Quit smoking and gained 30 lbs

[Jamie 65]

Well ladies my wife and I quite smoking about a year ago.  Saving us about 20$ a day.  Gained 30 lbs But have been on a diet for 2 months now and have lost about 13 lbs.  want to loose 30 more though.

[Deborah]

Congratulations.  Quitting tobacco is probably the best health decision anyone can make.  And way to go with the weight loss so far. :-)

I quit smoking two months after I started HRT and have been on several diets since then.  Right now though I'm down 45 lbs from when I started HRT and am pretty much at an ideal weight.  The best and easiest diet method I used was eliminating sugar and wheat and switching my macros to super low carb.  I'm still eating that way and feel physically better than I have in a long, long time.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[danats2]

Dummy me tried to start dieting and stop smoking the same day. Didn't work out for long so I cut down to Half a pack per day and instead of dieting I'm calling it a lifestyle change in the way I eat. healthier foods and not near as much. I guess one could say I'm trying to eat like a girl would. Down 24 pounds in two month and 70 more to go! Wish me luck and good luck to you!

Keep Pushin on! and Roll with the changes! - REO Speed Wagon.

[Dani]

I have never been a smoker, but all my parents, brother and sisters were. They all had several health issues, including being overweight. They all said that smoking helped them curb their appetite. I am sure it does, because if you are not smoking you are more likely to snack on comfort foods.

I had a problem with snacking on comfort food and gained weight to 340 pounds. By taking control of my life and eating mostly vegetables and some fruit, I have lost over 100 pounds.

[Dayta]

Good on you for quitting smoking!  It is a good example, however, of how simply changing your weight is not necessarily a positive health outcome.  You can lose weight by smoking, but you weigh that decision and determine that the risks associated with smoking outweigh the positive aspect of weight loss.  That's why I think that focusing on healthy behaviors is a much better focus than watching the scale.  If you're doing healthy things, don't let a scale tell you that you're not healthy. 

I quit smoking about 35 years ago because cigarettes were getting so ridiculously expensive.  I'm still searching for that big bag of money I saved throughout those years. 

Erin

[Deborah]

If you're doing healthy things, don't let a scale tell you that you're not healthy. 

That's not true.  People with high BMIs are still at increased risk of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

If the high BMI is due to a large muscle mass then one can be healthy.  If it's due to abdominal fat mass then one is not healthy no matter what healthy things they are doing.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[Kylo]

This is very true. Smoking is bad for the body but gaining too much weight can be just as lethal.

Puts you at higher risk of plaque building up inside your arteries (to solve this lower your fat intake daily and long-term) stroke (as a result of plaque buildup) fatigue (lack of oxygen getting to your brain/muscles due to plaque buildup), high blood pressure (increases risk of stroke and heart attack as the pressure is more likely to dislodge chunks of plague in your veins and deposit them somewhere like the brain) and liver cirrhosis (fatty liver disease leads to similar problems of liver scarring and malfunction as long term heavy drinking does). Also puts more strain on all your organs and joints.

It's tough but try to lose the weight. Being overweight is not yet recognized in the mainstream as something that's going to shorten your life like a cigarette, but it does.

[DawnOday]

Take it from someone with four open heart surgeries. Don't smoke.
Take it from someone who has lost 100 lbs in three years. Besides smoking, stop eating sweets, drinking soft drinks including Gatoraide, reduce all servings except green veggies to the size of a fist. Walk. Stick with it and you will succeed. You don't have to cut out everything just reduce the serving size. This also works for diabetes.

[Carolina]

Hi Jamie,

  Yes, the weight gain.  Grumble. 

  I started late, in a place called Vietnam, dismantling landmines (they call them IEP's these days which is a more accurate description).  Still have a piece of the one I was dismantling when I had my first really, really serious smoke.

  And I quickly became a 3 pack a day guy.  And 20 some years passed.  And my clothing got holes burnt in them and my sense of smell was lost and my nighttime cough required nyquill and I spent a lot of money buying cigarettes. 

  So one day I simply stopped.

  And I put on 60 some pounds.  Went from a 220, maybe a 240, guy to a 300 guy.  That was 30 some years ago and I'm still a 300 guy. 

  But Its ok.  My clothes no longer have holes in them, I can smell things now, I don't cough at night, and I've got some spare money that I once didn't have.

  So you may not lose your weight gain.  I didn't. 

    But it has been worth it for me.  Hopefully it will be for you also (and who knows, maybe weigh gain can be managed better these days). 

        Love, Carolina 





 

 

 

[Kylo]

This also works for diabetes.

Very true! Type 2 diabetes can be prevented and reversed, simply with dietary changes and lifestyle changes. I guess it usually occurs because the individual ingests so much sugar so often they become immune to their own insulin. You can reverse this by cutting out sugar.