Perfect or worst time to quit smoking? (during weight loss)

If you quit you will probably be nervous energy and be able to run or do elliptical trainer more than ever. you can try to fixate on working out instead of eating food during the first few weeks of quiting. If youre like me you will feel super-powered when you first quit and be able to work out more than you ever did before.

On January 1 I was hospitalized with a partially collapsed lung after 38 years of smoking two packs a day (or more). I was put in a bipap mask, and when I tried to take it off I was told it was that, or intubation. I had the mask on for 36 hours before it was first removed, and spent 10 days total in the hospital receiving breathing treatments and multiple blood tests as they tried to decide if I had congestive heart failure, pneumonia, or H1N1 flu. They eventually diagnosed me with COPD and a ridiculous virus that toddlers get called RVS or RSV or something like that. (I blame my husband's great-nephew, age 1, who was sniffling at Christmas.)

When I woke up the first time there was a nicotine patch on my arm, and I was too weak to walk, so the thought of slipping outside to smoke just didn't register. I just kept thinking, "The hospital is like an airplane. You can't smoke on an airplane." I never got upset.

On the way home from the hospital my husband drove me through Wendy's for a single and a small fry. Once we were done, he got out of the car to smoke a cigarette (he still smokes). I waited for the craving to hit--and it didn't. I thought, "I wonder if I can do this." I still was using the patch.

On the way home from the hospital I bought an e-cigarette and when the cravings got bad (usually in the evening with coffee) I would promise myself that if I still felt like I "had" to smoke in 30 minutes, I would smoke it. I never did. I continued to use the patch, all the way to the last (4th week), when I quit using it early because of the skin irritation.

I carried a pack (the one that had gone to the hospital with me) in my purse for 6 months, as a talisman. There is still an unopened carton in my cabinet, from last December. I look at it every day.

Most of the craving, I swear, is psychological. You want the process--the lighting up, the inhaling, etc. So an e-cigarette would provide that. However, for me it would have been a substitute, NOT an aid to quitting. If you can quit without it, I think it's better. Also, until the FDA begins to regulate them, you may not know what is in them.

I had to tote an oxygen tank around for about a month afterwards. I was only 57 years old. Trust me, when you're 57 you don't feel like you're old.

You'd better believe that scared the crap out of me. But I don't and won't think of myself as having quit successfully until January 1, 2015.

It was about 2 months later that I decided to take the money I was saving and hire a personal trainer and start going to the gym with my sister. Then she told me about MFP and I thought I'd try to keep track of my calories.

And 66 pounds later, here I am.

It can be done.

The harm smoking does is WAAAAY worse than gaining 10-20lbs from over eating.

If the forum thing works for you, there is an incredibly informative and supportive forum on about.com. Just google "about.com smoking cessation forum". They also have counters, money saved counters, and the forum is very busy, so any issues you are having you will get immediate support.

I used the forum back when I first started to quit smoking, it was really helpful.

PS - There is no such thing as a good time to quit. You just have to do it, dont make excuses.

The best time to quit smoking is RIGHT NOW.

You'll lose: bad breath, yellow teeth, stinking clothes, damaged lungs, and gain a whole new lease on life.

I lost my beloved father in his 63rd year due to this dusgusting habit. He never got to travel, to enjoy retirement, or to see the farm, which he would have loved. He was a three-pack-a-day smoker. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer he came home, threw his cigarettes in the trash, and never touched another one. He lived four more years, years of chemotherapy, surgery, morphine, and unrelenting pain.

i stopped smoking heavily while still losing weight three years ago. I put the weight back on, but not due to not smoking. I smoked 40 a day and was 49 when i stopped. After 7 attempts , i stopped altogether with Champix, and i suffer from depression anyway- it did not make it worse. In the UK it is free. You still need a lot of will-will power and i too recommend Alan Carr as i used it as back up. If you want to use Champix and your doctor says it's fine, go for it. Everything has side effects for some people- even water! it is a question of probability. Unfortunately the web is full of people with exaggerated scare stories about everything.They like drama.....

Even as a long term heavy smoker, my lung capacity has increased by 30%, as measured a tt he doctors and yes working out is so much easier after the first 12 weeks of stopping.

E cigs weren't really common back then but they would still deliver nicotine without the crap in cigarettes fro you .
I don't know if it is a good idea "to stop right now" as some posters have said, the evidence is clear that people who plan carefully their giving up are much more successful. Load up on one hundred calorie snacks, make friends with celery, short walks for when you get a craving and save your money for something that will add to your health. All the best!:drinker:

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I quit smoking 9 years ago, and I had a 2 pack a day habit as well. I gained a lot of weight, but I wasn't actively trying NOT to gain. I think people use the possible weight gain as an excuse not to do it sometimes, but the truth is not smoking is not what causing the gain, it's your habits. CICO applies after quitting smoking as well. If you are at a place where logging is like second nature for you, and you're conscious of what you put in your mouth and actively combat overeating, I say go for it. Even if not and even if you gained a few pounds, the immediate health benefits of quitting smoking would be worth it. Good luck!

There’s no time like the present to quit!

Make a list of all the pros and cons of smoking and put that list and copies of it everywhere and every time you think about a smoke read that list. If that doesn’t make you want to stop then God help ya.

Good luck!

The best time to quit smoking is RIGHT NOW.

You'll lose: bad breath, yellow teeth, stinking clothes, damaged lungs, and gain a whole new lease on life.

I lost my beloved father in his 63rd year due to this dusgusting habit. He never got to travel, to enjoy retirement, or to see the farm, which he would have loved. He was a three-pack-a-day smoker. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer he came home, threw his cigarettes in the trash, and never touched another one. He lived four more years, years of chemotherapy, surgery, morphine, and unrelenting pain.

You forgot to say how much money they'll save also.

Most smokers aren't idiots; they know the downside to the habit. The judgmental aspect ("dusgusting" [sic]) can be left out of it. How about we stick to the positive?

Why don't we tell the fat people on here how nasty they look. That'll get them to stop overeating, right?

What gets me is that (at least in the U.S.) you're practically a pariah if you smoke, but drinking to excess is celebrated. Smoking is largely a self-destructive habit. There's no way you can compare second-hand smoke to drunk driving fatalities.

There is never a wrong time to stop poisoning yourself several times a day.

only you will be able to know if it will work for you.

i replaced smoking with exercising.

This is a no brainer and requires not a long winded explanation.

Quit immediatly. Trust me- It is easier to shed whatever weight you think you might gain from smoking then to battle lung cancer. Pick and choose your own battles.

thanks for all the feedback, I loved reading your stories and tips and feel really motivated!

I don't think i'm capable of full cold turkey experience, I tried 10 years ago and I kept crying (yes, real tears), I only made it for 3 days, I was at a point that someone saying something to me, it would sound like an insult or a negative comment. I felt like the saddest person on earth and wasnt able to control my emotions

This time I was planning on gum/patches... anything that could provide some help!

I absolutely admire everyone capable of cold turkey, I can't even imagine how hard it must have been!

I haven't read through everyone's replies so keep that in mind. I quit in 2001 using gum. Cold turkey and patches did not work at all for me. With the gum I could pop a piece at those moments I normally would go for a cigarette. The patch was too passive and cold turkey too harsh. I wasn't trying to actively lose weight when I quit but I was trying to get fitter and do more hiking and biking in particular. With that in mind, it was a great time for me to quit. As someone else mentioned your lung capacity increases pretty quickly when you stop. It's known fact that nicotine boosts metabolism but with the gum I didn't have the metabolism issues (until I quit the gum.) Exercising actually helped me with the quitting. The biggest thing for me was breaking the associations (cig in the morning, after a meal, etc.) and that's where the gum was great.

I did gain about 15 lbs overall but I didn't mind. I figured I was much healthier 15 lbs. overweight than a smoker. And that weight came off from all the added activity and exercise I did.

I had quit before (my old joke was sure it's easy to quit, I've done it a 100 times!) but this time it stuck. I kept emergency Nicorette available for months, even years afterward. PM me if you need support. Good luck. Just do it.

People saying anytime is a good time to quit smoking clearly have never had a cigarette in their lives. Personally I put on a stone when I gave up first time around - and that was using nicotine gum. It was the hardest habit to kick, and it still isn't gone. I still smoke periodically, but I know now I'm not physically addicted - it's a psychological habit I associate with certain situations and alcohol. I can give it up for weeks without problems, then I'll have a few drinks and smoke 20 in an evening.

I don't think it's a great idea right now, chances are it could absolutely ruin your lifestyle changes - the first few weeks are hellish, you're stressed, fed up and ALWAYS hungry. I'd wait until you're firmly into the maintenance zone at least and have some solid good eating habits that have been there for a long time.

There is so much wrong with this, I can't even.