Does quitting smoking really make you gain weight?

Quitting smoking won't MAKE you gain weight. Eating surplus calories does that.

The reason why quitting is associated with weight gain is the quittee finds they need something to do with their hands, something else to put in their mouth apart from the ciggie. In most cases, they use food. Nibbles, snacks etc, and they dont track their calories.

I know I'd be like that if i tried to quit.

Nope. I quit smoking the same time I started losing weight. I lost 11.4 lbs. in that first month and am still averaging between 6-7 lbs./month.

The only thing that will make you gain fat is by consistently eating too much.

i did. i quit smoking before i started trying to bring my weight down though,,, because i was such a heavy smoker no way could i have exercized.. but i think if you have a good steady work out routine and you track what goes in your mouth you can probably quit without gaining but i did gain 25lbs on top of the 20 that i hadnt lost from the last baby,,, it's all in how you approach it i just gave myself 6 months to kick smoking and then i tackled my weight problem

I would recommend perhaps staying at ur goal weight awhile, then quitting the cigarettes slowly.

This is exactly my plan. Word perfect.

It will be 2 years for me on Monday that I quit smoking. I can tell you that I gained 10 lbs before I decided to do something about that. I would have kept gaining if I didn't start being mindful of what I was eating. Joined a site and started tracking every nibble and nosh. Turned that around plus more. I will tell you this, continuing to smoke even one more day is much more detrimental to your health than worrying about a few lbs. You are already here and tracking so I doubt you will see a gain. You WILL want to replace those trigger times with something else. You didn't say how much you smoke but any amount is bad...DON'T WAIT, QUIT NOW......TODAY...IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

I have read a study that said your metabolism slows down when you quit smoking. I think that's more likely true for long term smokers, the fact you have only been smoking for two years should help you out a lot. Please quit soon!

I smoked for 20 years and regret it totally now. I quit over 4 years ago and promptly gained 35 lbs. Partially because I did keep putting candy in my mouth constantly, partly because I waited until I was 40 to quit and my metabolism was already slowing down due to my age.

Quitting smoking won't MAKE you gain weight. Eating surplus calories does that.

The reason why quitting is associated with weight gain is the quittee finds they need something to do with their hands, something else to put in their mouth apart from the ciggie. In most cases, they use food. Nibbles, snacks etc, and they dont track their calories.

I know I'd be like that if i tried to quit.

He is definitely correct!!! I had my last cigarette on Sunday and I am constantly needing something to do with my hands and eating.....But the sad thing is is a vicious circle. Cuz I would eat, then I would want a cigarette, then I would eat later to stop that craving, then I would need the cigarette.

I quit 8 months ago and yes I gained. But I ate crap, and was lazy. (My own fault) My own personal experience, I was slightly depressed, no not from quitting, but quitting on top of my husband leaving for a year to go to Afghanistan didn't help. I didn't exercise and didn't pay attention to what I was eating at all. But my doctor just told me yesterday that your metabolism will slow down after quitting for about a year. So after you quit you will have to really watch what you're eating and make sure you stick to working out. I wish I never would have stopped working out and eating right. Now I'm back up, but I'm back on track, on week 3 of being healthly again, and let me tell you. I don't feel like crap anymore. Good luck with quitting smoking. Don't not quit because you're afraid to gain. You'll be healthier if you quit. Just stay focused on being healthy.

i quit for 6 weeks over the summer and lost 9 pounds over the same 6 weeks.

then i smoked half a pack a day for a month, lost 1 pound that month.

had my last smoke almost 43 hours ago, no weigh ins over that time period though

quitting doesn’t have to lead to weight gain at all but when you want a smoke it feels like hunger - which it is, your body is hungry for nicotine because it thinks it needs it and you have trained it to "think" that- so you eat more and you gain weight. if you are aware of this, and expect it, you can be prepared by looking for carrots, water and other things that will help fill that void without hurting your waist line.

I have found oranges to be very helpful in that regard, try one when you have a craving.

Nicotine is a stimulant. Like any stimulant, it raises your metabolism. Change nothing else about you diet and remove the stimulant and you will probably slowly gain weight because you're body goes back to a baseline calorie burn.

However, MFP's calorie calculations do not assume you have a regular dose of stimulant in your body. Use them and eat according to the recommendations here and you'll still have the calorie deficit to lose weight.