Is there a quit smoking thread somewhere?

[zellie]

Not sure if I am posting in the right place (please let me know). I've decided to quit smoking before I reach goal. I've quit too many times and each time I went back because of weight gain.

Has anyone quit whilst on low carb? How much can I expect to gain? I know my metabolism will slow down. I've been walking for an hour each day for three weeks now in preparation.

Any advice on preventing weight gain and handholding is more than welcome. Thanks in advance.

zellie

[Karen]

One was discussed a while ago but it was never started. YOu're welcome to start it.

Karen

[Atriana]

Hi Zellie.
Have you quit already or are you just in the planning stage. I think I will be ready to quit by the 21st and could use a buddy! I too have quit several times, get past the hard part, and then about 5 or 6 weeks into it go back to smoking because I can't deal with the weight gain. I am about 15 or so pounds from goal now, and really scared about blowing the 22 pound weight loss that I've already attained.

[zellie]

Hi Atriana. thank you, Karen.

I haven't quit yet, I'm planning now, I don't want to fail.

I have the same problem, I gain a lot of weight, get past the hard stage, then I start growing and growing!!! And I'm back smoking again.

This is what I've decided to do:
I will have to up my exercising. :(
Start on a week-end so that I have time to settle.
I'm going to try not to use patches, just go cold turkey.
I'm going to keep lots of iced water close. with a drop of lemon juice in it.
Ice-cubes to suck on.
clean out the house so there is no smoke smell.
I'm already on decaf coffee, maybe switch to green tea, instead of coffee.
Go for a walk around the block every time I get a cigarette craving, if it's too bad.

I'm mentally prepared to gain back some weight. If I go over 10 lbs, I'm going to switch to induction diet, and live on broiled meat and salads for a few weeks...LOL

I haven't even decided when I will quit, I'm just trying to research as much as possible now.

What I'm interested in finding out about is about vitamin supplements that may help. I take a Centrum every day.

I'd love to work on this with you, Atriana, thanks! :)

zellie

[agonycat]

Zellie, I quit over a year ago before I started the diet.

If you need words of encouragement let me know ;) I tried to quit 5 times over the course of 4 years. I finally kicked the habit and I can honestly say I feel so much better now than I did over a year ago!

I no longer wheeze, I no longer wake myself up in the middle of the night with coughing fits, I no longer get winded walking up a single flight of stairs (this is a major one for me! I would have to stop halfway up and rest). I swear 90 year olds were in better shape than I was!

I had chest Xrays 3 years ago due to pneumonia and the doctor showed me some massive scarring of my lungs due to smoking. I haven't had a set taken lately, but I am willing to bet my lungs have healed some. I can take deep breaths now which I couldn't a year ago.

So to all you out there that want to quit smoking go for it! Remember if you don't suceed the first time keep trying. The American Lung Association has some very good words of wisdom I stuck to. "Don't think of a failure as that, but think of it more of a practice. You are practicing to kick the habit of smoking, and every attempt brings you that much closer to actually walking away from it."

[Karen]

. I am about 15 or so pounds from goal now, and really scared about blowing the 22 pound weight loss that I've already attained.

I was 14 lbs. away, but now I don't have a clue since I quit smoking. I just know I'm bloating out. I'm OK at home, but soon as I come to work: aaarghh!~.

I cannot stay away from artificial sweeteners no matter what my resolve is when I walk in. I don't want to depend on either nicotine or sweets and it is driving me quite batty.

That said, I think Nat is doing quite fine, but she has a rigorous excercise program. Beta endorphins! Yum-yum!

Karen

[pegm]

I quit smoking June 1st and began low carb about a month later. I did not gain any weight because of the low carb and increasing my exercise. I have, however, been losing very slowly (but at least I'm not gaining and I am losing, no matter if it is slow).

I tried and failed many times before to quit, but this time I went to a clinic in Canada. They did a laser treatment to suppress the cravings, and it really helped (they claim a 96% success rate)! Some of the advice they gave was: take anti-oxident vitamins and drink LOTS of water to help flush the nicotine out of your body faster. They also told me to carry a bottle of water with me everywhere and to take a sip of water whenever I had a craving for a cigarette, so that after a day or so my brain would associate the cigarette craving with being thirsty instead. It replaces a bad habit with a healthy one, and it's been great for low carbing!

Hope this helps, and best wishes to anyone who has or plans on quitting -- if I could do it, anyone can!

[zellie]

Look what I found!
"It is reported that the average weight gained is only 2.4kg (remember this is the average!) and of course, weight gain is easily controlled by exercise and a healthy diet." at
http://www.healthmeds.com/healthcontent/specialfeatures/stopsmoking.htm
(don't know if this is advertising, please delete if it is).

It works out to about 5-6 lb. I think if I up my water intake and watch carbs, the weight gain will be managable. After the first week or two the nicotine craving is gone.
I'm 10 lbs from goal, and if it slows or I stall, I'm prepared to accept it.

Thanks agonycat, Karen, Peg, for the encouragement. :)
zellie

[alto]

I quit smoking in August of 1984, cold turkey. I was very lucky because it was easy for me. I'd tried before several times and couldn't; this last time, some little click went off in my head and it worked. On Friday night, I was going through the trash, finding any butts that had one or two puffs left on them. On Saturday morning, I woke up, convinced I was a nonsmoker. That was the key for me. "Giving up smoking" meant I was being deprived. Being a nonsmoker, now, that was different. It was like waking up after amnesia, finding cigarettes in my room and being disgusted.

For two years I hated myself because I hadn't done it sooner. I had smoked three packs a day; when I was writing an article, I could go through a pack in 45 minutes. Totally a nervous habit. I couldn't pick up the phone without having a cigarette in my hand.

It just stopped.

I was lucky that I didn't have the post-smoking cravings. I know this sounds like a political joke :) but I didn't inhale. BUT I breathed in enough smoke and gunk to coughing for a half-hour a night before falling asleep, got winded easily, etc. That went away within a month. My apartment stopped stinking in another month. It is by far the best thing I've ever done. (Of course, I intended to take care of my health, i.e., weight, next. At the time, I weighed 190. I switched to vegetarianism and zoomed up to a rosy-cheeked 230 in no time flat. My staple foods were bread and butter).

One thing I would suggest is NOT to try to give up caffeine and nicotine at the same time. Two of my friends, ardent coffee drinkers, tried to quit shortly after I did -- I was the guinea pig for them, I think. They truly suffered the torments of the damned, and I think it was because they decided to "reform" and gave up both coffee AND cigarettes. I'll bet cigarettes are the more damaging.

Good luck to all of you. If anyone needs a hand or a boost, I'll be glad to give it. So many people have helped me here, I'd like to be helpful too :)

It is worth it (you know that). You can do it (maybe you don't know that). But you can.

[AngelaR]

I'm so glad you posted this. I had wanted to quit on Dec 3 but never made that date. I want one more month of LCing to firmly register this new way of eating in my brain before I try quitting again.

I think I'll be a frequent visitor to this part of the site. Congrats to all of you who have quit or have just recently started quitting. :thup:

[IslandGirl]

How's it going?!

I had a thought that might help you in dealing with both AS(s) and non-cigarettes (ouch!) at the same time.

Switch to the zero-carb (zero-filler) sweeteners only. Think of it as a challenge, it's tougher to use the teeny tablets, liquid(s) and the Stevia only, but it's entirely possible the fillers in the granular and packet sweeteners are doing you in. I believe you are pretty sensitive to those OSE(s)....

LC 3.5 Years by New Year's!
1 year Non-Smoker as of December 1st!
16 pounds gone of weight regain as of this morning! (average 4/month)!
:wave:

[Sharon]

I'm not a smoker, but wanted you to know I'm really impressed with all of you as I read this thread. I know lots of people who have successful stopped smoking and I know it isn't an easy task.

When you enjoy something alot it's hard to give it up. I've seen the struggles friends have gone through to quit smoking, and now they are the worst "non-smokers". (They hate going to restaurants/dances if they are going to be smokie!!). For me I still have a couple of friends I dearly love who smoke, but unfortunately for me after being with them, my eyes run for hours.

Good luck.....the rest of us are cheering you on!!

[Karen]

Thanks Judi!

I have been off AS for a few days now, but am still eating like a pig. I think I'll have a steady supply of celery sticks around to keep me away from the macadamia nuts.

Karen

[Kaelinda]

I have been smoking for 44 years. About two years ago, with the help of Welbutrin, I managed to cut down from 2 1/2 packs a day to about 1 pack a day. I've been smoking so long that it feels like I won't know who I am if I stop smoking. I actually have an anxiety attack when I think about actually being a non-smoker. Any idea what I can do to help me accept being a non-smoker? All the scare stories haven't done the job!

[GramnGramp]

Hi Kaelinda,
I can relate to your feelings. I have smoked for about 43 years. Up until Nov 05 of this year, I smoked 2 packs per day every day. That was the day I quit.

I seriously thought about quitting for a month at least, but found I was too scared to try it.
Then I realized that I didn't have to be scared to try. I could go back to smoking any time I wanted. I also thought that I could never quit if there were any smokes close by.

On the morning of Nov 05, as I was going to the grocery store to buy another carton, I just decided to try and quit that day. I smoked one last cigarette, then I threw what was left of my last pack (about 5 cigs) into the trash bag in the car and didn't buy any at the grocery store.

When I got home, I expected the familiar "panic attack" I always got when my smokes ran low. But it never came. Those 5 cigs are still out in my car. I really believe I was meatally ready to quit because I have done it cold turkey.

I truly believe that I had to be really fed up with everything about smoking to conquer my fear of living without cigarettes.

Now, I am looking at the weight gain I have experienced since I quit smoking. I have to get control of that soon. Sometimes life is a b----!

Relax and think about it some more. Good Luck whatever you decide to do.

[amym]

congrats to all of your for doing it! I have been smoke free for three months now. I had a nasty case of bronchitis that landed me in the ER. I have always had problems with asthma and allergies and as I get older I notice it more especially with the smoking. Not being able to breath on my own was a scarey ride to the hospital...my inhaler didn't work...That was the day I quit. I smoked about half a pack a day but was creeping up more and more every day. All I could think was that someday in the future when all the cigarretes where behind me my lungs would be shot. I would be on steriods or oxygen unable to breathe on my own. I would be old,unhealthy and it would be to late to undo what I had done. I quit because right now it is not too late undo the damage...i see the older me thanking me for saving myself...but it isn't easy at all. I still think about lighting up. I miss the ritual more than the drug. I miss the of opening up a brand new pack. At first I felt lost without them. Who am I ? Do my habits define me? It can sometimes seem like a long lonely life without our vices to get us through. yet once we let go of what we think we need thats when we can really start living. Giving up cigarettes is hard but it is so worth it.~~~~~~~~AMY