Quit smoking cold Turkey and gained 5lb in 11 days

emj90210

Hi
I really need some help and tips. I quit smoking cold Turkey 11days ago and I just can’t stop eating junk food which has caused me to gain 5lbs in 11 days. I’m 21lbs over weight and need to loose it as I’ve being diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of 36 meaning both smoking and weight need to be addressed, I am just really struggling to get a handle on my diet any tips or suggestions would be very much appreciated 😢

Duck_Puddle

Huge congrats on 11 days! These are the most difficult days. You’re going a fantastic job!

I gained a bunch when I quit smoking. It’s tough but it’s a whole lot easier to drop a few pounds later than to keep battling the cigarettes.

A couple of points to keep in mind:

“Junk” food tends to be high in carbs and high in sodium. Eating more carbs/sodium than you normally do will cause your body to retain extra water. Just 100g extra carbs can lead to nearly a pound of additional water weight.

Many other things can also affect water weight - weather, stress, exercise, hormones, etc.

Point being-while the number on the scale is 5 pounds higher, it’s likely that much of that is just water weight that will go away when your eating habits return to normal.

Also-consider that quitting smoking is very difficult and involves a lot of changes - chemically in the body/brain and a whole lot of habits-sadly, many of these involve the mouth. Some things that might help with that are possibly chewing gum, sucking on sugar-free hard candies, plain popcorn can be a lower calorie “crunchy snacks” thing. Also consider things like adult coloring books, crossword puzzles - things to engage your brain and your hands - when you have cravings.

Alan Carr’s book (I think it’s called “quitting smoking the easy way” or something like that) is also pretty great. I didn’t even finish reading it and I have been smoke & nicotine free for years.

Well done on the quitting. Worry a little less about the weight right now as the cigarettes are far more poisonous than a few pounds of water weight (or even a few pounds of actual weight).

JessBbody

From what I understand, you need a new habit to replace the smoking. I think a habit involving your mouth would be helpful. Perhaps take up an instrument like the flute or sax and spend all the minutes you would have been smoking on practicing that instrument.
You could also try one with your hands like painting or sculpting or pottery, and you could chew gum while doing that.

Of course regular exercise is the best habit because you will lose weight and strengthen your heart. Talk to your doctor about what your heart can handle.

Dogmom1978

emj90210 wrote: »

Hi
I really need some help and tips. I quit smoking cold Turkey 11days ago and I just can’t stop eating junk food which has caused me to gain 5lbs in 11 days. I’m 21lbs over weight and need to loose it as I’ve being diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of 36 meaning both smoking and weight need to be addressed, I am just really struggling to get a handle on my diet any tips or suggestions would be very much appreciated 😢

Replace the junk food with something like carrot sticks or celery. You take care of the oral fixation issue without the calories.

I quit smoking just over 10 years ago (I smoked a pack and a half a day) and healthy snacks and hiking were my go to replacements.

Dante_80

First of all, congratulations are in order!! Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your overall health and well being.

Some feedback, might help. I quit smoking cold-turkey about 6 months ago. I was a chain smoker, doing about 55-60 cigarettes a day, averaged over 25 years (started smoking at 15). Also, I was (and still am of course) morbidly obese, and suffering from a lot of health problems (had a stroke five years ago, high blood pressure, pre-diabetic etc etc).

So...here is what happened. In the span of one month since I quit, I gained 9kg (~20lb), I presume exclusively consisting of fat.

There were four reasons for this.

1. My sense of smell and taste came back inside a week. Everything tasted wonderful, and I had a lot more money to spend on it since I didn't have to buy cigarettes. I was spending about 320€ per month on cigarettes, and this sum immediately moved over to take-out junk food.

2. My appetite increased a lot. Nicotine had been obviously suppressing it to a point.

3. Nicotine acted as a stimulant to me, indirectly helping my metabolism by boosting my heart rate. To give you an example, one month after I quit and before I started doing anything about my weight, my heart rate was an average of 15bpm lower than when I smoked. Of course, the effect was pronounced in me because I was a very heavy smoker. Generally speaking, one study showed a single cigarette to increase energy expenditure by about 3 percent within 30 minutes; another showed a 3.3 percent rise for three hours after smoking four cigarettes. Smoking regularly — about a pack a day — increased calories burned by about 215 calories according to one study, and by 10 percent to 16 percent in others. You get the point..there is a small and indirect effect.

4. I needed something to make the time pass and help with my urge to smoke. Eating was "obviously" a good substitute for me ("obviously" because I managed to quit after all), and feeling completely full/satiated all the time helped with my cigarette cravings.

So...in a month I managed to reach 178kg (392lb), the heaviest I've ever been.

And then I thought..."well, you managed to quit smoking and take care of your lungs dude, why don't you take care of the rest of your body now?"

Five months in, I've lost those 20 pounds I gained and then 63 more for good measure. I'm 309lb now, and have a long, long, loooooong road ahead of me to fix myself.

I'll do it though, nothing is going to stop me. And it was quitting smoking really that started me on this trail.

Long story short, don't fret about gaining some weight from quitting smoking. Getting rid of nicotine in general and smoking in particular is the best thing you could have done for your health and well being. Give yourself a month or two to get over the worst of your nicotine addiction, and then start working on your weight and body again. With renewed interest and knowing that you managed to do something extremely difficult, quit cold-turkey!!

Good luck! Every support or motivation you need, know that me and others are here for you.

jugar

You are off to a great start, even if the weight-gain needs to be addressed. I have a team on MFP that is an ongoing support group, and one of our most active members has been there and worked through a lot of the same issues around stopping smoking and trying to keep the weight off. She is doing great! Please consider joining our team - I think it would be just the kind of support you need.

Team WaistAways. We are part of the Fat2Fit Group. General info on the group, how it works, etc. is here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/114605-fat-2-fit-weight-loss-challenge-and-support-group

If you like what you see please sign up! Our October challenge doesn't start until Sunday (the 4th) so you have time The sign up thread is at:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10811137/registration-for-new-members-through-october-4th#latest

This challenge has worked for many people. Come on over!

Megan_smartiepants1970

I quit last year when I ended up in the hospital for 9 days due to having the flu/pneumonia ...I had tried many times before that ..Allen Carr's book helped me I highly recommend it ... also keep yourself busy and your hands ...take up a hobby like sewing or something like that ... sugarfree gum, sugarfree candy ...brushing your teeth after each meal .........Congrats on quitting