Hi my name is Schele, I quit smoking 6 weeks ago and have gain 4 lbs. Some may think that is nothing, but when you are overweight to begin with that is a lot. For the past 3 weeks I have been power walking every day regardless of how cold it has been (well I won't walk if it gets below 28 degrees). I have been watching what I eat and try and keep my calories down (not sure how many calories I have in a day. In my walks I have an app on my phone that tracks how many steps, calories I am burning, the distance I have gone. Still cannot lose the weight. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do?
Thanks for any responses
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Schele
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Hi there and welcome. All the these changes take a little time for your body to adjust to. Well done On Quitting smoking as an ex smoker and someone who watches her weight I can totally identify with what your are going through. As far as I am aware there will be a little change in your metabolism right now from stopping smoking. You are doing the best thing by boosting it back up again with the walking. My advice is just to keep going and let your body catch up with the changes. We are here to support you with you walking. Every week try to up the distance or the speed and keep building in the great job you are doing. Please keep coming back and sharing your journey.
Hi Schele, welcome to our group! I'm also an overweight ex smoker - it's hard, isn't it? I can't walk very far, or very fast, but over the past 8 months I've slowly become fitter and lost 25 lbs. With power walking AND watching what you eat, the weight WILL come off! If you try to have one third of each meal consisting of non starchy vegetables and/or fruit it may help to kick start your weight loss - as will drinking a cup of liquid every hour. This is advice I was given - and followed - and have found it beneficial. You have a determined and positive attitude, so I'm sure you will achieve your goals! We'll support you - good luck!
Thank you! I have been power walking every day since the 6th of January. I got on the scale today and have only lost 1 lb. That is frustrating with all the hard work and dedication I am doing. I eat pretty healthy and do not eat starchy food. I count my calories daily and only eat 1600 - 1800 daily. I guess I need to work harder. Thank you for the support and advise.
Hi Schele, I've been thinking! Did you measure yourself before you started your new regime? You may be losing inches - muscle weighs more than fat, so you may have lost fat and gained muscle! Just a thought!
I add extra steps and walking in where I can throughout my normal daily routine. Park further away from your destination if you're driving somewhere, get off a bus stop early and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs over the elevator, go out for a little walk at lunch. Those little things add up over time and really make the difference between hitting my step goal and not.
Congratulations on quitting smoking, you'll notice some pretty impressive health changes along the way.
And keep posting here. We support each other and I find it very encouraging.
Thank you for your support and advise. I do all the things you mentioned just to get the extra added steps. I work from home and also a full time college student. I try and get up as much as I can and walk around the house.
I have already noticed some changes in how I look and feel about my health. I like more fruit and vegetables in my diet now and I never did before. There are things that I use to enjoy eating and now I do not like the taste, that is a good thing because those things added extra weight (starbucks Frappuccino's).
Thank you runswithdogs I just finished a fast pace walk it was 2.63 miles came back had my second bottle of water and some fresh fruit. I feel good today.
That is an excellent walk. And it sounds very refreshing. I am trying to get more water in my system. I find it easier on work day when I need a little break to go fill my mug with water. At home it's so easy to ignore.
Welcome to the group Schele, like you I gave up smoking - that was a year ago in December and my weight piled on but with the support here I have now started to lose it, so I'm sure you will too! Your metabolism will be changing without the cigarettes and walking is a great way to boost it again, that's what I do now - I started with my phone too but invested in a fitbit a couple of months ago and that means I'm keeping a much better track on my calories and my steps too! I aim for at least 4 miles a day / at least 10,000 steps, and when I can't get out I use "youtube" exercise and walking videos - Lesley Sansone is a good staring place and Nick Drago is doing a New Year Walking Challenge... I think he's on week 3 now but this is a link to week 1:
Thank you for the encouraging words. I use my phone to track my steps and calories (google fit), it counts my steps, miles and calories. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now. I weigh myself on Mondays, noticed I gained 4.8 lbs. since I quit smoking, and this morning it shows I took 1.8 lbs. off now. I wanted to lose weight before I quit and now I feel I can breath better so it will be easier to exercise. I will have to check out those "youtube" exercise videos.
I want to get to 5 miles a day all at the same time.
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Your metabolism will be changing without the cigarettes and walking is a great way to boost it again, that's what I do now - I started with my phone too but invested in a fitbit a couple of months ago and that means I'm keeping a much better track on my calories and my steps too! I aim for at least 4 miles a day / at least 10,000 steps, and when I can't get out I use "youtube" exercise and walking videos - Lesley Sansone is a good staring place and Nick Drago is doing a New Year Walking Challenge... I think he's on week 3 now but this is a link to week 1:
but have now lost 11lbs of that... still a way to go but at least I'm on the right track now. 
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