Anyone trying to quit smoking while losing weight?
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SheilaMercon
Posts: 10
I am- I have been smoking for about 3 years and it's time to stop. I figured I'd do it all at once- lose the weight and drop the butts- but MAN is it hard! If anyone is going through this also, I thought it might be cool to support each other! 
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I quit smoking a little over two months ago0
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Not this time, but I have in the past. I've successfully quit smoking but am now addicted to nicotine gum and lozenges. It's been about three years so now I'm working on getting off of those. I'm here to help...and will at least be able to sympathize with the withdrawal...lol0
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I broke down today after about 20 hours without a smoke and bought another pack. I've only smoked 2 of them, but I'm feeling pretty disappointed in myself. My husband doesn't smoke and never has so he doesn't understand how difficult it is. I'm going to go for it again tomorrow. At least push myself as far as I can between smoking. Cutting down has to count for something, right?0
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I've really been wanting to quit smoking, but I've heard that once you quit you gain a bunch of weight. I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it. I'm not sure if that's true or not...0
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I broke down today after about 20 hours without a smoke and bought another pack. I've only smoked 2 of them, but I'm feeling pretty disappointed in myself. My husband doesn't smoke and never has so he doesn't understand how difficult it is. I'm going to go for it again tomorrow. At least push myself as far as I can between smoking. Cutting down has to count for something, right?
It counts for a lot and if you keep quitting, eventually it will stick. Put the pack under the faucet and then throw them away!! Don't beat yourself up for the slip...applaud yourself for the effort and success!
Try to establish a "go to" activity whenever the cravings get really bad. If you're in the middle of a huge craving, it's nearly impossible to think of something to take your mind off of it. If you have something pre-planned, you can distract yourself with that until it passes.
Great job and keep it up! You can do it!!0 -
I was hypnotized on Jan. 24th and so far, so good! Not one puff! :-)0
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Hypnotism...awesome! I'm down to just a few nicotine lozenges per day. I break them into halves or even quarters and try to put off using one as long as possible. It will save me a fortune when I can finally get rid of these things!!0
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I've really been wanting to quit smoking, but I've heard that once you quit you gain a bunch of weight. I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it. I'm not sure if that's true or not...
This is exactly why I want to quit now- it would suck so bad to do all this work, lose all this weight, then quit smoking and pack it all back on- I figure if I do it now while I'm trying to lose the weight, at least I won't get set back when I finally do quit.0 -
My daughter actually quit smoking AFTER she started working out because she didn't want her "old" mom to keep kicking her *kitten* on the elliptical! (We often work out together) She said working out made it easier to quit because she could breathe better...and she lost weigh;! 20 lbs to be exact. I don't think the actual quitting causes the weight gain so much as substituting food for the oral sensation of smoking and to quell withdrawal feelings. You can do it! I quit for years at a time at least 3 times but every time I slipped, I got back on track. I'm done for sure this time, though. This is the first time I haven't felt resentful that I "had" to quit smoking. It's a choice I made and I love the non-smoking me!0
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I've been completely smoke free for exactly three weeks now and I can easily sympathize with what you're going through.
It's hard to get away from the fact that the first few days are the worst. There's absolutely no fun in it, but it's worth it...
If you slip up, get rid of the pack, I mean eliminate it completely. Soak it in water or make it so that you cannot smoke the rest. Then try again!
There are a couple of reasons why people tend to gain weight when they quit smoking. Like libertygirlfla mentioned, people crave the oral sensation and use food as a substitute. Cigarettes also typically suppresses hunger.
People will also want their feel-good (dopamine) fix, usually provided by cigarettes, and many turn to... well, basically anything loaded with everything the body doesn't need.
To add insult to injury, for every cigarette you smoke your heart rate will increase by 10-20 beats for (I think) around 20 minutes, thus having an impact on your metabolism.
However, there are ways around this and I'll list some tips that have helped many ex-smokers (including me):
- Motivation! - This is key. Find it, write it down, carry it with you and use it for all it's worth.
- Support - Try to explain this to someone you spend a lot of time with, preferably your partner. In-house understanding support is the best there is!
- Distractions/Substitutes - Let's face it, smoking usually takes up some time and you need something to do with that time. Chew sugar free gum, carrot/celery sticks, clean something, watch a movie/show, chew on a stick, kiss your lover, tie it in with the next point, anything.
- Exercise - Go for a brisk walk, a hike or a bike ride, do 20 jumping jacks every time you're craving, whatever gets you moving a bit more than you did as a smoker.
- Avoid triggers - Basically, avoid situations where you would previously grab a cigarette. For many this means alcohol or gatherings with other smokers. It's not forever, but I recommend at least 1-2 weeks (depending on how it's going), then re-introduce yourself to those situations gradually.
If you ever need any advice or support, feel free to contact me and I'll do what I can.
You can do it!0 -
I started smoking about 5 months when I went to study abroad.
I stopped working out, started to eat some things that I shouldn't and since I was in an environment of constant party I started to drink alcohol again. It was terrible for my diet, but fortunately since I spent two years trying to lose weight I knew how to take care of myself and in those 5 months i only gained 300gr
Now I'm back at my hometown and back on my diet so I decided to start working out again and definitely stop smoking because I need to stop it before I actually get addicted to it, and I'm too young to have addictions anyway.
For me it seemed funny and relaxing, but we all know that working out is even better to achieve those things and it's way much healthier!
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Good for you! Don't get addicted!!0
