SMOKING!!

daisygettinghealthy

I know this is definately not something to be promoting, but does anyone use smoking as a hunger suppresant. I find that if im hungry and a glass of water doesnt get rid (and i only ate lunch ten mins ago) I will have a ciggarette and it supresses it and gives me something to do with my hands. Obv iously if im due a snack i wont but just for those silly late night hunger!

wildaaron

I'm not sure - if you're a regular smoker I guess it's something lol it's hard to tell though if long term effect of the smoke will be worse than having a snack? lol It's a tough one. I don't smoke anymore so I can't say I do that.

Yooperm35

Maybe busting out a few jumping jacks would be a better choice? Lol

I quit cold turkey and it really wasn't hard at all. Having been a smoker for 25 years and recently losing a family friend at only 38 years old made me think about my children losing their mother. Made it an easy choice. Good luck!

daisygettinghealthy

i need to stop smoking. it isnt something i want to keep doing till im later on in my adult years. just i woke up one morning and thought 'today im gonna get fit' however i found it would be far too difficult to eat healthy, stop binging, excersize more than ive ever done AND quit smoking. so i figured i wanted to lose weight more than smoking. i know this isnt a good post blah blah but it helped me.

wildaaron

Small steps - You can't expect to do ALL of that at once, gotta work into it

1546mel

Smoking will not help you lose weight, will mess with your thyroid, possibly destroy it, and in the long run will make you gain weight. I smoked for 13 years. I quit 1.5 years ago and started exercising at the same time and watching what i eat. I lost 50 pounds. quit. No excuses, no "wait till im older and skinnier," just quit. I used that excuse also. Found i could not exercise as hard cause i smoked. I did not realize how hard i could exercise till 6 months after quitting. Want an appetite depressant, drink grapefruit juice, not smoke.

JadeLovesGin

In my experience, quitting smoking, like getting fit, losing weight and generally any other task that can be unpleasant, is only successful if it's something that you want to do.

Do you really want to stop smoking? Are you sick of spending your hard earned cash on cigarettes? Do your clothes smell like the inside of tramp's glove? Do you sound like an eighty year old woman on 40-a day when you walk up the stairs? If you answered yes to any of these then quit, not because you should, but because you want to.

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking is brilliant. Then again, so is going cold turkey because every day that passes is a day closer you get to being able to be a sanctimonious, self-righteous ex-smoker and it might annoy everyone else but the pride you feel is amazing! Just quit hun, don't worry about having a snack, dump the *kitten* first and everything else will fall into place.

Good luck :happy:

sarafil

I smoked for a long time, so I completely get how hard it is to quit. But quitting should be your TOP priority! Plus exercise will be so much easier when you aren't smoking anymore. But you really have to be ready to quit, because I think letting go of the cigarettes emotionally is harder than dealing with the physical side of the addiction. When I finally quit it was because I was diagnosed with cancer (at age 33). I don't want that to be the reason you finally quit.

kendrafallon

I did use smoking as an appetite suppressant, I started changing my lifestyle first - portion control, eating healthier, gentle exercise, before I quit smoking. I did struggle with the weight in the initial few weeks, but the starting the the good habits first helped with wanting to eat.

It'll be 3 years in June that I quit smoking. It is worth the effort, if only for the other health benefits. Quitting makes it so much easier to exercise, but you do need to be ready to quit and determined to quit.

Good luck!

Lonewolf1507

Hi Daisy

I can tell you that I used to be able to reduce my snacking with a cigarette. I smoked for over 30 years and last year I decided to get fitter, after 9 months I then decided to stop smoking, I am now over 100 days being smoke free.

I found that trying to do to much at one go would probably derail everything, so I started at the gym, then after 2 months I joined MFP and started portion control then once I had the exercise and eating under sort of control the smoking went too.

Possibly the only time I do want a cigarette is in the evening when I start to feel the nibbles coming on and I am short of calories.

I would say that picking exercise and food control first then go for the cigarettes, you might even find that you are able to give up the cigarettes without really thinking about it after a few months.

Andy

daisygettinghealthy

thanks guys for all support. dont know if anyone relates to this. I want to give up smoking because of health benefits, easier to excersize, smell nicers, wont be self concious if i speak to people after just ha\ving one, expenses. i HATE all that. but thats before and after effects. the actual tast of smoking i ciggarette, i really really like that and when i want to quit i always focus my mind on how nice a ciggarette is after a horrible day (sometimes more so than food) i donno, i dont wanna sound stupid and naive because i do know how horrendously bad smoking is, i know all the damage it does but anyway thats my opinion...

daisygettinghealthy

thanks Andy, thats really really helpful and is the same idea as im trying to do. little by little. if i didnt have comfort food or ciggarettes i would probarbly go into melt down and do both things twice as much.

sammi_bear

I've just given up smoking 7 weeks ago. When I did smoke, it definately stopped me snacking. If I wanted a snack, I'd go for a smoke instead. However, it didn't really make that big a difference in my weight loss. Now I've quit I've got more energy for excersize, and I don't get as puffed out. This has made much more of an impact on my weight loss!

I do agree with you on not changing all your bad habits at once through. I started out trying to lose weight through my diet. Then I switched from normal coke to diet. Then I quit smoking. Now I'm doing more excersize, and am thinking about taking up running. Next will be quiting the fizzy drinks altogether but I am nowhere near there yet!

stephdeeable

I've been smoking for 12 years so it no longer suppresses my appetite...However, it does suppress my rage. :flowerforyou:

prokomds

I think it's understandable that you don't want to make tons of huge changes at once - make changes that you can keep, give it some time, add some more changes. That's all fine

However, if you use smoking as a "reward" for good behavior, that's basically the same thing as saying I didn't smoke today, I'll reward myself with these four slices of cheesecake. If you reinforce one bad habit while trying to quit another one, you'll never be able to quit both. If you're not ready to quit, I would just maintain the same kind of smoking you were doing before you were dieting, and not treat it like a reward. Find some other way to splurge after good behavior. Good luck!

daisygettinghealthy

thanks i think i have to set treat goals for every certain ammount of weight i lose. infact i seen a post about non-food treats so i will go check that out. thanks for your help

alleshiam

I am a smoker, and I find when I am craving something, late at night, I will just have a cigarette. Because by the time I have smoked my cigarette, my craving is gone. I know this is not good or healthy, but it is just something I do. And i know smoking is bad, but same as you, I am not going to try to quit smoking & lose weight at the same time, because I know i would fail. One thing at a time I think!

sofielein

I don't think I am "using" smoking as such, I have always smoked and mornings it is always coffee and cigarettes and I have no appetite at all - but as the day turns into afternoon and evening I crave cigarettes less and food more.

So morning is smoking and evening is eating.

alleshiam

I'm kind of the same, except in the mornings when i get up, I'll have a smoke right away. But then I'm good for a few hours. Then as the day goes on, I smoke more & more. Sometimes at night I'll just finish a smoke, then literally within like ten minutes i'm lighting another one. Especially if i'm upset. If i'm upset I don't eat, I smoke. And when I say smoke, I mean like 4 or 5 cigarettes in a row.

now_or_never13

I find when I'm smoking I don't eat as often or as much. When I have tried quitting before I have wanted to eat more but it wasn't hunger it was just me wanting a smoke.

Personally, I think smoking is far worse than any extra weight. Also, once you quit it is much easier to lose as you will be able to exercise harder and longer.

Last time I quit smoking I actually lost weight. When I wanted a cigarette I would go for a run, use my stationary bike, clean something, go for a walk, get outside, etc. I made sure I had tons of healthy stuff ready to go (veggies and fruits washed, cut and packaged for quick grabs). You can do both at the same time. The first few days are the worst.

nanainkent

I used to smoke and I used it to suppress my appetite all the time. I could skip lunch and just smoke 3 ciggeretts in half an hour and not miss food at all.

I then like you hated the way I smelled, looked to other ppl, and was self concious about it all. And the high cost of it. I got to the point where I hid to smoke and hid my ciggeretts and carried around a fabric spray, or perfume, or fabric sheet, all to wipe myself down after a smoke. Then decided to quit for those reasons although I loved to smoke, feel of it, the taste of it, the act of hand to mouth, the smoke out my lungs. But my grandson begged me and told me he would help me thru each day. I used chantix and quitting was easy for me. But after 6 years of no smoking I still love the smell of ciggerette smoke, not the tobacco smell though, I miss the hand to mouth, I miss the stress release of it. I still occassionally reach over for my pack on the night stand. I still occassionaly dream I am smoking and still want a cigg occassionally. It only lasts a few seconds though and I am glad I quit. I know that is not the intent of this thread but just wanted you to know that you will need to acknowlege that although you like to smoke you will want to quit anyway.

quirkytizzy

I'm a pack a day smoker. I've found that smoking while I'm hungry actually makes me HUNGRIER. Also, it makes the cigarette less satisfying.

It's also just plain ole' not a good idea to use an addiction to curb other perceived bad habits. We're addicts, that's going to be difficult enough to give up without adding the worry that it will ruin our weight loss progress on top of it.

alleshiam

I'm a pack a day smoker. I've found that smoking while I'm hungry actually makes me HUNGRIER. Also, it makes the cigarette less satisfying.

It's also just plain ole' not a good idea to use an addiction to curb other perceived bad habits. We're addicts, that's going to be difficult enough to give up without adding the worry that it will ruin our weight loss progress on top of it.

very true!

daisygettinghealthy

@nanainkent. thanks, i know what you mean. i do the 3 ciggs things if im at work and havent got my lunch to stop myself reaching for the cake tin or bakey next door!

i guess because im young, the effects of smoking hasnt started to show so right now, with social pressures etc id rather look good and be thin than stay the same and feel better. its not a good thing to admit and im not vain or shallow in any way, im just sick of the way i look and i know being thin wont stop all my problems but i guess somedays i think it will..

wrests

When I smoked it just really..threw everything out of whack. Yes, it's an appetite suppressant, but so's black coffee, and I'd wager that being a little overweight is better than smoking! Now when I'm hungry I'll drink water (with Mio if I want something sweet) or just munch on carrots/apples. It's MUCH more effective, I assure you! Hopefully this doesn't come off as judge-y as it's not been that long since I quit, so I easily remember both sides of the issue

wrests

thanks guys for all support. dont know if anyone relates to this. I want to give up smoking because of health benefits, easier to excersize, smell nicers, wont be self concious if i speak to people after just ha\ving one, expenses. i HATE all that. but thats before and after effects. the actual tast of smoking i ciggarette, i really really like that and when i want to quit i always focus my mind on how nice a ciggarette is after a horrible day (sometimes more so than food) i donno, i dont wanna sound stupid and naive because i do know how horrendously bad smoking is, i know all the damage it does but anyway thats my opinion...

Try a disposable e-cig! Some taste like a dog kennel but they're around $10, you still get the taste, the nicotine, and the feeling of smoking, but they don't smell to those around you (and honestly I never knew cigarettes smelled until I quit!). The hardest thing for me when I quit was figuring out what to do! Okay, I've just eaten dinner, time for a NOPE. Oh, just gonna drive to work, time for a NOPE. I couldn't figure out what to do with my hands! Also something dumb that helped me was simple phrasing differences.
I didn't 'quit' smoking, I 'stopped'. If you 'quit', you're more likely to feel bad if and when you slip up. If you stop, it's less of a big deal, simply because of word choice and the mental effect that it has on you!

daisygettinghealthy

@banshies. thanks its great to hear so many peoples weight loss stories, especially people on a weight loss sight who arent saying they gained THAT much weight. its a real motivation

iLoveMyPitbull1225

never worked for me, and it made it really difficult to excerise.

hdutoit17

I was never a big smoker (1-3 a day), so when I stopped it didnt affect my weight. My friend is a chain smoker and when she stopped for a few days she gained weight, so I guess it did kinda work as a suppressent for her or it just keeps her busy for longer before she reaches for a snack.

panicintheattic

Cigarettes never really worked as an appetite suppressant for me (as in I'd have one and then not feel hungry), so the only reason I did gain a little weight when I quit smoking was because I didn't know what else to do with my time or my hands. But I knew I had to quit when I couldn't ride my bike more than a block or walk up stairs. My lungs still aren't in the best shape, but they'd be way worse if I still smoked regularly.

The first story on this Radiolab episode is a really interesting one about quitting smoking. You should give it a listen, maybe it will help if quitting is something you actually want to do? (Or at the very least, Radiolab is pretty awesome and the whole show is really interesting haha): http://www.radiolab.org/2011/mar/08/