Recovering Smoker, Aiming to cut sugar next

VickiFrenchAdams

I've proven to myself that I can, in fact, do hard things. I turned away from smoking 91 days ago (07/08/2024) and am now trying to walk away from sugar but that is proving to be elusive and I'm struggling. Need a social group to connect with and support as well as get support.

Adventurista

Congrats! Really huge!!

Seems appetite can increase when quitting smoking and often people gain 10 lbs or so, but for most, that will ease and taper off as you get to 6 months quit.

Even though appetite and desire may have been triggered by quitting smoking... the same kind of thing happens to me when I am eating more carbs and sugars/sweets...

So there are 2 parts to releasing extra calories, carbs and sweets... part 1 is physical and using the food tracker to keep food eating at regular amounts instead of overeating feasts.

Part 2 is very similar to quitting smoking - work on unraveling all the non-food reasons for eating; bored, mad, sad, glad... sometimes we need to RELEARN how to do a whole bunch of stuff without using food as a companion.

When you do eat regular food in regular amounts to nourish your body, choose food you also enjoy... that can include fruits or various carbs/desserts... along with the rest of what you are eating...

some people choose to eliminate certain carbs/sweets, and that is also a choice, but each regular meal or snack is another opportunity to choose.... when the meal or snack is eaten, stop... next meal or snack happens in awhile... do non-food things in-between...

Hang in, you have already found you can do tuff stuff.... you CAN do this too. Don't give up on your dreams here, you're worth figuring this out

VickiFrenchAdams

Thank you. I actually forgotten that I posted here and I'm grateful for the finding this today. It's been a struggle for sure I've gained nearly 15 pounds since quitting and feeling like a failure then I remembered this posting and your kindness reminded me that my goal right now, during this first 6 months was to simply create new positive healthy behaviors as I recover from smoking, which, while I'm better now 4 months in, I am only 4 months in. And I have created new habits, more water, more tea, less sugar daily, not enough yet, but nearly half and while I'm not yet losing, I feel like the gaining has slowed down. So, I'll keep looking forward.

Adventurista

Nods, hang in! @VickiFrenchAdams

You may have noticed some natural milestones,

For me, by 6-8 hrs, mid-afternoon physical withdrawal sets in, builds intensity through days 3-4, then starts to ease... week 1 tad better, then a tad better wk 2, again week 3... i think the major physical agitation was most intense first 3 - 4 weeks then began to ease...

Next looking at months 1, tuff. Month 2 a bit better, same for 3 a bit better again.

Mid-4th month i really struggled (about wk 14ish) both waves of physical and emotional - visual triggers hit me hard ... snagged hubbys pack out of his pocket, had lighter and cigarette in hand for a long time, over an hour.... finally handed it back, without smoking.... went to bed, cried, took a nap.

I noticed in all the process would feel better in the mornings, and struggled harder later in the day when getting tired.... appetite would kick in too... and, i was kinda cranky

I had to push through those urges to quit, and scheduled a snack for mid-evening, and, if needed for bedtime too. I bumped calories up to 'maintain' level instead of weightloss.

If i could only do 1 thing in the day, it was not smoke. i caved on other things like the eating, and also gained 15ish lbs in the first 4 mos before that started reversing too. (Think i tried to diet after 1st month, but push come to shove, i bumped up cals...)

I was surprised water exercise classes helped relax me, and warm soothing showers... so i started looking for non-food ways to soothe me - laff tv, talk friend, get out and do something, net-surfing, furbaby walks & play/cuddles, stuff like that.

Months 5 & 6 got progressively easier, and by 9 months, i realized it was not always a daily struggle anymore.... easier at 1 year... quit counting days/months about 18 months in, started celebrating every 6 mos and year milestone...

1 last thing... when something unusual or super stress hit, i would get a wave of strong urge... especially when pandemic hit or something bad happened, but pushed through and the urge passed.

Hope this helps - quitting is totally worth it...