Quit Smoking, Appetite Threatens to Ruin Me!!!!

LuckMuck87 · November 2012

Hey everyone, longtime reader, first time poster. Maybe you can help me with some suggestions. I've been using mfp for a while, loving it. 5'9" 25 yrs old, started at 238lbs and am down to 164. So I've made lots of progress and am really happy. Now that I've gotten to a healthier weight (almost ideal), I've decided to quit smoking too and get healthier in that way. Problem is, my appetite went up about 4000% since quitting. Every day has gotten much, much harder to not lose ground. Anybody feel my pain? Anybody discover a magical secret solution they want to share? Thanks in advance. I'm going to go chew on my hand now.

thebuz · November 2012

On day 3 of quitting here and I know EXACTLY what you mean. I've really upped my water and tea intake to try and ensure I don't snack but it's tough. I've heard that cinnamon sticks or mint flavored toothpicks work really well. Maybe they're worth a shot!

love22step · November 2012

When my ex quit smoking, he started running and lifting weights. It worked for him! He didn't change his eating habits, but he never ate much junk food. I think he quit drinking, too, when he stopped smoking. He lost weight when he quit smoking (and drinking) and started working out.

Others have said they drink a glass of water every time they want a cigarette. Fruit juice is supposed to help with cigarette cravings, but juice has calories.

My sister used the Nicorette gum, but it took two years after her last cigarette to wean herself off the gum.

Good luck! Don't give up!

TropicalFlowerz · November 2012

Ok,..HI,...been there..I quit 9 years ago,...I used sugar free mints from the dollar store,mint flavored tooth pics,....sugar free gum up the wazooo!!!...it helped,... ..and dont give up.Theres gonna be a time when yur stressin,..AND you really want one!!!!! Stop and count how many days it's been,..and say to yurself ...it's been this long I'm NOT TURNIN BACK NOW!! btw nicotine is out of yur system after just 48 hours,....so after that...it's yur addiction to hand mouth movement thats the hardest to shake-medical fact!
~Best wishes:happy:

TillyMomma · November 2012

I quit smoking during my pregnancy (but, for some reason, started right back up again after I had my son). The best thing I found (for me, anyways) was physical activity, or some sort of other distraction. Sometimes I would take long walks, other times I'd clean the house or do laundry. Most of the time, while I was at work, I'd just sit there with a pencil inbetween my fingers tapping away at nothing. Oh! And gum. Gum helps a lot.

g0ldenb0y55 · November 2012

Where there's a will there's a way my brotha! Appetite isn't the problem, it's what you feed your appetite! Healthy eating will be key in your situation until your system has cleared itself from the nicotine withdrawl that's causing the "hunger games"! Time to set your mindset to "beast mode" for this rough climb ahead. It'll be smooth sailing before you know it!

Good luck bra!

graywi123 · November 2012

I have heard the water vapor cigarettes work. When I stopped smoking I stayed away from everything that would trigger me wanting to smoke. I ate raw carrots, celery sticks to keep myself from wanting to light up. I also made sure my hands stayed busy with writing a stop smoking journal.

It's very hard.

Rhia55 · November 2012

I used the Nicorette gum. Now I'm off the smokes but still on the gum. But that doesn't bother me, I'd rather be hooked on the Nicorette than the cancer sticks.

But the gum is what kept me from over eating due to wanting a smoke. I also use regular gum and mints.

likemeinvisible · November 2012

When I quit four years ago I decided that for the next year, anything goes. Food, whatever, I'm allowed to whatever I want as long as I don't smoke. After a year I started to control my diet. Nothing can be worse to your health than cigarettes. For me the best way to get rid of appetite is to starve yourself until you are used to it.

GiddyupTim · November 2012

I don't know what kind of exercise you do . . . but, when I smoked, I found it very hard to run. So, I usually put off smoking that day until I ran. Sometimes I would have to hold off until the afternoon, and even the evening. I found I could do it.
Maybe there is a strategy in there. Work out in the evening. That way, you can tell yourself you won't make your workout if you smoke; and, the period of time after your workout and before bed is much shorter.
I also used to find that, when I had cravings, and could not smoke, I would have to go for a walk. It distracts your mind and your body. Try substituting a short walk for food next time you have a craving. Just get up from your desk, or from in front of the TV, and walk up the block and back. Or, go around the block. Go twice if you have to, or go for half an hour. Whatever it takes. A walk would always be better than putting weight back on or having a smoke.
And, the cravings do not last forever. It would just be temporary.

chunkiedunker · November 2012

I gave them up july 1st. I dont have that many cravings. Gave them up cold turkey. But i also got into an accident and messed myself up pretty good. I couldnt walk outside for a week. But once i could i just didnt. I started eating and sucking on sunflower seeds. But the cravings are still there. But u realize the cravings only last a couple mins and they r gone. Just divert ur attention for a couple mins.

BlueJue2 · November 2012

I quit smoking and drinking 10 weeks and 3 days ago. Find what works for and stick with it. It is something different for everyone. Try using self talk (awareness) when you want to reach for the food or cigarettes. That helps me. Just know that the more time that goes by, the easier it gets. Good Luck!!!!

blissfulself · November 2012

congrats everyone on quitting! and also congrats OP on your weightloss! i quit 3 months and 1 week ago. as some others have said, when i quit i started running everyday because it decreased my cravings (both mental and physical) and just made me not want to smoke. while my appetite did increase, since i was working out i could eat more calories. i also chewed and still do chew a lot of sugar free gum (4-5 pieces a day) and drink a lot of water. good luck to you!

wrevhn · November 2012

its largely why I put on so much weight. I quit while living in hubs mothers hood. On a mountain, middle of no were, mud roads and rain freq. Its sucked! I gained 60 lbs!

drink water. lots of water. want sweet? drink unsweetened fruit juice or eat fruit.

If you have munching issues, eat veggies. Or break up to 6 small meals so you can munch more.

gerripho · November 2012

There's a book called "Easy Way to Stop Smoking", by Allen Carr. It's been out since about 1985, and you can get it from Amazon, either paper back or e-book. It was recommended to me by another MFP-er. I read it, quit August 29th, and have had no cravings, no desire, no second thoughts. I didn't gain weight, I didn't experience any change in apetite. I just became a non-smoker. No withdraw symptoms. No gum, no patches, no substitutes. I'm just a non-smoker. Believe me, it really works! The author was a five pack a day smoker for over 20 years. He approaches the problem in a rather unique way that works! Do yourself a favor and read it.

AZKristi · November 2012

This too shall pass. I sucked on cinnamon sticks and exercised as much as possible. Workout out helped more than anything. Honestly, the thing that made smoking again a total non-possibility was the incredible changes I made in my cardiovascular fitness. I run now - something I never could have accomplished as a smoker. Maybe set a fitness goal to work towards like a faster sprint pace or more endurance?

rusang · November 2012

Hey There.. I'd been a smoker for 25 years and recently quit, after many, many failed attempts over the years. This time I just put my mind to it and was not going to give into temptation. Breaking old habits, that's the key... Drove me nuts for about the first 2-3 weeks because I had to change my old habits to "something else". I would have a glass of water, chew some gum, go for a quick stroll, anything..... I found that diverting my thoughts to something else worked.....

Good luck, the health rewards are worth the efforts.....

proctor78 · November 2012

Wow I could have wrote this thread. My appetite is crazy and I too just quit smoking it will do me in I tell ya, and carrot sticks and celery dont cut it lol

Leeann1979 · November 2012

December 2 is my 2 year anniversary of quitting, and it was the best thing I have ever done!! And I loved smoking! I tried about 3455 times to quit and was unsuccessful. One day I decided I had enough. I didnt like the way it controlled me. I hated that I needed a smoke after dinner or with coffee, or when I was stressed. Now I am back doing the thing I love most, playing tennis!! I cant believe how stinky I used to be too..its so gross getting a whiff of someone who just smoked!! But I understand the addiction, and its difficult to do it. Worry more about staying smoke free, and worry about the calories later, in my opinion. You are doing yourself a huge favour by quittng!! I spent a week in the hospital last spring with life-threatening pneumonia, and I have asthma. They told me that tennis kept my oxygen levels up and if I still smoked, i may have died!!

Quit Smoking, Appetite Threatens to Ruin Me!!!!

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