Quit Smoking, Gained Weight

NickeeCoco

As the title of this thread states, I quit smoking four months ago, which is great. My lungs feel fabulous. I gained seventeen pounds, which is not so great. My belly feels awful (which is where all the weight seems to be going). Laying on my side to sleep is uncomfortable. I have to put a pillow under there to keep it up. Not cool. Not for me, at any rate. Not to mention I now only have two pairs of pants that fit me, a lot of my shirts don't sit right, and a bunch of those body conscious, form fitting dresses I own are stretched out to the max and don't look so awesome on me at the moment.

I'm 5'3", so a seventeen pound weight gain is pretty significant. So, back to what I was doing a year ago when preparing for my wedding: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I lost 25 lbs last year doing that, which is also why it bothers me that I gained the majority of that weight back. I worked hard for that!

So, now I want to lose that 17 pounds, and maintain, which means I need to be active for the rest of my life. I'm in my early thirties, and it's only going to be harder to maintain from here on in, I understand. I've thought long and hard on this, and I have the same mentality and will power about daily exercise that I had when I made the decision to stop smoking, cold turkey, I might add, after sixteen years of it. I don't really know how to explain it. I think you have to have made that kind of decision about something in your life in order to really understand how it mentally feels when you make that kind of decision. It's like something just fits into place and there's no way you're going to let anything get in your way. You've made the decision and you're going to stick to it.

I'm in this for the long haul. I wouldn't mind some support and encouragement, because let me tell you, 5:30am is really early and my body and mind doesn't like it, but I know that, for me, first thing in the morning is the best time to work out. It gets me up and going. If I wait to do it after I work, I'll end up with a string of excuses. I'll provide support back. I'll be logging onto here daily.

LarryDUk

I quit three weeks ago and have lost 10 pounds. It comes down to eat less and move more and I don't think outside of injuries and the like that age is a factor.

methodman78

When I quit (don't ask how many times i've tried and still fail after a few beers) I tended to get bad cravings, so I ate,
but I planned for this by taking carrot sticks and celery sticks to work and nibble on nuts too,
I think planning your days calories in advance can help and remove the temptations to eat by not buying the food, like smoking, you can't do it if you haven't got it kind of thinking
All the best of luck and you'll soon shift the weight i'm sure

NickeeCoco

Well, the older you get, the slower the metabolism. Particularly with women, since their hormones begin to change, and that's what your metabolism is, your hormone balance.

As for diet, I didn't change it all that much. I'm married to a vegetarian. I'm not, but more more often than not I just eat what he eats. I make the food. I don't buy pre-packaged/pre-made food. I make everything from scratch. Heavy on the fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

I just wasn't as active as I should have been. I know this.

patols1

I quit smoking 6 months ago and gained the 30 pounds back that I previously lost, on top of that I started working full time and sit on my butt in an office all day. So back to fitness pal I come.

shfoster0721

Congrats on quitting smoking! I'm Steve down 125 in a little under a year. I would love to help all of you reach your goals. Feel free to add me for support and motivation.

dmpizza

It is great you quit smoking, but YES, you, like all people need to be active for the rest of your life.