Quitting Smoking while changing food/exercise habits

Today is my first day not smoking - I'm nervous about that! I am using the Nicoderm patch. I'm trying to change my life starting with my health. I can use any support I can get!

Day two of being a non-smoker! I read the Allen Carr stop smoking booklet which made real sense to me and dumped the patch!

I tried to quit smoking 3 times last year before I even started MFP. Now that I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of using MFP I think it's time to give it another go around! Thanks for posting this topic!

I have been smoking for about ten years, and while I'm pretty low dependency (5 or less a day unless around other smokers, having drinks etc), I'd really like to give up, for my own sake and for the sake of my asthmatic other half. I've tried before and though I don't smoke that much it's *really bloody hard!* I'm not sure I could do it right now as I'm only a couple of weeks into completely turning my diet and exercise habits around, and I'm worried if it tried to do it all at once the pressure would be too huge and I'm setting myself up to fail at all three.
But when I say to people that I am waiting for a little while for this reason, it ends up sounding like an excuse to put it off. I don't think it is, but then a smoker's brain is a sneaky thing so now I don't even trust my own reasoning!

Anyway, basically my question for other people is have they tried to quit smoking while trying to change their eating and exercise habits at the same time? If so, did you find it easier to wait until the other lifestyle changes had had time to settle before you tried? Any advice/opinions welcome, thanks

It really depends on how difficult it ends up being for you. Most people find quitting very difficult. If you are one of those, I'd put the weight-loss/healthy eating on hold and just concentrate on not gaining weight. OTOH, I smoked a lot more than you--a pack a day for more than 25 years--and I found quitting a piece of cake. I just finished the pack I was on and never bought another. If it's that easy, I see no reason not to do both at once. Whichever is the case, quitting smoking has to be the #1 priority as it's a far bigger health risk.

omg .. being an ex-smoker .. isn't it amazing how much smokers stink? I can tell now exactly who smokes and who doesn't .. grosss .. can't believe i used to smell like that

While I agree I can now almost always tell a smoker by smell, I think "stink" and "gross" are pretty strong words. I can smell it, but it's not really a big deal.

May 2011 for me and I haven't looked back!!!!

I was however already working out at the gym and trying to watch what I ate, but you know what it's like, sometimes you just can't help it. Best thing to do is just keep yourself busy and only have healthy low calorie snack in the house

I put on a couple of pound maybe even up to half a stone dread to think what I would have put on if I wasn't working out, I have since giving up full fat fizzy juice, crisps and I'm trying to eat very clean

I just find the whole smoking thing disgusting now, the smell makes me feel sick

good luck

today is day 12 for me.
i only used the patch for the first few days (whereas when i quit before i was MENTALLY dependent on them for 3 months- as directed) but this time i was like EFF IT, i'm done being dependent on nicotine.
my GF quit too, and we were just talking yesterday how amazing and freeing it feels to be not hooked on cigs OR nicotine patches//
i did do more snacking for a few days, but just like with weight loss, no excuses. don't use it as a crutch, because at the end of the day, YOU have total control. that's it.

Bump

I have been smoking for about ten years, and while I'm pretty low dependency (5 or less a day unless around other smokers, having drinks etc), I'd really like to give up, for my own sake and for the sake of my asthmatic other half. I've tried before and though I don't smoke that much it's *really bloody hard!* I'm not sure I could do it right now as I'm only a couple of weeks into completely turning my diet and exercise habits around, and I'm worried if it tried to do it all at once the pressure would be too huge and I'm setting myself up to fail at all three.
But when I say to people that I am waiting for a little while for this reason, it ends up sounding like an excuse to put it off. I don't think it is, but then a smoker's brain is a sneaky thing so now I don't even trust my own reasoning!

Anyway, basically my question for other people is have they tried to quit smoking while trying to change their eating and exercise habits at the same time? If so, did you find it easier to wait until the other lifestyle changes had had time to settle before you tried? Any advice/opinions welcome, thanks

Hi! I just quit last month. But, I smoked a pack a day, which is maybe a different thing than five a day.

I put on weight when I quit. About five pounds or so. I realized that I was bored and I found myself baking an awful lot just to pass the time in the afternoons.

However, I also started walking for exercise, and then I started to "run" (I'm doing the Couch to 5K thing). I found it helps to be aware of how my lungs feel. I mean, it motivates me to not smoke. Yesterday, I climbed a pretty steep hill. As I was huffing and puffing my way up, I was really grateful not to be a smoker any more. I want to climb Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000 feet). I want to climb them happily, not in misery. That's my fitness goal. So, running or climbing almost daily reminds me not to smoke!

I was doing a fair bit of exercise and a fair bit of baking and my weight was sorta creeping up or maybe hovering at +5 lbs and that's when I decided to give dieting a try, so here I am!

But, really, I think quitting smoking and exercise go hand-in-hand.

ETA: Not drinking in pubs is a huge key to my staying quit. If I go to a pub, I will smoke. I can drink at home and not smoke, but I cannot hang out in a pub, chitchat and socialize with smokers without succumbing. I just don't go to the pub.

Try scheduling your work outs for the times that you would normally smoke a cigarette. This helped me.

bump

I had lost a lot of weight before I quit smoking over a year ago. I gained back about 10 pounds. I didn't really stress too much. I knew that I had to quit and in the long run, be healthier. I wish I had quit sooner, but I can't dwell on that. A few weeks after I quit, I started running again. I have completed 2 half marathons and have a few more over the next few months.

The main for me was not replacing food for smoking. I think that is easy to do and where the gain in weight happens.

Quitting is easy. Staying quit is the hard part. You can do it. I always used the excuse that things were too stressful and that I can't quit. There will always be something stressful going on. We make so many excuses to feel the addiction. It ends up being really sad in the end to hear the lies and excuses we tell ourselves.

I'm glad I saw this and am going to check into it myself.

I quit smoking cold turkey in December 2010. At that time, I had begun looking at my diet. My kids had already lost their mother and I didn't need them losing me because of a controllable health choice.

Here's the deal on quitting...Your challenge is 98% Mental. Nicotine is out of your system in 3 days. That's the easy part. The hard part is filling up your time with recognition and a better choice for when you would go grab a smoke. The habit of smoking is the routine that you have buried in your subconscious as to when you smoke. CHOOSE to Break it. Once you have affirmed the choice. ACT of breaking Every time you think about it. By doing so, you will ACHIEVE! Keep close the reason(s) why you want to quit. This will help you win the mental battle.

Be well!

EDIT: And FYI...I smoked since the 3rd grade...that would be for 30 years.

Hi everyone.
I am obese since childhood and was smoker for 22 yrs (one and a half pack). I started weight control by walking and healthy eating from Sept 2nd 2011. I quickly lost about 37 lbs by December. Then I hit the plateau in 2012. But I continued healthy food n walk. I was static in weight for 7-8 weeks. In Feb first week I read Indian movie star Hritik Rushan's interview about his weight loss and successfully quitting smoking. He strongly recommended Alan Carr's book. So here was I on weight loss plateau. I thought why not in the mean time try quit smoking ? I got free ebook online and then quit smoking on Feb 17 th. Since then I was static weight wise for next 3 weeks but now slowly I seem to be breaking the plauteu as well. So I am in win - win situation. I think its more important to quit smoking first simply due to drastic bad health issues. It's mostly mental thing. Once quit, you are done with the issue. Weight loss involves both physical and mental aspects. So you have to be more dedicated and that too for much extended period of time. So go ahead, its not that much hard to quit smoking once you get to the core of the issue with Carr's book. Then continue with weight loss program. Best of luck.