how to quit smoking and maintain it without gaining weight

I quit 6 years ago using Chantix. Best decision I've EVER made. It was much easier than I anticipated it to be. I was very ready to quit, so I'm sure that was the key. I actually only took the Chantix for 2 weeks, and I've never had the desire to smoke since then. I actually barely even remember being a smoker, which seems weird, but maybe that's because of how the medicine works - it blocks the receptors in your brain that makes smoking pleasurable. I gained about 9 pounds, but 9 pounds I can take off. I can't add life back onto my years that I was was taking off as I kept smoking. Now I weigh less than I did then, my lung capacity is better, I feel better, and I waste a whole lot less $$!

I just quit smoking in June of last year after smoking for 35 years. I shared the same fears of gaining weight that you do and those fears had sabotaged every other effort to quit prior.

What was different this time is I found My Fitness Pal and about 6 weeks prior to quitting smoking I recorded everything I put in my mouth and kept my calorie intake to 1200. I also started exercising, which for me was a joke. My stamina was nil but I continued to push forward a bit at a time. I wallowed the first time I walked a 1/4 mile and back When I finally chose my quit date I was about 12 pounds down. At first I did not limit my calorie intake but I continued to record everything I ate and I pushed ahead with exercising.

Today, nearly a year later, I am still 10 pounds down from my starting weight when I quit. I exercise 4 or 5 times a week and I still use My Fitness Pal. AND...I feel a thousand times better! LOL You can do it too with desire and determination.

Good luck to you!

I had smoked for 19 years. I, too, used the "weight gain" excuse as one of my rationalizations against breaking the habit. What helped me was I started logging in a notebook (pre-MFP, early Internet days.) what I was putting in my mouth. Also, I wrote down trigger incidents which would have me smoking more - going out to drink, living with a smoker, stressful work situations, being hungry, having an argument, etc. - and the moments when I would just reach for a cig without any external influences - watching TV, reading, hanging around the house, etc. and all the nonsense excuses for why I wouldn't give it up.

Next educated myself about smoking, the biochemical effects on the body and the brain.

Once those were in place, I established "rules" and "permitted places" for smoking - smoke outdoors regardless of the weather, everyone has to smoke outside at my place, don't have a roommate who is a smoker, drink non-alcoholic drinks at bars/clubs/functions, don't roll your own cigarettes, smoke at work during morning and afternoon breaks only, no substitutional tobacco (chew, snuff, etc.) e.g. - lessened the frequency of smoking. I was eating the same amount but smoking less. At this time I gave up using motorized transport to get to work and became a bike commuter. (No more standing around smoking waiting for the bus...)

Finally, after whittling a pack/day down to 3 a day, going total cold turkey was easy. Breaks at work meant a walk around the block to the local coffee place, I was able to start drinking in social situations without craving the cigarettes, didn't have to stand in freezing rain anymore, no more stained fingers, nails and teeth. The house didn't have that yellowish dinge on the walls, windows and furniture.

Earlier cold turkey attempts failed within 2 days typically.

It took about 2 years to break it completely.

As a earlier poster had said, there is a drop in TDEE. Whenever one smokes, one of the biochemical responses is a shot of adrenaline. Adrenaline increases metabolism across the board and it is also why cigarettes can be habit forming. The higher adrenaline level becomes the "norm" for the body. Going cold turkey without first minimizing the frequency and dosage level can be very rough and the body attempts to restore that "normal" feeling by going to caffeine, sugars, starches, and other energy burst items to compensate.

Basically, you are trying to wean yourself off needing higher levels adrenaline and dopamine to function. The body will try to fill that gap with substances that can satisfy both the sustained flood of sugar in the blood stream (adrenaline) and the pleasure gained from smoking (dopamine.) More than likely food as a solution. Exercise can handle the dopamine side and re-align the blood sugar to a more effective use. Something cardio, initially, to help heal and rebuild the lungs and circulatory system might be best.

My advice is to be forgiving to yourself for your relapses but persevere on attaining fitness. You will make your larger goals by setting and achieving smaller goals as milestones. Make stopping smoking as your first larger goal, by using a log like MFP and exercise as a leverage to break the habit, and next, seek where and how you can disrupt the routine of smoking. Then, once the smoking habit has been satisfactorily minimized or broken, next concentrate on improving the diet while continuing to exercise. Worrying about both will be not only confusing but also distracting and ultimately, disappointing and disheartening. It is ultimately about attaining fit-ness. Sometimes the journey is a bit more roundabout than a straight line.

Disrupting the routine and ease of smoking had been a major key to breaking the habit.

Being aware of trigger situations, particularly moments of high stress like job loss, loss of a relationship, death, helped lessen the number of times when I would relapse, and when I did, got me back to not smoking quickly and easily. I would say hypnosis and reading supportive materials can help make you an un-smoker but you might find the unexpected, unwanted, life moment has you reaching for cigarettes to help you through troubling times. And then all that work might seem for nothing, like I did. (Don't give too much power to that form of negative thinking.)

On a last personal note, by using the log, it made me realize "the why" of my smoking habit which helped me truly overcome it. I haven't craved or touched a cigarette for over 12 years now. And, I expect, I never will for the rest of my life no matter what comes my way in life, good or ill.

I wish you the best of luck!

I have had the same off again on again issues with smoking and booze. The time I was most successful I
-1- made the decision to quit then proceeded to the bar, I picked up a 6 pack and a pack of cigs.
-2-upon arrival at home I cracked the bottle of wine I had in in the fridge
-3- while smoking my cigs and drinking my wine and beer I wrote a list of why I smoke and drink and why I love it. On the other side of the paper I wrote all the reasons I shouldn't smoke and drink and why I hate it!
-4- I smoked plenty of cigs, polished off that bottle of wine and 6 pack.
-5- when I was ready for bed (more like ready to pass out) I savored the last beer and enjoyed my last cig ( the rest of the cigs went into the toilet )
-6- I woke up at the butt crack of dawn made a veggie and protien packed breakfast and went for a terribly winded run.

To avoid temptation for the next few days I
1- began running (more like a slow winded jog)
2- cleaned my house from top to bottom- scrubbibg every nook and crannie ( the house was not dirty to begin with but I had to stay busy) I even painted the foyer
3-exercised on my breaks at work
4-ate extremely healthy
5-when I was not exercising or running around like a maniac I was passed out.
6-I also avoided friends who smoke or drink for the first month or 2

I was crazy for about a month but it lasted 2 years

Before you take any advice from e-cig people, remember they are still drug addicts. They still suffer the negative effects of nicotine and are much more likely to start smoking real cigarettes again. Set yourself free of the drug entirely, its not hard.

Wow, what a ridiculous thing to say, especially considering both of us who brought up e-cigs specifically mentioned weaning yourself from the nicotine over time (much like someone using the patch or gum).

It's not ridiculous at all, let me explain. Nicotine leaves your system between 2-4 days. It leaves very quickly so there is no need to ween yourself off of it. The addiction pangs are very mild compared to most drugs, coffee is much worse. Maybe the e-cig helped you quit, but I would argue that you quit despite the e-cig.