Support can be found in your family, but not only there. Coworkers, friends, members of your social club, or church are all people you can recruit to be on your support team. When it comes to motivation and how others can help, it is clearly up to you.

Some may want a celebration, others a simple pat on the back, and still others singing telegrams. Examine what will work for you and then let the significant people in your life know about it. Tell them how important quitting is to you and how you are counting on their help.

Nobody can quit for you, but they surely can cooperate with you. Ask your friends who smoke not to offer you a cigarette and, at least in those most challenging times, not to smoke around you. You can even put this in writing in the form of a “contract” or provide them with information and resource materials, such as the American Lung Association’s brochure on “How to Help a Friend Quit Smoking.”

You may also want to ask a close friend or two to act as your accountability partner or quitting “coach.” Having a coach to work with you can get you through difficult times. You could ask your coach to call and check in with you. A few words of encouragement could be what you need if you start to feel discouraged. A phone call can also help you fight a craving. After a few minutes on the phone, the urge to smoke is likely to pass.

Key Point: Nobody can read another’s mind, unless you say what you want, your friends and family may do the wrong thing when trying to be helpful. They may ask you how quitting smoking is going when you don’t want to talk about it or tell you to “look on the bright side” when all you want is to talk about how much you miss cigarettes. Tell them how you need them to help. Remember quitting smoking is much easier if you have got help.

Scientists have found that smokers generally weigh less than nonsmokers. Smoking may affect the amount and the types of food that people eat and how their body processes food, causing smokers to have a lower body weight. One of the physical reasons some people gain weight when they quit is because of changes in metabolism. Your metabolic rate is related to how your body burns calories. It regulates the processes by which your body gets its energy from food, which is vital to its overall function.

Smoking speeds up your metabolism. Here’s how it works: Nicotine, just one of the more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes, stimulates the central nervous system and other organs. In doing so, it increases the amount of energy you use up. Smoking increases your metabolic rate, so that you burn more calories. When you quit, your metabolic rate slows down to what it was before you started to smoke.

For the typical smoker trying to quit, changes in metabolism may result in a weight gain of 2 or 3 pounds. However, it is the increase in eating, particularly foods high in fat or sugar, that results in most of the weight gain that people experience. The good news is that we can help you with your physical activity and food choices to avoid or minimize this kind of weight gain.

One of the most effective ways to manage your weight after quitting is to increase your level of physical activity. Exercise increases metabolism, and even moderate levels of activity can help you burn fat and improve your overall health. Exercise also improves mood, so increases in physical activity such as walking, swimming, doing yard work or even taking the stairs instead of the- elevator in your workplace can help you stay positive and assist you in the quitting smoking process.

Often raising your level of activity can make a real difference. For example, one study we conducted showed that participating in a regular physical activity program reduced weight gain after quitting and actually increased the chances of quitting successfully. Another study showed that women who report little recreational physical activity have a greater chance of gaining weight after quitting than more active women do.

This is something you can work on before, during, and after you start to quit. Making small adjustments in your lifestyle will accelerate your progress toward your goal of better health, a longer life, and more energy to enjoy it. This way, physical activity can more easily become a part of your daily life and help keep you healthy and smoke-free.

Changes in Eating Style

Healthy eating habits play a key role in maintaining your weight or minimizing weight gain when you quit smoking. Sometimes people gain weight after quitting because of poor eating choices. That is, they simply eat more food, or eat foods that have a lot of fat or sugar. Without the foul taste of cigarettes in your mouth, food may taste and smell better, which could lead to extra helpings at the dinner table. You may also be prone to eating more between meals.

Snacking can easily become a substitute for smoking or a way of coping with cravings or stress. Current research indicates that while quitting, many smokers develop cravings for sweet foods, which may be high in calories, fat, and sugar. In fact, some scientists dunk that nicotine affects the level of blood sugar in the body so that nicotine withdrawal triggers an increased craving for sweet foods.

This includes learning how to eat in moderation and how to eat a variety of healthy foods that will give your body the fuel it needs. You may find that within two to three weeks after you stop smoking, the sharpest nicotine cravings will fade and you will have already started to develop healthy eating habits that can benefit you for the rest of your life.

You can replace a cigarette with healthy snacks and beverages to battle the urge to smoke. Just like smoking, eating is a habit too; no doubt you’ve become accustomed to eating certain foods. Some foods (chocolate, for example) are high in fat, sugar, and calories. So make sure that you’re well aware of the foods you eat and the beverages you drink so that your calories don’t creep up during the day.

There are no forbidden foods in a healthy eating plan, but some foods you will want to eat often, while others should be saved for special occasions. With this plan, there are no fads, crash diets, or fancy gourmet meals that take hours to prepare. Just sound, nutritional diet to help you quit smoking and manage your weight in the process.

If you determined that you are ready to get going, set a couple of realistic goals for yourself. The important thing is that you don’t rush in too quickly and set yourself up for failure. Staying off cigarettes is a tough thing to do, and for starters, we want you to use physical activity to help you accomplish this goal.

Look at your time study. For some of those moments of inactivity, try to fill in ways to be more active. For example, if you find yourself sitting at your desk during the day, make a point of getting up once in a while and taking a walk across the office. If you find yourself sitting in front of the TV, try to get up during each commercial break and walk around the house. Or you can try some of the quick activities if you feel that you can do more.

Moderate-Intensity Activities

Regular, vigorous physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day can positively affect your health, especially your weight. Our research has shown, however, that doing moderate-intensity physical activity in bouts of at least 10 minutes and totaling at least 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week or more can help with weight management and physical fitness.

If you don’t have a 30-minute block of time to be physically active, you can enjoy some of the same benefits by breaking up your physical activity and doing some at different times during the day. If you are struggling to find the time, try fitting in three or four 10 or 15 minute brisk walks throughout the day.

Or maybe you’ve tried to start being more physically active, but simply couldn’t find the time. We can show you how to get past these kinds of barriers by planning ahead and finding ways to fit a brisk walk into your day, maybe even after dinner when you feel the temptation to smoke.

Planning ahead includes a close look at your reasons for wanting to make certain changes in your life. You may be concerned about your health and the dangers of smoking but are worried that you will gain weight if you quit. You may want to eat more balanced meals, but think they will take too much time to prepare. The process of identifying your reasons for wanting to change can help you see the difference between the things you can control and those you cannot.

Sometimes, the biggest obstacle to any kind of change is self-doubt, worrying about how hard it may be or making excuses for why it can’t happen now. Realizing your reasons for wanting to make changes in your life may be what convinces you to stop smoking and make other healthy decisions. And if you’re not sure how to begin to change your routine, we will take you through some exercises that can help get you on the right track.

Planning ahead also means looking at parts of your everyday life that might make it difficult to stop smoking. Habits become part of our daily routines and many times we don’t even realize we’ve developed them, which makes them difficult to break. The solution is to first recognize them. Understanding your eating habits, for example, knowing when you tend to overeat and how you feel when you do, can highlight opportunities for change. Being aware of the obstacles in your daily life will help you find ways around them or replace them with healthier choices.

For example, you can cope with cigarette cravings by eating healthy snack foods, such as fruit popsicles, graham crackers, or low-fat yogurts. The next time you are tempted to devour a bag of potato chips, you can decide ahead of time that you will stop and take a brisk walk before eating even one chip. In all likelihood you won’t go back to the chips because the craving will have passed. Managing your cravings is an important element of quitting smoking, and you can do it, as long as you plan ahead.

Barriers can also be overcome by simply removing temptations from your physical environment. Getting rid of the cigarettes and ashtrays in your home or office is an absolute must for avoiding the temptation to smoke. If you want to start increasing your level of physical activity, clear a corner of the living room where you can stretch, do breathing exercises or put that exercise equipment that has been gathering dust in the basement. Friends, family and co-workers can also help get you through the tough times, even those who are not very supportive at first. Start by informing everyone you know that you want to quit. People who don’t smoke will be happy to hear it and the smokers in your life will likely respect your choice. They may even want to try it themselves.

Planning healthy meals with friends, taking a yoga or dance class, playing soccer with the kids are all ways that you can fill the time you may have spent smoking with fun activities that are also good for your health. A nurturing and supportive environment to help kick start your health journey is a valuable asset when trying to make tough changes. We’ll give you some advice on how to gain the support of your friends and family if you aren’t sure where to begin.

We will go further into the process of identifying your obstacles to success and providing simple, practical tips for how to get past them. Rewards are a big part of the plan and give you something to look forward to. Each time you get past a hurdle or reach a milestone, celebrate your success by buying that new pair of shoes you always wanted, going out to the movies, or letting yourself sleep in for a change.