Week 6 'thinny' getting 'fatty' and feeling v low

Hi folks, I've been lurking around this forum for the last 5+ weeks or so, garnering support and advice from your posts - thanks for all that.

I'm having a really hard time with the weight I've gained since quitting. I've always been a thin person - I did a lot of ballet training when I was younger. Now, I run a LOT and I eat very healthily, but since I quit I seem to have piled on the pounds.

I know this may sound vain all things considered, but I feel so incredibly uncomfortable in my own skin right now and it is really getting me down. I feel incredibly depressed. I just don't feel myself at all. I have continued to do all the good things people advise - exercising every day, drinking lots of water, cut out carbohydrates, 90% fruit and vegetables, but I just seem to be getting bigger and bigger.

I smoked between 5-10 per day for 17 years (I'm in my late 30's now)... Can anyone recommend any alternative therapies to help deal with this? I do wonder if some kind of hormonal change triggered by quitting, could be the issue? I've searched the internet high and low but always seem to find the same limited advice again and again.

What's everyone else's experience with weight? Do you know when it's supposed to normalise again?

Thanks for your feedback!

5 Replies

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  • Hi Janey,

    Good to have you here, Can I recommend the 5/2 diet that our lovely max has started a thread on? its just another idea and may help you, well done on your quit so far x

  • Just record what you eat every day. I use an app on my phone called "my fitness pal". I just enter everything I eat on there and then adjust my calories according to what I need to do.

    If I'm gaining too much weight, just reduce my calorie intake by 500 calories per day. Then I stop gaining weight.

  • Thanks for your help, advice support - hugely appreciated! I'll give "my fitness pal" a go and check out the 5/2 diet. I have been eating more fruit, so perhaps the sugar content in this has something to do with the weight gain? Although I'm running an extra 4-5 miles a week (approx 20 /wk in total), in effort to try and negate those additional calories.

    DebbieH - reassuring that you also suspect a hormonal change. I do feel strongly it's affected me hormonally. My period haven't stopped, but they're v. different. I have a problem with water retention - puffy eyes / face. And I have mild PMT symptoms pretty much all the time at the moment. I'd hoped all these things would have levelled out a bit by now...

    Thanks again.

  • Poor you Janey- it doesn't do much for your self-esteem does it?

    I think you should keep telling yourself how fantastically well you have done to have maintained your quit for 5 weeks. That is one amazing and life-affrmimg achievement and you deserve huge amouts of praise. I bet your family & friends are so proud of you and rightly so :D

    I reckon Debbie is right in that there is a hormonal effect as well as everything else and that this has probably contributed to your weight gain. My GP told me that in his experience it takes the human body a good year to properly adapt and settle down after quitting. Another thing that may be a factor is that you've been exercising more (partly to compensate for the additional fruit and partly- I bet- to take your mind off the craves) and exercise results in increased muscle (and increased muscule can result in you weighing more despite actually being more honed and fitter than you were previously). How are your clothes fitting? That may give you a clue.

    However, I'm with Max that it might be worth running it by your GP if things don't settle down just to rule out any underlying factors.

    A huge welcome to the forim from me by the way. So glad you've 'dunlurkin' and joined in. ;)

  • Hi Janey

    Welcome to the forum and well done on your quit so far. Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit low. I just wanted to say hello as I can't really add anything to the good advice everybody else here has already posted. I understand how you feel - I've put on weight very quickly since I quit and I haven't eaten that much differently to when I was smoking. I hope things settle down for you soon.

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