Quit smoking and not losing

Madmom04
Madmom04 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
So here I am on month three of not losing any weight...nothing...zilch...nada...stuck at 144. Every time I get on the scale it says...144. I hate the number 144. I do, I hate it. I would rejoice to see. 143.5, anything other than 144. Anyway, I have a very clean diet, I lift heavy, my macros are in check, blah blah blah. I just thought of something today...I quit losing weight in Nov. when I quit smoking. Yay me! Quitting has been easy now that my mind is focused on being healthy and refusing to put poison in my body and lungs. Any thoughts on maybe this is the reason I am not losing weight? People say you gain weight when you quit but I thought it was just because you eat in place of smoking, which I don't. I am wondering if maybe since smoking increases your heart rate then all of a sudden you quit, your heart rate goes down, therefore you gain weight. I don't know...it's bittersweet ! Any thoughts on this???

Replies

  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    I don't think quitting smoking actually makes you gain. It is normally just due to the fact that most people will eat more when they quit smoking. I lost when I quit before because I would go for a run or go to the gym when I wanted a smoke.

    Try switching up what you are doing. Weigh and measuring everything. Weigh all foods, don't weigh out a portion. Measure all liquids. Ensure you are counting everything. Make sure you are taking rest days from exercise as well and ensure you consuming more than enough water and limiting your sodium.

    Try changing what exercise you do. Change the type, increase the intensity or the itme. Switch up how much you are eating. Maybe try eating at maintance for a week or two and than drop down to a proper deficit. By your ticker you only have about 14lbs left to lose so have your goal set at 0.5lbs per week and eat based on that. Are you eating your exercise cals back? If you aren't, eat those back.

    Keep going and dont lose hope. I think it's best to not be a smoker even if you are carrying a bit of extra weight.

    Are you taking measurements? If not, start... sometimes you see those change without seeing the scale change.
  • emarific
    emarific Posts: 12 Member
    Former smoker myself, so I speak from experience. Nicotine is a stimulant which increases your metabolic rate because it increases your heart rate. In addition to the shock to your system that recovering from an addiction causes, quitting smoking causes massive changes to through your whole body- affecting hormones, brain, internal organs, etc. Your body is busy repairing the damage caused by smoking and could be part of the reason you're hanging on to the wieght. It will take your body a while to get used to all of this- I quit last August and am still noticing changes. Just keep at being healthy and try not to worry too much about the scale right now.
  • Grognit
    Grognit Posts: 50
    I quit smoking in November 2010 and I gained weight (which I am now getting off). I agree with the poster above, you actually burn calories smoking - sick as that is. Plus I was never really hungry smoking and know that I ate waaaaay below normal.

    Congrats on quitting smoking and congrats on quitting smoking and NOT gaining!!!!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I quit smoking Sept 2012. While you do see some spike in metabolic rate from nicotine, it is really pretty minimal. In looking at your profile, one thing really pops out at me.

    For one, you only have 24ish Lbs left to lose...yet you are still taking an aggressive 2 Lb per week loss approach. Personally, I'd re-adjust that to 1 Lb per week at this point (essentially upping your calories). Think of it this way...you're a big jet airline...you've been streaking through the sky at 35,000 feet and 550 MPH. You're not to the airport yet, but you're beginning descent on your way to approach...you have to slow down. But you haven't taken your foot off the gas, so your very smart body is slowing down for you because warning lights are going off inside the cockpit signaling that you're going to fast to come in on approach.

    Essentially, you can't come in for a landing at 550 MPH...you have to slow down, otherwise you just crash and burn.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    Former smoker myself, so I speak from experience. Nicotine is a stimulant which increases your metabolic rate because it increases your heart rate. In addition to the shock to your system that recovering from an addiction causes, quitting smoking causes massive changes to through your whole body- affecting hormones, brain, internal organs, etc. Your body is busy repairing the damage caused by smoking and could be part of the reason you're hanging on to the wieght. It will take your body a while to get used to all of this- I quit last August and am still noticing changes. Just keep at being healthy and try not to worry too much about the scale right now.

    I agree.

    Can you tell us some more info about yourself.. like how much you weigh and how much you are eating per day?

    I am still a smoker, I have been deadly afraid of quitting because the last two times I quit I ended up gaining 12lbs exactly everytime. It had nothing to do with me overeating but that's just how my body reacted and the poster that I quoted offers a very easy explanation.
  • Madmom04
    Madmom04 Posts: 10
    Thanks! I am on my way to my profile to see what I can change. I will try anything for two weeks.

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