Quitting Smoking while changing food/exercise habits

kirstyg1980

May 2011 for me and I haven't looked back!!!!

I was however already working out at the gym and trying to watch what I ate, but you know what it's like, sometimes you just can't help it. Best thing to do is just keep yourself busy and only have healthy low calorie snack in the house

I put on a couple of pound maybe even up to half a stone dread to think what I would have put on if I wasn't working out, I have since giving up full fat fizzy juice, crisps and I'm trying to eat very clean

I just find the whole smoking thing disgusting now, the smell makes me feel sick

good luck

Miss_dannii

I don't care what anyone says - you can diet and quit smoking at the same time! The way I see it is that you're training your body, so cutting out smoking and crappy foods at the same time is a good thing

I quit smoking and started MFP in the same week. I am now 11 weeks off the cigs and 31 pounds down in that time

I smoked 20 a day and have smoked for 12 years

lisaisso

today is day 12 for me.
i only used the patch for the first few days (whereas when i quit before i was MENTALLY dependent on them for 3 months- as directed) but this time i was like EFF IT, i'm done being dependent on nicotine.
my GF quit too, and we were just talking yesterday how amazing and freeing it feels to be not hooked on cigs OR nicotine patches//
i did do more snacking for a few days, but just like with weight loss, no excuses. don't use it as a crutch, because at the end of the day, YOU have total control. that's it.

Musikelektronik

I think you should quit smoking first, as someone else suggested. I think it will be easier that way.

I quit smoking on January 31. I smoked for a total of about 15 years. I started in 1990 when I went into the military. I quit from 1997 to 2004; started smoking secretly (just a few a day) between 2004 and 2005; quit for a year; and then started up "full time" in 2006.

Finally quit in January, and I think this will be the last time. I was pretty fed up with it by the time I quit. Besides, it's great now that I'm not spending $250/month on something that stupid!

I used Chantix and it was super easy, I thought. After a week on Chantix, you find that the nicotine isn't actually doing anything for you (the drug blocks nicotine receptors on the brain), so smoking becomes just an empty, stinky ritual. You will actually develop a slight aversion to smoking, if you can believe it! Trust me, it makes it so much easier to stop.

Anyway, best of luck to you!

dschavers

Bump

jrditt

I don't smoke very much a day but I do smoke around certain situations, usually drinking. I don't want to do this anymore so I am not going to tell anyone and just try to move on. It's my last disgusting habit and I am over it. My boyfriend smokes which will make it harder but I know everyone needs to stop on their own.

katysmelly

I have been smoking for about ten years, and while I'm pretty low dependency (5 or less a day unless around other smokers, having drinks etc), I'd really like to give up, for my own sake and for the sake of my asthmatic other half. I've tried before and though I don't smoke that much it's *really bloody hard!* I'm not sure I could do it right now as I'm only a couple of weeks into completely turning my diet and exercise habits around, and I'm worried if it tried to do it all at once the pressure would be too huge and I'm setting myself up to fail at all three.
But when I say to people that I am waiting for a little while for this reason, it ends up sounding like an excuse to put it off. I don't think it is, but then a smoker's brain is a sneaky thing so now I don't even trust my own reasoning!

Anyway, basically my question for other people is have they tried to quit smoking while trying to change their eating and exercise habits at the same time? If so, did you find it easier to wait until the other lifestyle changes had had time to settle before you tried? Any advice/opinions welcome, thanks

Hi! I just quit last month. But, I smoked a pack a day, which is maybe a different thing than five a day.

I put on weight when I quit. About five pounds or so. I realized that I was bored and I found myself baking an awful lot just to pass the time in the afternoons.

However, I also started walking for exercise, and then I started to "run" (I'm doing the Couch to 5K thing). I found it helps to be aware of how my lungs feel. I mean, it motivates me to not smoke. Yesterday, I climbed a pretty steep hill. As I was huffing and puffing my way up, I was really grateful not to be a smoker any more. I want to climb Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000 feet). I want to climb them happily, not in misery. That's my fitness goal. So, running or climbing almost daily reminds me not to smoke!

I was doing a fair bit of exercise and a fair bit of baking and my weight was sorta creeping up or maybe hovering at +5 lbs and that's when I decided to give dieting a try, so here I am!

But, really, I think quitting smoking and exercise go hand-in-hand.

ETA: Not drinking in pubs is a huge key to my staying quit. If I go to a pub, I will smoke. I can drink at home and not smoke, but I cannot hang out in a pub, chitchat and socialize with smokers without succumbing. I just don't go to the pub.

Ghewlett

I don't care what anyone says - you can diet and quit smoking at the same time! The way I see it is that you're training your body, so cutting out smoking and crappy foods at the same time is a good thing

I quit smoking and started MFP in the same week. I am now 11 weeks off the cigs and 31 pounds down in that time

I smoked 20 a day and have smoked for 12 years

I absolutely agree. I've been an overweight couch potato & committed smoker for at least 15 years and decided enough was enough. When I told friends & family I was going to pack up smoking and lose weight/get fit at the same time, they all said it would be too much to do all at once, but I think it's perfectly logical - to lose weight you need to exercise and you can't exercise properly when you smoke!

I also quit the weed & started MFP at the same time but am a bit behind Miss dannii - 8 weeks in and 23 pounds down.

I've never felt better!!

Haven't read Alan Carr's book but can thoroughly recommend Paul McKenna's stop smoking hypnosis CD - I put this on my iPod and played it on repeat at low volume overnight one night while I slept and haven't even thought about smoking since!!! I loaned the CD to my brother and he did exactly the same and also hasn't smoked since.

Jinjin032

Try scheduling your work outs for the times that you would normally smoke a cigarette. This helped me.

josettenehmelman

I quit on Feb 15, 2012, I did cold turkey and have been reading The Easy Way also, my friend who quit with me was smoking 1+ packs a day for 20 years, she read the book and also quit. I really recommend the book also.
You can do it.
I have kept my weight off, I did not gain, I was very scared I would gain, but I have not. just keep up the healthy eating and working out. And of course plenty of water.

autumnk921

bump

ki4yxo

I quit a pack a day habit back in 1996 after 10 years.
Soon after that, I started going to the gym and started
eating better. That part was unplanned! It led up to it
once I quit smoking. I dropped 35 lbs, and never felt
better! I did great until I got married, (1998) and tacked
on 25 lbs.

I quit smoking cold turkey, cause I was just sick of it. :sick:

lawkat

I had lost a lot of weight before I quit smoking over a year ago. I gained back about 10 pounds. I didn't really stress too much. I knew that I had to quit and in the long run, be healthier. I wish I had quit sooner, but I can't dwell on that. A few weeks after I quit, I started running again. I have completed 2 half marathons and have a few more over the next few months.

The main for me was not replacing food for smoking. I think that is easy to do and where the gain in weight happens.

Quitting is easy. Staying quit is the hard part. You can do it. I always used the excuse that things were too stressful and that I can't quit. There will always be something stressful going on. We make so many excuses to feel the addiction. It ends up being really sad in the end to hear the lies and excuses we tell ourselves.

fowlerly

I quit smoking Jan 9, 2011 and it is one of the hardest things I have done! I haven't focused much on my diet, but a lot on exercising because I don't want to gain weight! If I can quit anyone can! I have just begun counting calories and am now hoping to lose some weight! The urges are still there, but not as often. The first 2 weeks are the hardest and I used the patch for those 2 weeks just to get me through. I too am running 5k's and definitely feel a lot better and I am now just making it known that I quit. I was another one of those people who didn't want to advertise it in case I did fail, but in all seriousness if you really want it you will do it know matter if people know or not!!! Good Luck stay strong and you will do it!

Marlys101

I'm glad I saw this and am going to check into it myself.

kwest_4_fitness

I quit in March of last year (with Chantix for 9 weeks) and quickly discovered that I couldn’t do many of the things I had done while smoking. A little OCD pattern oriented and a little cigarette craving oriented. So, I began walking. I walked at breaks, at lunch, before dinner, after dinner. I then realized I wanted to get in shape and changed my whole dietary lifestyle and fitness level. I haven’t been the same (thank gods!) since!

BigDaddyBRC

I quit smoking cold turkey in December 2010. At that time, I had begun looking at my diet. My kids had already lost their mother and I didn't need them losing me because of a controllable health choice.

Here's the deal on quitting...Your challenge is 98% Mental. Nicotine is out of your system in 3 days. That's the easy part. The hard part is filling up your time with recognition and a better choice for when you would go grab a smoke. The habit of smoking is the routine that you have buried in your subconscious as to when you smoke. CHOOSE to Break it. Once you have affirmed the choice. ACT of breaking Every time you think about it. By doing so, you will ACHIEVE! Keep close the reason(s) why you want to quit. This will help you win the mental battle.

Be well!

EDIT: And FYI...I smoked since the 3rd grade...that would be for 30 years.

Candi8099

I quit smoking (cold turkey) November 28th, 2011 using the QUITNOW! app. It's almost like a game earning achievements etc. which I felt made it a bit easier. I haven't had one hit of a cigarette since then. I've saved over $510 and haven't smoked 1,304 cigarettes. (The app keeps track) <-- AWESOME STUFF! I DID NOT try quitting & losing weight at the same time & I was a smoker for 16 years (there were other times I tried to quit cold turkey as well). I'm in my car a little over 2 hours a day on some days and would keep pretzel sticks & licorice in my car to keep myself busy. (Always comes back to food, lol) I am on this whole healthy kick because I want to get my tubal ligation reversed and it's kind of like mind over matter when I say this, but I try to trick myself into thinking that I am pregnant because both times I was pregnant with my children it was that easy to quit. So far, so good. Now that I have the no smoking thing down I'm working on the healthy lifestyle part. I just joined here February 28th of this year.

Good luck to you! YOU CAN DO IT!

akkbatra

Hi everyone.
I am obese since childhood and was smoker for 22 yrs (one and a half pack). I started weight control by walking and healthy eating from Sept 2nd 2011. I quickly lost about 37 lbs by December. Then I hit the plateau in 2012. But I continued healthy food n walk. I was static in weight for 7-8 weeks. In Feb first week I read Indian movie star Hritik Rushan's interview about his weight loss and successfully quitting smoking. He strongly recommended Alan Carr's book. So here was I on weight loss plateau. I thought why not in the mean time try quit smoking ? I got free ebook online and then quit smoking on Feb 17 th. Since then I was static weight wise for next 3 weeks but now slowly I seem to be breaking the plauteu as well. So I am in win - win situation. I think its more important to quit smoking first simply due to drastic bad health issues. It's mostly mental thing. Once quit, you are done with the issue. Weight loss involves both physical and mental aspects. So you have to be more dedicated and that too for much extended period of time. So go ahead, its not that much hard to quit smoking once you get to the core of the issue with Carr's book. Then continue with weight loss program. Best of luck.

Musikelektronik

I quit smoking a pack a day (17 years) and my fitness change on the same day. Best thing ever. It can be done, I did use Chantix though. It's a freaking miracle pill! Expensive though, about $170 a month and most insurance wont cover it.

Not true. It was 100% FREE on my health insurance. So by all means, if you're considering Chantix, then see whether your insurance will cover it. Don't just assume that it won't.