Smoker

I smoked through my entire process . I quit smoking last year. Smoking isn't a good idea at all but has nothing to do with weight loss or then building muscle .
For weight loss, calorie deficit.
For weight gain, surplus ( you need a surplus to build muscle )

It will make it harder to breath during cardio..other than that, no, it should not affect weight loss.

This op didn't ask about cardio, but yea its not so easy as a smoker. But as far as an impact on weight loss, no. Weight loss comes down to cico

As a very recently quit smoker (forced to due to a health issue) I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but quitting smoking will play some games with your metabolism/BMR. Obviously, quitting is the best thing to do for your health! No question about that.
But there is a lot of truth to the quitting smoking = weight gain stories. I thought I was doing great after quitting, even lost a few pounds. But then about 3-4 months later, about 10 - 15 lbs came crashing back with no change in diet. Hence why I'm on MFP religiously tracking calories.
If you do quit, I'd suggest having a plan ready to increase your cardio and/or lower your calories. That way you won't get that weight creep like I did! Best of luck to you.

vbear1983 wrote: »

As a smoker, am I delaying my potential weight loss and muscle building timeframe??

Nope.

However, smokers are more prone to tendinopathy ("tendinitis", overuse injuries), and it takes them longer to heal from it than it does non-smokers. Tendons need oxygen to recover/heal, and smoking makes it harder for them to get it.

Smoking also makes it harder to absorb vitamin C , which helps with collagen health.

This probably won't affect you too much if you're young, but it catches up with you the longer you smoke and the older you are. So you might be slightly more vulnerable to those kinds of injuries if you do a lot of repetitive cardio. Not sure about lifting (probably will affect things a little, if you push it).

Smoking increases your metabolism by a couple of hundred calories. You'll probably be able to eat slightly more than you did if you didn't smoke. (But that doesn't matter - you'll still just cut whatever calories you'll cut. If you quit, you'll have to get used to a lower daily calorie target.)

I doubt smoking can affect the process physically - but I do believe it makes it a lot harder than it needs to be. I am an ex smoker. I stopped when my goal became more important. I needed to be successfully hitting my cardio targets and being a smoker meant that was literally impossible. I couldn't run for more than a minute without getting awful stitches and being VERY short of breath. I'd say if you're looking to build up stamina and overall fitness, ditch the cigarettes or at least consider cutting down. I'm not going to be the 'anti smoking preacher' but you will feel so, so much better in the long run too.

I've smoked through most of my weight loss, only quit about a month ago. It hasn't hindered me in any way when I was losing, and quitting caused me to stall for a while, but it was worth it.

Maybe it's too early to notice change in my breathing, but I don't feel a difference between then and now in terms of cardio either and I used to smoke 1.5-2 packs a day.