30 minutes of activity a day is enough to prevent weight gain for most people. This is easily achieved with a slight modification to your daily routine. A good example is to take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to nearby diners instead of catching a cab, join a yoga class and going for power walks in the evening.

Previously you read about how nicotine gum can be used to prevent weight gain. A second significant medication proven to delay post smoking weight gain is Zyban (sustained-release bupropion) (Rigotti 1999). The effects of Zyban on weight gain were evident by 2 months, and Zyban treatment showed a sustained and significant effect up to 1 year after stopping it.

The first tip for preventing weight gain is to chew gum. It is as simple as that. Chewing gum also reduces the oral fixation that some smokers crave for. You can choose any kind of gum, but the benefit of choosing a nicotine gum is that it also acts to reduce your craving for nicotine.

Before we begin, let me tell you a secret…. dieting itself is ineffective. You heard it right. It is not beneficial to go on a diet while you are trying to stop smoking. 2 studies (Hall 1992 and Pirie 1992) have shown that dieting is actually counter-productive! It is too much for somebody to control food intake while stopping smoking at the same time.