No will power...

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kimbaclay
kimbaclay Posts: 81
in Motivation and Support
Hi All,

I keep blaming my will power issues with food due to quitting smoking. However, it's been 2years since i quit! I still feel that all my will power is taken up by not smoking though. Or use it as a excuse to eat. If i am eating chocolate then im not smoking!lol Allthough still probably as bad in the long run...

Going to have to be really tough with myself i guess.

Anyone else feel like this or is it just me? :indifferent:

Replies

  • janalayn
    janalayn Posts: 510 Member
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    I schedule my eating so that I have something about every two hours --- I don't feel deprived and it is never very long before I get to eat again on days when I am feeling the need to graze.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,195 Member
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    I don't smoke, but I can imagine what you are struggling with. I am not sure how to support you except to suggest that maybe redirecting things might help. Instead of food, you need a non-food will power booster. For some this can be exercise which for many will boost their will power and move their mind from being mainly desire driving to more logic driven where you can say no to food, cigarettes or whatever because it does not fit with your goals. Another possibility is to redirect away from chocolate and other dense calorie sources to something less dense like raw veggies. At least then you can satisfy the desire to have something in your mouth and not blow the calorie budget out of the water.
  • kimbaclay
    kimbaclay Posts: 81
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    Brilliant!

    I do find that when I used to have a ciggy break that's when i want to snack / feel hungry!

    I need to get out of that mind set but it's soooo tricky... :frown:
  • ohcaptain
    ohcaptain Posts: 25
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    I can't offer any suggestions, but I know how you feel, kimbaclay.

    I've smoked now for ... 8 years? Wow, can't believe it's been that long. Right now I'm struggling with this persistent cough. It makes me want to quit very badly because I worry about the long term effects to my health.

    And then there's the weight. I want to take off the weight and not put it back on. The trouble has been, for me at least, if I quit smoking, I start eating a lot more and gain weight - but I can quit. If I stop eating as much, like now when I'm trying to diet, I smoke more. I cough more. I want to quit, but I know that will derail the whole diet thing.

    I know that changing my diet and quitting smoking are both going to be good for me. Again, though, the willpower. I just don't have it. :/ I have a scapegoat, too, only mine's my messed up childhood. It's an excuse, sure, but it's been such a fine, well-serving one that it's hard to let go and move on. :sick:

    I hope it works out for you. Best wishes and luck.
  • kellywiththebelly
    kellywiththebelly Posts: 2
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    hiya :) i quit smoking for good just over 4 months ago and its not easy :( good luck x
  • mschelle
    mschelle Posts: 240 Member
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    I quit smoking 2 years ago after 20 years (I started at 14! So it basically felt like my whole life). It was so hard to get over the mental triggers..but it can be done. Gum is an option, of course, but that's not always satisfying. I chewed pen caps and straws...not great for your teeth but helps the oral cravings .

    Sometimes, if the cravings got really bad, I'd hit the deck - pushups, situps, squats...whatever it took to get past it. I think that eventually started working like Pavlov's dogs...now just out of nowhere I want to do pushups! LOL!

    Now, I just think about how crappy I felt when I did smoke - the daily sore throat, the coughs, the drained feeling after any exertion. And I smell current smokers that walk by and am embarassed that I used to smell like that myself!

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