Any ladies trying to quit smoking at the same time as losing weight?
I'm having a hard time. On days I don't smoke, I go wayyyy over calories. On days I do smoke I either eat within calories or only go over a small amount. I'm having trouble doing both at the same time. While my husband is in the field (so, the past week and a half-ish) I smoke less at night because I'm scared to go outside and I don't want to smoke inside as it irritates the dogs. So, I've gone over my calories every night.
I haven't quit yet but I have decided to give it a go on Monday. I figure that since I am trying to lose weight it would be easier to control myself. But I am entering my third month so it doesn't feel like I am doing both at the same time. What I mean to say is that (in theory) I have got used to the diet by now. Anyway, I plan to have chewing gum everywhere and hope for the best.
Hi banana Montana! !! I know your struggle with being pulled to smoke because u eat less. And when stopping you eat more usually because of the oral fixation that the habbit of smoking then stopped soon needs to be replaced with something else n food is usually tithe first thing we would go to but what has worked for me as silly as it sounds is eating a few baby carrots when I want to smoke. I stopped smoking a week before I started my weight loss( 94lbs lost in under 6 months 23yrs old) and not smoking hasn't effected it....try try try, once u get past 3 days you will feel better but if u feel the need to snack make it a healthy one!!! Good luck Hun!
Chewing gum hasn't helped much. I smoke menthols and the mint makes me want one even more. If I'm not shoving food in my mouth I start being my nails until I bleed. I'm a mess.
I've tried substituting junk with veggies or water. It worked at first, but it wasnt as satisfying as having a cigarette. For some reason, eating unhealthy stuff makes me feel better then healthy stuff does. I know I need to just get some will power, but it's hard.
My friend once told me about a very interesting technique how to quit - buy an enormous amount of cigarettes and try to smoke all of them - reaching the point when you get really nauseated and sick. If your lucky, you will never want to see or smell cigarette ever again. But if you aren't lucky then you will just blow some money away on cigarette and spend one day sick in a bed.
Anyways, dunno if it really works but my friend was persuading me, that this was the method she used to quit.
whyquit.com was a huge help to me when I quit almost four months ago. I still struggle with my eating but it has gotten better. I've even lost some pounds since then. But for almost three months all I could do was maintain.
I found it was a lot easier to quit smoking than it is to lose weight. You do have to change your habits quite a bit, but it's worth it.
The first thing you want to do is get rid of the smell...wash all your clothes and bedding, freshen up your furniture, dry clean your coats, drag your blankets out in the sunshine and get the funk out. You don't realize it, but smoking makes you stink. It really does. I, like every other smoker in the world, was convinced it didn't "stick" to me like it did to other smokers - it does and it's awful.
Next, go watch yourself smoke. Don't pose in the mirror with lipstick being all vampy but really, go watch. I caught a glimpse of myself in a window when I wasn't expecting it and my first thought was, I wonder if that woman knows how trashy she looks...oh crap, that's me. Look around at other smokers in public. People are TOTALLY judging you on that when they see you, like it or not.
Third, give yourself a break on the weight loss. I don't mean go crazy, but pick something like Popsicles or Altoids that you can eat whenever you get a craving. It won't take away the craving, but it's something to do while the time passes.
Do you walk or exercise? You will be SHOCKED how much easier aerobic exercise is after just even a DAY not smoking. You'll FEEL like you've lost 20 pounds.
Do you do any crafty stuff at all? Read? Have a hobby you love? Find something to do at night that keeps your hands busy. I tried knitting and failed terribly, but you might be better at it (and by Christmas, you'll have scarves and hats for all your friends and family). I found I was pretty good at embroidery (I like Sublime Stitching for cute patterns and supplies) and it could not be easier (and again, you'll have pillow cases and tea towels for everyone you know by Christmas). Just give yourself something to do besides sit around thinking about how much you want to smoke.
There used to be a site that would calculate the average cost of smoking over a year and for me, it was something like $2000. TWO. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. That's a bit of an eye opener. You can easily do your own calculations - price of a pack x 30 will tell you how much you spend in a month. I bet you can think of better ways to spend that money.
Good luck. It's not easy, but it's not hard once you make up your mind.
I quit about 8 months before I started my weight loss. I quit with champix (pills). I'm not advertising for them, but I really had no withdrawls at all and haven't looked back. In the past when I tried to quit on my own, I always went back. I do know a couple of people it didn't work for, though. The bonus if you can call it that is you feel sick for the first few weeks on it so you don't eat as much. Good luck! Not easy to take on two things at once
I was fortunate enough to be able to quit cold turkey. I stopped when I was out of a stressful environment for a week (I was working at Urban Outfitters/FreePeople/Anthropologie and dealing with b*tches 24/7 on the phones). I took a vacation for a week and didn't want one AT ALL the entire week and had the willpower not to go back when I was at work.
As for Chantix (http://www.chantix.com/), my mom and aunts did it. My aunts have been successful. My mom has had to do it 3 times and it STILL didn't work. She finally quit cold turkey.
I would recommend keeping chewing gum with you (not nicotene gum, it's absolutely disgusting, tastes like pepper and medicine). That seemed to help me a little bit more as well.
I feel 1000X better now that I've quit. I can actually breathe and I'm telling you, once you quit for a few months, you will walk by someone smoking and realize how gross it smells and think, "Did I really smell like that?"
I quit once before that and the first cigarette I picked back up gave me a WICKED migraine.
Don't know if that was helpful or not, but YOU CAN DO IT!
My dad died 8 yrs ago from emphysema due to smoking, so I'm glad anytime that I read that someone is trying to quit.
I hope you find a way to kick the habit!! I know it's really hard, but it will be so worth it.
Best wishes
I am a smoker. I started my weight loss plan in September of 2011. I'm feeling more & more guilty about continuing to smoke, as I incorporate these healthier choices into my life. However, I've decided to wait until September of 2012 to quit smoking, I figure one major life overhaul at a time is enough.
I quit smoking at the beginning of the year. It was hard! MUCH harder at the time, I think, than losing weight. By that I mean that for the first week it was ridiculously difficult not to smoke and not to overeat. I had to be incredibly strict with myself and it took a lot more discipline and self-control than dieting. However, it didn't stay that hard. Now it's not a problem at all. I have no desire to smoke and no problem sticking to my calorie range.
So, yeah, band-aid approach for me. If I had strung it out over the course of weeks I'd have been miserable and probably unsuccessful.
Whatever you decide to do, I wish you luck!! With the right attitude and some tenacity, you can do it! And it is totally worth it.
I quit smoking using Champix - and quit a few months before my wedding while I was working my *** off (literally lol) to lose weight. I had almost no side effects, and quitting didn't have any impact on my weight loss at all. I quit cold turkey years ago (quit for 10 months) and wanted to eat everything in sight. I ended up gaining about 25 pounds.
Everyone is different, and Champix isn't for everyone...but I had a really positive experience with it.
I've found it really easy to cut back, but my problem is that my mom smokes, and when ever she smokes around me the smell wafts over to me and it triggers a craving. As long as I'm not around it, I don't crave one except for when I'm really really stressed out.
I hear you on the Menthols, though... so freaking delicious. Every time someone says they have one, I want one. It's SO hard to turn them down!
Quitting smoking?
Good luck! Not easy to take on two things at once 
