Stopping Smoking

Hi!

I am a pretty light smoker, like 4 cigs a day. I still want to quit though and I have gone through the same worries.

What I am doing is changing my eating habits first, until eating healthy is my new habit, and then I'm going to quit smoking.

Doing too many things at once can be overwhelming and lead to giving up on everything. So I'm quitting my bad habits in small increments, one thing at a time.

Try that!

and- If you're counting calories and stay within your limit you will lose weight. ~science~

Smoking does speed up your metabolism a teensy bit but most people gain weight after quitting because they are looking for a substitute for their addiction and turn to food.

Avoid that and you should be good

oh ya- I'm looking for friends ppl. I've been on this site for forever but just recently am being serious again and have like ZERO active friends. Add me

I am using the ecig; it has been successful for me in the past - then I deployed and didnt have access. I returned a few days ago and immediately picked up a brand new ecig kit and havent need a cig in 3 days. My excercising has kept the curb of my appetite down!

I am looking for fellow smokers to try and quit and friend with! We can support each other if interested

Please add me!

Hey there,
After multiple tries I have finally quit smoking after 25 years. The real motivator was while I was working for an ambulance company one morning I happened to notice my pulse was racing. Alerting my partner he hooked me to an EKG and rushed me to a hospital nearby. My pulse was nearly 200 bpm blood pressure was sky high but I felt fine. It turned out my lifestyle of binge drinking, smoking, and eating **** had finally caught me at 41 years old. Good news I'm young enough to make a realistic improvement in my health. No smoking, moderate drinking, and diet/exercise are key.
I used the 21mg nicotine patch for 4 weeks but I did feel the need to snack and eat more often. I recognized the trend and adjusted what I was shoving in my face. Boredom eating ebbed after a couple of weeks and things returned to normal without too much weight gain. Smoking will kill you, 10 pounds won't.
Snacking on high fiber foods should help satiate you. The mental BS goes away after 2 weeks or so.
Good luck and cheers!

Hi i really want to stop smoking but the worry of wanting to eat more to help with cravings is putting me off..everyone says people gain weight when you stop smoking and i really dont want that to happen.. Is there anyone out there that is quitting the *kitten* at the same time as healthy eating that can give any advice..

Has it worked for you?

HELP!!!!!!!

Yeah I didn't gain a pound ... quit cold turkey was smoking for over 16 years and the last 4 years was a 2 pack a day man. ... I just put my determination into my weight loss into smoking... not much else to say .. its a constant battle against yourself be the stronger one and don't give in to a piece of paper with tobacco in it.

I quit smoking almost 2 years ago cold turkey. I had the same fears as you about weight gain and such, but the thing that really put it into perspective for me was thinking “I’d rather gain 10 lbs than die a painful, premature death of cancer.” See, the thing is losing weight is hard but not impossible. Coming back from the dead is impossible. I ended up not gaining any weight from quitting smoking though so it wasn’t a big deal at all, but even if I had gained weight I would still call it 100% worth it. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Good luck!

I'm 21 days nicotine clean now. I've tried to quit several times with different replacement things like patches or gum. I've lasted longer this time saying screw all that and going cold turkey with nicotine completely. The first 3 days sucked *kitten*. Like really sucked. The rest of the week sucked less. Now it doesn't suck at all. I actually don't even think about it anymore.

BUT

In order to get to this point so far it took a whole lot of hard candy. Like jolly ranchers, lemon heads, just a crap ton of sugar to give me something to reach for. I did end up gaining some weight. I think around 10 pounds or so within those two weeks becasue I was eating everything.

BUT

**** it. Gaining 10 pounds is so much more healthier than smoking anyway. Now that I don't need the candy every 15 minutes the weight is easily coming back down to normal. It has been around one week or so since I stopped allowing myself to indulge (bc I no longer need it, just want it) and I am already down 6 of the the 10 pounds I put on. It is just my body coming back full circle.

Seriously, dont give 2 ****s about the weight gain when you quit. It will come off as fast as it goes on as soon as you are all better and hell, even 30-40 lbs heavier is healthier than a pack a day.

Great advice and success stories... think i will wait until i get to my goal of 20lbs down and then quit .. i know i can do this

Hey all!

I quit 86 days ago after smoking a pack a day for 15+ years. I haven't gained a single pound. I actually lost two the first month because I was so strict with myself about my eating! I gained three pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas and they are already back off. I'm 35, so my metabolism isn't exactly 'peppy' either.

It IS super easy to pack on the pounds... but only if you get careless. You know how to manage your food and your diet because you're here on MFP. So do it. Do not use food as a substitute. Do NOT snack on celery or carrots or candy instead. Learn to anticipate an "empty" feeling (easy to confuse with hunger) when you go through withdrawal and find something other than food to help get through that uncomfortable 3 minute craving. Find something to keep your hands busy like a craft (I crochet) or an app that you really love (like Candy Crush!)

I read "the Easy Way to Quit" by Alan Carr and it changed the way I think about smoking, which was super helpful as well. But I am living proof that you can quit and NOT gain an ounce. I also have an app on my phone that counts the days and how much money I have saved. No excuses. Quit if you can!!