Questions for those a few months cig free

[lizw]

I wondered if anyone had any huge changes in their sleeping/eating habits?

I have been survivng on 6 hours sleep a night for the last few days (waking at 5am) and am wondering if it is because I am waking up hungery.

I thought my latest obsession was waking me up BUT this morning I had a whole raft of them going in my head and I think I woke because I was starving! I am going to try to eat something tonight right before I go to bed or at least half an hour before hand.

And I have just wondered if it is all the dang sugar I am eating...
I swear I have never ate this much sugar/candy in my entire life!

[Astro]

I hope you don't mind a former chewing tobacco user sharing, liz. Honestly, I haven't heard anyone share that they don't have an eating issue initially. My experience was that it's an oral fixation, I constantly need something in my mouth. At the time I gave up tobacco I was still drinking, so my drinking practically tripled. Three months later when I stopped drinking I cross-addicted to sweets, donuts, cookies, etc.

I finally found relief in sunflower seeds, but I had to give that up too recently, it doesn't work with the Weight Watchers diet I started. So for the time being I'm trying the healthiest alternatives I can find. Sugar-free candy and gum, dehydrated veggies like peas & zucchini, plain corn nuts, etc. I try to eat them slowly.

I'm sure it's possible that the high sugar intake could be a factor, I often struggle with too much caffeine. It might sound corny and old-fashioned, but when I'm having constant trouble with sleeping I drink a small glass of warm milk before bed, it usually helps.

Keep an eye on this thread http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ml#post2192942 (Any Other Sleepers?)

[SeekSobriety]

How much Coffee or Caffeine containing drinks are you having a day? When you Quit smoking Caffeine becomes much more potent. Nicotine cancels out the effect of nicotine so if while when using nicotine (smoking/chewing etc.) you used to drink two cups of coffee, one cup as a nonsmoker/user will probably be more then enough. Remember caffeine also stays in our system for a long time (over 8 hours) so make sure not to drink it closer to bed time.
Make sure to drink enough water and eat proper meals during the day. The body will be much less forgiving on skipped meals of any kind when not a smoker/user of nicotine. Before bed try taking a nice hot relaxing bath or shower, perhaps put on some soothing music or read a good book, something to make your mind more at ease. Make sure to get a little bit of outside time (walk,bicycle ride,etc.) something to get the body moving a little bit. That will also help eliminate the stress. You can totally do this! Congratulations!

[acehood629]

Wow I had no idea that caffiene was more potent when you quit smoking... Hmmm, that makes sense..
Anyway I quit smoking on new years of 2009 and I'll admit I've gained some weight since. And I'll give the strong sweet tooth I've gotten credit to that. I also agree thats its a huge oral fixation. I've also started chewing my nails. And I eat a lot of hard candy. But I think these things are better for me than smoking.

I haven't had problems with sleep though. Although when I do wake up I am starving and have to eat right away, when I smoked I would have a cig right away and not eat for hours. I can actually say quitting smoking was easier for me than quitting my pain pill addiction. And I don't mind the extra weight too much.

How long have you been smoke free? Good job quitting!
I hope it sticks for all of us who have quit..

I don't have any other info or advice on this, but good luck

[lizw]

Thanks everyone.

I think this is like day 35, maybe. Close to it anyways. Over a month.
Yesterday I ate a lot less candy and drank a very minial amount of caffine type drinks and I slept really well last night.

The comment about the caffine being stronger when one stops smoking, makes sense and as I type this it is occuring to me that other things probably affect me differently now because I am not smoking them away. It's like a whole new adjustment to life really, isn't it? I haven't a clue why this never occured to me before.

My mind tells me that just 'not smoking' is all there is to it. It said the same thing to me when I got sober/clean then 3 months later after doing nothing but go to meetings, I wanted to kill myself or my sister (We'd had an argument.)

Am deliberatly trying to slow down too, as since I stopped I think I have become a bit speedy.

[SeekSobriety]

Originally Posted by lizw

Thanks everyone.

I think this is like day 35, maybe. Close to it anyways. Over a month.
Yesterday I ate a lot less candy and drank a very minial amount of caffine type drinks and I slept really well last night.

The comment about the caffine being stronger when one stops smoking, makes sense and as I type this it is occuring to me that other things probably affect me differently now because I am not smoking them away. It's like a whole new adjustment to life really, isn't it? I haven't a clue why this never occured to me before.

My mind tells me that just 'not smoking' is all there is to it. It said the same thing to me when I got sober/clean then 3 months later after doing nothing but go to meetings, I wanted to kill myself or my sister (We'd had an argument.)

Am deliberatly trying to slow down too, as since I stopped I think I have become a bit speedy.

Congrats on your 35 days and I am glad you had a good sleep last night!
Keep up the great work!

[Astro]

Originally Posted by lizw

It's like a whole new adjustment to life really, isn't it?

I tend to overdo everything, typical over-achieving alcoholic or something like that. I should be happy being sober and also working on my codependency, but in the last few months I've started some fairly intensive dieting too, I'm following a Weight Watchers routine.

From what I've heard about the WW diet, it's a change in lifestyle. I've had to totally change what I'm used to doing when it comes to every meal, my grocery shopping has changed, exercise when I can, I have to think about every bite I put in my mouth.

Yes, it takes some adjustments. Good progress liz, glad to hear you slept well