I've just joined up today and it's nice to see so many friendly, helpful people
As the title says I stopped smoking about 3 weeks ago now and I'm panicing about putting on more weight, I already need to loose 3 stone (I'm about 12.10 at the mo)
I eat reasonably healthily, try to have breakfast (cereal), usually a sandwich at lunch although today I had jacket, cheese, ham and salad, always a cooked evening meal (not always healthy). Occasionally I'll snack during the day but try not to. My downfall is mainly wine, I tend to drink about half a bottle to 3/4 a night (no not worried I'm an alcoholic!!).
When I first stopped smoking I definitely noticed my eating go up mainly due to the bad cravings, I think now I've leveled out though.
I've started going to the gym 2 - 4 times a week at lunch time which involves 25 mins of cardio and about 60-80 situps.
I really don't want to go on a diet as I've yo-yoed before and need to do something a little more permanent. I also feel I have an unhealthy relationship with food as I will binge eat, don't really know when I'm full.
Do you think that if I stop having wine during the week that the gym sessions are enough to start loosing weight or am I kidding myself
Wine does have a lot of calories - cutting back or abstaining can't hurt. As long as you don't compensate the gym sessions with more food. I have a hard time with this - my tummy says yuo just worked out - I'm hungry...I've been adding more protein and less carbs lately. That seems to help. That and telling my tummy to shut up.
Take it one change at a time! If you cut out your weekday wine, you should def see some changes, that is if you don't substitute something else for it!
Try cutting out wine for a week or a month, then gradually start introducing fruits or cutting something else down. Take it one day at a time
I had to pop to the doc this week and while I was there asked her opinion on the loosing weight, she basically told me to not do it at the same time as stopping smoking! I understand what they are saying but my b/f's parents both put on 3 stone when they stopped - I can't afford to add that as well I'll never get rid of it
I'm feeling very positive at the mo so I don't think it will cause an issue if I try to lose weight at the same time.
I am trained as a smoking cessation advisor and find this is one of the most under explained areas of quitting! GP's often do not take the free government training, they are too busy, but leave it to Practice Nurses, who themsleves may not have time to run a specific clinic. For 2 years I worked in a GP surgery as a smoking cessation advisor, with a slightly above national average succesful quit rate!
As humans we have only one brain message for things that we take into our bodies through our mouths - so your brain doesn't say "I need drink" "I need food" or "I need a fag" it says "put something in your mouth"
That is why we lose weight when we start smoking, instead of eating we use the nearest thing to hand - a cigarette. This only adds to the mental addiction as we lose the ability to identify what it is our body is asking for.
When you stop smoking you translate all such messages as "I NEED A FAG", which makes it harder yet to quit!
BUT if you deliberately hear ALL of those messages as "I need something light and healthy to eat/drink" you get to use your quit attempt to help you eat and drink more healthily - so I have ALWAYS advised that my clients who are quitting make a conscious effort to clean up their diet at the same time.
Not only does it give you something else to think about but it helps you understand the feelings of cravings.
My advice is to have plenty of water, fresh fruit, low fat, low cal yoghurts to hand. When you get a craving you should have been told that you only have to say "NO" for 20 minutes before your brain forgets that it wanted anything anyway!
So you have 3 choices, wait out the 20 minutes by distracting yourself with a fiddly task - rubics cubes, finger knitting (easy to do and easy to carry around), crosswords or those number sudoku things.
OR you could drink some water - most smokers are dehydrated - drinking more water (or tea or coffee if you prefer) not only helps stop the craving but makes great improvements to your skin tone too! Get that "I've stopped smoking, non-surgical face lift in less than 4 weeks"
OR eat a little something. You will need to eat small snacks during your quit period anyway - your blood sugar levels drop and you need to make deliberate efforts to control them, where you used to mask it with an 'upper' that cigarette. So an apple, a yoghurt or any other healthy small snack is perfect - and it retrains you and your tastebuds into fresh and healthy produce!!!!
If you want more info please give me a shout. Whatever method you use to quit the steps you must take to be succesful are the same - get informed, get a routine, use 20 minute distractions, keep your blood sugars even and DON'T LET ANYONE AROUND YOU MAKE YOU WAVER - you'll always find a close friend or family member who seems **** bent on making you fail.
They are jealous - smile and ignore them - get that superiority complex out and wear it well!!
Thanks for the mega reply Stef - very useful info. I'm going to print it out as a reminder. It all makes sense and a lot of it I already know but I just need to keep re-inforcing it so that it becomes second nature. I'm trying to make sure I have water sitting on my desk at work, and I need to start making myself drink it more often.
And thanks Alison, after the first 3 weeks it is starting to get much easier, the habit is definitely harder to break than the addiction, but I'm pleased with myself that I've managed to do it cold turkey
Congratulations on quitting smoking. It is truly the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm almost a year into my quit.
Great info, Stef!
Tranquility, I'm a member of an online support group and I'd like to invite you to visit. It's a smallish group, and we do have several very active threads on healthy eating, losing weight and exercise. It's a .net site -- stopsmokingcenter
(not sure if you can post whole web addresses here.)
I haven't dared weigh myself again since I stopped smoking - it's now been a month . I feel much healthier and have much more energy and have noticed a few flabby bits being less flabby since I started the gym a few times a week. I suspect that I have put some weight on though and think I may have start getting drastic with myself
Why is it that if I go on a 'proper' diet I can stick to it (pretty much) but if I just say I'm going to eat healthily I still have 'issues' with buying snacks??? :confused:
I have started a food diary today, as I thought it would make me think about it more.
Well done on giving up smoking. I have seen my dad struggle with the same thing. He gave up and gained weight but it was only temporarily until he got used to not needing something to put in his mouth. The weight came off and he stepped up his exercise - mainly walknig and now he is much slimmer and happier.
One step at a time - it will al come together but you need to be patient!
Stopped smoking and Panicing !
