Ready to quit, worried about getting fat!

[ForeverDecember]

Anyone out there quit and NOT put on weight?

I have a bit of extra weight at the moment and I don't want more! Is the weight hard to lose? Anyway around it? I'm on a calorie controlled diet from Jenny Craig at the moment.

Yay for quitting though Day one today.

[Saxony]

Yay, congratulations on day 1

I can't really help with the weight gain question I have put on a couple of pounds in a week but then I have been eating alot more than usual. I figured I would eat what I wanted for two weeks to get past the worst of withdrawal then worry about my weight after that.

I think the avarage weight gain is about 7 pounds, that is because your metabolism slows down after you quit. I guess if you don't want to put on weight you have to eat slightly less than normal or exercise slightly more.


Sax

[ForeverDecember]

Thanks Sax.

I'm not *too* worried about the weight - I'd rather have the weight and be a non-smoker than be a skinny smoker. It's just going to be frustrating considering that I'm already trying to lose it!

I'll go for a run tonight I think, and start adding exercise to my weekly routine and hopefully that will combat the metabolism change.

[beegee]

I would tell you to go go and walk when you want a smoke. Jenny Craig wants you to exersize too . It is a habit in my opinion to reach for a smoke, so when we don't have the smoke we walk to the fridge, Grab an apple instead. I gained 5 pounds but I watched it and it is gone. Good luck.

[chippa]

I am one o those desperate people with very very little will power, so dieting was (and still is) nowhere near being an option-

I ate everything that wasn't nailed down, but justified it because

1. I was quitting
2. I exercised my butt off-

I read somewhere that even if you burn ALL the calories you eat, it's not good to eat crappy things-

For the most part, I tried to MAKE everything I ate, so at least it wasn't overprocessed, sodium laden transfat whatever that stuff is- I still try and do that, but it's really hard...
The one thing that goes along with quitting is a sort of sub-conscious awareness of a commitment to your overall health which enabled me to somehow maintain a pretty regular regimen-

2 months after I quit I ran a 5K and raised somewhere over 1500 for autism, which was a good motivator-

It's hard to keep on track, especially when you've quit smoking and I would imagine most folks here have quit drinking, if you're going to stop eating food that tastes good, why get out of bed in the morning? (rhetorical question)

[chippa]

Damn job people come in here asking me to do stuff-

I think especially in the early days, you have to take on a 'do anything but smoke' mentality, where if you feel like a cheeseburger will stop you from blowing your head off, you're better off with that than a cigarette, but as your mental state gets back to normal (wherever that is for you, it's taken me a while) you gain the ability to be more and more vigilant about food

I wil give this warning-

I know a lady who quit and she gained a lot of weight and decided to smoke again because she was so unhappy with her weight gain, and hasn't been able to lose that weight either so now she's doubly miserable

for whatever that's worth....