Quit Smoking - Not losing Weight

dawn_eichert
dawn_eichert Posts: 487 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hello fellow now non-smokers. I quit smoking 27 days ago. (Yeah me :drinker: ) I have been really watching that I don't replace it with food and have not gained any weight. :happy: However, I am not losing either. :grumble: Is there any norm to when your body quits feeling so disrupted from quiting and goes back to normal (I mean normal by losing weight with healthy eating and exercise). I lost 14 pounds before quitting but can't seem to get any further.

I don't feel it is an issue with my diet or with my exercising (which is why I haven't opened my diary up to the public). I truely think my body is just rebelling against the change and needs to settle back down. But how long does this take?

If there is anyone who has experienced this and has some insight, thank you for your help.
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Replies

  • nicoleekristenn
    nicoleekristenn Posts: 14 Member
    Hey! Congrats on quitting!!

    I don't have any actual advice, except I've noticed this too. I stopped smoking entirely the beginning of February and haven't lost any weight since even though I've been exercising more and eating healthier.. Hoping that someone has some insight on this.
  • BrennLinn
    BrennLinn Posts: 178 Member
    Same thing is happening to me. I quit 17 days ago and I am stuck. I'm not gaining but the scale isn't moving one bit!
  • dmahacek
    dmahacek Posts: 3
    Smoking raises your metabolism. So, watching what you eat and exercising are a must anyway, but put on a couple pounds of muscle to bring metabolism back up.
  • dawn_eichert
    dawn_eichert Posts: 487 Member
    Well, it is good to know this isn't only me because I was starting to think maybe I was subconsciosly sabotaging myself somehow.

    Good luck to everyone and I hope someone has some insight for us
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    bump

    I'm curious to see if there are any good replies. I haven't lost weight since I quit. My average deficit for the last 28 days has been 200 calories per day which is a very modest deficit, but I usually would at least be seeing measurement changes when starting new workouts.
    I quit February 1st so it's been almost 2 months that I've not seen any change.
  • delor44
    delor44 Posts: 71
    I am right there with you. I quit in January after 27 years. Lost two punds right away and the last after a long fight. That said, I only have ten to go and put my goal at .5 per week. But is is MUCH slower and a struggle. I feel WAY better wiuth not smoking and eating healthy/exercising!

    Here is how I am looking at it. The "average" weight gain when someone quits is 7 pounds. I did not gain. I acutall lost 3. so, that really means I lost 10. LOL.:bigsmile:

    Good luck to ll of us!
  • BrennLinn
    BrennLinn Posts: 178 Member
    Here is how I am looking at it. The "average" weight gain when someone quits is 7 pounds. I did not gain. I acutall lost 3. so, that really means I lost 10. LOL.:bigsmile:


    ^^^^That's exactly what I was thinking lol!
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
    I smoked my last cigarette on April 2, 2005. I went from 125lbs to 165 almost overnight. It was about three months before I magically saw about half the weight just fall off. The rest never went anywhere.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    congrats to you all.., it all takes time,,, i want a smoke now.
  • Kanuenue
    Kanuenue Posts: 253 Member
    When you smoked, you burned more calories because your body had to work harder cleaning itself. This could be anywhere around 200 cals a day depending on the variables of your lifestyle. You will need to readjust calories temporarily to INCREASE your deficit until your body readjusts.

    I quit smoking in January and I added an extra 30 minute walk with my dogs daily. That seemed enough to level everything out again. The best bet is to move a little more, exercise a little harder, and go a little longer.
  • GypsyPirate
    GypsyPirate Posts: 42 Member
    Me too. Although a bit more extreme, I gave in and was eating like a fiend and did gain back some of my losses. But, I am finally back on track and ready to start losing again. I quit at the end of September 2012. I think it is just a time thing, but obviously I don't have anything scientific to contribute. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone and that the decision to quit was the correct one. (I keep needing to say that to my self, about making the right choice...so I though you might need to hear it also.)
  • sgrubby
    sgrubby Posts: 103 Member
    I quit in December and focused only on that for the first month and a half, not even thinking about diet. Once I was positive I wouldn't start again, I started a healthy diet and exercise program. I started slowly and gradually began to lose weight. Just go at your own pace, keep your goals realistic and remember, this is a lifestyle change. The results will come.
  • charityheckler
    charityheckler Posts: 25 Member
    This is all so reassures my decision that I have to get back on track now before it's too late. It's been about 2 months... so I am down to the mental aspect of the desire to smoke. But I constantly want to eat....

    I know that once your quit smoking you supposedly become more sensitive to caffeine... Any idea when this occurs? What are good ways to reduce the oral cravings?
  • egresik
    egresik Posts: 9
    bump
  • sgrubby
    sgrubby Posts: 103 Member
    This is all so reassures my decision that I have to get back on track now before it's too late. It's been about 2 months... so I am down to the mental aspect of the desire to smoke. But I constantly want to eat....

    I know that once your quit smoking you supposedly become more sensitive to caffeine... Any idea when this occurs? What are good ways to reduce the oral cravings?
    I don't know about the caffeine sensitivity thing, but I did have to deal with the overwhelming urge to eat everything in sight. As it turned out, in my case, the longer I went without smoking, the more motivated I became. The pride of accomplishment I felt began to permeate other aspects of my life. I realized that if I can conquer nicotine, I can conquer bad eating habits too. I began keeping foods like grapes. carrots, apples, and celery sticks around and snacking on that until the oral fixation began to subside. Don't starve or deprive yourself. If you want to snack, snack sensibly and stay below your daily calorie goals.
  • OLeoLionessO
    OLeoLionessO Posts: 152
    It takes a long time for your body to repair itself from the chemical mess cigarettes put you through. Once you quit and hours start turning into days, your body goes through a lot of changes. It's like cleansing yourself. Hence why a lot of people eat more than they use to. Gotta keep your body energy levels high. For every 1 year of smoking it will take about 5 years to repair your body back to normal. It you eat properly and exercise everyday it could take as less as 1-3 years for your body to be back to normal. It's a hard journey and it's even harder when you're trying to lose weight...I personally have struggled with it for a long time. But it does get better after those months turn into years. I always see it as a longterm goal.

    My body is really unhealthy though. Yours could get better results.
  • FitnessBarbie99
    FitnessBarbie99 Posts: 277 Member
    I don't know how accurate this is, but when I quit, I read that your body's digestive system has to adjust. It gets healthy very quickly and thus more efficient at pulling out nutrients. What might have just slipped on through is now being absorbed more efficently. That is part of what helps your body heal itself. We all appreciate being in better health so quickly, but the flip side is adjusting to the newly revved up systems.

    I went on a bit of health food binge when I quit smoking and quickly learned that just because it's good for you, doesn't meanyou can eat a lot of it.

    Congrats on your quit. Be darned proud that you haven't gained weight and as always --- keep exercising and eating well.

    I quit 11 years ago -- almost to the day.

    I can't think of a single more important thing I have ever done for my good health than to put cigarettes out of my life for good.

    Congrats and keep up the good quit!
  • gitnfit2
    gitnfit2 Posts: 203 Member
    Congats on quitting smoking it is a tough challenge but worth it. I quit almost a year ago and like you tried to watch what I was eating, tried being the operative word here. The good news is your body will adjust and get back to losing weight. I gained roughly 15 pounds after quitting mainly because I was trying not to kill people during the quitting process. I got back to MFP the first of the year and I have lost all the 15 lbs and a few more. Stick with it and you will see the results
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    There was a recent report on a study of body composition differences between smokers and non-smokers. I don't have the link right now and am too lazy to look it up, but the upshot is that smokers have less lean body mass and proportionally more body fat. So even if you gain weight after quitting, it's not necessarily a bad thing--you could be regaining lean body mass. (The only way to find out is to compare BF%, of course.)

    Be patient--you're changing several things at once, which can take a while for your body to sort out. And from now on, you can only get healthier.
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
    I quit smoking a few years ago. A good tip is to eliminate everything except water from what you drink. No diet soda, no juice, just water. I personally did drink coffee in the morning, but be careful because I'm pretty sure if you were a smoker and drink coffee they went together like peanut butter and jelly.

    And another good tip is to change your lifestyle (might already know this) and everything you do. Switch up the roads you take to work, go out to eat on a Tuesday instead of a Friday, wash your hair before you brush your teeth in the morning, etc. It sounds crazy but it will help you mentally adapt to the new you.

    The old you smoked, and right now you're living how the smoker lived while not smoking. Trust me, I've been there.
  • Astacia74
    Astacia74 Posts: 166 Member
    I am just about at the 2 month mark of quitting and, yeah, not losing as quickly as I was. (Also not gaining, though!)

    Nicotine has been shown to increase your metabolism as well as suppress your appetite which could very well be why we are not seeing any weight loss despite best efforts. I have decided to add a couple more workouts to my schedule to see if that may kick-start the loss.

    Great job on quitting - this, much like healthy eating and exercise, is a journey...enjoy it :flowerforyou:
  • dawn_eichert
    dawn_eichert Posts: 487 Member
    Thank you to all who have replied. At least I know that I am not alone (well already knew this but nice to have it reaffirmed). I will try to work on only having water (yeah may be difficult as I am a diet coke addict who has cut down from almost a 12 pack a day to about 2 - 3 cans since the first of the year). I will also work on upping my exercise and adding in more strength training as I do mostly cardio with minimal body strength training stuff.

    To all of us who have quit :drinker: :flowerforyou: :happy: :happy: :flowerforyou: :drinker: We have made the right decisions for our bodies and now just need to adjust and keep working on all the other healthy habits to continue to path forward.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I quit smoking in September. It took about 6 weeks for my metabolism to normalize and start dropping the Lbs.
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    Here is how I am looking at it. The "average" weight gain when someone quits is 7 pounds. I did not gain. I acutall lost 3. so, that really means I lost 10. LOL.:bigsmile:


    ^^^^That's exactly what I was thinking lol!

    I like this! I have at least not gained any weight since quitting! :)
  • nicoleekristenn
    nicoleekristenn Posts: 14 Member
    This is probably the best advice I've heard so far when I ask people for tips on how they continue to not smoke. For me the morning coffee/drive to work was always the toughest when I tried to quit previous times. It's the routine habits that get to me.
  • learnerdriver
    learnerdriver Posts: 298 Member
    Can't quite answer your question as I stopped smoking Nov 2012, and picked up exercise in December. No change on the scales for a month.
  • KristyHumphrey
    KristyHumphrey Posts: 248 Member
    bump
  • Nightterror218
    Nightterror218 Posts: 375 Member
    I was shocked at how much smoking affected my metabolism. While smoking and in college I ate horrible and drank beer and was able to maintain my weight. I quit smoking and kept same habits and put on weight. It took 6 months before I realized I was putting on weight.
  • holly1283
    holly1283 Posts: 741 Member
    Smoking raises your metabolism. So, watching what you eat and exercising are a must anyway, but put on a couple pounds of muscle to bring metabolism back up.
    Good advice:wink:
  • charityheckler
    charityheckler Posts: 25 Member
    This is all so reassures my decision that I have to get back on track now before it's too late. It's been about 2 months... so I am down to the mental aspect of the desire to smoke. But I constantly want to eat....

    I know that once your quit smoking you supposedly become more sensitive to caffeine... Any idea when this occurs? What are good ways to reduce the oral cravings?
    I don't know about the caffeine sensitivity thing, but I did have to deal with the overwhelming urge to eat everything in sight. As it turned out, in my case, the longer I went without smoking, the more motivated I became. The pride of accomplishment I felt began to permeate other aspects of my life. I realized that if I can conquer nicotine, I can conquer bad eating habits too. I began keeping foods like grapes. carrots, apples, and celery sticks around and snacking on that until the oral fixation began to subside. Don't starve or deprive yourself. If you want to snack, snack sensibly and stay below your daily calorie goals.

    I have begun eating things like lettuces and pickles are my munchy foods, occasionally olives as well. I have learned that olives and extremely, burn your mouth, spicy foods, are great for deturing mental hunger. I like olives but I can only eat like 5 before they become overly unappealing. Whereas the spicy foods encourage a large amount of water to satisfy the burn and helps the food to loose a certain amount of appeal. These are my tricks, that may or may not work for others.

    It has been about six months now, still craving but I have never been more determined. It's funny because every time I thought about or attempted to quit life went to heck in a hand basket. Yet so far, between totalling my car, my horse almost taking part of my finger off, and all the other psychotic stuff that has occured over the last six months, I have still managed to stay i on track.

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