That’s right, I’m trying to quit smoking and have at the very least successfully cut down quite a bit (that would be “entirely” if it weren’t for going out for drinks with friends) only to find that I’ve gained 10 pounds.
Yeah, my appetite is huge and I want to eat everything in sight. I find myself staring at the fridge a dozen times a day looking for something to stuff my face with, even if I’ve just eaten a filling meal an hour previously. I apparently have the world’s biggest oral fixation. (That’s a nice setup there…)
How can I quit without getting huge? I’m overweight as it is and trying to lose, and I’m seriously pissed about those 10 pounds. I know many will suggest gum, however I really dislike chewing gum for some reason. Never really liked it, and now associate constant gum-smacking with uncouth individuals. What other options do I have? Help!
I can’t offer any advice, unfortunately, because I’m in the same situation. It’s getting so bad that I’m seriously considering taking up smoking again. I just wanted to say that you have my complete understanding and I’ll be watching this thread myself for whatever anyone can suggest.
Are you eating more frequently than you were when you smoked? I did. Here are some things that helped:
[ul]
[li]If you’re going to munch anyway, try lower calorie munchies: air popped popcorn, carrots, snow peas, sliced apples, etc. Just make sure it’s something you like (you don’t have to love it, but you won’t give up the high calorie stuff if you don’t at least like the low calorie alternative)[/li][li]Try to fill up your “prime snacking time,” so you’re not tempted For me, watching TV or reading always went with a cigarette or a snack. So I limited those things for a while. If you sit around thinking “I want a snack but I can’t have one,” you’ll likely give in eventually. Make yourself busy so you don’t think about that snack you’re not having.[/li][li]Oddly enough, brushing my teeth would often get me over a snack/smoke urge. I guess I didn’t want to ruin that clean mouth feeling.[/li][li]I had a hard time feeling “finished” with a meal without that post meal cigarette. So I got in a new habit. Rather than a post meal smoke, I’d have a cup of coffee (I don’t normally drink coffee with a meal). After a while, my brain reset so “coffee” equaled “finished eating.”[/li][/ul]
I understand the oral fixation. The hardest time for me when quitting was after dinner. The thought that there’d be nothing I could enjoy until breakfast the next morning really got to me! So I’d fill that time up: activities, a cup of a hot drink (if you can’t drink caffeine at night, try herbal tea), or–if I just HAD to have a snack–low calorie munchies.
Listen, having a few extra pounds on you is far easier to manage in the long term than lung cancer or emphysema. Don’t worry about the weight. You can lose that later.
Smoking is a terrible scourge. Ten or twenty pounds is nothing!
My aunt chose *one *thing to eat instead of smoking. In her case it was apricots.
Because she freely allowed herself an apricot whenever the cravings hit, they never got too bad.
You get sick of apricots really fast when you eat half a pound of them every day.
And they’re so much easier to give up than cigarettes.
So, you’re smoking and 60 pounds overweight, and you’re asking for advice? I think you know the answer. Sorry. I quit smoking ~20 years ago, and my weight is ideal. I’m not a health nut. I like beer. But if you seriously want to live a full and productive life all indications are that you will need to make some lifestyle changes. There’s no magic pill: just do it.
Every time you want a cigarette, instead of eating do something you don’t want, instead. Like 10 pushups, for instance.
Wait, that probably only works for masochists. Okay, try (a) Certs or (b) Tic-Tacs. A small burst of flavor, not many calories. I think you can get them with a sugar substitute, even.
This happened to me when I quit smoking 4 years ago. Even stuff I don’t like much tasted so freakin’ good and I was hungry all the time. I gained 40 lbs in a couple of months.
I was on IV steroids at the same time, so I’m not sure if that contributed to the problem. (probably not though, I did IV steroids a couple years later without gaining any weight)
I’ve lost about 30 of that extra weight, and am still trying to lose more. It was worth it all to be off of cigarettes.
Weight loss. From personal experiences which may or may not work out for you. IANAD
Don’t go to the grocery store and stock up on every single item they carry. You’re just giving yourself more reasons to eat something.
Stick to a small grocery list. Avoid going out and eating fast food, if you do already.
Only drink water.
Try eating one less meal per day.
Exercise a little maybe. Jumping jacks. Shadow boxing. Walking/Running. Whatever you gotta
do to break a sweat.
As far as the smoking problem goes I don’t think I have any advice for you that you haven’t already heard.
Epic Nonsense, thanks for the advice. I was doing great with the weight loss until I started trying to quit smoking, at which point I lost all willpower to control my eating and wanted to eat everything in sight.
Fugazi, that’s what I’m worried about. I put on 10 pounds so fast I barely had time to react. I think it’s a combination of 1) no longer getting the appetite suppressing benefits of nicotine 2) being bored/needing to do something with my mouth/hands and 3) feeling sorry for myself.
And Leaffan, I find your “advice” to be so unhelpful to the point of being rude. Several years ago I put on 90 pounds because of a medication I was taking, and I have successfully lost 30 pounds so far. So yeah, I’m a little pissed that I’m experiencing this setback because at this point in my life, weight loss is more important than being a non-smoker.
I recently bought a pedometer. I’m not working on giving up smoking, but am working on losing weight. The pedometer has been a godsend - it gives me something else to fixate on and you can get one really cheaply - for $10. I get 10,000 steps in every day, even if it means walking around and around and up and down the stairs at work. So, perhaps if you find yourself staring at the fridge you could consider going for a walk?
I’m not sure if you’re home during the day or not, but when I was at home and trying to lose weight, I would clean for 15 minutes every time I found myself tempted to eat when I wasn’t hungry. By the time the 15 minutes had ended, I’d actually gotten into the cleaning and forgotten about my food craving.
I find that losing weight at an office is actually much easier than doing so at home because my hands are busy and I don’t like to eat in meetings. Regardless of where you are, though, distraction is key if you’re eating when you’re not hungry. IMHO, of course.
Thank you. I do appreciate it. I wasn’t sure if I was just interpretting things wrong because I’m irritable, but since I am irritable I didn’t really care if I came across as a jerk or not.
You’re right, though, I do need to make some lifestyle changes. I’m just really annoyed that my two major changes are conflicting with each other.