Haven't been back here for a few years! Now on day 13 quitting with Champix again. Joined slimming world this time round as last time I gained 3 stone and got depressed. Lots of people said I shouldn't try and diet and stop smoking at the same time but in a way I think it has helped. I have spent so much time looking up recipes and sorting out what I can eat, it has certainly kept me occupied! I have lost 3 & 1/2 pound in 2 weeks.
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Well last time I managed my longest ever quit of 6 months but like I said I put on 3 stone which in turn made me feel depressed and it just got to the stage of well, if I feel this miserable I would rather smoke, so I started again. Hence why I thought I would try the diet this time and might I add this is the first time I have ever been on a proper diet! What is bothering me is that when I smoked I could lose about 4lb over a week of night shifts and without dieting, this week I only lost 1/2lb and I have not cheated at all. I just keep telling myself I would have put on about 4lb this week if I hadnt bothered with the diet! What I would like to know is does Champix make you put on weight or is it just the not smoking which slows down your metabolism? Any ideas anyone?
Guess I will have to keep on going eating fruit & veg then! The smoking has to take priority mind you! if it gets too hard I will get out the crisps and chocolate!
Good to meet you, I did a detox for the first month when I quit. Very hard but quitting seemed less of an evil than the caffeine withdrawal headache for the first 3 days!
I think keeping yourself busy when you quit is important and if you're busy weighing food and planning meals you're not thinking about smoking.
I put on over a stone in month 2 and 3 after stopping the detox and it did start to worry me. I tried to stop eating but I just couldn't. I decided to have two goals every day: one was not to smoke and the other was to do 30mins exercise. Nothting major just a walk or 30mins on my stepper or a small bike ride. I have not lost the weight but I have stopped putting it on.
When I hit 6 months quit I'm going to tackle this until then my quit is the most important thing in the world.
Quitting & dieting together can be done, as I can attest to. I've been quit just over 6 months and started dieting at the same time and I've lost a little over 3 stone (and am back at my target weight). I had porked out over the years and like you, knew that if I didn't tackle both simultaneously I'd get so depressed about putting on more weight that I would lose my quit. I've found that if anything, it's been easier to do both than to do one or the other (as you've quite rightly said, when you're planning meals it takes your mind off nicotine) and because I very soon started to see results in terms of losing weight it did wonders for my self-esteem (which it turn made me even more determined to maintain my quit too). In addition, in tandem with both I really maxed out on exercise because it made me feel good and helped with both the quitting and the weight loss (and I've kept that up throughout) so all told, I've rather reinvented myself (just in time for my 50th birthday next week :D).
So yes- it can, indeed, be done. It may not work for everyone but it has for me and I hope it will for you too (sounds like you're doing wonderfully well so far).
Apparently, smoking does increase your metabolism a bit so you don't burn off quite so many calories once you quit (I believe the ratio is somewhere in the region of 200 calories per day) which is another good reason for exercising as much as you can (both to burn off the extra calories and because regular exercise increases your metabolism).
Anyway, I shall be rooting for you and very much look forward to reading all about your progress.
(PS: I smoked roll ups too. Isn't it nice when the nicotine stains on your fingers finally start to vanish?)
Thanks for all your replys and Skiddaw thank you especially as it is nice to know it can be done! At the moment i am actually finding the dieting is harder than the smoking and I never thought in a million years that I would be saying that! I have got to say that I am probably very unconventional in my quit this time as I have tried numerous things in the past, so this time I have gone all out, I have read Allen Carrs book, I have got an app to hypnotise me at night, I am using Champix and I am on a diet and sometimes use my 0% nictotine e cig. The only thing i'm not doing is using patches I think but going ok at moment!
Thanks Max, it's good to hear some encouragement, you know what it's like when people you work with keep saying how stupid you are to do lots of things to give up! I am just determined to do it this time! just been looking at some of the losing weight threads and think I will probably have to bite the bullet and join the gym! I hate exercising! Thought dieting would be enough but not so sure now. I will give it another week and see. xx
I can feel how determined you are Befly and that's more than half the battle I think.
Re the exercise thing, do something you enjoy is my advice or you won't stick with it. You don't have to join a gym. I love walking for example, so make sure I walk everywhere and at as fast a pace as I can, and I also go swimming regularly (again, something I actively enjoy doing). There must be something you like doing?
Not really skiddaw, think I am allergic to exercise! Too lazy! I work 12hr shifts so when i'm not at work I tend to sit and relax. Have to get off my **** and do something though. xx
Just wanted to say I am in a similar situation to yourself, I don't have tooo much trouble quitting, its just the staying quit I find troublesome and the reason is (finally think I have figured it out) is that when I quit I replace the cigs with food and a general moodiness like I am missing out on something.
Well this time I am 26 days quit and instead of munching I am eating well and running (well trotting, but getting there) I feel so much better for it and really think this might be it for me with this horrible cycle of quitting, feeling moody, eating rubbish, gaining weight and starting again.
Good luck with your quit, I really believe that if you feel better your more likely to stay with it, x
Thanks everyone, I have quit so many times over the past 20yrs but for some reason it really feels like this will be the last time, I think I have geared my brain up much better this time, in the past I have always started again because I feel like I have lost an old friend and I almost mourn the loss of the ciggies, this time I am not really missing them and I am feeling so proud of myself that when I am out I will not look like a skank walking around with a fag! I am going on holiday at the end of August and it is such a relief that I won't be gasping for a fag as I have 3 12hr flights, my OH has already changed our hotel room to a non smoking room! So this will have to be the last quit ever!
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