Ex smoker on a fitness journey

mil_arce
mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone!

I'm completely new to fitness and weight loss and I've heard so many wonderful things about this app that I've decided to try it.

I've always been very slim but after I quit smoking, I gained a good 20-25 pounds. I tried working out last year and it was an epic, epic fail. I wasn't tracking any of my calories because I've always been a healthy eater. (European background, grew up eating a ton of fruit, veggies, lean meat and a lot of fish)
I would easily do 45 minutes on level 9 elliptical machine followed by another 45 minutes of weight machines. I didn't increase my calories intake because I didn't think I needed to and I was absolutely miserable because I was STARVING after eating my typical breakfast of 1 boiled egg, 1 cup low fat plain greek yogurt with blueberries. I stopped working out after I gained unwanted weight and my grumbling stomach.

Right now I am 5'3 120lbs. I'd like to be 108-110. I just started using this app and I'm trying to log every morsel that goes into my mouth. I'm working out at home (zumba, Gillian Michaels videos) but I do want to return to the gym because I was really enjoying the feeling of working out just not the rumbling stomach.

I want to read up more on fitness and understand nutrition better before I go back. Right now the app suggested I do a calorie intake of 1200 which I'm reallllllllly trying to maintain. (Some days are better than others)
All advice and recommendations welcomed :)

Replies

  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,267 MFP Moderator
    Welcome to MFP!
  • mowree
    mowree Posts: 74 Member
    Welcome. I joined MFP for the exact same reason. Ex-smoker, who gained 15-20 pounds. I dropped a few pounds before I joined. I worked very hard and got within 5-7 pounds to my goal. Then I quit logging for about 6 months and gained a big portion back. I've then started back and have logged every day since. My diet is my downfall. I'm a junk-food junkie. I've not been very disciplined this year with my diet and as a result, haven't been successful with weight loss. This has been a lesson I NEEDED to learn. Feel free to add me
  • neplainjanepas
    neplainjanepas Posts: 37 Member
    Welcome mil_arce
    Can I give you some advice? You gained weight because your body went into starvation mode! Your caloric intake has to be measured on the amount of physical activity that you engage in, which based on your post i think you figured that out.

    For a woman 5'3 who is moderately to lightly active you should be eating around 1500-1600 cals per day.
    Also remember that the numbers of the scale mean so very little.
    Muscle weighs more than fat. 2-3 days of cardio per week followed by weight training can achieve the results you want, providing that you change things up frequently.
    Instead of 45 minutes on an elliptical, try 15 minutes of kettle bell anaerobic workouts or sprints. You could also do things like bosu ball jump squats.

    Best of luck and congrats on quitting smoking. My husband experienced weight gain after he quit too, but a couple extra pounds today is much better than the havoc smoking has on your body over time.
  • MikeLeTwigg
    MikeLeTwigg Posts: 162 Member
    Hi and welcome. This place is cool. You can get some great advice as well as some well let's just say questionable. I don't buy into the starvation mode, but that's just my uneducated opinion.

    I quit just before starting here on MFP. I've lost 30kg so far (just over 8months) This place has been great for making me aware of what I was eating and through some adjustments (mostly portion control) and building in exercise I am so much happier now.

    Habits are hard to break and hard to make but if you can succeed it's so worth it and the cool thing is success is completely within your own control.

    Feel free to add me if you want, I'm on here everyday and will be for some time yet
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,552 Member
    Congrats on not smoking. I quit after getting blood clots in my heart from smoking.
  • mil_arce
    mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
    IWTBFCIN3 wrote: »
    Congrats on not smoking. I quit after getting blood clots in my heart from smoking.

    Congratulations to you as well and I'm sorry to hear about the blood clots. My dad was a heavy smoker and quit because he developed a heart condition.
    He often tells me how surprised he was at how easy quitting was for him and how he hasn't craved a cigarette in years. Meanwhile I quit 3 years ago and I have moments that if I purposely like to walk behind people who are smoking just to be able to get a whiff of their second hand smoke. Gross, I know.
  • mil_arce
    mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
    Mikeletwigg, 30kg?! That's fantastic!!! Congratulations on losing that much weight and quitting smoking. You are definitely an inspiration.
  • mil_arce
    mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
    neplainjanepas wrote: »
    Welcome mil_arce
    Can I give you some advice? You gained weight because your body went into starvation mode! Your caloric intake has to be measured on the amount of physical activity that you engage in, which based on your post i think you figured that out.

    For a woman 5'3 who is moderately to lightly active you should be eating around 1500-1600 cals per day.
    Also remember that the numbers of the scale mean so very little.
    Muscle weighs more than fat. 2-3 days of cardio per week followed by weight training can achieve the results you want, providing that you change things up frequently.
    Instead of 45 minutes on an elliptical, try 15 minutes of kettle bell anaerobic workouts or sprints. You could also do things like bosu ball jump squats.

    Best of luck and congrats on quitting smoking. My husband experienced weight gain after he quit too, but a couple extra pounds today is much better than the havoc smoking has on your body over time.



    Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me and for the advice. As I wrote, I'm totally new to this whole working out, fitness etc. And there is so much to understand.

    According to MFP I need to be on 1200 calories a day and I've been pretty good most days. I've kicked up my exercise at home because because I'm seeing that a 3 egg omelet, toast, fruit and yogurt is already about 500 calories and I have 2 more meals to go!
    I went to see a nutritionist about a year ago (I actually saw 2 but the first one was pushing a fad diet that I wasn't comfortable with) and she taught me to weigh my food. I often found that if I exercised more than 2x per week, eating 3 ounces of lean chicken, half a cup of brown rice and steamed veggies wasn't enough and I'd still be hungry. So instead of eating more, I just exercised less because I did get down to 113lbs and wanted to maintain it.
    A few weeks ago I saw that my weight creeped back up to 120 and so I downloaded this app in order to start tracking and understanding my body.
    You mentioned that I should be at 1500-1600 calories. Is that before exercise?
  • mil_arce
    mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
    Oh and congrats on not killing your husband while he was going through his smoking withdrawals!
    I was like something out of a horror film my first 3 months after I quit and my husband who has the patience of a saint wanted to kill me on more than one occasion!
  • MsLindaC2015
    MsLindaC2015 Posts: 51 Member
    Congrats on quitting smoking! That's a big accomplishment! I'm trying to do the same but not making much progress, any suggestions?
  • mil_arce
    mil_arce Posts: 11 Member
    Thank you Mslindac2015!
    I just went cold turkey and it SUCKED big time for me. Definitely the hardest thing I've ever had to overcome.
    I switched up my routine as much as I could. For example, in the mornings first thing I used to do was have coffee and a cigarette while sitting at the computer and checking my emails. I purposely stopped drinking coffee for a while and started drinking tea. I started chewing gum, lots of it!
    I know it's different for everyone and some people have a much easier time than I did. I still get cravings but they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be.

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