Quitting smoking and weight lose/gain

Hey all,

I am proud to say that I am currently in the midst of my most successful attempt to quit smoking ever! I am 27 and have been smoking a pack a day for about 8 years. I joined cc in december and have lost 16 lbs since then. I am very aware that most people are prone to weight gain after they quit smoking. Obviously it is more important to me to commit to staying smoke free then stressing over a few pounds right now but I was curious if any ex-smokers had any advice about how to balance the two. Thanks!

While I'm not an ex-smoker, I am a tobacco use researcher who counsels women of reproductive age to quit smoking. 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.

Congratulations!  That was a very wise decision.  I have been smoke free for 8 years, and I know what not to do..   If you crave, don't eat just to bury the craving.  I did, and gained 30 lbs.  I could not do the stuff below because I had a broken leg, and was in a cast, but now I know I could have done some things besides eat.

Exercise, jump, run, do pushups... and....... think about how much better you feel. Breath very deep, and concentrate on how deep you can breath.   Drink water, lots of it. Use a good tasting mouth wash to keep your breath feeling fresh and/or brush your teeth often. Take a straw and cut it in half, and if you are desperate... suck on it. Put a little mouth wash in a tiny spray bottle, and spray the back of your throat. EXERCISE.. don't, don't, don't have a puff of anyone else's cigarette... don't taste, not even once... If you have one, a thousand is not enough.

Good luck...

I am a reformed smoker who didn't watch what I ate after quitting and I did gain weight, but that is because I was eating junk.  I was working at a company that kept a pantry full of Pop Tarts, cookies, chips, and other junk food available to everyone for free.  They also kept a fridge full of beer and frozen White Castle burgers on site that I took frequent advantage of.  Plus when I stopped smoking, I stopped walking down the three flights of stairs multiple times per day to the smoking area, I compounded the problem by not only eating when I was craving with not getting as much exercise.

Quitting smoking for me was not really difficult.  At least I don't think so now, over ten years after I did it.  I quit cold turkey and one of the things I did to keep me motivated was to make a tick mark on my white board for ever day I went without a cigarette and next to my list of marks, I wrote "15 days smoke free" or however many days it was.  I finally ran out of room at the bottom of my white board and I realized on that day, that I wasn't even craving cigarettes anymore.

I think that the others who have responded have given you good advice on how to keep from packing on a lot of weight while quitting.  You basically have to find alternative ways to boost your metabolism that smoking used to provide.  Exercise is the healthiest way, but you might also try drinking green tea when you get a craving since it also boosts metabolism.

I quit smoking on December 24, 2007, and started my weight loss in mid january.  Thanks to the weight loss efforts, I have not gained anything since quitting, in fact i've lost almost 25 pounds.  For me, the two go hand in hand.  I developed really bad asthma as a result of my smoking and even mild exercise would render me unable to breathe.  It was pretty difficult to lose any weight in the past when I felt like crap and felt like 30 minutes of cardio was a torture session.  A couple of weeks after quitting I really began to be able to breathe better, and had my revelation about my weight (not that I didn't know I was fat, but I wasn't ready to do anything about it before that time).  Since that time, I've been exercising six days a week.  I do 3 hour cardio workouts every sunday, for example.  I hardly ever have to use my rescue inhaler any more.  I think the best advice is to focus on something positive like weight loss.  I am so happy to have lost weight and not smoking has allowed me to do it and will allow me to continue to lose the next 50 pounds. It's not easy, but you can do both!  Feel free to message me with any questions or if you'd like support. 

How are you doing now?  I am curious to know since I have just quit.

I'm going to be quitting soon.  I keep telling myself I will, but it's been awful stressful so I keep putting it off.  Well, now I'm broke. :)  I've quit before, and I know that by keeping my hands busy I won't want to smoke (and for that matter, eat).  I need to get stocked up on some sugar free gum or something though.

Do you do any crafts?  I knit and crochet, and it's helped in the past for my smoking, and helps keep my mind off of food when I senselessly want to eat.

I am trying to eat very healthy...vegatables and fruits mostly.  I also amped up my walking.  But your right I really don't have anything to do with my hands.  I thought of taking up painting or something

Painting's another good one.  Just pick up something you like that is not associated with smoking.  For me, I smoke when I read often.  It's not like I can never read a book again, but it would be a poor choice for distraction when I want a cigarette.

I quit smoking oct 1st this year.

www.whyquit.com

I found that site very helpful.

To combat the typical weight gain - have small meals spaced out throughout the day for the first week. Nicotine has been regulating your blood sugar; without it, you will have some sugar crashes, so eating a good snack (with both protein and carbs) will keep you from crashing and overeating.

I quit in March of this year and have been smoke-free for almost 8 months now. I smoked a pack a day for almost 19 years. I was also worried about gaining weight when I quit so I planned in advance. I made sure to always have a pack of sugar free gum with me and I still do to this day. I avoided doing things I associated with smoking like going to my normal Tuesday night poker game. I used to ALWAYS light up a cigarette whenever I got in my car and started chewing a piece of gum anytime I got in my car. It also helped (believe it or not) to have a straw with me pretty much all of the time. I could hold it like it was a cigarette and chew on the end of it. You CAN quit smoking if you REALLY want to!!!

I quit smoking six years ago.  I was a pack a day smoker for about four years.  I didn't experience weight gain during that time. I think a lot of that had to do with how I quit. I didn't go cold turkey.  Instead I tapered off until one day I just didn't buy another pack of cigarettes.  Good luck with quitting smoking.  

Original Post by vcarrie:

I quit smoking six years ago.  I was a pack a day smoker for about four years.  I didn't experience weight gain during that time. I think a lot of that had to do with how I quit. I didn't go cold turkey.  Instead I tapered off until one day I just didn't buy another pack of cigarettes.  Good luck with quitting smoking.  

 Same with me. I did not quit cold turkey. I took Chantax (sp?) and was also on the Nicotrol inhaler which both helped a lot. I ramped my smoking down over about a month and got it down to 1 or 2 a day and then was finally able to quit all together. I still have 1/2 a pack of cigarettes in my house but have had the strength to totally avoid them. 

So did you gain weight?

Original Post by sublettegal:

So did you gain weight?

No, I did not gain weight. As I mentioned above, I planned in advance for it and took steps to avoid the pitfall of gaining weight. In fact, I've lost about 45 lbs  since I quit. YES, it is possible.

I quit smoking the same day I started counting calories.  I quit smoking on 8/29/09 and as of that day I've lost 23 lbs.   I don't know smoking and my weight were both tied up in my "aha" moment so that could be part of it.  

I think the biggest thing for me was telling everyone around me I quit smoking  there are a few ex smokers on the team who kept encouraging me to not smoke.  I began to chew a lot of sugar free gum.  (I'm a big fan of the classic trident cinnamon that you unfortunately cannot get in the cost saving multipack but must instead pay full cash register one at a time prices.  They do this to me with that dang green apple pineapple twist that tastes like now and laters, but I digress)  At work I made sure that I didn't go outside on my breaks and smoke.  I began to use my breaks to enjoy my calorie conscious snack and troll the calorie count message boards. I started going to the gym at lunch so I wouldn't go outside.   

I began taking yoga classes at night cause well yoga rocks and it involves absolutely no eating or smoking.  They will really frown on you if you light up in the middle of a posture and all the skinny butt yoga people will look horrified and not talk to you.  

It takes focus but you can do it.  Good luck. 

Just add some exercise if you can, or slightly up your current workout activities if you're doing it.

Something as simple as a brisk 20 minute walk can make a real difference, and since your lungs are in the process of healing, a bit of aerobic exercise helps in that area, too.

Congrats on your quit.

Thanks everyone on your input.  I know I can become the healthy person I want to be.