Giving Up Smoking - Any Advice?

julie19

Silver Member
Ok so I have decided that today will be my last day of being a smoker, I am terrified that all the weight I have lost will go back on but have decided that it is probably (mentally) better for me to quit before I hit target than try to be maintaining target AND not smoking.

I have tried 3 times before and all with help & failed so this time I am going cold turkey, I really didn't want to be a fat 40 year old smoker so I have given myself 18 months now to get it all sorted - on my 40th I want to be thin or slim NON smoker & I would also like to compete in the London Marathon at some point before I hit 50.

Has anyone any advice, tips, hints etc etc for me? Anything will be gratefully accepted
 
Hi Mate

Congratulations on your decision to quit. This will have such fantastic health benefits. Do you have access to the SW website? I use the bodyoptimise website and they have a whole article on quitting smoking on SW- I am sure it will be on the regular site. If not, here is a small section that may be the most relevant:

1. Using food as a substitute for cigarettes
This includes using food as a physical substitute for the hand-to-mouth action and using snacks as a comforter or ‘reward’ to feel better.
How can Food Optimising help?
Snacking is allowed! Unlike other ‘diets’ where picking is strictly forbidden, Free Foods mean trips to the fridge rather than the ashtray will help control that craving.
Fab Free Food snacks: - Corn on the cob (Free on Green)
- Cherry tomatoes (Superfree)
- Wafer thin ham/turkey/chicken (Free on Original)
- Crab sticks (Free on Original)
- Hard-boiled eggs (Superfree)
- Lean chicken drumsticks/wings with skin removed (Free on Original)- Fresh or frozen fruit (Superfree)
- Free yogurts eg Mullerlight (Superfree)
- Very low fat cottage cheese (Superfree)
- Carrot/celery batons (Superfree)
- Sugar-free ice lollies (Superfree)
- Chicken drumsticks (Free on Original)

nuts.jpg
Healthy Extra: grab-it options

- Cheese and crackers - 4 Ryvita (Healthy Extra b choice) topped with 42g reduced fat Cheddar (Healthy Extra a choice)
- Cashew nuts - 12 cashew nuts are a Healthy Extra b choice
- Houmous and crackers - 4 Ryvita (Healthy Extra b choice) spread thickly with 57g houmous (Healthy Extra b choice)
Syn sympathy
As well as all the Free Food and nutritious Healthy Extras, cravings can be pacified with the help of your Syn allowance.
- Instead of crisps, buy lower Syn savoury snacks like Quavers (4½ Syns for a 17g bag), French Fries (4 Syns for 19g bag) and breadsticks (average each is 1 Syn).
- Keep a supply of lower fat cakes/biscuits like Jaffa Cakes (2½ Syns each) and Milky Ways (fun size 3½ Syns each).

Good luck Julie xxx
 
Thanks for that cocktailprincess - I do have access to the site but never thought about having a look on there for help - I will go & have a look.

I figured SW was probably the best eating plan to give up on because I can still eat - I just have to make sure it isn't chocolates...I am going to Tesco at lunchtime so will buy some low syn lollipops as they will occupy my hands & mouth hopefully
 
good luck, i went cold turkey over 3 years ago and never looked back.
i did put on weight but that was my own fault, i was munching on the wrong things (chips), i did keep an unopened packet of ciggies with me for 4 months as i am one of those people if i cant have something i want it even more so by keeping the fags with me was a mind thing as i could have one if i really wanted.
and as with most things to succeed you must really want to give up in the first place, sugar free spearmint mints were my thing and as the time went on i turned to pickled onions.

good luck you can do it
 
Hi hun, good luck, you can do it! My aunt has stopped smoking for 11 weeks now and nobody ever thought she would stop, she smoked about 50 a day and has smoked since she was about 11. She used the nicotine inhaler. Good luck hun x
 
Thanks everyone - I only have a few ciggies left now so hopefully by the time I go to bed tonight none will be left & tomorrow & Friday the OH is away on business so I can't shout at him & then this weekend I am looking after my best friends son so he will keep me busy (I hope)
 
I gave up smoking about 8yrs ago. I think cold turkey is the way to go. It's how I did it and I found it much easier than dieting :rolleyes:

Whether you use gum, patches or the fake cigs, you won't give up unless you really really want to. You have to want it badly.
My Ex MiL has smoked for years and she has several health problems connected to smoking. Every time I see her she's on some new scheme to help her quit, but the fact of the matter is that she enjoys smoking and doesn't really want to give up. She constantly makes excuses as to why she needs a ciggie. She's stressed...I'm always hearing that as an excuse to start smoking again. There's always some new situation that's stressing her, but there always will be....that's life. If you can eliminate your excuses and promise yourself that you won't make any excuses as to why you should have a ciggie you'll be fine. Be prepared to be stressed over something and don' give in to the excuses ;)

Good luck!!:)
 
Thanks Ninja. When I have tried int he past it has always been with something, patches etc, but I agree with you that actually they don't work they just prolong the agony, one of the reasons I always gave was putting on weight but even if I put on half a stone I can lose it again - I just have to keep in mind that it isn't the end of the world, I am expecting to get a bit ratty but people will just have to suck it up for a while, if they support me they will put up with it - I can always apologise when I become normal again!

Anyway I have 2 cigarettes left in the pack so they will be gone before the end of today & then I begin.

I do have some nicorette gum if it gets really bad but I will try not to use anything if I can help it
 
Thanks Ninja. When I have tried int he past it has always been with something, patches etc, but I agree with you that actually they don't work they just prolong the agony, one of the reasons I always gave was putting on weight but even if I put on half a stone I can lose it again - I just have to keep in mind that it isn't the end of the world, I am expecting to get a bit ratty but people will just have to suck it up for a while, if they support me they will put up with it - I can always apologise when I become normal again!

Anyway I have 2 cigarettes left in the pack so they will be gone before the end of today & then I begin.

I do have some nicorette gum if it gets really bad but I will try not to use anything if I can help it

I'd just use some sugar free gum. I don't think the nicotine gum makes any difference. If anything, like you already said, it prolongs the agony. At least if your using SF gum you're not replacing the nicotine and dragging the weaning process out. Cos that's basically what you have to do, wean yourself off of nicotine.
The hardest thing I found was going out for a drink socialising. I'd have a drink in one hand and my other hand felt empty and lost. If you can avoid going out socialising for a couple of weeks then you shouldn't have too much of a problem. Or do you always have a ciggie at specific times of the day...like watching Eastenders or something, like a ritual?
 
Ok so I have decided that today will be my last day of being a smoker, I am terrified that all the weight I have lost will go back on but have decided that it is probably (mentally) better for me to quit before I hit target than try to be maintaining target AND not smoking.

I have tried 3 times before and all with help & failed so this time I am going cold turkey, I really didn't want to be a fat 40 year old smoker so I have given myself 18 months now to get it all sorted - on my 40th I want to be thin or slim NON smoker & I would also like to compete in the London Marathon at some point before I hit 50.

Has anyone any advice, tips, hints etc etc for me? Anything will be gratefully accepted

Hi there... I did all of the above. Gave up my 40 a day smoking habit the same day as I started LL and got thin and became a non-smoker at the same time... Ran the London Marathon (as well as others) last year! I am 50 next year... and fitter than I have ever been... :D

As for help with non smoking... I can only say... take everything you can.. I used patches and an inhaler (it gives a bit of a nicotine kick). I completed the entire course of patches and ended up using the ciggie shaped inhaler for about 18 months all in all... But I have never had another cigarette... and now could never ever be tempted! ;)

Very very best of luck to you :)
 
I'd just use some sugar free gum. I don't think the nicotine gum makes any difference. If anything, like you already said, it prolongs the agony. At least if your using SF gum you're not replacing the nicotine and dragging the weaning process out. Cos that's basically what you have to do, wean yourself off of nicotine.
The hardest thing I found was going out for a drink socialising. I'd have a drink in one hand and my other hand felt empty and lost. If you can avoid going out socialising for a couple of weeks then you shouldn't have too much of a problem. Or do you always have a ciggie at specific times of the day...like watching Eastenders or something, like a ritual?
I have never smoked in the house so that's one good thing, but I always have one before tea, after tea and just before I go to bed - to be honest I probably could say every cigarette is a ritual one, so I need to change my routine methinks and maybe if it is not raining at lunchtime tomorrow I will go for a walk rather then sitting here, eating my lunch then going out for a smoke, someone else has also suggested even changing my route into work and the time I leave
 
Hi, I too stopped cold turkey a few years ago & although it was incredibly hard it was worth it. Do not get discouraged if you put on a little in the first few weeks. The nurse at my doctors said this is inevitable due to water retention and if you stick to it your body will readjust naturally - this was true for me.

By the way everything tastes sooo much better - when you have been stopped for a while your tastebuds readjust & you will discover new flavours (maybe like me start to enjoy eating fruit and salad for the first time ever) which hopefully will help you loose any weight you have gained.
 
^^ I love the change in taste buds and the not stinking up rooms!!
I quit whilst doing ww a few years ago and I didn't gain but I spent a lot of time eating celery, carrot sticks, pepper and twiglets!
My advice would be to find something to replace smoking at trouble times during the day - if you smoke when you nip out at lunch then stay in the office for a week or so, if you smoke because your bored then knit or play a ds (or exercise!) I still smoke occasionally when I go out drinking but when I gave up alchol for lent I didn't smoke so if your the same maybe give up booze for a week or two. It's all about the first few weeks I find. As said above if you should gain over a few weeks don't worry you know the plan works for you, get the cigs out of your system and then get back on plan - good luck.
Oh and I have heard that citris fruit can help (maybe nonesense I am not sure) but stock up on grapefruits and oranges.
 
Hi
Ive just done my eighth month without the ciggies and I have never felt better. I started on the patches, but stopped using them after a couple of weeks as they irritated my skin. I did however read Allen Carr's book "Easy way to stop smoking for women" and its the best thing I ever did. No cravings, nothing. Got it from Ebay. If I can get it back from my mate I will send it you.

Debs
 
I stopped smoking in October (before I found the light, ahem, SW!) and although I was eating a fair amount of crap only put on 4lb! :D

Sugar free lolly pops were my saviour, I even managed to go with the smokers for their dirty dirty fags whilst I sucked a lolly. It made it a whole lot easier in the long run mingling with smokers from the early days as a lot of my friends still smoke and I didn't want to stop my social life too!

I did also have an incredible smoking cessation adviser and she was brilliant, I used patches too and found them to be a lifesaver! You can do this. :D
 
Back
Top