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weight gain is killing me

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weight gain is killing me

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3875

Terden, I think alot of us gained weight over the first few months of our quits. Know that this is temporary and that a lot of quitters have also lost all the weight they gained, by increasing their activity. It makes sense that we gain weight when quitting, as we used cigarettes to cover up emotions and for a time when we quit we do the same thing with food. You also have to remember that it is normal to gain a little bit as we get older.

Make good choices, up the exercise a bit more and you will find it levels off.

You are far better off to have a few extra pounds than to be a smoker. You can always lose weight, but its a lot harder to get new lungs.....

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 3/5/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 960
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 24,000
Amount Saved: $10,128.00
Life Gained:
Days: 127 Hrs: 2 Mins: 24 Seconds: 43

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 31

Boredom is what sets off my hunger I think your see before when I got bored I use to go have a smoke so now I think I have replaced that with food. What I do now is drink water or go for a quick walk around my building at work or stop and talk to someone, following that I guess I'll have to cut back on the amount of food I eat, although I didn't think I ate that much, and to select healthy items.

Since I quit I have found a few things I don't eat anymore because they don't taste right to me, one of the items is Beef, it tastes like dirt to me isn't that strange! and potatoe chips they all taste stale so I don't eat them which isn't a bad thing I guess.

I will not be depressed about the weight gain and I know I will not go back to smoking that is NOT an option so I just have to take this one day at a time.

Have a good Tuesday everyone and keep the quit

Terry

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 6/28/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 114
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 2,052
Amount Saved: $1,026.00
Life Gained:
Days: 12 Hrs: 20 Mins: 25 Seconds: 25

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 47

Hi All,

I am now 44 days free of the nicotine monster. I am also putting on weight because I am eating the wrong things and I know it. I am not beating myself up about it just yet because I want to be off the nicotine patch for at leat 2 weeks before I seriously focus on a diet. I also do a bit of exercise although not as much as I should. I recently went from the 21 mg patch to the 14 mg patch. This was a milestone for me. I definitely noticed the difference and struggled on day one and two on the lighter patch but feel more comfortable now. I am so early in my quit that I don't want to put too much pressure on myself as regards weight gain, however, I don't want the weight to pile on so much that I get depressed. I will keep up the good fight. Best of luck to you all in your own endeavours.

Regards,

Scruffy.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 9/6/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 44
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,056
Amount Saved: �451.44
Life Gained:
Days: 6 Hrs: 12 Mins: 53 Seconds: 53

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1080

Hi Terden, yes I can identify too with the weight gain. I gained alot of weight as I found I was replacing my cigarettes with unhealthy snacks. My health professionals suggested I substituted healthy alternatives, however, I found I was craving sugary sweet or high fat items, and healthy just was not cutting it for me-My husband was exactly the same and he gained weight too. Eventually the weight became a real issue for me. I am not used to being overweight and I felt I had reached the time when I felt my quit was 'safe' and I could now focus on getting the weight off and increasing the exercise.

I joined both Weight Watchers and the gym and hubby joined the gym- we are both now back at our pre-quit weights and still go to the gym regularly as we now find we enjoy the exercise.

So please dont despair, the weight will come back off-

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/10/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 525
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 13,125
Amount Saved: $7,875.00
Life Gained:
Days: 61 Hrs: 23 Mins: 5 Seconds: 47

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 916

Hi Tarden!!

I cut down on my food intake because I know that my metabolic rate slowed a bit after quitting. I do excercise a lot too.Actually I also increased the intensity of my workouts.

Just monitor the quality of the food you take. You can substitute foods. Or just for instance take out mayo from your life. Just one unhealthy food at a time. I struggled with weight many years ago and I lost 100 pounds and I have never ever regained them. My weight oscilates 3 pounds depending on the season of the year.

I gain three pounds between Thanksgiving and christmas,lol

You are doing great things for your health like quitting smoking and excercising. I know you will succeed in losing the pounds you want to loose.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 1/23/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 267
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 4,005
Amount Saved: $400.50
Life Gained:
Days: 30 Hrs: 7 Mins: 53 Seconds: 19

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1904

terden, I know what you mean. I've gained seven lbs that I really couldn't afford to gain, but smoking again is not a solution. I need to keep in mind that I was fat while I was smoking. I'm just fatter now. I've caught hold of my out-of-control eating. First things first. I started keeping a food diary. No biggy I just use a kid-type notebook and write down what I'm eating or have eaten as soon as I can. Writing down what I'm eating is changing the way that I'm eating. I begin realizing that I can't eat four hamburgers in a day (there's always tomorrow), and that I only need 1800 calories a day. I've stopped stuffing myself and started snacking on carrots and celery--no dipping sauce. I'm surprised at how well I can actually eat for 1800 calories. (I lost a lb the first week when I was only trying not to gain weight.) I do some menu planning, mainly because I need to cut food waste. However, meal planning is also good for keeping tabs on my weight. My goal is to start dieting in November after I've stopped smoking for six months. My smoking quit will have priority. I don't have to diet perfectly, just good enough at least not to gain anymore weight .
My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/1/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 168
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 4,704
Amount Saved: $1,822.80
Life Gained:
Days: 18 Hrs: 10 Mins: 6 Seconds: 33

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2606

Hi terden,

The timing is actually quite on for this post. There is actually a recent post by a fellow member that discusses weight gain having extra energy to lose the weight. Making healthy food choices, incorporating regular physical activity and resistance training will help in achieving a healthy weight. You can do a body assessment to assess the percent of non-lean muscle mass you have which will help to decide if you need to lose weight or if you are at a healthy weight.

Do stay strong and focused with your quit! Never feel like you have to apoligize for "whining" because it is not whining you are just letting us know what you are going through!

Samantha, Health Educator

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 31

Well OK it's not killing me but I am getting very uptight about how much weight I have gained. When I decided to quit I knew there would be weight gain, it happened in the past so I pretty well had to decide that I would have to just deal with it and once I started getting comfortable with my quit I would work on getting the weight off.

Well I am feeling better about my quit but this weight gain is just killing me, it's not that bad that I will start smoking again because I KNOW that the weight will not fall off if I start smoking, it will stay and then I will just be a fat smoker.

I have always watched what I have eaten especially during my quit because I knew I would gain plus I do Kickboxing 5 times a week and Karate 3 times a week so I think I get a lot of exercise. I just don't know what to do, I can't just cut out food, do I buy new clothes and except that I am going to be this weight. I could really use anyone's help on this

Did anyone of you gain a lot of weight, let's say around 20 pounds, and how have you drop the weight?

thanks for listening everyone I know it seems pretty petty to whine about your weight but it is really bugging me.

Later

Terry

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 6/28/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 110
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,980
Amount Saved: $990.00
Life Gained:
Days: 12 Hrs: 10 Mins: 53 Seconds: 44

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weight gain is killing me