Quitting Smoking and Weight Gain

So...I know I have to quit smoking. Over the years I have always come up with some reason why I can't do it right now. I'll quit in the winter, my job is too stressful, I'll gain weight, and so on and so on! I'm 27 and have smoked since I was 15. Gross! I have always been embarrassed by the fact that I smoke, and recently I am realizing that there will never be a "good" time to do it...it's going to be hard no matter what. 

Now, I know that gaining a few pounds is much better than continuing to inhale toxins and nicotine...but it still sucks! Has anyone out there quit smoking without gaining weight? Is it actually a physical thing or do people usually gain because they replace the habit with food?

I am planning to quit within the next couple of weeks. I need to set a date. I'm just trying to prepare myself and keep track of when I smoke and why, etc. 

Thanks!

I don't smoke myself, however practically everyone I work with smokes. From what I have gathered from their experiences, it is replacing one habit with another. One co-worker lost a large amount of weight years ago, but as a consequence smokes a pack a day.

A couple of co-workers have tried hypnosis therapy to quit smoking, and have had reasonable success. One particular therapist has a one time payment plan, meaning that if you relapse at any point you can come in for another session (or as many as required) for no extra. One of them who tried it said he had no cravings whatsoever, so maybe if you don't get nicotine cravings you won't feel the urge to binge on food.

Hiya Nikki,

First off, kudos to you for thinking about quitting, its a good thing to do!!  I quit, cold turkey, in January after many years of the nasty habit.  I too was worried about quitting and weight gain until I remembered something a friend of mine said; he said the sooner you quit smoking the sooner your body starts to heal, and then you move on to worrying about any weight gain.  So, I grabbed a healthy attitude about it and jumped in; I quit a 20+ year habit and don't recall my clothes fitting any tighter than before, even months after.

There are three things I did that might have helped with that: 1. carried a 32 ounce bottle of water with me everywhere, and whenever I felt like I should be smoking, I drank water; 2. had orange juice (not Sunny-D or other sugary orange drinks) in the fridge, and when the craving got real strong I would go pound a glass of oj.  Worked for me:D, 3. I went for short little walks, when possible, during trigger times (ie. after eating).  These past few months have been some of my most stressful in recent history, and I have not started smoking again or gained any weight due to stress eating.

I think it is all about attitude, and it sounds like you have a good one about it!  You are right, the time will never be 'perfect' for quitting, just pick a date and do it!!

Hope some of this rambling helps!!  Good luck

H

Nikki,

I quit smoking Nov. 2008.  The weight gain comes from snacking, because the cigarette craving is kind of like hunger and to fill the gap you snack, and snacking a lot leads to developing a habit of snacking a lot more than normal.  It is all very subconscious, so you don't realize it until you've gained some weight.

If you are already counting your calories, then you are a lot more aware of what you are consuming and I don't think it will be an issue.

I don't smoke, I never have, but what above posters have said about replacing one habit with another - I've heard - is 100% correct.  Go to BJ's or Costco and buy a couple huge boxes of sugar-free gum, and pop one whenever you feel the urge for a cigarette, and/or take a sip of water and carry around a large water bottle.  Drinking a ton of water will also, I think, help clean out your body, and well.. give you urges to get up, walk around, (use bathroom instead of going out to smoke) and go back to work.

And every time you chew gum, think about how much money you're saving by not buying a $4 pack of cigarettes :)

Good Luck!!

I quit last year after 20+ years of smoking and it can be done without weight gain.  The above ideas all are good ideas.  The walks after dinner (a trigger time for me) really worked.  Another tip is to brush your teeth after eating if that is a trigger time for you.  I did for the first few weeks replace the cig's with mints, but stopped that after 1 month.

They say you can burn up to 200 caloires a day just by smoking so you need to increase your exercise or cut back your eating so that you can accomodate the additional calories and I found that the additional walk worked for me. 

I quit smoking 6-2-2008 after 30+ years.  It was definately not easy.  Still isn't.  I was very afraid of gaining as I was already quite overweight. 

So, whenever I got stressed, I exercised.  It became my replacement for smoking.  It fills that big empty space for me, and is the best stress reliever ever.  I also changed my easting habits and started eating 4 - 5 small meals during the day.  It made me want to snack less.

Long story short....I have now lost around 50 lbs instead of gaining.  And, my daughter calls me the health/exercise nazi.  lol

Good luck to you.  You can do it!!  :)

I love nicorrette gum... yum, and it makes my  mouth tingly.

Also, have you checked out e-cigs?

http://www.smokingeverywhere.com/elec_cigaret te.php
You can find them much cheaper than this site, but this one explains how they work pretty well. They look like cigarettes, and still involve inhaling them, but it's just nicotine vapor. Also, the cartridges come in a range of nicotine levels, so you can lower your nicotine usage slowly, and you can even buy no-nicotine cartridges.

They are not exactly like smoking cigs, and they don't taste like them (honestly, I recommend getting a fruit or mint flavor, all of the tobacco flavors taste like dirt). They take getting used to, but I like mine.

I quit smoking on 3/23/09 after smoking for 20 years. It is definitely not easy but well worth it. The thought that you replace one habit with another is spot-on but if you are aware of it beforehand, you can plan for it. When I quit, I used a Nicotrol inhaler and that helped immensely. It gave me a little dose of nicotine as well as something to put in my mouth to replace the cigarette. Also, as another poster said, buy a load of sugar-free gum. That was another big help and I still constantly carry a pack of gum. As far as gaining weight, because I knew of the issues and planned for them before I quit, I not only successfully quit, I have also lost 25 lbs since! Good luck to you.

Thanks, everyone! I have been thinking of trying the hypnotherapy. It might be a good idea for me. I also plan to kick up the exercise and water intake substantially. I am getting pretty pumped. I really want to do this.

My boyfriend HATES it. He won't be anywhere around me if I smoke. He's right, it's disgusting.

Anyway, I'll post and let you all know how it goes!

You can do it!!!  I did on March 29, 2007. 

For me it was due to a health scare and was part of my new healthy lifestyle.  It made it harder to lose weight at first, but I have lost weigt since then, (about 20 pounds) and I am in much better shape than I was then. 

The patch worked for me, as well as having my DH (wonderful man that he is) quit at the same time. 

This is my first post on this forum. I have been browsing for days, ever since I signed up to use the calorie and activity counters. But, this is the first time I have read something that made me want to post.

I have been wrestling with quitting smoking for almost a year now. I quit, I gain a couple pounds and I start back. My thing has been snacking though. If I couldn't smoke, I would eat. But I'm thinking now that I have gotten serious about losing weight, it will be easier not to snack or at least to snack on something healthy if I absolutely must do something.

I think I'm going to try it again.