People Who Have Quit Smoking

I quit smoking a year ago and I gained about 60lbs. Now I'm fighting with the weight that has been on - off - on all my life. I love this site. Just curious as to how many people are dieting because of weight gain after leaving cigarettes behind.

Yay!!! I quit smoking almost exactly a year ago.  March 29, 2007 was the last day I smoked!

 I actually stopped because I was hospitalized with chest pains.  NO heart attack, but I was having some circulation issues and they told me I REALLY needed to quit and get in shape, so I modified my diet at the same time.  

I still put on a little weight, but I was able to work it off doing exercise, but then I had to have shoulder surgery and put it back on again.  Since I signed up here last month I've lost 9 pounds (~5 weeks) and now I weigh less than last year!!!  

Congratulations on quitting!!! It's tough but definitely worth it.   

Hurray Quitters! I quit in Nov. 26, 2007 - I hit my first 100 days a week or so ago. I've been struggling with the lbs since starting my quit a few years ago - my weight is something that usually plunges me back into smoking, so it's been on and off. The lozenges were helping me for a long time, until I realized they were hurting me. I ate to feel less bloated from them, if that makes any sense. This is the longest quit so far. I feel good about this. Plus, I've had two slip-ups and not gone back to the darkside.

Woo hoo, I quit smoking January 5, 2008.  Yes this year, I quit.  Now about a month after I quit I decided to take a proactive look into the weight gains.  I joined this site in 2/19/08, and have lost 10 lbs since then.  :-)  Congrats to everyone who has quit, I know it's not easy, and I know that the weight issue just makes it worse. 

Heck sometimes, I think I'll just start smoking again so I don't have to worry about the weight as much, but I'm not going to!!!

Good for you. I quit at the end of October 2007 and gained 25 lbs in three months, putting me on track to gain 100 lbs in one year. I couldn't stop eating when I first quit. Some medical problems scared me enough to quit smoking and then more scared me to start losing weight.

I was overweight before I became a smoker but smoking for so many years kept me at a reasonable weight. I don't even like saying that out loud because it sounds like a commercial for smoking, it's not! I'm sorry I ever smoked. Now I am older and taking the weight off is not easy. My goal is to be a healthy weight and physically fit with exercise so I'm not looking for a quick weight loss that I will gain right back or to be super thin. It's a good thing my goals are low and achievable because I've only lost 2 lbs in one month. But I didn't smoke either so it's all good in my book.

I quit 3 and a half years ago, I gained about 2 stone (24lbs). Well done to you and good luck for your  journey :)

I quit 1 year ago yesterday.

I did gain some weight.  Mostly due to my neglect of healthy foods and exercise.  But...I would rather be chunky and smoke-free than to smoke and be skinny. 

Congrats on quitting.  Keep up the good work!

11 months now - it wasn't qutting the ciggies that was the main problem, but they sure didn't help either. 

I quit 14 1/2 years ago (I have the day I quit marked on my calendar--August 2, 1993--and have a mini celebration every anniversary) and instantly gained 10 lbs, despite focusing on eating reasonably and properly. Which was really depressing--here I was trying to do something good for myself, and suddenly none of my clothes fit, overnight. I think your metabolism is affected by smoking, and your body adjusts--drastically--at first! But it's not forever. I've spent the past 15 years yoyoing up and down, and it had nothing to do with smoking or not.

I quit because I'd had a headache for a year straight, and thought it was because I was smoking too much (turned out I had arthritis in my neck). But I would never, ever smoke again--in fact, while I'm sympathetic to smokers (the Canadian government persecutes them on the one hand but gladly takes the taxes the habit generates with the other), I now think cigarettes--and the clothes/hair/homes of those who smoke--smell terrible. I like the freedom--no craving a smoke in the middle of a movie at the theater, or on a long plane flight, or--ever!

Congratulations to everyone who has made the decision to quit--it's one of the hardest things to do, but so worth it.

I quit smoking 12/4/04 (5:35pm was my last smoke!)

I ate and ate for probably a year to compensate. Although not a healthy thing, it was better than smoking my doctor said. Made sense to me.

GOOD JOB for quitting - it IS the hardest thing to do and as you said - SO WORTH IT! :)

Congrats on your quit! I have been quit since January 30, almost two months now. The first month I gained about 8 pounds because I substituted food for cigarettes. Now that I've finally beat the urge to smoke, I decided to better my health even further by getting back into shape. Best wishes to everyone who has quit or is in the process of. Quitters really do win! That has been my motto for a while now.

ME...I knew it was going to happen...its been a year...and I just got back on track..feels good.

Hi everyone...I quit on 04/05/04(which was also my 29th B-Day)...I was over weight before I quit and gained 19 pounds over a couple of months...Now I weigh 158.8 which is about 14 pounds less than when I was a smoker...I don't miss smoking at all, my best friend died in Aug of 2007 from lung cancer, I wish he was able to quit...

Congrats to everyone for quitting and trying to lose weight...We can all do this, especially with the help from one another...I'm new here btw and can't wait to get to know everyone...

I have been smoke free for a month,  I have also gained 5 lbs, which is startig to drive me crazy.  My appetite is out of the roof.  I need to get a hold on it since I have had weight issues all my life.  I currently weigh 160 on 5ft 6in frame.  Need to lose 15lbs.  Any suggestions on what to substitute instead of food.  I exercise regularly, but I am in need of some help and guidance.  Congrats to everyone for staying smoke free.   This has been a very difficult journey. 

This is a quote from me in another thread. I thought it might be useful here...

While I'm not an ex-smoker, I am a tobacco use researcher who counsels women of reproductive age to quit smoking everyday. So, I have a few things to say about the matter :)

The reason people gain weight during smoking cessation is for two reasons: 1) nicotine stimluates the metabolism, once you quit it lags a bit. However, this is temporary and it will go back to your 'normal' level within a week or two, and 2) you lose that hand-to-mouth motion. If you compensate for this by something other than eating you will not gain as much weight (chew on a toothpick, suck on a cinnamon stick, use a fake straw cigarette, drink a lot of water).

Also, physical activity helps with cravings. The endorphine rush you get when exercising mimics the 'high' you get after a cigarette - your mind gets that good feeling it's craving. When I counsel people to quit smoking (as I do every day in my work), I tell them that cigarette cravings last, on average, 5 minutes. So whenever you get a craving look at the clock and tell yourself 'I will think about smoking in 5 minutes, but for right now I'm going to go and do a set of arm curls' (or walk around the block, or run up and down the stairs, or sweep the kitchen floor). If you kill those five minutes by doing something physically active not only will you get your mind off of the craving, but you will burn calories off setting the weight gain. I must throw in one caveat here - when you first quit, the first 3 or so days - it will fell like five minutes of craving, followed by 30 seconds of no craving, followed by another five minutes of craving. It will be frequent and intense, but every day you remain smoke-free those craving will lessen.

If you are conscious about it weight gain associated with smoking cessation it will be temporary. The average person gains 7 to 10 pounds (the average person is not as weight conscious as they could be). If you compare successful quitters to non-successful quitters one year later - those who relapsed to smoking keep their weight on, those who quit and stayed quit end up losing those 7 to 10 pounds (in general).

So, you do not *have* to gain weight when quitting. Just like a fluctuating menstrual cycle weight take those few pounds in stride, increase your physical activity to combate cravings and burn calories and come up with a new hand-to-mouth routine.

I'd always been chubby, then during college got really big. Now I've lost all the weight (10 months or so ago), and decided to give up smoking 3 weeks ago. I've compensated the fact that I'm eating a bit more and not so healthy with more exercise, and I've lost a bit more weight!!!

Been working out really hard, but I'd rather do that and be able to have something naughty in the evening (white chocolate is dangerously becoming the trend ), when the  anxiety hits, than putting on any of the weight back, or not being able to eat more. Also, it's not just anxiety, I really am more hungry, and because of a recovering sense of smell food tastes better than ever!!!!!! But I am so happy I quit my 30-a-day nasty habit... Well done to all of you too, we are probably doing two of the most difficult things one can do, aren't we?