D-day Monday

[Orkneysarah]

I have recently stopped smoking and I seem to be poiling the lbs on like mad.

I am a small person (4ft 11) so really have to watch my weight (7 1/2stone is heavy enough)

At the moment I really domt know what I weigh, my scales say 7st but drs ones say 8st....what ones should I go by?

That was about a year ago that that figures but now Im too scared to go on scales but Im thinking that Monday something will have to change.

I pick Monday because its the start of a new week.

Any tips would beappreciated

[Hidden]

Hi Orkneysarah,

It's very common to put on weight when you give up smoking. It's in part because over the years you've trained yourself to always be fiddling around with things in your hands and mouth, so you kind of sub-consciously transfer that to eating from smoking. And also, as your body and mind deals with loss of the cigarettes, like with other pains and bereavements, there's a tendency to "comfort eat".

But you're in the right place! Plenty of excellent and totally free advice and help on the NHS live well lose weight pages, including a completely free - and very good - 12 week plan.

The starting point is to weigh yourself. Don't panic - it'll be no worse than many others on this blog (including myself) - and then find out your Body Mass Index. There's a BMI calculator on the NHS pages too. And then decide what your next move is. How overweight are you? (if at all). And how much are you going to reduce that by?

There's plenty to read on the NHS pages and on these blogs to help you make your mind up - it is, and can only be, your decision.

You could also consider, just getting into a 'maintenance' situation with the weight. Stop it going further upwards and getting some of your worse eating habits under control. That might give you a chance to settle down into that new regime of being a non-smoker, before seriously tackling the further change of eating regime and weight loss.

That's a personal choice, but personally, I'd just go for it.

Good Luck.

[Hogwoo]

Firstly, well done for quitting the ciggies - that's just about the best thing you could have done for your body and it will thank you for it in the long run!

Of course I don't know you, but looking at my height to weight calculator it seems a good weight for 4'11" is around 8st 3lbs, so maybe 7st 7lbs is a wee bit demanding of yourself?

If you're not sure your scales are accurate why not try a chemist (I think most Boots have a set of scales that calculate your weight/BMI) or at your doctor's surgery. When you've established what you weigh on theirs you can compare it with your own and if there's a difference you could either allow for it when you weigh yourself at home or chuck them and get a new set!

Personally, I'd cut myself some slack for the first few weeks after quitting. As Doikosp says you're having to adjust to a new way of being and it can feel a bit like grief and there can be a tendency to still want to do things with your hands/mouth, like eating. I found fruit helped - peeling an orange and eating it segment by segment can take quite a while but is good for you and has few calories! I also took up knitting, which kept my hands occupied and is strangely soothing.

As to when to start, I think there is going to be a Friday weigh-in group so why not start tomorrow? After all, there's no time like the present...

nhsweightloss.healthunlocke...

Whatever you choose to do you'll find loads of help and advice here so keep logging in!

Good luck : )

[TheEditor]

Hi Orkneysarah,

Make sure to join us for the Friday weigh-in for some moral support. Monday's a good time to start afresh. As it happens, the NHS Choices weight loss plan starts on a Monday.

Here's a link to it:

nhs.uk/LiveWell/weight-loss...

There are plenty of people currently following the plan so you'll get plenty of advice and encouragement in this community.

Good luck

[Orkneysarah]

Thanks guys.

Your right with your calculations hogwoo but unfortunately if I go up to over 8 stone I look look like a ball and its disgusting..... Im most comfortable at 6st 7 but sid put on a bit after I had the kids which was ok, just 7stone but any heavier than 7st 7 and its just too much, at the moment I look like Im heavily pregnant (which Im not)

Im wearing extremely baggy tops but I dont want to have to wear them in the summer.

We've got a family wedding and I have a dress to wear but I do need to loose that bit of weight to get into it....

Im not nessicarily wanting to loose too much weight its the eating healthy bit/excersise so I can feel comfortable in my clothes again........ Its my clothes that I tend to go by.

I have this pair of jeans that this time last year I could pull down without unbuttoning, now I cant even get them buttoned up!!

[Hidden]

Those clothes are great things to help keep the motivation up.

I remember years ago, long before I gained the weight I'm currently trying to lose, going back to M&S Men's department to get recently bought suit trousers taken in because I had lost weight.

Oh by heck did I feel good about that!