I Quit Smoking & I'm STILL gaining weight

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  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    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
    JustSammi Posts: 79
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    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
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    It will last until you get into a calorie deficit.
  • DaniettaF
    DaniettaF Posts: 212 Member
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    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
    CarolynB38 Posts: 553 Member
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    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
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    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
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    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
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    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
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
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    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
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    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
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    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
    donnasaunders714 Posts: 2
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    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
    donnasaunders714 Posts: 2
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    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
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
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    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
    phizzylizzy Posts: 94 Member
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    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. :D
    http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/08/31/why-quitting-smoking-causes-weight-gain/59054.html
  • jasonbusch74
    jasonbusch74 Posts: 1
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    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.

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