Yep. Gained 100+ lbs. over the course of the last 20 non-smoking years. Addictive behavior is addictive behavior. No, I haven’t lost it yet. I keep trying but it keeps finding me.
I went from 200 pounds to 280, went on a big diet and lost what I gained then jumped back up to about 240. Been there about the last 10 years.
I didn’t gain any weight, but I also work out 5-6 days a week. I have found that exercise really helps cut down the cravings for me.
Bit late to the thread but:
No I did not gain weight. In fact I was losing weight when I stopped smoking and I continued to do so afterwards.
I counted calories and did not increase my intake.
No. One of my incentives to quit was that I wasn’t getting anything out of my gym membership because I couldn’t work out as a smoker - too hard on my lungs. When I quit, I was able to work out regularly. I can’t remember if I lost weight (I wasn’t overweight to begin with) but I certainly didn’t gain.
Nope, I lost weight. Mostly because I cut out alcohol, since a couple of beers are a major trigger to relapsing into smoking, and I also substituted exercise at my regular smoking times: after dinner I’d go for a walk for an hour instead of lighting up, and when the cravings got really bad I’d haul out the old push mower and mow the lawn down to bare earth.
Yeah, I gained weight but I was seriously under-weight when I quit. So the weight I gained put me about where I should have been and I’ve never tried to lose it.
I didn’t gain weight, but that was for a combination of reasons: most importantly, I wasn’t smoking so much that I found it terribly painful to quit (mostly I missed having something to do with my hands and just started fidgeting in stead); also, quitting in the first place was a part of an overall plan to get healthier, so I simultaneously began training for a marathon.
My mom, on the other hand, gained quite a bit of weight - 50-60 pounds, if I recall, and has been struggling with it since she stopped almost 20 years ago. That said, she cooks with lots of cream and butter, so it’s not how much she eats, but what she eats.
As noted above, replacing smoking with a “healthy” addiction can help.
Yeah, especially if it’s something you can substitute for your routine. Something you can do with your hands is good, especially if it’s a controlled form of aggression, like lifting weights or mowing the fuck out of the lawn. Pissed off and wanting a cigarette? Don’t go for a walk, go for a stomp.
I quit smoking 1,5 years ago and now weight 3,5kgs less than when I smoked.
I would like to share my experience because I never actually found any positive story on the web when I was searching for a way out.
My story: I smoked for a total of 10 years (originally 1 to 1,5 packs a day then turned to rolled cigarets). Few years ago I quit smoking for 2 years. This led to an extra 8kgs on my scale (and I’m 1m61 so it’s a lot - from 50 to 58). I basically spent 1,5 years dieting to loose 4kgs. Eventually, I had put so much pressure on my self (including no more alcohol) that I decided to start smoking again. Few years passed and I decided to quit again. After about 6 months, I had put on 7kg (from 53 to 60), reaching the highest weight I had ever had. It made me look older and I felt like I had lost control. I would have moments of intense cravings for sugar and if I started eating a pack of biscuits, I would just eat the whole thing.
Everything changed the day I decided to go see a dietician! Instead of adopting a super restrictive diet, I learned how to eat in a balanced way and to do sports. Overall I now weight 3,5kg less than originally. I lost 9.5kgs in 6 months. Each person should see a dietician to get the right amount of carbs/proteins etc. for their age/hight/sex but some key elements of my diet were:
- Cut the fat. Avoid as much as possible using oil or butter. In fact, you can do this! Use balsamic vinegar on your salad, it’s the same. Cook stuff on a good pan without fat, in the oven. Use béchamel instead of cream. Eat 0% yogurt. Try light cheese (max 12%) and low fat types of ham.
- Drink soup before a meal if you’re hungry (low calories ones - not with potatoes) or drink 2 glasses of water (15min before eating) it will cut your appetite.
- Eat a small amount of carbs during each meal (in my case 30gr of glucids). That’s super important because when you quit smoking, your sugar levels stop being regulated by nicotine (survival reaction from your body) and so if you don’t eat enough carbs regularly, you end up having uncontrollable cravings for food, especially sugar. This is KEY. Also include lean protein and half of your plate with vegetables - both reduce your appetite.
- Include one smaller and one larger meal each day (as in one sandwich/salad vs a proper stake or fish). In my case it was 60g of lean cheese or ham, then 150g of meet or 200g of fish (if it’s salmon 150 once a week for omega-3).
- Snack in between each meal with a fruit and a 0% yogurt. That is: morning and afternoon - evening if you’re hungry.
- Exercise! This is your FRIEND. Do some cardio. Workouts that make you sweat. When I run 30 minutes while doing this diet, I loose 0,5kg at once. Jogging can be boring though. I found zumba very fun. This is also good to cut your appetite. If you usually feel like eating a lot after work for example because your stress comes in at once, then exercise will solve your problem.
- Drink water!!! At least 1,5 l per day. You will find out that you are often thirsty, not hungry. Plus you will loose water weight (water retention due to lack of water intake).
- Alcohol… You can drink 1 drink per day (it will help you actually) but if you don’t like this idea, you can also just drink 6 glasses during the whole week-end. I would advise you to go run before you go out. This will allow you to wake up the next day without having gained any weight. However, exclude drinks that contain sugary sodas. Strong beer = 2 drinks.
- Allow yourself 10g of chocolate per day. It’s tempting to replace a meal by a sweet. The problem if that you will be hungry very soon, as sweets don’t actually feed you, they just satisfy you for a moment and then make you gain fat.
- Last thing: remember that your body sees weight loss as you dying so it gets into survival mode to make you eat. Once you stabilise at a given weight, your body also does everything it can to make you stay there, so once you arrive at that point, everything becomes much easier!
I think that’s it!
I truly hope that this can help someone!!!
No, I didn’t gain weight. I suppose i just didnt substitue food for them. I dont really know why i didnt gain weight. I used to sip a glass of water sometimes while a craving passed.
What i can say is it was hands down, the best thing i have ever done (leaving aside getting married and having my lovely son naturally). I gained my health back and a lot of pride and self-respect. I didn’t smell of cigarettes anymore, hangovers weren’t as bad, i didnt feel antisocial having to go outside all the time at social events, i felt more attractive, things tasted better, my concentration improved imeasurably as i wasn’t wondering about when i could get my next nicotine hit. I wasn’t in thrall to addiction anymore, a slave of the tobacco companies. I was free and have never looked back. I love being a non-smoker. Good luck! It’s absolutely worth it, no matter if you gain a few pounds along the way which isnt even a given.
I quit the day I had a heart attack. Since I was also put on a strict diet, I also lost weight, maybe 20 lb, although this left me still overweight, although not obese. Maybe I was 225 and lost down to 205 (at 6’1"). Over the ensuing decades, I gradually gained it back and more until I was 280 15 years ago and I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. At that point, I lost 30 lb, then slowly gained 10 back. Eight years I was started on metformin and, without making any special effort, lost about 20 lb over the next couple years. Then four years ago, I decided to stop all eating between meals (my meals were already modest) and have lost 40+ lb since. I am now at 199 (I weigh myself every morning and record it).
Most recent quit was April 3. I’m about 4 pounds over my quit date. But it was the start of summer and I’m more active outside in the summer.
I was a fat smoker. Smoking didn’t keep or make me thin. Doctor said better to quit smoking than to lose weight, if it was one or the other. My goal is both, one at a time.