do we have any smokers on here?

i have been building up the courage to ask as it is something i want to stop doing for a variety of reasons. however, it is also one of the reasons i believe i have not put on more weight than where i am at now. i do use cigarettes as appetite suppressants - i have since i started smoking.

if you don't want to post in public forum, please pm me. has anyone quit while trying to lose?

i keep thinking that i need to take things one step at a time and if i cut junk food, introduce more exercise and stop smoking all at one time - it might just be a sabotage waiting to happen.

I stopped smoking a year ago, while I was trying to maintain (I gained a bit since, that's why I'm here!). I don't really know if I put on weight then, but i DO know that's it's pretty difficult to stop food AND ciggy at the same time.

The biggest difficulty was that I didn't know what to do with my hands at coffee break or after lunch, so I always got the munchies. I don't smoke when I'm stressed, but when I'm happy and relaxed, chatting with friends (I guess I'm a party smoker!), so I had to be extra careful with the chocolate bars and desserts!

I managed not to touch a cigarette since because:
- I am on the pill
- My boyfriend is a non smoker
- All my friends stopped too

But I still get the urge to light on sometimes, especially in bars when I'm out with friends.

Exercise is good though, it helps the craving. I never wanted a ciggie after working out for two hours !

I also stopped smoking a year ago. I think I may have put on 3lbs or so the first week, but then I stopped using food as a replacement for smoking and it evened out. One of the best ways to stop yourself from eating when you want to smoke is to go brush your teeth -- it's something you do with your hands associated with your mouth, you won't want a cigarette to foul up the nice taste in your mouth, and all food will just taste funny afterwards. I wasn't exercising at the time but I imagine it would help take your mind off of things.

Depending on how often you smoke, you might want to try cutting down first. My roommate who smoked since she was 15 (so for 8 years) did it this way -- she cut down till she was at 2 a day, and then stopped. She then went on the lowest level of The Patch, eventually cutting them in quarters until she felt confident enough to remove it totally.

Remember, though -- the health benefits of quitting smoking FAR outweigh (pun not intended!) the negative results of an added 5lbs! You'd have to put on a hundred to damage your body the way smoking would! (Not to get preachy. Believe me, I know how hard it is.)

I wish you luck, Daisy! Keep us posted

On my second time to quit. I quit the first time for 5 months. I actually gained 15 pounds and then I lost the 15 pounds and then more because I just felt better and had so much energy that I didn't know what to do with it..I also didn't have near as much depression and I was more social after I quit smoking..and that was only for 5 months. Then my husband and I moved to Germany and I let my guard down and started smoking again...became anti social, became sort of depressed again, gained 30 pounds! Now I have quit again for the past 3 weeks and I have gained a couple pounds, then I will lose a couple of pounds. I am trying to keep from eating to comfort me..It is very very hard. I just know that when I quit smoking I feel less depressed, more social, and more energetic and I know that the longer the time goes that I don't smoke I truly believe I will eventually lose the weight that I may add on. I seriously don't think that I would weigh as much as I do if I never had started smoking because I truly think that smoking has something in it to cause me to be depressed and without energy and causes me to gain weight. My highest weight was 250 when I smoked the most! I am just going to be patient with myself and do this day by day but it is the hardest thing ever I do have to say..especially trying to lose the weight at the same time. Overall I do think that once you get to that 4th month without smoking you will gain so much energy that you won't be able to sit still! That in itself will help you lose any kind of weight that you may put on..but I think that you really need to focus to NOT use food as comfort from day one of your quit. I chew sugarless gum and walk and find things to keep busy. I do have my days where I binge but for me I have always had a binging problem as well and that on top of quitting smoking is tough. You can just do your best and then just be happy that you don't have to let the ciggy control you anymore. It is an addiction to nicotine not just a habit that needs to be broken but a drug.

Ok this is from a different point of view--sorry if I hurt feeling I DO NOT intend to...

While I know that quitting is hard just like any addiction (food included) you have to think to yourself "a bit of extra weight or incuralbe CANCER?" I have been through cancer twice YOU DO NOT WANT IT!!! the treatment is terrible, mouth sores, loss of hair, unrelievealbe muscle pain, pill after pill, loss of friends--trust me, its terrible-- find a way to keep your hands busy without cigaretts, take up knitting, learn to draw, read, just quit before its too late!
all the best, and all the strenght to quit are being sent your way!

I stopped 2 years ago actually. The only reason I did was because I was working out a lot and it made me feel so sick when I did. The problem was, when I quit smoking, I soon quit dieting and working out AND I quit working as a personal trainer and took a desk job. As long as you don't do all that I think you'll be fine.

Not it's just a matter of finding something else to do (other than eat) when you would normally smoke!

i agree with all of you and thank you all for being so candid.

i did stop smoking a year ago and stopped for 3 months. not sure of the real reason i started again - i think i was telling myself how stressed i was and to **** with quitting.

i need to stop and want to stop.

i will stop

i ran out of cigarettes this morning so now seems like as good a time as any. just bear with me and give me a kick up the bum. will promise to vent on here before going to buy a packet. i need your support.

The way I started thinking about it was this -- you've made it an hour without a cigarette, why not make it two? Okay, well, you don't want to ruin the whole day you spent not smoking, so let's try for two days... Eventually it's really not worth ruining your excellent progress! Just like weight loss -- baby steps! Good luck Daisy!!

i agree britomart - baby steps. if i analyse it too much it can become overwhelming.

i usually go for most of the working day without smoking so when it comes to driving home it will be the first test. thankfully i came to work with supplies for lunch, my water bottle, and some herbal teas and low cal hot chocolate drink for a snack. only healthy choices available.

one day at a time

thanks for your support

Daisy Boo

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!
I think Britomart said it best, if you can make it an hour you can make it 2...if you can make it one day, you can make it 2... just keep things in perspective...hey maybe find a picture of a lung full of cancer and put it in your wallet so if you get the urge to buy a pack you will see that picture...that will make you buy gum instead!!!!

i started smoking a lil bit at 19 usally i would just steal one from my husband(ex) or have one when i was with him and he ws having one .. now that i am single and living on my own working and everything that come wtih divorce i get really stressed ands its something for me to do.. i say i can quit that i am not addicted but i feel it now the urge that i NEED one.. i want to quit but working where i am working the only breaks you get is if you smoke and get to go outside and sit for like 5 min.. but 5 mins 3-5 times a night is alot.. stand sucks.. but i want to quit.. i completely agree that having a stress out weighs the cancer you could get.. but hey its baby steps and first i gotta get my eating under control and slowly make it so that the smoking goes away too

I just quit smoking at the beginning of January. It was so hard at first. I could have torn someone's face off if they looked at me wrong. It's a lot easier now. I quit using the patch and I gotta tell you that is the easiest way. I've tried cold turkey, not recommended, niccorette, which is nasty, smoke away, which may work for some but it has no source of nocotine in it so it leaves you craving.
I tried to quit 4 times, and this time it stuck. Sometimes all I think about is how nice a smoke would be, but I am not going through that again. I've even had smoking dreams. Seriously.
Also, it helped that I quit with someone, and I'm pretty competitive, so it really helped me. Best of luck quitting.

When I found out I was pregnant 2 years ago(on april fools day!) i had my last cigarette. I did gain a few lbs by quitting cuz i was the same way, I used cigs as a "meal" lol. I would go out and smoke when i was hungry or whatever.
Also, i was pregnant which probably didnt help me anyway with the weight gain.. lol

I smoke. I have cut down from a pack and day to, a pack every three days. Its a slow progression for me, I have smoked for 11 years... Started when I was a teenager, why I dont know. I guess because everyone around me did. I didnt actually smoke cigs until I had my first beer and people were like here cigs are so good when you are drinking, and they were. So I became a social smoker and it just progressed from there. I quit smoking when I was pregnant with my kids, why I started back is beyond me. I will admit that I can be pretty superficial, and I wanted to get off the baby weight, and the " I quit smoking weight" but now that I am health concious I just want to quit, and I think I am doing pretty good about. I know no picture of lung cancer is gonna help me quit, Ive seen many in my day and its not stopped me then, but I guess for some people it would help. I just pray to God that it doesnt ever happen to me,and that I can quit completely before then. Just like for me, a skinny girl on the fridge doesnt motivate me, I just walk by and say whatever