Authored by Dr. Alana Riss Fine

I was reading this weekend's Parade Magazine and found Emily Listfield's article on smoking cessation and weight management.  Both are about habit control.  Gain control over your own habits and gain peace in your life.  Call me at Partners in Healing at 763-546-5797 and set up an appointment for hypnosis.  I can also teach you the LEARN Program, where you can lose weight mindfully.   

Give Up Smoking Without Gaining Weight (by Emily Listfield)

According to the American Cancer Society, half of all Americas who smoke will die of tobacco-related causes such as lung cancer or emphysema.  For some smokers, however, there's another, more immediate fear.  Nicotine suppresses the appetite and helps boost the metabolism, so many smokers worry they'll gain weight if they quit.  "People feel caught between a rock and a hard place," says Dr. Bonnie Spring of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  "They care about both their appearance and their health."Fortunately, they don't have to choose one or the other.  In fact, controlling your weight may actually help you drop your nicotine habit.  A recent Northwestern study showed that women who joined a weight-loss support were not only less likely to gain weight; they were also up to 29% more successful in quitting smoking.

Dr. Spring hopes her study will change the standard advice:  "Until now, more doctors have warned against trying to control two behaviors at once.  Our results show that trying to manage weight gain does not undermine smoking cessation but rather enhances it."