Weight Loss

I am a smoker, i went from a pack a day to about 1/3 a day now. I would really like to quit completely but I've been told that can pack on pounds...not many, but i can't afford to gain any more. I don't know if its an old wives tale, but if there are any former smokers here that have lost weight during the quitting process, have any helpful tips? I'm pretty sure i can combat the oral fixation part of quitting....

Original Post by kkiss10:

Congratulations on trying to quit smoking!  I smoked 3 packs a day for 33 years and I quit on January 4, 2007.  It was the best decision of my life!  It will be your best decision as well.  You will be so much healthier after you quit smoking, even if you do gain a few pounds.  I did gain about 30 lbs, but am working now on losing that. The reason I gained weight was not because I quit smoking, but because I also had some major health problems, related to smoking (heart disease and emphysema). 

I have to agree with Lippygal, substituting fresh raw veggies and fruits works great!  And you will find that food tastes so much better after you quit smoking. One other strategy I used was to cut straws to the length of a cigarette.  I kept one on my desk at home and one in the car. It really helped with the "hand to mouth" motion that is so hard to break.  Another great idea is to reward yourself every week that you don't smoke by using the money you would have spent on cigarettes to buy yourself something or put it in a savings account and plan a dream vacation.  I bought myself little rewards for the first few weeks, then started that vacation savings account.  My sister and I are going to Ireland next summer with the money we saved.

I wish you the best of luck with quitting.  It is well worth it!  Your body will thank you!  Good luck!  :-)

 Congratulations! and I love that you saved all the money you would have spent on cigarettes and now you are going to europe! There is a lot of camera equipment i need to start saving for and the $25 a week i spend on cigarettes would definitely add up soon!

Thanks to all of you for your support, its nice to know that so many people have been successful!

I wanna say that lippygals second post is spot on.

I quite smoking in 2001. I had a 15 a day habit (approx). I set a date, it happened to be my daughters 2nd birthday. I wanted to quit before she was born, something I had promised my wife but there were some stressful times and I used that as an excuse to continue smoking.

Anyway I did more or less as lippygal said. I told all my friends and family that I was quitting. This prompted 2 friends to quit with me - which was great as I had some moral support.

I went cold turkey, as I think that patches and other products just make it harder. And I haven't smoked since that day. Unfortunately I was overweight then and so I piled on the pounds afterwards. Thats due to lack of control on my eating habits.

The main thing is that you really must want to quit smoking. If you are convinced then its possible to give it up completely.

Now that I decided to tackle the weight problem I am using the same lessons learned back then. Obviously I wasn't putting the lessons into practice because it took me 7 years before I finally quit eating badly :)

I don't think it's inevitable to gain weight if you stop smoking, and it should not be a reason not to quit.  If you do gain a little, you can lose it.  Since I quit 5 years ago, I've lost nearly 30kg.  Healthy foods taste better, and I have gone from being breathless going up the stairs to a fully fledged proper runner.  It can be done!  Good luck Ax

I will have 3 years quit on the 22nd of this month!  Ilost 55 lbs before I quit smoking then when I quit I tossed out my good eating habits and gained back some but it was my own fault for not paying attention and stay eating right.

Try http://www.quitnet.com 

for a very good support site I found this site from that site

Although quitting will slow your metabolism and you tend to eat instead of smoke if you work out a bit more or try to eat better a gain isn't a guarantee.

Also in support of quitting even if you gain they say you'd have to gain over 100 lbs for your health to be as bad as if you continue to smoke as far has hard on the body and I don't think anyone with awareness of a good eating lifestyle is ever going to allow themselves to gain that much after they quit.

I quit smoking about 7 years ago or so and gained some weight.  However, while I did a lot of sports and was active (including construction work), I found it so much easier to get out and go places once I stopped the smoking.  I cut back at first but found it very difficult to wean off the last little bit.  I started to keep mental notes of all the times I would "automatically" light up.  Like every time I got in the car in the morning, after eating lunch before going back on shift...Then I actively made sure that I was focused on what I was doing at those times and made sure it wasn't smoking.  Yes, I was in beginning psych at the time and kind of saw myself as Pavlov's dog.  However, I quit in less than a few months like that and lost the weight I had gained because I was getting out more.  I think I put on pounds partly because I did substitute food somewhat, but I soon felt sooooooo much better that it was totally worth being fatter in the short term.  Treat the weight gain as a temporary problem and make a plan for how you will fight back while you quit.  Maybe part of the solution is being in control when you start to feel a little chaotic.

I quit smoking and went on a diet at the exact same time.  9 months later, I haven't had a cigarette and have lost 140 pounds.  Stopping smoking does not cause any weight gain whatsoever.  Replacing smoking by shoving food in your mouth instead is what causes the gain.

Maybe it depends on your body and makeup. I smoked for years and quit like you - a pack a day down to 1/3rd and then a pack a week.... etc., but I didn't gain weight at all, in fact, I lost and am still losing.

Strange how the body works. So try not to think that it is a sure-thing that you will gain... The mind is seriously powerful and when you tell it it will gain, it prob. will. But if you can know that it is not always the case, (in my case, the opposite), then maybe your mind will have the power to do the same for you. Who knows, just remmeber we are all different and our bodies are different and maybe your body is one of those that will work more like mine ..... never know...

Good luck!

 

I ended up substituting weight loss for smoking, in a sense.  I quit smoking last December 24 and started my weight loss in mid January.  I never gained any weight (that I know of) during the first few weeks, or if I did it was minimal as I was quite overweight at that point already.  Instead, I focused on how much healthier I was feeling - I could breathe!  I decided I wanted to become truly healthy and take control of my own body in every way.  Since quitting smoking I've lost 46 pounds.  It can be done.  There is no rule that you will gain weight.  Good luck!

I am still quit smoking and that's good (over a month now). I went back and looked at my weight logs and had a weekend of restaurant food in conjunction with the first couple of days of quitting. My weight went up 5 pounds but restabilized within two weeks or so at my weight loss trend weight.

I'm at two cigarettes a day now! One when i wake up and one when i'm coming home from work. It has been VERY hard for me, my boyfriend smokes but he has been very supportive and does not smoke around me at all any more (but he smells like smoke!). I haven't gained any weight at all from it, in fact i've lost about 2lbs since i started quitting, so i'm guessing my diet and exercise are counter acting the slight drop in metabolism. By the end of the month I WILL stop completely. Thanks so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it!!

I've been an ex-smoker for six months now! Per your last post, it was hard for me too, but just know it gets easier with time. Promise. What helped me most was to not think of it as a lifetime thing (you mean i can never smoke again?!?!?!), but as an hour by hour, day by day kind of thing. I gained about 6 pounds, but am exercising now and eating right and it all just feels good. So, even if you do gain a bit (i know you said you couldn't afford to, but even so...), it's ok. Breathe deep and know you are doing a wonderful thing for your body...even if it gets a little "curvier" for a little bit! :) Go you!

Good luck with your quit, you CAN do it! I quit 7 years ago, but I quit because I was pregnant so yeah, I gained weight. Were I not pregnant, I would have probably held steady as I saved the calories in alcohol (I drank a lot more when I smoked.) Also, now that I'm off the cigs, I run. Never could have done that before -- and that's a huge burn. So replace the cigs with exercise instead of snacks, and you could end up losing. Even if you gain, as everyone has said, it's more important to quit -- completely. Someone mentioned quitnet and I second that. A great resource and support community. Not only does it get easier, but at some point you will turn a corner where the thought of smoking makes you queasy. After 7 years you would literally have to put a gun to my head to make me smoke. Best of luck and congratulations for making the best decision!

I quit smoking 8 years ago after smoking for 25 years. And let me first say, wow, do i feel better. The breathing cleared up after a year and the morning cough went away too. I do not get short of breath anymore and can taste my food....

Yes, I did put on about 30 lbs but I have always struggled with my weight since I hit 30 and beyond. Even as a smoker I was overweight. I think the tasting the food so clearly was one thing that added to that. It is just bliss to really taste again and smelling becomes distinct too. That does not fully return for about two years.

I allowed myself to eat when I was first quitting and it helped get me through the cravings. But those go  away and you do not really need to gain a lot of weight.

I have to say, it was soooooo worth it in the long run. Yes, I still struggle with the weight (but always did) but now I have clear lungs and more energy. And what I never would have guessed is how really terrible smokers stink. I did not know it until I quit smoking. I went around smelling so bad and did not notice it myself. It's just about the strongest smell there is and it hangs on a person. If you wear lovely perfume, those of us who do not smoke will never smell it.

So there are so many pluses to quitting that I cannot imagine letting the few lbs you may have to battle stop you. Anyway, that's my input, for what it's worth.

Hey everyone!

I got a prescription for chantix today.  I am scared to take it has anyone taken it?  I have heard of bad side effects including suicide and halluations.  I have a white patch on the side of my mouth and they did a biopsy and it came back negative but obviously I have to quit smoking!!

As a current(and for a long time a ceased) smoker, I would suggest you lose the weight first then try to quit. When I quit the last time, I gained a scary 20 pounds, even though I used to walk for 5 miles every day. Strict diet got me back to my old weight, but it took months of struggle. This time I am taking another approach, first lose as much as I can, even if it will put me below healty BMI, then quit, but stay on diet. That should quickly bring BMI to normal range.

My boss took chantix. He'd been a smoker for over 40 years, quit in a heartbeat without any cravings. Hasn't had any side effects except a belly.

First off congrats on your decision to quit smoking. I recently stopped smoking myself about 6 months ago. My personal opinion is dont worry about wait gain in the first few months, focus on quiting and what ever you need to do to quit. Im not saying go hog wild on food but trying to quit smoking and diet its a formula for failure. I focused on not smoking for the first 2 months, eating when and pretty much what I wanted. I then started to exercise more and more and watch what I eat. I have lost 10 lbs in about 4 months.

Good luck to you and stick with it.

Like kkiss10 (#19 above) I quit mostly due to health problems related to smoking.  I found that I couldn't stand to breathe in the smoke anymore, so it became an easy choice: either quit smoking, or quit breathing!  I smoked about half a pack a day, for about 28 years, and finally quit on March 6, 2006. 

At the time I was also trying to lose weight, and that effort fell by the wayside.  Naturally, I gained back whatever I lost and then some, but it seems to me that was more due to giving up my weight loss efforts than because of quitting smoking.  Even prior to quitting, I had gradually been gaining weight -- about 10 lbs a year -- so quitting smoking did not seem to increase that rate of weight gain. 

I had quit once before, about 15 years ago, which lasted about 2 years.  One thing I found at that time was that I had to stop hanging out with friends who smoked.  It wasn't because they were unsupportive, but because everytime I saw someone light up, I badly wanted to light one up myself, and it was too easy to bum a cigarette off them.  No, it wasn't their job to be my cigarette police, and I didn't feel that they should've watched out for me!  It was my job to quit, and I kept failing at it.  I also figured out that I had to stay away from situations which would trigger a craving -- such as visiting bars.  (And really, who needs the hangovers anyway?)  Even seeing someone light up a smoke in a movie was enough to make me also want to light up!

The other thing I learned was that each time I tried to quit and then failed, I learned something from it.  If I troubled myself to examine what went wrong after each failed attempt, I could usually arrive at what the obstacle was, and then I could plan how to overcome that.  It was, I believe, a case where practice makes perfect.  And if at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

I think everyone's path to quitting is different.  Some people, like myself, need to quit cold turkey, and can do so without all the horrible side effects: headaches, various achey feelings, irritability, etc.  Others, especially those who suffer physical withdrawal symptoms which make it especially hard to get through the initial shock, need to ween themselves, either by reducing their daily intake gradually, or using nicotine patches.  It is definitely an addiction, and I can say that even now I get a pang whenever I see someone else light up.  But I breathe so much easier now, and I can taste and smell everything better.  My house and my car smells nicer, I was able to finally whiten my teeth, and I don't have to worry about get wrinklier skin.  (In my twenties and thirties, those things seemed to be extremely remote possibilities, but in my forties they became a surprisingly big concern to me!) 

Because my weight is something that I've always struggled with, I don't feel that quitting has made my struggles any more difficult than they would otherwise have been.  Quitting has also lightened my pocketbook, and I'm no longer hostage to politicians who decide to balance budgets by increasing cigarette taxes; they can do what they will in that regard, it won't affect me. 

Please please please keep your determination to quit foremost, and never give up trying.  The best thing about quitting is the realization that nicotine no longer rules your life.  Good luck, and don't forget that we're also here to give you words of encouragement if you feel you need to hash things out, or unburden yourself.

Hi, I quit smoking in January 07. I was planning my wedding at the time. I lost 12 pounds after I quit.  I only smoked about 1/3 of a pack a day or less.  More like 1/5.

My dad was recently treated for laryngeal cancer from smoking.  Thank God he didn't have to have a radical laryngectomy, but he did have to have radiation which destroyed his salivary glands (he'll never make saliva again) and chemo which made him so sick that he wanted to die. 

I think gaining a few pounds is a far better alternative.

My doctor prescribed Wellbutrin.  I found it very easy to quit physically.  It's harder emotionally.  I still want to smoke, but it's not a physical craving anymore.  Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking.  I wish you success.