I have been eating healthy for years. I lost more than 40 pounds and kept it off for years. But I never feel 100% healthy because I smoke more than a half pack of cigarettes everyday
Has anyone quit smoking while dieting?
I really really want to quit.
Please share your experiences? How did you do it? Did you gain any weight?

I quit smoking in Oct and gained 6 pounds. That is what started my weight loss adventure. So far so good. I used the patch to quit smoking and calorie counting to lose weight. Believe it or not the hardest part for me as been mt.dew. I stopped drinking mt. dew in jan. and that is what I struggle with every day. To heck with candy and/or marlboros I want a mt. dew!!! lol

I love these quit smoking threads!

I quit smoking (two++ packs a day, and I started when I was FOURTEEN, yipes) in October of 1986 (okay. I'm a bit older than you!) and I am the biggest wienie ever. I hate pain and suffering and I indulge myself shamelessly (hence the smoking!)

But if I can quit smoking, ANYONE can quit smoking.

The American Cancer Society puts out a book called 21 DAYS TO QUIT SMOKING. Basically, it talks about how habits are formed, the psychological changes that happen with addiction, and lots of great tips for quitting.

The other thing I want to point out to anyone who smokes:

When I quit smoking, I was buying a carton (nearly eight dollars) plus a couple of packs a week. So, I was spending about nine dollars a week on cigs. On my twentieth year quit-date anniversary, I spent a verrrrry interesting hour figuring out how much money I had saved over the years by not smoking. ( I researched various changes in prices of Marlboro's which I smoked.)

You ready?

From 1986 to 2006, I saved a nip under twenty thousand dollars. Yeh. 20K. That was the down payment on our house and college tuition for our first kid.

I invite YOU to quit smoking and save a ton of money, too!

Oh!
And no, I didn't gain any weight---I drank lots of water and munched on cinnamon sticks and took lots of walks when I was frustrated.

Even once around the block can help...

I quit in January of 2009. It is one of the best things I ever did for myself. I unfortunately gained roughly 2 pounds a month the first year. BUT it was well worth it, and I am now ready to lose that weight, plus the weight from my last baby. Good luck to you!

I used Chantix and found a support group online at www.quitnet.com There are people there who use various forms of quit aids, and even cold turkey quitters, so it's really a lot like 3FC but for quitting smoking. I quit on August 27, 2008. I gained a LOT while i was

I used Chantix and found a support group online at www.quitnet.com There are people there who use various forms of quit aids, and even cold turkey quitters, so it's really a lot like 3FC but for quitting smoking. I quit on August 27, 2008. I gained a LOT while i was quitting, but now I have lost a LOT of weight and I still don't smoke. For me, it was worth it.

Barb

I quit this past January and I honestly didn't find it as hard as I thought. I mean, it was tough but not horrible. I think it was partly because we only smoked outside and I was so sick of leaving my children indoors while I froze by the door every half hour.
My husband and I both quit together which helped. He has smoked since he was 13! We used Nicorette Cinnamon gum for about 4 weeks. It helped a lot. Keeping busy was very important for me. I also felt it was harder when I tried to pretend "smoke" things like carrot sticks. It brought the cravings back horribly. Everybody is effected differently by quitting. I managed to do it without gaining anything. I was still counting calories and exercising. I did notice a stall in my loss for about 3-4 weeks as my body adjusted.
I am actually finding it a bit harder now than I did this past winter. My summer habit was to sit outside and smoke when I had free time. Now that the weather is nice, I feel like I am missing a part of my life. We are working to build new healthier habits but its tough sometimes.
I know you can do it Its tough but so worth to to give yourself the gift of better health and possibly adding years to your life!

Considering you are at goal weight now, expect to gain a few pounds. I read that people gain an average of 8 pounds quitting smoking because of a drop in metabolism from quitting smoking.

But I wouldn't despair. I quit smoking a few months ago and lost 20 pounds, but remember, I was 30 pounds overweight.

What worked for me was healthy eating, exercise & nicotine gum. I exercise almost every day and have an active lifestyle now. I feel much better having given up the cigarettes. The nicotine gum kept my metabolism up so I didn't have trouble losing weight when I quit.

Now, my main problem is I'm addicted to the nicotine gum and can't give it up. But the gum is relatively safe compared to smoking.

Good luck.

I quit smoking twice in my life. Once when I was 21 (I started smoking at 12) and then again in August of 2008. I pretty much quit cold turkey both times. The first time I didn't smoke for 17years. When I started smoking again I didn't smoke as much about 5-7 cigs a day. My husband finally quit in July of 2008 after smoking for 28 years. He was on my back to quit constantly so what I did was I would take a couple of drags put the cig out and save it for later. I did this for a couple of days well it was making me so sick (the taste of an old cig & just smoking a couple of drags was making me dizzy) I actually desensitized the pull of the cig and didn't want them anymore. It was tough both times but so well worth it. I made sure to workout daily for at least 30 mins and I did not gain any weight.

My lesson learned was no matter how long you have quit for never have that one drag again. It could mean being a smoker again.

one way you could.. is slowly cuttinga cig out a day... every week cut out 1-2 cigs out of your routine

I started my weight loss journey in July 2008. In October same year, I quit a nasty 21 year, 2 pack a day habit. Someone else had asked me how I quit and here is the response I gave them
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/2885060-post21.html

Good luck

I've also been considering quitting smoking but I am concerned about the effect it will have on my weight loss. Honestly though, the health trade off should be worth it. I'm just worried that I will be a raging you-know-what...work can be so stressful and sometimes the only thing that chills me out and keeps me from throwing my computer at someone's head is a smoke.

I also think that cutting back slowly to start is a good idea...as long as you keep in mind that eventually, you have to stop completely.

Good luck hon...nice to know I'm not the only one facing this hurdle!

I'm trying to quit also. Last week I went cold turkey for two days. I actually felt fine and didn't have any cravings, but I missed it. I started again, about a half a pack. I'm doing cold turkey again, and it's been a day and a half.

I'm trying to use scare tactics. Whenever I want a cigarette, I read the list of ingredients. (I printed out a list I found online.) It's horrifying. And now that the manufacturers are making fire safe cigarettes (FSC) it's even worse. The paper is held together with carpet glue and FSCs produced 13.9% more Naphthalene and 11.4% more carbon monoxide than regular cigarettes. Naphthalene is a chemical that is the main ingredient in mothballs.

Good luck. The answer is different for everyone but it's NOT impossible.

I quit smoking after 18 years of it (I started in 7th grade). Unfortunately, or fortunately, I was able to quit only when I became very ill and could barely breathe! I was hospitalized with pneumonia and by the time I felt a tiny bit better to want a ciggie I was already over the nicotine withdrawal! I did feel like I had lost a friend, tho. However, I don't need a friend who wants to slowly poison me and watch me die of lung cancer.

I know there are meds out there that can really help - I didn't have them at the time. The most effective thing I tried to combat weight gain was to do something where I needed to breathe really deeply - yoga, long cardio. It calmed me down a lot and made it easier to take a quick "time out" break without the ciggie and without a kit kat.

I was tempted at first to just try a puff here or there but the smell just sickened me. I count that as a miracle!

Hope you can do it! I'm rootin for ya.