Quit smoking - avoiding weight gain advice - Help!

SmokeyTheHair

I am 2 weeks without a cigarette after smoking a pack a day for 20 years (not using NRTs). I am feeling fabulous and I have been working extremely hard to keep the pounds at bay (eating clean,working out pretty much every day with a focus on a good mix of varied cardio & strength, net calories at least 200 below my daily MFP net target) but I have noticed my stomach is seriously expanding and the scale is slowly ticking up. My digestive system has been misbehaving since I quit - could it be related? Could it be water retention? Inevitable weight gain regardless of how hard I work? Any help or suggestions based on personal experience is much appreciated!

Phanntom

I quit a year and a half ago and didn't suffer any significant weight gain because of it. I also didn't use anything....just cold turkey. I did add a little waking to my life but mostly after that first 2 weeks, I just spent more time not thinking about. That's not to say I couldn't sit down a smoke a pack right now...I could very easily, but I won't. In truth...I just don't think much about it anymore.

I think my not putting on weight was simply a case of not substituting food to satisfy the nicotine cravings. When you quit smoking your metabolism does slow down. I heard a doctor taking about it on the radio about 10 years ago. He said...if you quit smoking...without adding a single calorie to your life, you're going to put on weight just because your metabolism will no longer be racing.

Focus for a month on your caloric intake and try to add in about 30 minutes of mild aerobic exercise such as brisk walking.

It will take awhile for your digestive system to adapt. It's been stimulated by nicotine for the last 20 years...now you've removed that stimulant from the equation...it'll take time for it to adjust. The most "regular" people on the planet are smoking coffee drinkers...a double dose of stimulants.

markiend

I gave up 8 months ago , I had already started exercising a lot more and within a few days of me quitting my HRM was already showing vastly different numbers. Concurs with above poster

I gave myself some leeway with regards to weight gain and concentrated on quitting for good, no patches ..no nothing just cold turkey

I figured a few pounds of weight for a while against years off my life smoking was a fair trade and now I am 8 months down the line and don't have the painful craving for nicotine, being healthier and exercising without getting out of breath every 20 meters is better

good luck, you can do this