Quitting Smoking and Losing Weight...omg I'm going crazy
Well I have been dieting since May and have lost weight but have been smoking the whole time. My last attempt to quit was New Years. I have been smoking about 5 years. My mother despises smoking--for many reasons but the main being her mother died of lung cancer. She doesn't know I smoke and it kills me because we don't keep anything from each other. I don't see her often but when she was in town a couple weeks ago I was just dying more than ever for a cigarette when someone around us was smoking. She would just shake her head and look down when she saw someone my age smoking. It kills me!
I am sick with a cold now so I'm not smoking in order to get over it as soon as possible but it is realllly killing me--no pun intended. My original intention was to focus on losing weight first and then quitting smoking but now that my mother has left and I see the disappointment in her face when other younger people smoke it makes me want to stop lying to her about this. I want to quit, but then sometimes I don't because right now it is a major outlet for me as I fight my hunger cravings or when I'm stressed about gaining a lb or not sticking to plan. I haven't had a smoke in over 24 hours and I feel great--other than my cold symptoms--and I want to continue my sobriety but I'm terrified that once I feel like myself again and I get back to work and my schooling and my dieting and my exercise that the overwhelming cravings for my cancer sticks will take over and that makes my anxiety kick in. I got over my first craving of the day about 20 minutes ago and it was intense. Luckily my roommate is gone this weekend but she can be my achilles heal at times as our bonding chick moments usually take place when we are smoking together.
I guess I just need to know if there are other women (or men) who have dealt with trying to either quit smoking while dieting or are trying to quit and have advice for me. I want to quit. I really do. I just figured I would when I was ready to finally give it up but I just can't do that to my health, my mother and my career path (healthcare). I want to set a good example to my neices and my other friends who are trying to quit or who have quit!
I quit mid-dieting earlier this year. I sort of phased it out over a few months leading up to actually saying "I won't buy another pack." I didn't gain weight during the withdrawal process, though for a couple weeks it was tough because I craved sweets. It wasn't that bad for me because I had reached my point of being ready to give it up.
I always think back to when my father woke me up in the middle of the night coming into my bedroom crying and begging me to quit smoking. It was the worst I have ever felt, and I've done some awful things before. I lied to him (and my boyfriend) about quitting, saying I had, but I'm sure they knew the truth. When I really did give it up, I felt so much better because I wasn't living a lie anymore. The stress of hiding it was gone.
In addition to not feeling guilt about lying, being able to taste food and exercise without coughing up phlegm and saving money are also great.
It is really tough when you hang around smokers in the early stages of quitting. It might be a good idea to minimize the time you spend out drinking where temptation is worst or with people who you always smoke with. Like dieting, keeping yourself out of situations where you could lose control is never a bad idea.
I'm kind of in the same boat. But its with my husband he HATES me smoking. My mom has quit for a yr now! I also want to quit for my 5 yr old son. He tells me smoking is yucky. I'm so afraid to try & quit while trying to lose weight. I work night shift, plus am a mom during the day so I already don't get mucg sleep AND I try and fit my exercise in, plus quitting smoking? I don't know if I can handle it. My dr said I need to quit after doing some blood tests. I'm just so scared & don't feel like I can do it! I don't even feel like I WANT to quit, but I NEED to quit....
I've been struggling with the same dilemma.
I actually went for 3 months over the summer not smoking. I felt great. I had more money, it didn't seem to affect my weightloss in fact improved it 'cos i could run without feeling my lungs about to burst inside me, and I didn't have the guilt of lying (my family also don't know i smoke) Unfortunately i quit my summer job and moved home, back to my old job. WHERE EVERYBODY SMOKES! ah so it went down from there. 2 of my best friends also smoke so socializing is abit of a smokers trap for me too.
The thing is. oposite to most peoples worries about smoking, I'm afraid that if i continue i will stop losing weight. I've moved back with my parents (who don't know i smoke) so i never smoke while i'm at home. I can go for a couple of days without even thinking of smoking. So what happens is i start getting cravings but because i'm at home i mis-identify the nicotine cravings for food craving. So I end up snacking.
The best thing about nicotine (unlike food) is that you can go cold turkey and just quit. I know loads of people who've done this and it's worked. Unfortunately I think this is the main reason most people will start gaining weight though.
So, I think it's best to phase your smoking out in stages. Start with not smoking while you're at college/work. Then while you're at home (if this is difficult try starting with 1 cigerette per 2 hours, and decrease over time) or don't smoke before midday. Leave social smoking till last as this is the most difficult for most i find. Then only take a certain number of ciggerettes with you and try not to bum.
Hey, I'm not a smoker (too cheap to ever start and too lazy to go outside when cold etc). However, I have a lot of family and friends who smoke or used to smoke. There is no single method of successfully quitting: I know people who stopped cold turkey (after having their tonsels out so they couldn't smoke for a while) and others who used things like nicotine patches and those fake cigarette things. If going cold turkey isn't something you think you can do due to the overwhelming cravings, I would suggest trying another method that will give you that nicotine fix and help you with your cravings.
As a side note, I wouldn't worry so much about gaining some weight while quitting smoking. The whole point of losing weight is to get healthier (while looking better I won't discount that aspect AT ALL). So if you go up like 2 lbs and add 10 years to your life, that's 10 years where you can look good! Lol. Because if you are dieting now and stop, you can still lose the weight. Diets are forever. You will always be dieting-even if you reach your goal. So that isnt' really a valid excuse/reason to put off gaining weight. Because if you're scared to gain weight when you quit, it means you'll never quit. Did that make sense? Lol...it does in my head anyways.
I wish you the best of luck in your attempt to quit!
if there's a will there's a way! i quit over the summer when i was filling in for my supervisor. i had been weening down and finally said forget it, i'm done! the day i decided that was a day from H*LL. murphy's law was in FULL effect that day, at work and at home. i decided around lunch time that if i had made it through that without smoking, then i could surely make it for longer. i did gain a few pounds, but it wasn't anything that i couldn't walk off when i was secure in being smoke free! you will feel SO much better... not nearly as sick with colds, etc. but, please keep in mind, you should wanna quit for yourself, regardless of how your mom may feel... because your mom won't physically be there when you have a craving and light up... just yourself! keep us updated on your journey!
I've been thinking about quitting smoking as well. But I have just started the weight loss journey and Im afraid of the gaining weight part. The truth is I could excercise much more efficiently if I quit.. because I wouldnt be so out of breath.
I wish I only had one vice!! But I've got two smoking and eating too much.
I'm a couple of decades past being 20-something, but I had to respond to this as it's something I know all too well.
I started smoking when I was fifteen and quit this past July. By the time I quit, I had a three-pack-a-day habit. Everyone already knows about what it does to your health, etc.; I don't need to belabor that point, I'm sure. But what really shocked me was looking at how much I'd spent on cigarettes. If I'd quit two years earlier, my car would be paid off. If I'd quit four years earlier, I could've paid for that car outright!
Anyway, I quit cold turkey. Only the first week was truly bad; after that, the cravings were psychological rather than physical, so I just did a lot of stuff that wouldn't let me smoke even if I'd had cigs handy (taking a bath, polishing my nails, cooking, and so forth). Despite having such a big nicotine habit, I found it was easier to kick than I thought it was.
In fact, in a lot of ways it's easier than restricting your food intake. Once you're done with the smokes, you're DONE; you don't have to smoke to survive, but you do have to face choices about your food every single day. If you've been able to handle that--and you have--then you can handle becoming a non-smoker again.
Good luck with it, and good for you for quitting way younger than I did! Heh, I don't even want to do the math on how much smoking has cost me since my 20s, I probably could've bought a house.
Much much respect to those that have quit smoking AND carried on losing weight. Ive been smoking 14 years and also NEED to quit! Only problem is I dont WANT to either....i think thats the problem.
Good luck Shelley...think about the money you'd save and get plenty of patches. If you really do want to you will x
Quitting Smoking and Losing Weight...omg I'm going crazy
I won't discount that aspect AT ALL). So if you go up like 2 lbs and add 10 years to your life, that's 10 years where you can look good! Lol. Because if you are dieting now and stop, you can still lose the weight. Diets are forever. You will always be dieting-even if you reach your goal. So that isnt' really a valid excuse/reason to put off gaining weight. Because if you're scared to gain weight when you quit, it means you'll never quit. Did that make sense? Lol...it does in my head anyways.
