Extracted with grateful thanks from "The Smoke Stops Here!" (www.thessmokestop.com)

The #1 fear among smokers who decide to give up cigarettes is that they will gain weight. Sadly, this fear is also the #1 reason many smokers decide NOT to quit.

We're going to take an in-depth look at weight gain and in the process, dispel the myths associated with it. Then I'm going share a secret with you about weight control that you won't believe (no hype, no smoke no mirrors!).

First of all, the good news is that the very fear of gaining weight is also the #1 deterrent to avoiding weight gain, and the great news is that studies show that at least 25% of all former smokers so fear weight-gain they actually lose weight once they've quit! In addition, former smokers enjoy a new and sustained surge of energy and become more physically involved in their daily course of living. This expenditure of energy results in the burning off of more calories daily ... which then contributes to weight loss … NOT weight gain!

Women worry about weight gain far more than men. In fact, women worry about it so much that they often decide to couple their quit with a diet.

Not only is dieting not recommended in conjunction with quitting cigarettes, it has been shown to actually increase the craving for cigarettes.

Ironically, this in turn tends to promote the addictive properties of nicotine.

Research also indicates that most smokers will gain at least some weight after quitting, but this averages out at only 5-18 pounds over a 5-year period.

Here's wonderful news. Only one in ten individuals gains as much as 30 pounds during the first 5 years after quitting. This means the odds are heavily in your favor (90%) that you personally will not fall within the group that gains a lot of weight.

However, on the off-chance that you do fall within this category, you still have almost no worry because even 30 pounds of weight is easily controlled and I'm going to prove that to you right now.

Say you gain 30 pounds over a 5-year period, That's an average of only 6 pounds per year. That's about a half-pound per month, an amount so tiny that it can be avoided with little effort. You will never miss the tiny quantity of food associated with this gain (I'll prove that, too, shortly).

Unlike rapid weight-gain, slow weight-gain creeps up unnoticed. A gain of a half-pound per month goes virtually undetected not only by your family and friends but by you as well. We get used to "seeing" tiny weight gains on others, so our perception of the person remains unaltered. They pretty much "look the same as they always have." But now consider the following.

It takes 3,000 calories to create a single pound of weight on your body. That means that a half-pound of weight equates to about half of that -- or some 1500 calories…. So in turn, all you really have to do to prevent really heavy weight-gain (30 pounds over 5 years) is to curb your caloric intake by 1500 calories per month! How easy is that? So easy you won't believe it.

An average candy bar contains 300 calories. In the example above, if you were to stick to your regular eating habits but eat just six fewer candy bars (or equivalent calories found in some other food item) per month, you could easily prevent yourself from gaining even a single pound. It's that easy! More encouraging still is that you can do this without feeling as though you've given up the joy of sweets.

So let's review the above just brifly (I strongly advise that you commit the following to memory). To gain one pound you need to eat 3000 calories. So, for every pound of weight you would like to lose -- or to keep from gaining -- you need to take in 3000 fewer calories. Period. End of mystery.

Using bread as an example, here's a simple way to convert calories to weight ... right in your head!

A single slice of bread contains about 90 calories. We know it takes 3000 such calories to make a single pound, and while 90 calories doesn't seem like a very high number, just watch how quickly even this small amount can add up:

• 6 slices of bread per day is 6 x 90 calories, or, 540 calories.
• 540 calories per day x 30 days = 16,200 calories per month!
• 16,200 calories divided by 3,000 calories in a pound = 5.4 pounds!

(to simplify, just round off the numbers and divide 3 into 16). So if you ate half as much bread (3 slices instead of 6) you'd be taking in half the calories and therefore half the pounds, or ... only 2 1/2 pounds instead of five plus pounds.

So how much weight is this over the course of a year? Well, 5.4 pounds x 12 = an astounding 64.8 pounds! In the above example, could you lose 64.8 pounds in a year simply by cutting your bread intake by half? Absolutely! But there IS a catch…...

You can't then go and substitute what you've cut out of your diet with something else you've added to your diet! In short, in the example above you'd need to eat as you regularly do (no more) while at the same time cutting your bread intake by half. It also needs to be said that the above also depends in large part on your personal metabolism and other factors.

Weight loss, just like quitting smoking, is NOT the agony and grief it is made out to be. I believe more people would take off more weight faster -- and keep it off forever -- if they weren't in such a huge rush to take it off in the first place.

It isn't necessary to lose 30 pounds tomorrow or even in 3 months, not when a year passes as quickly as it already does. Losing 30 pounds over the course of a year is healthier and saner. You aren't nearly as likely to shock your body and it's probably much more likely that you will NOT regain this weight as if you take it off quickly.

You are not only the master of your destiny in such matters as quitting smoking and controlling weight gain, your duties and responsibilities in support of these considerations are embarrassingly simple and easy. Pace yourself. Accept the fact that you won't have the body you want by sunset tonight. But by all means, treat yourself to the pride of how you're going to look and feel 30 pounds from now - a mere year from today!

For those of you who suffer from being considerably overweight and have decided to take on a major weight loss diet, caution is advised. Never diet except under the watchful eye of your medical doctor or nutritionist and choose a product that promotes its safe use.

The attainment and maintenance of a happy, healthy body is really a cake walk. You're in total control. The great pleasure to be derived from this is that you not only receive the benefit of maintaining a trim and healthy body, but that YOU get the credit for putting your body in healthy order - as well as for keeping it that way. That in turns fills your whole being with pride.

One aside is this. There is always going to be that handful of individuals ready to offer you "proof" that smoking or being overweight are really not all that harmful. They will go out of their way to offer you this proof, often inventing their facts as they go. Don't waste your time or energy taking issue with these individuals. Listen politely. When you refuse to take issue with them, they'll get the message and drift off in another direction …

Perhaps no study about smoking is more personally disturbing or tragic than a study conducted among 7th graders in Tennessee.

This study revealed that one in ten youngsters pointed to weight control as their chief reason for taking up smoking. There was a popular belief among them that smoking curbs the appetite.

But in fact, research indicates that smokers actually eat more than non-smokers because nicotine has a tendency to produce a sweet tooth. This in turn sparks a craving to eat a candy bar or something high in sugar, thus adding more calories to the diet than, say, a bag of protein-based mixed fruit and nuts would. Moreover, the protein-rich snack will easily deliver far more energy and last a great deal longer. Sadly, most teens are unaware that the energy delivered by sugar is highly volatile, producing an almost instant energy -- but fizzling out just as quickly.

By comparison, protein-based snacks are not only healthful and more satisfying in addition to tasting good, but the energy they provide is slow burning and can last for hours. It's no wonder that within an hour after eating something sweet our teens feel run down and crave another shot of energy, running back to the coke machine or school cafeteria for another sweet from the junk food dispensing machine.

A real and growing problem with these dispensing machines is that they contribute millions of dollars in profits to school districts, which are understandably reluctant to get rid of them.

Proper diet not only satisfies the body's needs but promises to deliver a trim and healthy you, producing undeniable pride and happiness in your body, mind and spirit.