By Wendy Lapidus-Saltz, CH, NLPMP

When potential hypnosis clients call for information on my specialty, smoking cessation, the second thing they say is “I don’t want to gain weight!”  (The first is usually “hello,” but some move right into the weight question.)

Many women originally took up smoking as a way to lose weight.  They were successful, at least partially.  After the initial novelty wore off, and the years rolled by, a lot of them gained weight anyway. 

And the most observant noticed something interesting….

After years of smoking, the effects of inhaling tar and nicotine reduced their ability to breathe efficiently and also their airflow, which then reduced their ability to exercise.  Which led to weight gain.

So is smoking really the magic weight stabilizer expected? 

Not really.  And not for long.  But here’s what seems to happen, at least to some smokers, and this is what gave smoking the reputation of causing weight loss (or offering a kind of, well, weight management): 

Smoking has a drying effect on the tissues of the body.  Think beef jerky. It began as a piece of beef, full of moisture.  Then it was smoked.  And what happened?  It weighed less. 

When our water dries up, we lose weight.  A few pounds, often two to four, sometimes more.  When we stop smoking, we may temporarily regain that weight as we replenish our water, but only until we acclimate.

By the way, have you ever noticed that you can recognize longtime smokers?

That may be because of the lack of moisture (water) in their skin, especially their faces.  Over time, facial movements made while smoking cause visible wrinkles, especially around the lips, but it may be that loss of moisture is the bigger culprit.

So we know that much of the weight gain that occurs when you stop smoking is:  temporary till your body acclimates; slight—not more than a few pounds; and useful for having moister, more attractive skin.

But what about ex-smokers who claim to have gained 20, 30, 35 pounds after quitting?  Is that sheer water weight?

Unlikely.  Most former smokers, when honest, tell a different story.  They say that, as smokers, they had used smoking for many purposes:

To give the hands something to do
To quell nervousness and awkwardness
To suppress loneliness (“my cigarette is the friend who’s always with me”)
To put something in their mouths to indicate a break (a permissible way to disconnect from a situation or a person)

Some people who had used cigarettes as a crutch didn’t learn coping skills. So once they disengaged from smoking, they moved to something else to fill the same purpose.  Can you guess what that was?

What’s the closest thing to putting a cigarette in the mouth, having an excuse to be absorbed in oneself for the moment, and disconnecting from others?

Eating.

Former smokers who gain excess weight substitute food for cigarettes.  Others people avoid “getting fat” at all costs, and continue to smoke. Is there a way to quit and keep the weight off?  Yes!

Let’s look at some better “substitutions” and some empowerments: 

1. If you use hypnosis to help you stop smoking, specifically ask the hypnotist or hypnotherapist to build in suggestions for staying active and lean.  I do this in almost all sessions. 

To enhance this suggestion, offer your practitioner some substitute behavior to do when you need the mental break smoking has provided. 

Try:  a walk around the office or the block; celery sticks; sugarfree gum (be careful with quantity and don’t spit it out and take another the moment it loses its flavor. 

The chewing action is all you need, so flavorless gum works just fine); a quick chat with a friend/colleague; or a moment of meditation. 

2. Even if you’re not working with a hypnotist, the ideas in #1 apply: Chew gum, take a walk, chat up a friend for a few moments when the “It’s time for a cigarette” moment arrives.

3. Change your desire to smoke into a desire for health, wellness, long life or increased physical activity.  As your motives and desires change, your behaviors follow.

A client of mine had done a lot of hypnosis with me for improving her work situation.  When she saw how well it worked, she scheduled a smoking-cessation session for a month away, when she would be in town.

Two weeks later, she called to cancel her session. At first my heart sank.  “You don’t want to quit anymore?”  I asked.

She laughed. “I quit myself! A week and a half ago.  My daughter told me she’s having a baby, and I don’t ever, ever want to smoke in front of my grandchild.”

Find the right motivation for you, and it will be empowering.  Stopping gets easier when you’ve motivated.

4. Find “your special  brand” of motivation.  One kind is to move toward something you really want:  health, sexiness, attractiveness, better breathing for the upcoming marathon, etc.

The other kind is to avoid, or move away from something.  You don’t want to get cancer or emphysema; you don’t want people to smell smoke on your clothes; you don’t want to make your asthma worse.

For some people, moving “towards” a desire works.  For others, moving “away from” something they don’t want works.  A combination is good, but, frankly, for most people one of these directions is noticeably stronger.

By the way, the direction of motivation sometimes varies.  It could be “toward attractiveness” for weight loss and “away from illness” for smoking.  Or vice versa.

Find your direction of motivation to stop smoking.  Then use it relentlessly.

You may also want to do the simple and useful work of learning how to reach and maintain an ideal weight for your body, which may not have seemed necessary when you used cigarettes to lower your urge for snacks.

A book, DVD, friend or program like Weight Watchers can quickly teach you the basics of how to control weight—lessen cravings for sweets or fats. 

And wouldn’t it be great to master the skills for choosing foods that satisfy the appetite without running up a high calorie bill?

In fact, why not start today?  Create the intention to stop smoking and start living. Choose an exercise plan.  Get support from friends, family, colleagues, and professionals like a trainer, smoking-cessation hypnotist, dietician. 

Find engaging activities to keep mind and body busy.  And most of all, be kind to yourself as you take steps to make your life healthier, happier, and fuller.

Wendy Lapidus-Saltz, principal of Jaguar Mind LLC, is a mind coach certified in hypnotherapy, NLP and other disciplines.  She specializes in stop-smoking hypnosis, particularly with longtime smokers. She created the Hypno-Attraction® Hypnosis for Love CD and workshops on the topic of love and relationship.  Call her Chicago office at 312-640-1584. www.hypno-attraction.com and www.nonsmoker4life.com