Weight gain despite not eating often.

sootie66

Hi
I'm new here so please excuse any mistakes I make.
I have been quit smoking for a year (was a smoker for roughly 35 years)
As smoking dulls the appetite I've never really been a hungry person and since quitting I'm still not. I haven't started binge eating or eating more sweet stuff to compensate (I have an ecig so no cravings)
I'm gaining weight slowly but surely and although I expected to put a bit of weight on initially it just hasn't stopped yet and I've heard people say the weight gain never stops! I'm worried. I only really have one meal a day and have been advised if I start eating more I will lose weight has anyone any knowledge of this? I don't live on fried fatty food and puddings, I just eat when I'm hungry and sometimes it's health food sometimes not. I normally have a meal around 5pm, nothing before that just the odd cup of tea, then later on about 10pm I'll have a sandwich or toast.
I know it's probably not healthy but I'm just not hungry and I'm terrified I'm going to balloon if I start eating more, at the rate I'm gaining I'll end up morbidly obese yet hardly eating.
Any advice from anyone would be massively appreciated or anyone who has quit smoking and actually stopped gaining weight I'd love to hear from!
Thanks

TavistockToad

One meal or 20, if you're gaining weight it's because you're eating more calories than you need.

cmriverside

Are you logging your food? You need to find a number that works for you, calorie wise.

Set up your goals, log your food and see what's going on.

When I quit smoking I didn't gain weight. It's still about how much you actually eat, not lack of cigarettes. If you replaced your coping tool (smokes) with ice cream every day - that might be the problem.

sootie66

Thanks for the replies.
I just downloaded the app today and I had chicken salad for my tea. According to this I'm not even halfway to the calories I need each day, if I ate 1000 calories a day I'd pile the weight on I only have about 7 or 8 hundred calories a day and I've taken up some heavy duty excercise when I quit smoking. I just don't get it I'm definitely not getting enough calories but still gaining.

cmriverside

If you are sure you are logging correctly, by using a food scale and verifying your food entries - then maybe you have some metabolic or medical problem. When was the last time you went to the doctor?

No way I believe that you are gaining on 700-800 a day. Keep logging.

L1zardQueen

Inconceivable

Can you make your diary public?

cmriverside

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Inconceivable

Can you make your diary public?

She's on Day One.

L1zardQueen

cmriverside wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Inconceivable

Can you make your diary public?

She's on Day One.

I missed that.

Start logging accurately for at least one week.

TavistockToad

sootie66 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
I just downloaded the app today and I had chicken salad for my tea. According to this I'm not even halfway to the calories I need each day, if I ate 1000 calories a day I'd pile the weight on I only have about 7 or 8 hundred calories a day and I've taken up some heavy duty excercise when I quit smoking. I just don't get it I'm definitely not getting enough calories but still gaining.

Keep logging... you can't not lose weight if you're only eating 700 cals per day.

cerise_noir

TavistockToad wrote: »

sootie66 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
I just downloaded the app today and I had chicken salad for my tea. According to this I'm not even halfway to the calories I need each day, if I ate 1000 calories a day I'd pile the weight on I only have about 7 or 8 hundred calories a day and I've taken up some heavy duty excercise when I quit smoking. I just don't get it I'm definitely not getting enough calories but still gaining.

Keep logging... you can't not lose weight if you're only eating 700 cals per day.

This.

You have to log everything you eat (plus weigh) and drink (measure). Everything except water has calories. Log all cooking/salad/sandwich ingredients. Log cooking oils. Everything. Choose correct database entries that reflect your foods packaging information. Some entries in the database are quite wrong.

Give it 6 weeks.

sootie66

Ok I'll log everything I eat and make it public although I may need some help as I've only just joined about an hour ago.
I do have an underactive thyroid, it's treated but I'll get my GP to run a test.
I've never been a "proper" three meals a day person I can go all day without eating a thing, today I ate at about 6pm that was the first thing I had and it was chicken breast with salad leaves and lo fat Mayo. I only used lo fat as it was picked up by mistake I've never used lo fat of anything. I'm eating smaller portions and less chocolate and crisps whereas before I quit smoking I could eat any amount of fattening food and huge meals and not gain weight. Always stayed about 8 stone. (I'm 5'2). This is all from when I quit smoking, I have seen some people put 2 and 3 stone on but they ate properly, I don't. I feel like I'd have to not eat at all to stop this weight gain it's all going on my thighs and stomach and I don't want it to get out of hand, and I refuse to be one of the ones who go back to the cigs to get rid of the weight.

sootie66

Thanks again for the relies and the advice it's much appreciated