I Quit Smoking & I'm STILL gaining weight

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  • kmtetour
    kmtetour Posts: 300 Member
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    Whatever the science behind it, everybody's body reacts different to all kinds of stuff. There are so many factors to gaining and losing weight that it is literally impossible for a group of people with just that one bit of information to tell you what's wrong. If you have serious concerns about it, meet with a doctor or dietitian. They can ask you pinpointed questions. Be prepared to tell them everything you eat and every movement you make.
  • mrsskinny629
    mrsskinny629 Posts: 96 Member
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    I quit smoking July 11th of this year, I haven't seen any weight gain. You just have to make sure you're tracking EVERYTHING, no cheating. Stopping smoking didn't make you gain weight, it's something else that you're doing that made you start gaining.
  • m0mmytiff
    m0mmytiff Posts: 10 Member
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    I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!
  • KariePerez
    KariePerez Posts: 172
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    I quit smoking May 19, 2009 and continued to gain weight all the way up to September 27, 2011 when I put a stop to it. We are eating when we would normally smoke so we are eating way too much. It sucks but hang in there you will make it!!!
  • KathyWel
    KathyWel Posts: 140
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    I quit smoking mid May of this year, I have continued to lose weight but it has been very hard. Like what so many before me have said, you have to be careful and watch what you eat.
  • txfamilyof7
    txfamilyof7 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies...in response to the eating more: no, in fact I really don't eat that much at all. I have some Cream of Wheat for breakfast, then something small for lunch, and some type of protein for dinner. I don't eat much processed foods because it's unhealthy. I was watching my calories, but since I usually eat the same things I stopped since I knew how much in general I was taking in. I eat 3 meals a day and I eat healthy food. I don't always have snacks, but when I do, it's homemade applesauce or apples, grapes or other fruit.

    As far as exercise: I walk on the treadmill (although with the holidays, that slacked off a bit) and I play games on the Kinect a LOT. I have exercise games for the Kinect that I do on a fairly regular basis.

    Perhaps I am just not consistent enough...I don't know. There are days where I'm not able to do any traditional "exercise" due to being so busy, but most days I do get it in.

    In the beginning (right after I quit smoking) I did realize that I was eating more without even realizing it. I find that the more I exercise, the less I crave unnecessarily sweet and unhealthy snacks (anyone else experience this??).

    Honestly, the reason that I stopped tracking every meal's calories was due to the fact that no matter what I ate or didn't eat, I still gained weight. The more workouts I do, the more I seem to gain. It's getting extremely frustrating.

    I don't have a doctor, which is why I haven't been checked. However, I looked up the symptoms of thyroid problems and the only symptom I have is the weight gain. Nothing else.

    My current plan is to consistently burn 1,000 calories through exercise each and every day, while still watching what & how much of what I eat. I will save up the money in the meantime, and if I continue to gain weight, I will go to a doctor and get tested. I really don't know what else to do.

    Perhaps what I have failed to do is to create a consistent environment in which my body can straighten itself back out after quitting...I keep changing my diet every month and a half to 2 months when the diet I was on wasn't working. Perhaps I just need to continue to eat healthy foods and small amounts as well as exercising twice a day.
  • ravenone777
    ravenone777 Posts: 38 Member
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    I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!

    I read a book by Allen Carr and quit cold turkey. It really made me change my thinking about what I got out of smoking a cigarette. You still smoke while you're reading the book and then you smoke your last one near the end. Definitely works and I had very few cravings once I quit.. My partner has smoked for over 30 years and he's quitting with champix, almost 3 weeks now although he's struggling with cravings.
  • jenn_is_trouble
    jenn_is_trouble Posts: 114
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    If you gain weight when you quit smoking, do you lose it if you start up??

    Yep. Crack'll help, too.

    Or Meth!
  • zlem
    zlem Posts: 92
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    I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!
    You might want to look into electronic cigarettes, they have helped me a lot..
    I smoked since my early teens and only time I stopped was while I was pregnant, I am 26 now and have not had a "real" cigarette since early October.
    All it is is a battery with a small heating element inside, you put "juice" into it, which is a mixture of propylene glycol/vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and flavoring. You inhale it and exhale out a vapor that looks like smoke, without as many chemicals. You can get loads of different flavors, from tobacco flavors to coca cola to desserts and I have even seen bacon flavor (gross).

    I am slowly cutting my nicotine level down, and will eventually ween myself off the e-cig, but it has really helped me, I feel a lot better and breathe much easier, if you're interested to know more google "ecf" and the top link should be a forum where you can learn more info
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,116 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies...in response to the eating more: no, in fact I really don't eat that much at all. I have some Cream of Wheat for breakfast, then something small for lunch, and some type of protein for dinner. I don't eat much processed foods because it's unhealthy. I was watching my calories, but since I usually eat the same things I stopped since I knew how much in general I was taking in. I eat 3 meals a day and I eat healthy food. I don't always have snacks, but when I do, it's homemade applesauce or apples, grapes or other fruit.

    As far as exercise: I walk on the treadmill (although with the holidays, that slacked off a bit) and I play games on the Kinect a LOT. I have exercise games for the Kinect that I do on a fairly regular basis.

    Perhaps I am just not consistent enough...I don't know. There are days where I'm not able to do any traditional "exercise" due to being so busy, but most days I do get it in.

    In the beginning (right after I quit smoking) I did realize that I was eating more without even realizing it. I find that the more I exercise, the less I crave unnecessarily sweet and unhealthy snacks (anyone else experience this??).

    Honestly, the reason that I stopped tracking every meal's calories was due to the fact that no matter what I ate or didn't eat, I still gained weight. The more workouts I do, the more I seem to gain. It's getting extremely frustrating.

    I don't have a doctor, which is why I haven't been checked. However, I looked up the symptoms of thyroid problems and the only symptom I have is the weight gain. Nothing else.

    My current plan is to consistently burn 1,000 calories through exercise each and every day, while still watching what & how much of what I eat. I will save up the money in the meantime, and if I continue to gain weight, I will go to a doctor and get tested. I really don't know what else to do.

    Perhaps what I have failed to do is to create a consistent environment in which my body can straighten itself back out after quitting...I keep changing my diet every month and a half to 2 months when the diet I was on wasn't working. Perhaps I just need to continue to eat healthy foods and small amounts as well as exercising twice a day.

    It is possible to not eat enough. The calories MFP assigns, assuming you used the goal setting tool, are a goal to reach, not something to say way under. Since you don't log what you eat because you are sure you are eating the same amount of calories every day, you food log would be useless to anyone who might want to help.

    My question is do you measure your food carefully or just eye ball it. I have noticed with myself, even after doing this for a long time, if I start just estimating I am pretty close at first, but the serving size gets bigger as time goes on. This is especially true if I free pour cereal and milk. I know it can be a pain to always measure, but the difference in calories in many things as the serving goes up even a small bit is substantial. If you are like me your serving sizes may be off. Also, for the food you are eating, if the entry in the food database here has a * beside it, it was entered by a user, and often I have found those ones to be wrong. I remember one said there were 0 calories in a certain foods serving size, but when I checked the nutrition label the food actually contained several hundred calories. I don't know why some people have done that, and they added it to the main database, but it can be annoying. I always make sure the calories are correct for the ones with an * before I trust them.
  • mistyward77
    mistyward77 Posts: 1
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    I quit smoking about a month ago and have gained 3-4 lbs since. I must say that I am in great shape, I am very fit. I run 15 miles a week at least, I strength train, I use a heart rate monitor to log my calories, I log every bite of food that goes into my mouth. I am married to a persoanl trainer (he has been training for 25+ years). Weight gain is scientifically proven to happen when you quit smoking, I work by butt off and still have gained 5 lbs, so I understand the frustration. But I also know that I am in better shape at 36 than the majority of the country at 25. So keep up the great work everyone!!!!!
  • JenAndSome
    JenAndSome Posts: 1,908 Member
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    I'm 31. I quit smoking in January of this year. I have lost weight since I quit smoking. Quitting smoking does not cause you to gain weight. Eating too much food and a sedentary life style cause you to gain weight.
  • means03
    means03 Posts: 1
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    Im a 28 yof, previously weighing in at 127 lbs at 5'4''...now at 134 lbs! :( I quit 4.5 months ago after an 11 year, almost pack a day habit, thanks to Mr. Allen Carr's method. No one else I've talked to that has quit has a story quite like mine, so please comment if yours is similar! I have worked out 6 days/wk and eaten clean for the past 3.5 years. (Insanity, P90x, Zumba instructing, running, etc). I did all of this as a smoker, but since I quit a few months ago I've gained 7 pounds and I absolutely hate it. It will NOT come off. I log my calories (55/20/25%) and I'm on target. You do gain weight when you quit, I don't care what anyone says!!! I'm very conscious of how well I breathe during workouts now, and am glad I will not suffer the same fate as my recently lung-cancer-induced deceased loved ones faced...but it is incredibly discouraging to gain after making such a great decision to quit. It's like 'congrats for embarking on this incredibly difficult journey: your reward is feeling fat when you work so hard at weight loss management day in and day out. Enjoy your 'victory'!! Oh, and you left your 'best friend' (the cigarettes) to die slowly in a ditch...!' (Insert sarcastic eye squinting, arms crossed, and foot stomping) Anyone else work out consistently before and after smoking and still gain?!? I'm close to trying a thermogenic pill, which I've NEVER considered or needed before! Help!
  • GabyChy83
    GabyChy83 Posts: 5
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    First as one reborn non smoker to another congrats!!! Did you know that as a smokers we stress out more that the regular non smoker... and you know what stress does? It makes you gain weight... Try taking st John's wort... it helps promote mood i.e. ease the stress. It can increase photo sensitivity ( sun burn) in some people and also wierd dreams if taken right before bed... I find taking it at dinner time is best for me. You can add me if you want. =)
  • Achaila
    Achaila Posts: 264 Member
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    Not a smoker but, my mom gained a lot of weight after she quit smoking. According to her she could taste and smell food again and it made her eat more than she realized.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    It will last until you get into a calorie deficit.
  • WisiPls
    WisiPls Posts: 359
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    Yeah...last I checked there was no cals in cigs, maybe eat less
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
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    I am 24 years old and have been smoking since I was 15. I want to quit so bad, but don't out of fear of gaining weight!! Smoking is such a STUPID BAD HABIT, and I hate that when I was a teenager I wanted to be in the "in crowd" ... Any good ways of quitting? Does the patch work? I don't think I can quit cold turkey!!

    I quit smoking 5 years ago with nicorette. Just like weight loss you have to want it really bad. Although im no longer a smoker, ive been addicted to nicorette now for 5 years. So nicorette works, but is addictive as well. but at least I can breathe and dont stink.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies...in response to the eating more: no, in fact I really don't eat that much at all. I have some Cream of Wheat for breakfast, then something small for lunch, and some type of protein for dinner. I don't eat much processed foods because it's unhealthy. I was watching my calories, but since I usually eat the same things I stopped since I knew how much in general I was taking in. I eat 3 meals a day and I eat healthy food. I don't always have snacks, but when I do, it's homemade applesauce or apples, grapes or other fruit.

    As far as exercise: I walk on the treadmill (although with the holidays, that slacked off a bit) and I play games on the Kinect a LOT. I have exercise games for the Kinect that I do on a fairly regular basis.

    Perhaps I am just not consistent enough...I don't know. There are days where I'm not able to do any traditional "exercise" due to being so busy, but most days I do get it in.

    In the beginning (right after I quit smoking) I did realize that I was eating more without even realizing it. I find that the more I exercise, the less I crave unnecessarily sweet and unhealthy snacks (anyone else experience this??).

    Honestly, the reason that I stopped tracking every meal's calories was due to the fact that no matter what I ate or didn't eat, I still gained weight. The more workouts I do, the more I seem to gain. It's getting extremely frustrating.

    I don't have a doctor, which is why I haven't been checked. However, I looked up the symptoms of thyroid problems and the only symptom I have is the weight gain. Nothing else.

    My current plan is to consistently burn 1,000 calories through exercise each and every day, while still watching what & how much of what I eat. I will save up the money in the meantime, and if I continue to gain weight, I will go to a doctor and get tested. I really don't know what else to do.

    Perhaps what I have failed to do is to create a consistent environment in which my body can straighten itself back out after quitting...I keep changing my diet every month and a half to 2 months when the diet I was on wasn't working. Perhaps I just need to continue to eat healthy foods and small amounts as well as exercising twice a day.


    Sorry, but you can't gain weight without eating more than you spend.

    Since you posted here you obviously want to know the answer: you are eating too much. Period.


    Plenty of people around here can go over how you measure food and all that to help you find what you are doing wrong, but the bottom line is too much food. This can be error or honesty. Or rarely, sleepwalking.
  • impudentputz
    impudentputz Posts: 479 Member
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    I quit smoking on May 1st of this year... and since that time I have lost 30lbs... so I am not 100% sure why you would be gaining weight. :(

    Also, quitting smoking is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My lungs thank me every day...as does my wallet.

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