Trying to quit smoking while losing weight!

Anybody else out there trying to quit smoking while they're developing their healthy lifestyle and lose weight? I'm still struggling with this habit...Ugh!!!!!!

Replies

  • I didn't quite.....quit smoking. But I did switch over to an e-cig, since my doc doesn't have a problem with nicotine, just my previous method of getting it!
  • I just started my diet Monday and im trying to stop smoking blacks. Its so hard i crave them alot more than anything right now. What can I do to keep my mind of them and to focus on m diet?
  • ShellBell4281
    ShellBell4281 Posts: 127 Member
    I'm taking Chantix. It really works. The side effects can suck. Depression, anxiety, short fuse. But other than that, it's great!
    I'm 10 lbs up, however. :-/

    Are you going cold turkey?
  • WDEvy
    WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
    I quit smoking cold Turkey on Sept 1st 2012 after 17 yrs and I started MFP on the 12th. I've really really well managed my cravings. I think it's more a question of knowing that if I smoke, I will not be able to sustain the level of workouts I do now. So I don't !
  • 388gigi
    388gigi Posts: 485 Member
    Check out the post I just made:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/883630-10-kilos-lost-but-gained-so-much-more-photos

    This all started for me when I quit smoking! (over 2 years ago)

    I would say the best tips for giving up are:

    - Keep busy.
    - Drink lots of water and herbal tea.
    - Replace smoking with something healthy. I replaced it with running to begin with!
    - Have a plan for every situation. Ie. if you are going out to a bar, plan to get a glass of water every time you feel like a smoke!

    It is possible! I tried SO many times before, the last time it just clicked! :-)
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    I did it cold turkey. 178 days smoke free :)

    The cravings sucked hard core the first 2 weeks and slowly lessened from there . The first 2 months were definitely a rollar coaster of emotions..lol. But I beat the cravings with sugar free gum, frozen grapes, carrots and exercise. I also used the Livestrong Quit Smoking app and believe it or not, pressing the craving button like crazy seemed to help too :laugh:
  • I stopped smoking 10 years ago using Allan Carr's book Easyway to Stop Smoking. No side effects, no pills, no need for willpower, it was easy and enjoyable. Worth a try! See more here: http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/
  • DamnImASexyBitch
    DamnImASexyBitch Posts: 740 Member
    I quit cold turkey September 1, 2010. I gained 20lbs. I figured quitting first was the important part. I would have never been ableto do the exercise I do now as a smoker.
  • Omg. Allen carr's easy way to quit smoking. You won't regret it. I lost weight when I quit using his method :D
  • SamNicoll
    SamNicoll Posts: 43 Member
    Hi Brian

    I've been on MFP just over a year, lost 40lb, aiming to lose another 15-20. Quit smoking 16 days ago, cold turkey, and have gained a couple of pounds since then (but have also had surgery during tis period so may be other metabolic things going on!).

    Decided I can cope with short-term blips in weight whilst in the early stages of beating the nicotine addiction - continuing to eat good and exercise and generally live healthy.

    Not doing too bad on the cravings and they are tending to show up after meals as a desire for sweet sugary food rather than a desire for nicotine/cigarettes. They say there's a lot of common ground in the effect of sugar and nicotine (and other addictions) and this seems to be what I'm experiencing at the moment and I think will be my main challenge (I've actually been doing OK on keeping refined sugar out of my diet so it's a bit of a blow to suddenly have sugar cravings again).

    I've added running to my exercise schedule (post-surgery this is something I'm now able to do) and know that even in a 2-week period my breathing/heart rate/stamina are improving beyond what would have been possible had I still been smoking
    Am generally upping levels of exercise/activity.

    I hope to see some (downwards) scale movement by the end of the month when things have settled a bit.

    Best of luck!
  • Brewster1215
    Brewster1215 Posts: 247 Member
    I didn't quite.....quit smoking. But I did switch over to an e-cig, since my doc doesn't have a problem with nicotine, just my previous method of getting it!

    This. Smokefree since June 1st, 2010.
  • rickthexpreacher
    rickthexpreacher Posts: 57 Member
    I have COPD. EMPHYSEMA. caused entirely by smoking and I have less than a quarter of my lung function left. That's what happens when you smoke. I lived ina smoke filled environment for 40 years and I calculate I smoked 584,000 cigarettes to say nothing of cigars, pipes and funny stuff in the sixties. In 2008 my respiratory system shut down and i was unconscious for two days & in intenseive care for 10 . When the consultant saw that I had regained consciousness, he told me that the the xrays showed me to have 23% of my lung function left. He gave me two scenarios. Continue to smoke--- you're dead in less than 12 months. Stop smoking now, You have up to 10 years-unless you are unlucky with associated chest infections.
    Guess what, I had no problem giving up smoking! I have not had any withdrawal symptoms but that is probably because most of my time is taken up trying to keep alive. So cardio work at the gym takes a large amount of time. and I take church services so spend time preparing them. I have not been that lucky with associated infections having had pneumonia 20 times since 2008. Every time that happens, I have to take ultra strong steroids and can't gym. As a consequence my weoght has ballooned. My disease and the medication I take daily has *****ed my system so my thyroid doesn't work efficiently, my metabolic rate is low and I cannot get it up much because my lungs don't allow me to do intensive exercise where the hrart rate soars and the sweat pours off.. I get breathless and in respiratory distress way before that happens.
    I know that this thread is really about the difficulty of keeping weight down while giving up smoking.. But my contribution to the debate is this:-
    By a squilion miles, the most important decision you can take is to break this evil addiction to nicotine. It is a wicked, wicked, sickness with the most terrible consequences if you do not. Putting on a few Kg or pounds is, in the grand scheme of things totally insignificant by comparison. Most people have enormous difficulty breaking this addiction and losing, safely,any excess weight that they are carrying at the same time. The tendency is to fail at both. If at any time you see a few pounds going on and you start fretting about that while still experiencing withdrawal systoms, Don't faff about, stop the diet and concentrate on become a recovering nicotine addict. After all, it's better to be chubby and alive than skinny and enfeebled or dead.

    You can see the effects COPD has had on me on my profile and in blogs I've posted.

    Rick
  • CnocNaCu
    CnocNaCu Posts: 536 Member
    ^^ well said, Rick, you are so right.
    I quit 15 months ago after over 36 years of smoking. I noticed I couldn't run with my dogs any more when doing agility training, I noticed I couldn't bend down to pick something up without symptoms like headache, dizziness and so on. My arteries had already started to narrow. I didn't want to gain weight either and thought...what to do? I read Alan Carr's book and started with a proper low calorie diet at the same time. Two weeks in the diet I quit cold turkey and whenever I had a craving for nicotine I did push ups instead or running in place. It IS POSSIBLE to do both , you only need to want it. You need to want to live and breathe properly, you need to want to be healthy again, then you can do it!!!!! So far I have lost 50 pounds, have not smoked over 9000 cigarettes, invested the money I have saved in fashion and sports gear and am feeling alive. I am a recovering ex smoker and am so proud of it. And I am in quite good shape for my age. But: as long as you are younger and don't already feel the price you really have to pay for the cigarettes (I don't mean money), and as long as you care more about your looks than your" feels" ( :-) you may not be ready.
    I should mention that I run regularly but will never be able to compete because my lung function is not how it should be. I cannot take in as much oxygen as I needed to.... this is irreversible:sad:
  • Smoking suuucks and the above two posters are right. Quit this evil addiction now while you still have a chance of healing your lungs. It's only hard for two or three weeks and that time will pass anyway. Don't you want to get back to that feeling of not being addicted to them and never thinking about them, except with disgust and pity when you see and smell someone doing it? It is SO worth it to go through the trial of quitting. The benefits are enormous and will positively affect every aspect of your life...
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    So much respect for anyone who kicks fat and cigarettes in the butt at the same time!! that's dedication, determination and hardwork, right there!!!!!
  • CnocNaCu
    CnocNaCu Posts: 536 Member
    So much respect for anyone who kicks fat and cigarettes in the butt at the same time!! that's dedication, determination and hardwork, right there!!!!!

    Thank you:flowerforyou:
  • TeresaB1979
    TeresaB1979 Posts: 158 Member
    Get a hold of Allen Carr's EAsyway to stop smoking. I am five years free from a really heavy smoking habit and that book actually made me really enjoy and be excited about stopping (something I would have thought was a laughable idea before I read it). Do yourself a favour and get it. And enjoy it! I still get a kick out of being a happy non-smoker. Purely because I never dreamed I could be. Do it! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. :-)
  • TeresaB1979
    TeresaB1979 Posts: 158 Member
    Oh yeah and I lost weight too. :-)
  • I quit smoking May 2012. After YEARS of smoking, and several attempts to failed attempts, I picked up few patches and I cant even begin to tell you how much it helped!

    Just do it!
  • curvycarrie
    curvycarrie Posts: 56 Member
    Ive been smoke free for 6 months now...when I quit i told myself that I was not going to beat myself up on what i put in my mouth, I just made sure that I continued to work out. I gave myself a few months, yes i gained weight, and now ive have kicked the habit i am 100 % focused on my eating. I found quiting smoking a heck of alot easier then trying to lose weight lol...I think my metabolism has dropped, but it is so worth it..i feel 100% better, my sense of smell and taste are back with a vengence, and now i am dedicated to this new healthy lifestyle. I wish i had known about MFP when i quit, it would have made things easier...good luck with your quitting, you can do this!!
  • bobf279
    bobf279 Posts: 342 Member
    It is difficult to change 2 things in your lifestyle at once. I stopped smoking just over 3 years ago after smoking everyday for 37 years. My weight went up but I was able to increase my exercise as a result. Stopping was the best thing I have done for my health.
  • lottiej1980
    lottiej1980 Posts: 1 Member
    I started with the weight loss first using MFP, and i lost nearly two stone. Then i gave up smoking and allowed myself to go back up in weight while getting through the first few months..... Then i concentrated on maintaining the weight i was at rather then pressuring myself into losing weight when i was already trying to change my lifestyle massively by becoming a non smoker after 19 years.

    Once i felt comfortable with not smoking, I'm back trying to lose weight again. And i feel amazing for it and not just physically. Mentally i have proved that i can set goals for myself, and i can acheive them. And i am very proud of myself. ;-)
  • I stopped smoking 10 years ago using Allan Carr's book Easyway to Stop Smoking. No side effects, no pills, no need for willpower, it was easy and enjoyable. Worth a try! See more here: http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/

    I used Allen Carrs Easy way method book! Sounds mad, but it does actually work!