smoking to curb appetite

i will have a couple cigarettes to keep me from over-snacking throughout the day because i find it takes my mind off food.
i do eat enough the rest of the time, its just basically something to do rather than eat when im not hungry/for no reason..

i know its not that good though, and id like to wean myself off of them. but how can i do this without gaining more weight?
today instead of going to have a cigarette i ended up eating a disgustingly fatty huge chocolate chunk cookie.. would rather have had the cig@!! :S
advice appreciated :)

I know someone that swapped cigarettes for green apples and had bags of them at home, at work, in the car... !  Every time they fancied a cigarette they ate a green apple instead.

I think the message is... be prepared.  Whether it's green apples or another healthy snack, have it ready to go so that you're not side-tracked into the chocolate cookies every time.

However, in the grand scheme of things, being  overweight and a non-smoker probably guarantees you a longer life than being overweight and a smoker.  Best of luck

Gum.

All the weight loss in the world doesn't cancel out the risks of smoking. Don't do it.

Plus gum's cheaper.

I quit and started watching calories at the same time.

Distraction and motivation are good rules of thumb.

I used 1 months worth of chantix my husband used nicorette for four months.

We started in January we both are cigarette and 'quit aids' free and I have lost 30 lbs.

The urge is sometimes there, most likely will gnaw at me like a reoccurring nightmare forever, but I don't associate it with eating. I do drink a glass of water and go do something to distract me till the hand mouth need passes.

Quitting will save you money, but most importantly your chances of living a healthy life are significantly greater without the habit.

And just so you know smokers smell bad. Yes I said it, even us so called clean freaks, if a smoker reek. There is no amount of gum, perfume, or fabreeze to change this fact. Now that I don't smoke I realize how heinous a smokers essence is and mine was...ew.

Good for you for wanting to stop.

Essentially, you just need a distraction from your craving. Gum (as previously mentioned) is a good choice since it's almost calorie free, and keeps your mouth busy for a while. You could also try having a cup of tea instead of that cigarette.

Another idea is to get some exercise when the craving hits. Try going for a walk or a run to get your mind off it.

these are all great suggestions, thanks a lot.
i think i will try to just have something else instead of a cigarette, and ill just go for a walk minus the usual cigarette. how lovely it would be to quit, im on it :)
thanks everyone!

I started smoking for the same reason as you. Honestly, the "appetite-suppressent" in cigarettes is purely psychological.

People will scare you by saying that if you quit cigarettes, you will gain a lot of weight after. If you control yourself, you won't. I'm proof of that. Quitting actually helped me lose MORE weight because I didn't feel so crappy when I worked out anymore. Break the addiction without breaking your diet and you'll be fine!

I've heard a lot of good tips, like taking a walk. But please, please avoid that prescription drug that is designed to help you quit by letting you smoke but blocking the nicotine in your body. It has severe psychological side effects.

There was just a major study released by the Canadian Cancer Society that proved that smoking does not create weightloss  - but instead stunted the growth of men.  Just thought I would let you know - that you curbed appetite is all in your head and has nothing to do with the smoking.

Original Post by yoonheedme:

I started smoking for the same reason as you. Honestly, the "appetite-suppressent" in cigarettes is purely psychological.

 

Not advocating smoking as a weight loss aid at all...but nicotine does speed up your metabolism, which will help wit the weight thing, and is part of the reason people find it easier to stay slim when smoking than after quitting. But - it's not the nicotine in cigarettes that's bad for you, it's the other chemicals they put in them.

The nicorette plastic ciagarette things which give you a nicotine hit are good. I know quite a few people who have quit using those.

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.

Also - I just finished an analysis showing that women who quit smoking gained, on average, less than 3 pounds during the first four weeks of their quit. The average person needs to gain 200 pounds to outweight the risks of smoking!