Any ex smokers - how much weight did you gain?

[lovehearts]

I gave up smoking almost 4 weeks ago now. I am NOT eating extra, if anything i am eating less as i am so worried about weight gain but i am still gaining weight. Its really upsetting me (after taking a year to get back to pre baby weight) and although i will not go back to the ciggys i am really struggling with this. Iv even played with the idea of an e-cig or nicotine replacmenet to sort my cravings and help curb the emptiness and loose the weight gain!

Just wondered if anyone didnt gain any weight? or if you did how much? was it stubborn weight that you still have or did you manage to shift it easy once your body got used to the idea of not smoking?

thank you x

 

[Butterfly89]

Ok, this is going to sound crazy, but I actually lost weight. The most I ever smoked though was about 5 times a day but usually 2 cigarettes in a row.. I've never been a one pack person or anything, but still.. I *needed* them. At that time in my life, I decided to make a ton of positive changes at once and just go for it. I stopped smoking, started eating healthier, and to cut the cravings - drank water. I found most of the time when I wanted a cig, it was because I was stressed by something so I would just take small sips of water slowly and concentrate on breathing and focusing.

At first your brain rejects it like, "I want a smoke, not water you fool" but eventually I started enjoying the water. Ice water makes it more tolerable. I also started snacking on healthy crunchy things like carrots, cucumber, celery..

I actually ended up losing 20lbs in a couple months and then another 10 over the next year and it's stayed off! I can't say its because of quitting smoking, but I think when you quit, it shows you how much willpower you really have and inspires you to make more better choices.

 

[Bec27]

Giving up smoking is hard and weight gain can be a negative but don't let it put you off- your body will be so much healthier and you'll find you have more energy to burn any extra weight. I smoked for 8 years, have been smoke free for 4 years now and in the first couple of years I slowly gained a couple of stone- unfortunately I substituted cigarettes for sweet treats so not surprising really! If you see it as a healthy lifestyle change then keep eating healthily too and I'm sure you won't gain too much I have to say that the weight gain after having my son has been far worse than the weight gain with smoking- put on more quickly and horrible flabby tum I never used to have!

 

[lovehearts]

Thank you I am still a non smoker, it's been 32 days. I havnt replaced the cigs with anything and I am snacking on fruit only. I have gained 4lb so far. I am going to try and introduce exercise (in between work and baby lol) and hope to shift it before it slowly creeps up on me and I end up a few stone heavier.

I do feel much better for giving up though

Xx