Calorie counting & stop smoking... I need a bit of help!

ArticaB

Hello everyone

I need some help and support. On Wednesday 1st October I have started my journey to lose weight but also to stop smoking. I know this is only the 3rd day but because we are approaching the weekend and I have friends over... I am really concentrating on the stop smoking part however I don't want to eat the whole house either.
My allowance is set for -1lbs/week as I did not want to be too hard on myself for the first couple of weeks as a non-smokers but I really feel that I am struggling. I am wondering if I should set -0.5lbs and have a bit more freedom.

As you can imagine for me this is a big change and I am not ready to give up on everything. I will have a couple of glasses of wine today and intend to have a few snacks (I bought mushroom tops and mini sweet peppers that I will stuff with low fart soft cheese) and it seems that even this is taking me over my allowance.... I know the wine if not necessary but with the change of eating habit and the stop smoking I don't want to cut everything....

What do you think... should I just up to calories for a couple of weeks under my craving are under control or should I just stick with my -1lbs / week allowance, go a bit over tonight and just go for a run tomorrow to compensate.

I really need a bit of support and advice please.
Also if you are looking for new friends on MFP, please friend me.

Thanks
Arti

Fedup23

Either you are ready or you arent ready. You said a couple of times that you arent ready to do xyz. Friends will be over, it will be this holiday or that holiday, it will be a birthday or a vacation, or a dinner meeting. There is always going to be a "situation". If you are truly ready start now , make the changes now. If you are already thinking that you should adjust your goals on day 3 because you want some wine and snacks.. well.. maybe you arent ready. Decide what is more important to you. Good luck in your weight loss.

PS. You CAN make room for a glass of wine and a couple of snacks pretty easily by either adjusting something earlier in the day or just taking 45 minutes to do something active today.

ArticaB

Thank you for your response however my problem for the next few weeks if not if friends pops around or not, I have dieted in the past and adapt however this is the first time that I am also stopping smoking.
I am ready to stop smoking and I am doing well so far, I have also done that with the food allowance but I am just wondering if I am just taking on too much at a time, I don't want to give up (which shows that i am ready I think) but I don't want to push too much or I know what is going to happen.... and will end up back smoking.

healthygreek

Congratulations on doing the single most important thing for your health-quitting smoking!!!!
I think you are very ready for all the challenges eating healthy and quitting smoking present!!!
Remember, you are in this for a lifetime so relax!
It's okay to go over your calories for a day or two as needed.
It's also ok to just lose 1/2 pound a week! You can adjust later as you become more accustomed to not having cigarettes in your life.
Do it in a way that's most comfortable to you and don't let the negative Nancys get you down!

Also-very important-do NOT allow ANYONE to smoke in your house-it's not healthy and it's a recipe for disaster!

I know you can do this! I did too and I'm smoke free for 10 years And I lost over 50 pounds!

livelaughloveandfitness

Just take it day by day. I have been on my weight loss journey for a long time and I can't tell you how many times i have quit. The times that I have lasted the longest was when I jumped into it slowly. I would set a goal for my self to eat healthy 3 times a week and go for a walk 3 days a week and get 64 oz of water in. How the other days I still ate pretty healthy but I just needed a few days where i ate totally healthy. I would do that for a week or 2 then say ok this week im going to cook 4 times a week and same with walking and I would up my water to 75 oz. and etc. also if i had a bad day I didnt let it get me down like i used to in to past. in the past when I had a bad day i would say to my self I had a bad day whats the point of continuing and I would give up. Now when I have a bad day i say ok today was bad tomorrow ill get back to it! Feel free to add me and we can talk more!

StaciMarie1974

My thought:

1) first priority stop smoking
2) 2nd priority becoming more aware of your eating - but perhaps aim for 1 pound a week BUT give yourself the option (on a day by day basis) to eat at maintenance. Which means an additional 500/calories in a day if you feel you need it.
3) find something active, physical to focus on. When stress is getting the best of you, go for a walk. Or pound a punching bag.

terbusha

What is your calorie goal now? Are you making progress with that? Are you exercising too?

What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Allan

ArticaB

Thank you so much, it really makes me feel better. I think that I needed some validation from you and confirming that taking it easy to start with while by body and mind gets over the smoking was alright. Thanks

At 1lbs /week that give me 1590 calories which during the week is fine of course (in the past I set myself around 1400 / day) however it quite hard today and I know the weekend will be a struggle so I am going to go to 1750 / day (which I guess should be 0.75lbs/week and see what happens.
Only started Wednesday so no result yet regarding the weightloss but I am guessing that since this is the first week, I would hope to lose 2lbs but we will see...
I am also committed to min tow 30min gym session a week and I have been doing this for 3 months where I have really improve my heart rate.

ToughHippieChick

Congratulations!
I know exactly what boat you are in. I was just there. I even asked my doctor a similar question and was told
"You can always lose weight, but your lungs will never grow back." (or something like that. I don't remember verbatim.)

I've been smoke-free a month now. I had quit for 4 years. I started up again last year and tried to quit this summer, but because I was trying to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, I ended up not succeeding at either. When I quit smoking last month, I completely let go of trying to stay on my diet the week of my quit. Once I had defeated the smoking beast, I got right back on my diet.
I am SOOOOOO glad I put those damn cigarettes down. After having been quit for 4 years, my body had healed itself of a lot of the damage and I could just feel all that damage slowly crawling back in. It got to the point where I couldn't even go for a walk without getting out of breath. Now I'm back in the grind of my daily jog and loving life more fully again. You are going to be so proud of yourself once cigarettes are a thing of your past!

I know quitting smoking can be so hard, but you are totally doing it.
My advice is to concentrate on the smoke-quit and worry about the calories in depth later. Once you have some smoke-free days under your belt, you will have also built some self-confidence in achievement. If bumping your calories to lose .5 a week is what it takes, then so be it. Even if you have to bump up to maintenance for a week or two, go for it.

You totally got this. :flowerforyou: