorporate healthier eating selections and a little exercise into your stop smoking program and you'll receive more than a single benefit.