Smoking and weight gain

hcleving
hcleving Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I am in the very early stages (week one) of quitting smoking. I am pretty nervous about gaining weight even though I know the benefits of quitting far outweigh any weight I may put on.

Have any of you gone through this before? How much weight did you gain and how quickly did you gain it? Any tips to help minimize the gain??? :noway:

Thanks :smile:

Replies

  • katies180
    katies180 Posts: 11 Member
    I am interested to know this, about to quit too. What method are you using? Or is it just old fashioned will power?
    Like you, I know the benefits outweigh everything, but it is daunting!

    Good luck!!
  • JulesAlloggio
    JulesAlloggio Posts: 480 Member
    By quitting you probably won't gain unless you're eating a ton of calories outside of your daily amount.

    I wouldn't stress that much. I used to smoke when I was in the Navy... I just kept myself motivated, ate the right food and I am happy and healthier than ever.

    =)
  • TheNewLorrain
    TheNewLorrain Posts: 138 Member
    I was already heavy when I quit not sure any weight gain was directly in correlation of quitting. Am proud to say am going into my 11th year of being smoke free! Now I have to get the rest of me healthy! Good luck with your choice to quit I know you can do it!
  • bobf279
    bobf279 Posts: 342 Member
    I quit using a mixture of patches and will power. I put on 2 stone pretty quickly but remained focussed on stopping smoking, a lot of people do gain weight initially as some snacking replaces the smoking habit. My weight went up and down a bit but now 3 years on I have made the conscious effort to get back to a weight and fitness level I am happy with, and I am winning the battle.
  • Sreed9901
    Sreed9901 Posts: 23 Member
    I have been tobacco free since Oct 2011. We used the E-cig to stop smoking. I stopped using mine in a day or two (hated the feel of it- really bulky and awkward for me). I didn't gain but I did notice the urge to snack was a lot more than normal. I used gum- I now go through packs of gum faster than I did packs of cigarettes. The mint flavored ones seem to help more.
    The key is to pick up a new habit to replace the smoking habit. My boss used suckers, a friend used twist ties to keep his hands occupied, another friend swears by the cinnamon disk candies. To this day I have urges to smoke but I start doing something like cleaning to get my attention off the urge.
  • maiaroman18
    maiaroman18 Posts: 460 Member
    I quit smoking when I got pregnant. I gained a bunch of weight. But, I also substituted food for the cigarettes. I picked it up again last year, and quit (cold turkey again) right before I joined MFP two months ago, and haven't had a problem. I'm still losing weight.
  • oiseau17
    oiseau17 Posts: 142 Member
    I've been tobacco free for nine months using an electronic cigarette (or more accurately, a personal vaporizer since mine doesn't look anything like a cigarette). I've been weening myself off nicotine and am almost there (I'm down to 6mg from 18mg, next step 0mg). I didn't gain any weight (since the hand-to-mouth is still there) and now that I can breathe again it actually motivated me to get healthy and I'm down almost 50 lbs!
  • scapalbo
    scapalbo Posts: 19
    quitting smoking on it's own won't make you gain weight. Substituting an edible for smoking will...So, if you decide you're going to have a chocolate bar every time you crave a cig, you'll end up putting on weight quickly. If you decide to go for a walk, or have a glass of water or run up the stairs every time you crave a cig, you won't gain weight.

    Just pay attention to how you feel...only eat when you're hungry, and if you bite it, write it. Knowing you have to own everything you eat...even if it's a ciggy substitute may help stop you from the substituting.
  • tekwriter
    tekwriter Posts: 923 Member
    The benefits of quitting smoking will outweigh any weight gain. Whyquit.com and quitstop.com are great places to use as resources. I quit 8 years ago, my weight problem was not affected either way by smoking.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    You only gain weight when you replace the cigarettes with food. As you are already logging your food, just keep eating the amount you have been and you will be absolutely fine! :wink:
  • beckieboomoo
    beckieboomoo Posts: 590 Member
    i have got an electric *kitten*, had it since friday, its going well! :)
  • prdavies1949
    prdavies1949 Posts: 323 Member
    You asked for info from ex smokers on their weight gain after stopping. 25 years ago I smoked 40 a day. I wasn't that interested in food as I could hardly taste the difference between different foods. I was 6' 2" and weighed 150lbs. I was as thin as a matchstick. After quitting i then discovered how wonderful food could be and I enjoyed it for the next 24 years. The weight just slowly built up till last summer I hit 320lbs. You asked how long it took to gain weight well in my case it was 24 years. In September last year I discovered MFP and am now, at last heading back down. As other posters have said QUIT, but don't substitute food for *kitten*. (A British word for cigarettes)
  • watfordjc
    watfordjc Posts: 304 Member
    I am almost smoke-free using my e-cig - I take cigarettes instead to theme parks as I'm worried about it leaking on rides.

    If you are already in a calorie deficit and logging your food and exercise and are managing any cravings, you should lose weight rather than gain weight as you already have something to build upon.

    Since November 3rd 2012 I have lost 70.8 pounds, and was smoke-free between December 5th and March 20th, March 23rd and March 24th, March 28th and May 15th, and May 18th to May 20th. Between 21st December 2008 and 22nd December 2009 I lost 61.5 pounds, and was smoke-free between August 13th 2009 to September 16th, and December 1st and September 9th 2010.

    I gained 100 pounds between 22nd December 2009 and November 3rd 2012, and was both a smoker and non-smoker during that time (2011 and 2012 I was a smoker about 90% of the time).

    So, I have lost significant weight as both a smoker and a vaper (e-cig user), and gained significant weight as both a smoker and a vaper. For me, my weight changes came down to tracking progress versus not tracking progress rather than anything tobacco-related.

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