I Quit Smoking & I'm STILL gaining weight

mistyward77

I quit smoking about a month ago and have gained 3-4 lbs since. I must say that I am in great shape, I am very fit. I run 15 miles a week at least, I strength train, I use a heart rate monitor to log my calories, I log every bite of food that goes into my mouth. I am married to a persoanl trainer (he has been training for 25+ years). Weight gain is scientifically proven to happen when you quit smoking, I work by butt off and still have gained 5 lbs, so I understand the frustration. But I also know that I am in better shape at 36 than the majority of the country at 25. So keep up the great work everyone!!!!!

JenAndSome

I'm 31. I quit smoking in January of this year. I have lost weight since I quit smoking. Quitting smoking does not cause you to gain weight. Eating too much food and a sedentary life style cause you to gain weight.

means03

Im a 28 yof, previously weighing in at 127 lbs at 5'4''...now at 134 lbs! I quit 4.5 months ago after an 11 year, almost pack a day habit, thanks to Mr. Allen Carr's method. No one else I've talked to that has quit has a story quite like mine, so please comment if yours is similar! I have worked out 6 days/wk and eaten clean for the past 3.5 years. (Insanity, P90x, Zumba instructing, running, etc). I did all of this as a smoker, but since I quit a few months ago I've gained 7 pounds and I absolutely hate it. It will NOT come off. I log my calories (55/20/25%) and I'm on target. You do gain weight when you quit, I don't care what anyone says!!! I'm very conscious of how well I breathe during workouts now, and am glad I will not suffer the same fate as my recently lung-cancer-induced deceased loved ones faced...but it is incredibly discouraging to gain after making such a great decision to quit. It's like 'congrats for embarking on this incredibly difficult journey: your reward is feeling fat when you work so hard at weight loss management day in and day out. Enjoy your 'victory'!! Oh, and you left your 'best friend' (the cigarettes) to die slowly in a ditch...!' (Insert sarcastic eye squinting, arms crossed, and foot stomping) Anyone else work out consistently before and after smoking and still gain?!? I'm close to trying a thermogenic pill, which I've NEVER considered or needed before! Help!

GabyChy83

First as one reborn non smoker to another congrats!!! Did you know that as a smokers we stress out more that the regular non smoker... and you know what stress does? It makes you gain weight... Try taking st John's wort... it helps promote mood i.e. ease the stress. It can increase photo sensitivity ( sun burn) in some people and also wierd dreams if taken right before bed... I find taking it at dinner time is best for me. You can add me if you want.

Achaila

Not a smoker but, my mom gained a lot of weight after she quit smoking. According to her she could taste and smell food again and it made her eat more than she realized.

taso42

It will last until you get into a calorie deficit.

WisiPls

Yeah...last I checked there was no cals in cigs, maybe eat less

qtgonewild

I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!

I quit smoking 5 years ago with nicorette. Just like weight loss you have to want it really bad. Although im no longer a smoker, ive been addicted to nicorette now for 5 years. So nicorette works, but is addictive as well. but at least I can breathe and dont stink.

pcastagner

Thanks for all the replies...in response to the eating more: no, in fact I really don't eat that much at all. I have some Cream of Wheat for breakfast, then something small for lunch, and some type of protein for dinner. I don't eat much processed foods because it's unhealthy. I was watching my calories, but since I usually eat the same things I stopped since I knew how much in general I was taking in. I eat 3 meals a day and I eat healthy food. I don't always have snacks, but when I do, it's homemade applesauce or apples, grapes or other fruit.

As far as exercise: I walk on the treadmill (although with the holidays, that slacked off a bit) and I play games on the Kinect a LOT. I have exercise games for the Kinect that I do on a fairly regular basis.

Perhaps I am just not consistent enough...I don't know. There are days where I'm not able to do any traditional "exercise" due to being so busy, but most days I do get it in.

In the beginning (right after I quit smoking) I did realize that I was eating more without even realizing it. I find that the more I exercise, the less I crave unnecessarily sweet and unhealthy snacks (anyone else experience this??).

Honestly, the reason that I stopped tracking every meal's calories was due to the fact that no matter what I ate or didn't eat, I still gained weight. The more workouts I do, the more I seem to gain. It's getting extremely frustrating.

I don't have a doctor, which is why I haven't been checked. However, I looked up the symptoms of thyroid problems and the only symptom I have is the weight gain. Nothing else.

My current plan is to consistently burn 1,000 calories through exercise each and every day, while still watching what & how much of what I eat. I will save up the money in the meantime, and if I continue to gain weight, I will go to a doctor and get tested. I really don't know what else to do.

Perhaps what I have failed to do is to create a consistent environment in which my body can straighten itself back out after quitting...I keep changing my diet every month and a half to 2 months when the diet I was on wasn't working. Perhaps I just need to continue to eat healthy foods and small amounts as well as exercising twice a day.

Sorry, but you can't gain weight without eating more than you spend.

Since you posted here you obviously want to know the answer: you are eating too much. Period.


Plenty of people around here can go over how you measure food and all that to help you find what you are doing wrong, but the bottom line is too much food. This can be error or honesty. Or rarely, sleepwalking.

impudentputz

I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight.

Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

pcastagner

I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight.

Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

It's pretty easy to be 100% sure why someone is gaining weight, since there is only one way to do that. Not even hormones can turn nothing into something.

JustSammi

Quitting smoking does NOT make you gain weight. Eating more than you're burning does. Eat less, move more, problem solved.

Even if nicotine does raise you metabolism, it is negligible. You can control it. People will use anything as an excuse.

I have quit (and started up again) smoking many times with many different methods and I never put weight on unless I ate more.

Well done on stopping smoking, it's the best thing you can do for your health.

scottaworley

It will last until you get into a calorie deficit.

DaniettaF

I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!

Why don't you try the e-cigarettes? My family use them and they're good, as it's basically like smoking, and weans you off them real ones. Then move on to gum or something.

CarolynB38

For up to two years after you quit smoking you are significantly more susceptible to developing hypothyroidism. It would be a good idea to get checked out for hypothyroidism just to be on the safe side, especially if you are experiencing symptoms. You may not be experiencing any noticable symptoms in the beginning though so it is worth checking out when you do get a doctor. Quitting smoking can be the trigger for people to develop hypothyroidism. They may have developed it at some point anyone but quitting smoking does appear to trigger onset. Here are a few links you might find helpful.

http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_the_thyroid/hypothyroidism.html
http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_the_thyroid/hypothyroidism_signs_symptoms.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22651374

I should point out that it is still far better to quit than to not quit. Resuming smoking won't reverse the hypothyroidism either, if you have it.

Carolyn x

Edit: Just realised how old this thread is! Probably not much used to you now...

scottaworley

I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight.

Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

It's pretty easy to be 100% sure why someone is gaining weight, since there is only one way to do that. Not even hormones can turn nothing into something.

This is pretty much telling people to not eat. Not cool dude.

pcastagner

I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight.

Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

It's pretty easy to be 100% sure why someone is gaining weight, since there is only one way to do that. Not even hormones can turn nothing into something.

This is pretty much telling people to not eat. Not cool dude.

No, telling people not to eat would be telling people not to eat. This is stating as fact that which is scientific fact. Sorry if it isn't a compliment sandwich with the bad news between two slices of bull****, but it's the truth.

I'm telling this person to eat LESS. Because that is what she needs to do to solve her stated problem.


Save the drama for someone actually saying something harmful please. Nobody gains weight over this kind of time frame eating an actual deficit.

scottaworley

I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight.

Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

It's pretty easy to be 100% sure why someone is gaining weight, since there is only one way to do that. Not even hormones can turn nothing into something.

This is pretty much telling people to not eat. Not cool dude.

No, telling people not to eat would be telling people not to eat. This is stating as fact that which is scientific fact. Sorry if it isn't a compliment sandwich with the bad news between two slices of bull****, but it's the truth.

I'm telling this person to eat LESS. Because that is what she needs to do to solve her stated problem.


Save the drama for someone actually saying something harmful please. Nobody gains weight over this kind of time frame eating an actual deficit.

I quoted someone who told her the same thing in support of their statement. I don't have a problem with telling her to eat less.
You said that hormones can't make something out of nothing - a true statement. However, if she was eating 12-1400 calories (for the sake of argument) her hormones (t3 and 4) COULD make her gain weight as she has a reduced metabolism - presumably from quitting smoking.
With this in mind I read your comment as saying "Stop eating and you will lose weight."
4) calm down. breathe.

Dauntlessness

If you don't feel your eating as much as you used to and are still gaining, is that the same for drinking? A lot of people drink their calories away.
Also, what kind of foods are you eating? Sometimes when people are going through withdrawal they tend to want sweet, fatty or high carb things because of the serotonin effect they are no longer getting from the cigarettes. Its not just about calories, its about what else is in the food too.
Just a random thought

scottaworley

Its not just about calories, its about what else is in the food too.

For weight loss it is just about the calories.
If we want to get into a discussion of body composition than we can do that, but that's not really what this is about.

pcastagner

Its not just about calories, its about what else is in the food too.

For weight loss it is just about the calories.
If we want to get into a discussion of body composition than we can do that, but that's not really what this is about.

Yeah true. For instance I've been in Japan lately and eating less food but more starch and sugar than ever, and I've lost body fat while keeping muscle better than before.

Of course, that probably has nothing to do with the fact that while I am still getting enough protein, my resistance training schedule has been changed so that it includes high rep days alternating with 3rm days.

donnasaunders714

People who have never smoked and want to make the statement "quitting smoking doesn't make you gain weight" really irritate the pee out of me. I quit smoking also and have gained about 10 lbs and don't tell me I am eating more. I eat the exact same way I did before I quit smoking and never had a problem. I also joined a gym to offset the weight gain and it hasn't begun to work yet. My doctor did tell me that I would gain weight but just to give it time and my metabolism would adjust itself. But it's hard being patient with it. So I guess unless you are a doctor, don't state facts you know nothing about.

donnasaunders714

If you gain weight when you quit smoking, do you lose it if you start up??

i quit few years ago and gained weight and restarted smoking and immediately lost what I had gained. I've quit again and hopefully won't let myself start back up to lose the weight. Joined the gym instead. We will see.

MakePeasNotWar

Nicotine raises metabolism. I have read anywhere from 100-200 calories a day. So, logically if you quit smoking and don't change your diet and exercise you will gain weight. Here is a good but slightly technical article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3195407/

It also affects your blood sugar regulation, and when you quit your blood sugar becomes unstable, which can lead to increased hunger.

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/04/14/does-nicotine-aid-weight-loss.htm

If you want to prevent weight gain (it may not be possible to focus on both goals at once; quitting smoking is wayyy more important long term) you need to raise your metabolism by building lean muscle mass, or reduce your caloric intake. Sucks, but it's true.

I quit 4 months ago after 24 years of smoking, and tried not to worry about the weight for the first couple of months. I didn't binge or eat a ton of junk, just tried to keep my habits consistent until I was ready to tackle another challenge. Now I am lifting heavier weights to try to get my metabolism back up.

Good luck with your quit and your weight. You have done something really difficult and deserve to be very proud of yourself.

phizzylizzy

Scientific research released last year indicates a new reason for why people gain weight after smoking. It's not only about dietary changes or metabolism, according to these studies. The flora of your intestinal track changes. I found this information on numerous sites, not just this one. Thought it might be interesting to those struggling and also to those who argue weight gain is all about eating.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/08/31/why-quitting-smoking-causes-weight-gain/59054.html

jasonbusch74

It is funny how all these people who have never quit smoking and know nothing about the effects it has on a person can sit here and say it doesn't cause weight gain. If you don't know the struggle move on to another post. I quit smoking in February of 2013. i gained 20 lbs in the first month so i started exercising right away. Initially i was snacking more so i switched to sugar free gum and veggies. I still kept gaining weight so then i started tracking my calories. I kept dropping my calorie intake every week until i was down to 1100 calories a day which was just above the amount of calories i could be at without getting the warning about not getting enough calories. i finally started to lose some weight 3 lbs the 1st week then 2 lbs for a few weeks then just 1 lb a week for a few weeks until i was only loosing fractions of pounds a week. I was always hungry and irritable, no energy, headaches. I never had such a hard time loosing weight in my whole life. I ended up adding more calories because of my doctors advice.He told me to give it more time for my metabolism to start working again and then try it again. so almost a year after i quit i was still gaining weight weekly no matter what i did to loose it i could only stop gaining but never a loose any.So in January of this year i joined golds gym and have went religiously 5 days a week since. Doing an hour of cardio a day and resistance training 3 days a week on a 2 thousand calorie diet had no effect on my weight at all. dropped my calories to 1600 lost 5 lbs over a few weeks time and then stopped losing again. Now I'am trying HIIT training to see if that helps. no matter what i do my body will not burn the fat and my muscle gains are making me weigh more then when i started. like i said, i have worked out off and on since i was 13 and i have never had problems dropping fat when i wanted to So it is really annoying to read people say that quitting smoking isn't the problem.