Once you stop smoking you might notice significant changes in your food habits. Most smokers experience weight gain as soon as they stop smoking. There are people who have gained nearly 15 pounds once they stopped smoking. But there is no reason to worry. This is just a very temporary phase and you will soon get over it. It is however important that you develop a proper diet routine and watch what you eat. That is why I have included this supplement on proper eating habits.
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Work on your diet as well. If you have erratic eating habits, it is going to affect every thing you do and that indirectly affects your smoking habits as well. There are many of us out there who skip breakfast. Now, this is the best way to start your day badly. Just check the very meaning of the word. It is break-fast. So what does it mean? It means that this meal is meant to break the fast that we were undergoing. | The effects of skipping breakfast may not be felt immediately but sometime during the day this is sure to tell. Our body needs the energy from the food we have at breakfast. And we can either start our day with good breakfast or smoke a couple of cigarettes and gulp down a cup of coffee and work away towards a highly stressful day.
So what does a proper breakfast mean? In this context, I would like to point out that a cup of coffee is not breakfast. Many people believe that a big cup of coffee is breakfast. Sure coffee perks you up but it also takes away your hunger and as the caffeine and other alkaloids present in the coffee hit the different parts of your body, it completely takes away your appetite. Couple that with the nicotine of cigarettes and you are done for. You will have succeeded in fooling your brain that it is fully equipped to meet the challenges of the day.

So it is advisable to go easy on coffee especially in the morning. Drink tea instead. Tea is supposed to be good for your heart and can prove to be just as stimulating once you get used to it. But those of you die hard coffee fans, what you could do is take a lesser quantity of coffee if you must, in the morning. A breakfast drink is fine, but there is nothing that beats a tall glass of fresh fruit juice in the morning along with two pieces of toast, an egg or a cereal. Then you are all set for a wonderful day.
The same thing that I said about having breakfast applies to the other meals as well. Our body needs nourishment at fixed time intervals and at those times you had better grab something to eat. The human stomach is a remarkable thing and can even digest small bones and small stones. So if you do not give it something to digest from time to time, it will very well start attacking its own walls. That is when people end up with conditions like acidity, ulcers and digestive disorders. If you have never experienced such disorders before in spite of your erratic eating habits, don't wait for it, believe me a digestive disorder is not something to play with.
It was my experience that in order to silence those maddening pangs of hunger that hit us during work, there was nothing like a couple of cigarettes. I used to do just that and in a couple of years I ended up with a severe acidity condition.
Noon time is meant for lunch so have it then itself. There are many people who find it difficult to have lunch between 12 and 2, which is the right time for lunch. For such unfortunate souls, the best thing you could do is gulp down yet another glass of fruit juice or probably nibble on a cookie. But again coffee is not a substitute for lunch. And nor are cigarettes.
Again in the evening it is best to eat something that is not too filling like a light sandwich or a couple of cookies. A glass of milk along with that, and you will have had the perfect tea. But of course tea time is not an absolute no-no to coffee or tea whatever be your choice. But any how I suppose all of us do our share of downing cup after cup of coffee during the day time.
It is those coffee breaks that you have to extremely wary off. Those are the times when you will have to exercise the maximum mind control and there is nothing better than that meditation or breathing exercises that I described.
I suppose supper is not such a big ordeal because by evening most of us are relatively free. But there we have another foe to battle with. Most of us are so pooped in the night that we cannot be bothered with supper. Even putting something to warm in the microwave can be a chore so most of us settle for something fried which is usually munched while sitting glued to the television.
I would like to say it now once and for all fried foods are bad for you and the more you cut out on fried foods the healthier you will become. Most people go for a smoke after meals and this is something that must be tackled carefully. You are going to find it increasingly difficult if the people you have just dined with make a beeline for the balcony to smoke.
It would be best if you could stop dining with such people, but if you do, muster up all your will power and do not accompany them to the balcony. It is ideal if you pop in one of those gums or spices after meals to control the urge.
While you are trying to quit smoking, try to double your intake of fluids. Drink as much water as you can at least 12 to 15 glasses a day. If you can have fresh fruit juice, then it is even better. But I don't think it is possible for a person to have 12 glasses of fresh juice every day.
A few more pointers on what to eat?
- Choose a variety of foods from all food groups every day. This is a fine way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay.
- Steer clear of food supplements or nutraceuticals as they are sometimes called. If you are eating properly, you do not need any supplements.
- It is best to go for natural foods instead of processed or packed foods.
- Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fresh juices whenever you can. Fresh fruit has a lot more fiber, which your body needs.
- Go crazy on vegetables and salads; they can never do much harm.
- If you can say no to alcoholic beverages please do.
- The next time you are thirsty, try drinking water instead of soda. Your body prefers water in its purest form.
- Increase your intake of fluids. Try and drink at least 12 glasses of water every day; it helps to flush out all those toxins.
- Wash your vegetables and fruits well before consumption and search for packets that say free from pesticides.
Practice these eating habits and before you know it, you will have a whole new body, which you certainly won't want to pollute with cigarette smoke.
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