Any Ideas?

Hello, I just joined this group this morning.  I am now a 33 day "non smoker".  Well in those 30+ days of none smoking , I have put on about 15 pounds.  I would like to take them off.  With dropping the nicotine I seem to want to constantly fidget or have something in my hands.  I have been eating a lot of sunflower seeds, candy at work.  I try to stick to the 100 calorie snacks, but once I eat them I just want more.  I do drink  a lot of water.  I would like to start walking but I live in Lake Havasu City, Az .  It will get to about 110 during the days and we wake up to 90+ and go to bed at 90+.  Hopefully come September it will start to cool down.  Does anybody have any other ideas that I can do for the snacking habit and lack of walking?  I can not afford a gym or even want to go into one.  I love being a NON SMOKER, but the weight and the acne is hard to deal with. 

Hi Tinsey:

I quit smoking three years ago today.  This was after smoking for about 6 or 7 years.  I drank water.  In the car was the worst time for me and I would make sure to take a couple of bottles in the car to drink while I was driving.  It seemed to help.  The first 30 days are the worst, and you have accomplished that. I feel so much better as a non-smoker too.  It isn't easy but well worth it.  Good luck to you.

I would suggest that rather than trying to actively lose weight at the moment you focus more on maintaining your weight & improving your diet until you get past the twitchy stage.   I think the discipline required for weight-loss is something you have to have your full attention on.

The things to get to grips with are....

• The right number of calories.  Typically that's 2000 a day for an adult woman
• Regular meals and snacks..   Eating regularly keeps blood-sugars stable and that will keep cravings and hunger pangs at bay
• Nutritious, wholesome foods.   Nutritious because you need plenty of vitamins and minerals to keep you calm & help your body repair.  And if foods are 'whole' rather than processed you'll find they're more satisfying to eat... another way to keep hunger-pangs at bay.  

As a healthy snack to keep your fingers busy I'd recommend raw vegetables.   For 100 cals you have to eat a huge amount of vegetables and it will take ages to crunch through them.  100 cals of sunflower seeds is a very small handful by comparison.

For exercise you could do what I did and buy a cheap exercise bike off E-Bay.  (There are a lot of people selling this time of year when the New Year Resolution thing wears off!!)  Set it up in your air-conditioned home and pedal away whilst watching TV... very civilised.

Good luck