The problem lies in both the physical and the emotional side effects of stopping smoking. It also lies in the fact that all the 'experts' keep telling you that you will put on weight rather than helping you understand how you can avoid it.

It is true that you will feel hungrier as a result of stopping smoking. When you smoke, nicotine causes a little adrenalin rush, quickening the heartbeat, breathing rate and raising your blood pressure. It also interferes with the action of insulin on blood sugar levels and induces higher concentrations of fatty acids in the blood. The result is that a cigarette actually addresses a hunger pang by tricking your body into thinking you have eaten.

The quit smoking weight gain that most people suffer is also because they use the fact that they are giving up smoking as an excuse to eat. They use food almost like a reward for staying off the smokes.

The fact of the matter is of course that cigarettes and tobacco smoke do far more harm to you than putting a stone of weight on ever could so don't let that idea get in your way for a start.

It is reckoned that a smoker who quits would have to put on over 150 lbs of weight (nearly 11 stone) to maintain the same health risks as smoking. That is nearly doubling the average smoker's body weight!

Smokers feel that giving up smoking is a loss. It is a negative event in their lives and should be met with some form of reward or comforting in return. This of course is why smokers who quit eat excessively compared to what they need.

If they were still smoking, they would more likely have a cigarette and sit out any hunger pangs whilst the nicotine tricks their body into thinking it has had a snack. When you quit, rather than sitting out a hunger pang, you are likely to be a slave to your feelings and eat, resulting in the dreaded quit smoking weight gain.