Quitting smoking and weight gain

trixxxeee

My husband and I have decided to quit smoking in the very near future. I have quit in the past, the first time I gained 50 pounds, the second time I was pregnant and although of course I gained weight due to that, I believe I gained more than I would have due to quitting smoking. Stupid me, I started smoking again. Has anyone quit smoking and not gained weight? Any tips to keep the weight gain to a minimum or not at all? I am down 40 pounds with about 20-25 more to lose and really, really don't want to go in the other direction again!

cwolfman13

I stopped smoking at the same time I started dieting and losing weight. People gain weight when they quit smoking because they use food to satisfy their oral fixation and hand to mouth..

sijomial

Stopping smoking (on the day I brought my baby son home) made no difference to my weight at all.
My motivation was that I didn't want my children growing up seeing me smoke and then thinking smoking was OK.

Count your calories and then you will know you aren't eating more to keep your hands and mouth busy.

MegaMooseEsq

Remember that quitting smoking doesn't pack on the pounds - you putting calories into your body packs on the pounds. (I *believe* there have been some studies showing that smoking does effect TDEE somewhat, but that the effect, if any, is small.) Good luck to you and your husband, and to me as well - I'm planning a quit attempt for this winter and I'm going to work hard to make sure it's my last. My strategy is going to be to go off gradually, stay diligent with logging, and up my exercise.

maggibailey

I quit without gaining as well. Just plan what you are going to do with your hands. Maybe gum works, maybe sugar free candies to suck on. Knit a scarf. Whatever. People gain because they are distracting themselves from the withdrawals with food. So distract yourself some other way.

Treece68

I have a friend who uses the nicorette gum stops the cravings and you have the gum to "chew" might give that a try he said it works wonders.

twinkles4

Pro tip: Don't replace cigarettes with Twix bars. lol.

Besides that, you need to find something to satisfy that hand-to-mouth craving. Try cinnamon sticks, or chew gum and knit. After meals get up right away and clean the dishes or something else to distract you.

Above all, you can do this.

Spartan_Gingi

I quit, and started running about the same time. I'm now 58 lbs down, and have stayed off the cigs. It can be done

Famof72015

I would just concentrate on quitting smoking. That's stressful enough. Will be 4 years September 30 for me. I did gain about 10-15 lbs but that was not my worry. Once I got that under control I focused on my weight. Just know that for both of those you can control it. YOU have the power and self control. If we want something bad enough we can do it. Don't let nicotine or any other "addiction" control you. YOU ARE IN CONTROL. Repeat that when the urge strokes for food and or smokes! You've got this! God Bless

SCoil123

I lost weight when I quit because that was also when I started working out. Since I could breath better it was much easier to increase activity

Polo265

I don't know how much you smoke, but I read that you have to eat about 100 calories less per day (or exercise) to offset the decrease in your metabolism. I'm sure there's info on the web about this.

jayemes

I quit 11 years ago (2 pack a day habit) My advice is quit smoking. Do whatever you have to do to quit smoking. As previous replies have said, people tend to gain weight because they replace smoking with eating. Try to replace it with tracking and exercise... but if you can't, do what you need to do to quit smoking. Sometimes we can change the world all at once but not always. Try and do it all, but if you can't, focus on getting rid of the cigarettes and then continue on your road to getting healthier from there. Good luck!

trixxxeee

Thanks everyone for your responses and great advice I appreciate all the tips. I am hopeful that I can do this and keep my weight down at the same time.