Any smokers?

Hi. I know your pain! I gave up smoking just over 7 weeks ago. It is HARD! I'm using the patches, but I've had cravings for sweet things that I never would've had when I was smoking.
The way I had to view it was like this - the cravings for food will go away in time, just like the cravings for nicotine will. I'd rather put on a few pounds of weight and be on my way to nice healthy lungs again than use weight loss as an excuse to not stop smoking.
The days I overate, I made it a goal to exercise more. 7 weeks in, I've lost the few pounds I'd put on - so yeah, it set me back a few weeks, but I feel SO much better for not smoking. I'm getting more out of my workouts because I can actually fill my lungs with air now without them hurting.

Stuff the small amount of weight you may put on. Instead of reaching for a cigarette, do a 1 minute plank. As someone who hates planks, this works a treat for me.

Stick with it and don't give up. Accept a small bit of weight gain as a much lesser evil than all that tar in your lungs.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! X

I've been off them two years last week, right bang in the middle of my journey to a healthier me. Thought if I was gonna do it go the whole way, I just watched what I ate and really upped my exercise

I also used the champix tablets and I can't recommend them enough

I read Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I treated stopping smoking as my priority. And I stopped. I continued to lose weight as I didn't use food as a replacement.

It is easy to stop when you are fully committed to putting your all into stopping. For me, it was the moment when I was starting to get serious about my weight loss that I decided I needed to give up smoking for real. I was going on cycling trips and huffing and puffing up hills and then having a *kitten* when I got to the top. Nothing makes you feel more like a fool as smoking while trying to exercise.

Make stopping smoking your priority. If you gain 5lbs, who cares if it means you have stopped for life. 5lbs is easy to lose again. Don't use "being scared of gaining weight" as yet another excuse not to stop.

GOOD LUCK. And read Allen Carr.

I haven't cut it out completely. I went down from a pack a day to 2-4 cigarettes, one or two days a month, but it is not 100% out of my life completely. After every time I smoke for a day I say "this is the last time," but it never is. As for 'quitting smoking is EASY, it's NOT hard, anyone can do it," maybe that's true for you, but it is not true for me so keep your generalizations to yourself [goonas].

As for 'quitting smoking is EASY, it's NOT hard, anyone can do it," maybe that's true for you, but it is not true for me so keep your generalizations to yourself [goonas].

It is EASY, those that think its not are not as committed to wanting to quit - that is all - you may think you REALLY want to, but you don't - harsh fact I am afraid.

People go into quitting, thinking its going to be hard, its that what makes people think its hard - they have a preconception in their head before they start!

I quit 4 years ago and haven't touched or wanted one since. Like the reply above, I read Allen Carr's EASY WAY and can't recommend it highly enough.

I didn't gain weight, but I worked pretty hard at my diet and exercise to stay even for a while. But seriously, even if you do gain a couple of pounds you absolutely need to prioritise quitting.

Read the book, it wakes you up to everything you already know but are in denial about.

Quitting is easy, the worst you might feel is a bit grumpy for a couple of weeks (some people would have you believe it's like Trainspotting!). But you know the whole time this is just the tricksy nicotine leaving your body.

Do it, being a non smoker is MARVELLOUS! Good luck

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I quit over a year ago (January 2012) and didn't gain weight...you just really have to focus on NOT replacing cigarettes with food,. I highly recommend starting some program or set fitness goal (for me it was C25K) that will allow you to see and feel the changes in your lung function immediately. If you can...sign up for a 5K or a bike event, or check out the American Lung Association stair climb events (I forgot to check if you are in the U.S.?). It helps to have a goal you're working towards.

I tried Chantix in the past and the side effects (for me - psychotic nightmares) were not worth it. This last time, I used the patch for a short time, and that helped take the edge off for the first few weeks.

At this point, I'm thankful every single day that I am free from that stinky, money sucking, life controlling habit

Oh, and get the QuitNow app for smartphones. It gives you updates on your health improvements and keeps track of how much money you've saved...great motivation! Reward yourself at little milestones (buy yourself a treat with the money you saved from not buying smokes!)

GOOD LUCK! You can totally do this!!

I quit over a year ago (January 2012)

I quit 22nd of april 2012 so just a bit more than a year, I was smoking a pack or more a day partly because it was cheap in mexico, and I was living in a "vice" city.

now im in nz and cigarettes are $15 a pack here. aint nobody got money for that. theres no way could hand over that much cash for cigarettes.

I just stopped. no cravings. no nothing.

For me, quitting smoking was all mental. I will occasionally have one once in a great while but that is finally not even happening often. So I don't know if I can say I quit cold turkey since the occasionally one does find its way to me...but that is maybe a handful of times a year. But it is the best thing I ever did. It bothered me whenever I would usually have one...getting in the car, on my lunch break, on the way to my car after work, after the gym, etc. But honestly, when you see how much faster you can improve your fitness goals you won't worry about it at all. Sure, people gain wait after but if you are striving to lose it, you will lose it. It takes discipline just like anything else.

Hey , I will tell u my weird story of how I unintentionally quit lol!, almost 2 1/2 years ago, during the month of December, I had heard of these electronic cigs on line and thought they looked pretty cool, I have a kid and do not smoke inside, and I was getting pretty tired and annoyed at having to go outside and smoke all the time (especially here in MTL Quebec Canada-it's damn cold!! lol!), so I thought it would be fun to try it out!.
I researched what I would need, what amount of nicotine to get, and what flavours etc (so fun!!), and decided on my order, well I received my package in the mail shortly before Christmas!, I was happy to have my e-cigs as I went to many family gathering, restaurants, events etc. and I was able to smoke my e-cig indoors!, how awesome!, I was so happy with them, that I eventually started going out less and less for that real cigarette, until I decided I just didn't want to freeze my butt off and smell like cigarettes any more, so I quit smoking real cigarettes all together.
I can say that the first couple days were weird, I was CONSTANTLY smoking my e-cigs as I WAS feeling some sort of withdrawal, but it wasn't too bad, as I knew I could smoke my e-cig all day long and it did make it better, there was a good dose of nicotine in the fluid and I found it gave me the same type of throat hit when inhaling the vapor, so I dealt with it, (I researched later that I pob. wasn't having nicotine withdrawals, I was having chemical withdrawals, as we are also addicted to all the chemicals that come with smoking too and that is what I was missing!).
Fast forward a couple months, I naturally started decreasing the amount of time smoking my e-cigs, the craving just wasn't as bad!, so then eventually I was smoking them after my meals, with coffee, while on the 'puter, and then I started getting lazy with them, forgetting to charge them, and so I would wait longer and longer to smoke them until finally I was only talking them with me to outings, just in case, as that was a major trigger for me, eventually they were bulking up my purse and I really wasn't using them, so I left them at home and I eventually stopped smoking those too!, all that in 4 months!.
BTW, before the e-cigs, I was smoking around 3/4 to 1 pack (25 cigs, king size) a day, and I had been smoking steady since the age of 13! (which makes it a total of 15 years smoking), I couldn't even remember how it felt to NOT smoke!.
In conclusion, I feel like I cheated!, lol!, no suffering or crazy withdrawals for me, and I am soo happy to have quit now!, I am no longer a slave to those cigarettes!, I am free! .

After my second kid i quit smoking and maybe gained 3-5lbs it wasn't a huge gain right so I didn't think too much of it cause with breastfeeding and light exercise it came off as quickly as i put it on. Yet my husband also quit smoking and he lost about 15lbs. Which blew my mind, and we both had huge cravings for chocolates and sweets and found that because we weren't smoking anymore we went into a constant snack mode. But i really wanna kick myself in the *kitten* cause we both started smoking again because of stress of work/family issues but we don't smoke as much as we used to, i'm down to 4 smokes a day, he's down to 10 because he's constantly around people who smoke so it's not as easy for him as it is cause I stay at home with the kids But it's true when you quit, it'll be hard and you'll notice a significant difference in your endurance, sleep, and overall stamina.

I gave up two weeks ago and fitness wise, it's been the best thing I've ever done..I've just slightly increased my exercise and haven't gained..in fact, I've lost.
You can do it.

I smoked for 41 years (I was 9 when I started). I gave up just over a year ago and immediately put on 15 lbs. It's not so much the extra eating as the fact that you burn 200 cals a day while smoking (your heart is pumping harder). So when you stop smoking your body adjusts.

DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!

You probably won't be able to fight the weight gain in the first year. That's ok. Again, it's your body adjusting. Continue to watch your calorie intake (myfitnesspal). It's taken me a year to lose my 15 lbs...not quite there yet...but like rassha01, I've turned into a runner...and boy do I run!

Good luck, stay strong. (smiles)

I smoke and keep thinking of stopping but I make so many excusses as to why I need to carry on. going to have a read of the links posted