After smoking cessation I have gained a lot of weight.What is the best way to stop this eating disorder?
I seem to eat compulsively and I know it is the result of having stopped smoking. I have heart problems so weight is a health problem for me. I went from waist size 32-33 to a 40.
Tagged with: health problem • heart problems • waist size
Filed under: smoking
start snacking on healthier things. instead of chips snack on frozen fruits. or some carrots.
my grampa used peanuts.
add some exercise to your daily activities. it will reduce cravings and you’ll lose the extra weight. natural endorphins are the best for you. you never know, you could become addicted to exercise.
This is very common.
Try chewing gum, that’s what they reccomend.
Sugar-free chewing gum… hmm… or you can much on things that are low in calories… like raw veggies (gee how EXCITING!) and all this boring good crap for you… suck on altoids, one right after the other
You are replacing the habit that was in your hands, with another. Try holding something, like a pencil. You can also try to keep lots of healthy snacks on hand, celery, etc. You can also try getting up and doing 5 mins of brisk exercise when the urge to eat grabs you!
Great job for stopping smoking! No small feat.
How to lose weight and make the most of your accomplishment? Get moving. Get involved in something. If you are ’snacking’ or eating all of the time then you are likely around food too much and either idle or eating on the go. Leave food to the kitchen, not couch or car and you’ll find you aren’t creating so much opportunity to eat beyond hunger.
Eating is an extracurricluar habit for most people. Replace it by going to the park, beach or something outdoors that you enjoy.
Best wishes and again, you obviously have the willpower to do anything you want so just decide and do it.
Check out this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_cessation
Also, I take Wellbutrin XL (aka Zyban, aka Bupropion) which helps me feel better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion
If you have the willpower to quit smoking then you should try to use that to eat smarter.I quit 3yr ago and went from 170lbs to 210 so i know what your talking about.Good luck.
baby carrots are great. you can snack on them, and even hold them like cigarettes cause your hands are still looking for something to hold (remember when carson used to have pencils all over????)
sometimes you just need to keep your mouth and hands busy and not necessarily be snacking on something. i always have a small bottle of water on hand and it not only helps but i’m not taking in any food as an side effect to withdrawal. good luck.
If you have heart problems, you should be following your doctor’s advice about them. IF YOU HAVE YOUR DOCTOR’S PERMISSION, you can break the compulsive eating habit this way:
1. Eat at regular times every day. Don’t skip meals and snacks.
2. Every OTHER day for 21 consecutive days, eat EXACTLY HALF of what you normally eat. For example, if you usually have a sandwich and a bowl of soup for lunch, eat half a sandwich and half a bowl of soup. Whatever you usually have for snacks, eat half of it. Do the same for all meals and snacks, every OTHER day for 21 days.
3. After 21 days, drop the half day.
You’re welcome.
You are not alone!
There are several reasons for weight gain after quitting smoking.
1) there is a decrease in metabolism of about 150 cal a day. If you do not decrease consumption or increase exercise this goes straight to fat.
2) substitution-is not uncommon to substitute sweets or carbohydrates for your cigarettes. So so the show that these foods released dopamine in your brain and give you "a little bit of the buzz cigarettes gave you". If you quit smoking and feel deprived, you will substitute with another "treat". And the problem is with this line of thinking. If you go through your life looking at people smoking like a diabetic looks at someone eating a hot fudge Sunday; saying "oh I remember what I could do that!" You are either in a drive yourself crazy and be a miserable non-smoker or you will give in and go back to smoking. You need to realize that smoking is an addiction and these people are addicts. You are no longer par that crowd. When you see someone all smoking I want you to pity them from the bottom of your heart. Just as you would pity a drunk passed out at the bar. And if you look it things this way you will not feel deprived but rather, elated .
Next is exercise-over the next four weeks I want you to commit to some form of exercise. Exercise will generate endorphins that will feed that addiction center in your brain. This will help with the whole withdrawal process.
Finally, I want you to drink eight bottles of water a day (not soda or coffee or beer) replace that hand to mouth cigarette action with hand to mouth water drinking action. This will also help flush the nicotine out of your system.
And good luck, I hope this helps!
One last thing, there is a new medication which will be released in 2007 called rimonabant. It will help some with the nicotine cravings as well as some with the food cravings. But it will not be a magic pill.
Sincerely,
Kirk G. Voelker MD
Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
Founder Quit Doc Smoking Treatment Network
http://www.QuitDoc.com
Please Note: This note was dictated using Dragon Naturally Speaking v8.0 while exercising on an eliptical trainer, so excuse any transcription errors.