Weight Gain Since I Quit!

[jennifer15]

My offical quit date was way back on July 4th. I have been proud to be an EX smoker since then but I am REALLY struggling with overeating now. I am up late at night, every night, just eating one thing after another. Mind you I don't eat much during the day, but I know that what I eat at night just sits on me while sleeping and that isn't good. I have gained 15 lbs. now and feeling very bad about myself because of it. I am thinking of joining a gym. I am a stay at home mom and I do have the time, if I would get off my lazy butt and just do it.
Right after I quit smoking I felt like I could do anything, now with the extra pounds, well I hardly leave the house. My clothes don't fit anymore anyways.
When I smoked I always went outside to do it but now I never go outside unless I just have too. I just don't feel like me anymore and I wanted to know if anyone else was going through the same thing and what you have done about it.

[maria9]

Hi Jennifer, I know where you're coming from my awakening came when I went to the doctor for a check up and he was so proud that I had stopped smoking but I almost had a coranary when they weighed me, 20lbs. I had gained. Well that night it just so happens there was a Weight Watchers meeting near me and off I went. That was 4 weeks ago, I'm down 9 lbs. and I'm doing the program. I find that I can handle both issues quite well. The weight issue gets my mind off of smokes. I understand that feeling of eating and eating like you're out of control, I think it's our way of replaceing the smoking. Anyway so far it's worked for me, you might want to give it a shot. Let me know how it goes.

[jennifer15]

Thanks for your reply and I hope others will join in the discussion too. There are so many things when quitting smoking that happen to your body. To be honest I never really thought about this change until it hit me one day, like you said at the doc. office. I had not really wanted to know, ya know. I was in denile!

[Giulia]

Jennifer, you know ALL the reasons why you're gaining weight, and all the reasons how not to. All you need to do is DO IT.

Join a gym. Or if you don't want to take on that expense and commitment, go to thrift shops and get yourself exercise tapes, or there are follow along exercise programs I believe on cable tv, no? Start participating in those. Or take a Tai Chi class or something different, or not. Try step, or kick boxing, or get an exercise ball. The possibilities for exercise are limitless. I went out and bought this thing called ProGym in a Bag. It's three different strength stretch tubes. And it really is like having your own gym. You can do a billion different strengthening exercises with those silly thing. But that ain't gonna take off weight, it's just gonna tone you up. To take off weight you've gotta do aerobic type exercise. So get your butt back outside and walk/run/trot/skip/jump rope/trampoline/hop..... I exercise about five days a week. Two to three days I play tennis for 1-3 hours, and the other two days I'm either doing an hour of step, or stretch tubes, or free weights, or....

But the point is, just like with quitting smoking, you have to be disciplined. And discipline is hard. But there are ways to keep it up nonetheless. For instance yesterday I did NOT want to exercise AT ALL. Was tired, energyless and totally unmotivated. But I said "screw it!" "I'm gonna do SOMETHING. Maybe not an hour workout, but something easier. Just SOMETHING." And so I took one of my 30 minute step workouts (the tape AND the step itself I had gotten at thrift shops) and put the sneakers on and the shorts and the t-shirt and got the step out and DID IT. And it wasn't fun, and I didn't enjoy it. But what I did enjoy was after it was all over I could say, "I did it. I tried to lose weight. That's another day I exercised." And let me tell you, that alone was worth it. Whether I burned enough calories to take anything off was secondary to the satisfaction of knowing I'd DONE something. Ya know? And it was only 30 minutes.

Not all of us can afford to have life coaches and personal trainers. But we CAN all become our own personal trainers and life coaches. We have to go with that little faltering voice that wants to improve and build it up. That's all. That little voice that knows what's best for us. Say yes to it, encourage it and stop being afraid of the world DISCIPLINE.

But exercise is only part of the problem. We tend to put more food in our craw after we quit. I did. Food becomes a substitute. If you're gonna substitute food, then it's gotta be at least good for you, not sugar and potato chips and cr*p. I stuffed myself with salads, for instance.

I'm one that never ate breakfast. A cup of coffee and five cigarettes first thing when I woke up was it. Then snacking, grazing throughout the day and a HUGE dinner and not enough time to digest it. Bad, bad, bad. My husband just put an article on my desk: "Eating a healthy breakfast is amazingly effective at helping you lose weight, because it gets your metabolism going. Without breakfast your metabolic rate slows and your blood sugar drops, which causes you to reach for the sugary, starchy foods that offer a quick caloric punch but also leave you chunkier." Dr. Bob Arnot

So I'm forcing myself to eat some cereal for breakfast. HATE it. I don't put any sugar on it (most of those cereals have enough sugar in them) and just shove it down my throat as fast as possible. If that will help me lose weight - I'll friggin' do it! Aaargh.

They say portion control and calorie counting is where it's at. I've made myself more aware of the calories I eat and will deny myself something that's particularly high in calories. And I look at labels and compare calories of the stuff I buy. One brand of X vs another brand. I'll go for the lower caloric one. Portion control I'm having real trouble with. But I figure that will come in time. It's one step at a time here, just like in quitting.

You wanna feel good about yourself? Very simple. Go back outside. There's a new you waiting there for you. Venture forth. Take it one day at a time, just like with cigarettes. Don't make it bigger than it is. And experiment. Can you hoola hoop for instance? I was at physical therapy a while back and I saw a hoola hoop and thought, oh yeah, I used to do that. And put it around my waist only to discover I COULD NOT keep the dang thang up. You want exercise - go buy one of those. Play. Life can be playground or a gerbil wheel. Discover the playground.

[Susan59]

Wow that was very inspirational! I have gained 15 pounds myself and am obsessed with it. I am battling the smoking thing and menopause...not a weightloss combination.

Went to WW a few years ago and couldn't lose 10 pounds to save my life....I got so point obsessed that my relationship with food was worse then before I started. I have been on Atkins, (lost 19 pounds...ate a piece of bread..gained it back 😉 ) ...south beach.....same thing....best life......diets don't work for me.

I was doing really well at the beginning on my quit and was doing the treadmill and got hurt..that caused the downward trend.

I know that it is a matter on moving more then eating.....thanks for the inspiration.

Peace Susan day 228

[Diana20]

Ditto. Gotta move. ewwwwwww. I love food. Hummmmm Gotta want to loose more than I wanna eat. Ive been thin, right , fat. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
But I gotta want it. Where's the cream cheese ofr my bagle??? Not! Kashi!
xo-Dont smoke.
Di

[kellie2]

When I think of quitting, I have anxiety attacks. It is like I have to smoke as much as I can because I won't be able to soon. I am eating everything and anything I want...my excuse..well, I can't smoke so I will just eat. Problem is, I can't get my quit past day 4 when I turn into an irritable witch and don't even like being around myself. Funny part is, I quit in Oct of 2006 and did my first triathlon in July the following year. Got hurt. Got stressed, started again the beginning of Oct 2007. I promised myself that I would quit by the New Years. Then it was spring when I could get back out to run. Then it was after I graduate. Then...well, it has been like this for the past 10 months. I did 2 tris this fall. I completed them, but was very unhappy with my performance. I have no one to blame but myself. I still have not quit. I made it four days last week. Then another relapse. I am an athlete, built like an athlete, feel good when I work out, but I am still struggling with having gained 6 pounds in the past month while still not being successful in quitting. I am not giving up tho. I want to feel good again. I want to be happy with my performance.

I am currently fighting plantar faciitis in my right foot, tendonitis in my wrist and left shoulder. I am a mess and depressed because of it.

Heather is right. One day at a time. If you think that you have to spend 25 minutes on an eliptical to work off 250 calories....is that cookie worth it? Does that Snickers really taste that good? Moderation. Stay healthy. Take care of injuries and be strong. Hang in there and do what you can...get out and move.

[Giulia]

"I have put on 10 pounds so far..." yup, that's a defeatest attitude, for sure. The "so far" part. The only exercise you can do is walking? When I had my achilles surgery a year ago March, I couldn't walk at all. For months, it seemed I was on crutches. Didn't matter. I did exercises with free weights. On my knees. I was determined to strengthen my ankle. I did. I'm still doing it. It's still not fun. I still can't walk the way I used to. But I can play tennis again. I've put on about 13 pounds and I hate it. And I'm fighting. I haven't given up. And don't you. I don't know what your health issues are, but it seems to me if you can walk you can do chair exercises at home, or thera band, or exercise ball, or isometrics or....????

The key IS exercise and proper eating. And I I'm doing that for the most part. But it ain't the same when you're our age. (I'm 5 years older than you.) We don't burn the calories as fast, our metabolism has changed. And that stinks. And maybe that's life. For some of us. At the moment. Doesn't mean we can't keep tryin'. And maybe this is just a metabolic phase we're going through. I don't know. I don't like it, but I'm not gonna give in to becoming a blimp. And don't you either. It's called discipline. OK, you can't do five days of exercise a week, then start with ONE. Just like quitting cigarettes. We start with one day. So pick one day to do an hour's worth of exercise and one other day to eat right. That's not so hard. Is it?

Come on Heather - don't become that middle aged spread out woman you dread. FIGHT!

[sandra5]

Hey Giulia, Outstanding writing here -- have you ever made me sit up and take notice tonight!! Thank you. I've gained 8 pounds since I've quit smoking -- the beginning of March. This is the first time in my entire life I've wrestled with weight and its no fun. I also need to get over myself because I have every reason to exercise more and every reason to eat healthier. Thank you for the jolt of motivation!!

[Giulia]

Sandra, glad some of my words have made an impact. No, having to wrestle with weight for the first time in our lives is definitely no fun. But I gotta warn you, it may be what's so when we quit.

So ten months later (after having written the above), I've still got the 13 pound weight gain, but I'm still exercising and I'll tell ya one thing - that gain don't got no fat on it. I worked out six days last week between two hours of tennis on several days interspersed with a day of 30 minutes of a heavy duty walk/jog up and down hills, step aerobics and a free weight regimen. And the odd, two-plus hours of weed wacking.

I figger' if I do that and still have the 13 pounds - so be it. At least I'm in tip top shape WITH those 13 pounds at 60 years of age. The only other thing I could do to lose the weight, which I am unwilling to do, is stop drinkin' booze and stop eatin' meat. I gave up smoking. That's ENOUGH as far as I'm concerned. I'll live with the 13 pounds. And it's more or less stabilized at this point. So I'm a size (to a size and a half - depending..) larger. I'm not gonna fight it any more. I just took a whole bunch of my old clothes (finally that have sitting here for 4 years) to the thrift shop. Meanwhile I've got a whole bunch more "new" thrift shop clothes to wear.

Now if I go a size up from HERE, I'll really be worried. But I've been at this weight now for quite a while so I figure this is just me at this stage of my life. But it takes work. I may eat portions that are too big, but I don't eat a lot of crap. If I did - and those few days that I do now and then - woah. Amazing how fast you can gain a pound and how LONG it takes to work it off.

You've got almost ten years of youth on me. It should be easier for you. So don't let my metabolic reality be yours necessarily. Except - ya gotta get out there and shake your booty. And by the way - if you hate the idea of formal exercise - aerobic dancing will also give you one heck of a workout AND it's fun too. So look into that. Don't want/can't afford to join a gym - get some cds. All the exercises I do are off of old tapes I've had for the past 20 years. And I'm constantly picking up new ones to keep the exercising fresh. Just don't be discouraged when you can't follow along on the first, second or third times. The routines take a while to get in your physical memory...

Go for it!