Is is possible to quit smoking and NOT get fat...and NOT kill everyone you know?

The weight thing is mostly a problem because instead of smoking you will grab for something to eat. Oh, I'd like a cigarette, damn, I can't. Ok, let's get that Snickers.
I put on 7 kilograms like that. But if you don't start eating you usually don't really put on any weight, maybe a bit, but sure not 20 pounds.

About the people I can't help you, mine loved me enough to stick around

And I first stopped smoking and just allowed myself one cigarette every day after dinner, just my bonus for not having smoked otherwise and when I didn't really miss them anymore during the day, I started to have only a cigarette on sundy, my bonus for not having smoked during the week. And once there I just made sure I stayed there and only occasionally smoke one in special circumstances, which adds up to about 5 cigarettes a year, which I personally don't find the end of the world

I think it is different for everyone. My mom quit after 35 years using the gum, my dad quit a 2 pack a day 40 year habit cold turkey....The weight isn't a big deal because IN THE END, you will get it off. You're too disciplined NOT to! Good luck.

I'm not a smoker, but I read a tip that I have passed on to several smoker-friends who have reported it very helpful. The doctor told his patients they could smoke whenever they wanted to, but they couldn't do anything else while they were smoking. They had to go outside, alone, and smoke and concentrate on the smoking of that cigarette - smoke it mindfully as it were. No having coffee or talking on the phone or flipping through a magazine. Just smoke.

He had success with many patients with this tactic and the friends that have tried it say that it dramatically cut down the number of cigarettes they smoked, right from day one. Now, getting all the way off? I dunno.

Good luck! Do it!

I think the purpose of quitting smoking is so that you don't kill everybody you know. Killing everybody you know while you're quitting would be, uh, counter-productive.

There are many techniques to quiting smoking. Make a list of pros and cons, such as pros, your clothing won't reak of smoke, you won't have clothes with burn holes in them, your health will improve, and cons, if you can think of a con.


Figure out how much money you'll save in a year and save that money and buy yourself something really cool as a gift at the end of that year.

Chew gum. Smoking is an oral fixation and that is why many people gain weight, they substitute eating for smoking. Chew gum. Chew on a pencil. Kiss someone, preferably your S.O.

I have more, but my family can't get along without me, I'll post more later.

By the way, I smoked for nearly 25 years when I finally quit cold turkey.

One more thought

We will still love when you become a raging *****! After all, we are safe from physical harm and it is only temporary.

I think that first, you have to psychologically work yourself up to being a non-smoker - you have to make "not smoking" sound desirable, rather than a something to be feared. Perhaps if you convince yourself that what you are doing is not "quitting smoking" you are "getting healthy" a major part of which includes not smoking.

Getting your husband to quit with you would be very helpful. You would have a partner to talk you out of a cig if you want one, and you won't be tempted when he smokes.

You should also write a list of the pros of being healthy/quitting smoking (saving money, no smell, living longer etc). Write down what you fear most about doing so (withdrawl? losing that comfort?) and after you identify it, find steps to address it. If it's the physical discomfort use the patch or nicotine gum (which might be a good idea anyway). If it's the ritual, you have to find a substitute or take steps to avoid the situation, ie. if you always smoke with a cup of coffee, then switch to tea for awhile, if you smoke first thing when you get up - have a shower first thing instead.

The pyschological urge to smoke only lasts for a few minutes. Find something else to do instead of smoking to take your mind off of it. Try walking around the block - get a pedometer so you can see how far you go in a day (you can see the results of getting healthy rather than smoking).

Drink lots of water. Water is healthy adds no calories, and it helps to flush the nictotine out of your system.

Make sure you have lots of crunchy veggies in water in the fridge - low calorie and can satisfy the hand to mouth behaviour that you are used to.

Take the money that you would spend on smokes every day and put it in a jar. At the end of the month count it up and spend it on something for you or your family.

Good luck to you, it's a difficult thing to do.

I've tried recently to quit and the weight thing I can manage - but the 'kill everyone' is the rough part. I'm beginning to think I need to go on a 2 week remote wilderness retreat without cigarettes and get my aggression under control someplace where nobody will get hurt. The first two weeks are really bad for me - I haven't made it through them yet because I don't want to lose my job.

Gum and lozenges make me very sick to my stomach. Patches make me dizzy. I have to go cold turkey.

I lost weight when I quit smoking. Going on 16 years now.

I've had many many friends try to quit smoking. And I found the number one reason why they wouldn't:

They don't want to.

Maybe, inside, you don't want to. That's why you are starting to have doubts and worrying about all the bad things that could happen to you if you quit smoking. Because, deep down inside, you don't want to quit smoking.

So, first of all, you have to convince yourself that this is what you want to do. That you won't gain weight or get irritable.

I too had to go through the quit smoking phase. Since I had a great incentive for doing so, it was not so hard to quit smoking even though everyone around me still smoked. I did it because I WANTED too.

True, every now and then (about once every 2 months) I take a cigarette because the stress of all that's happening gets to me, but I smoke one and then forget all about it, because I don't really want to smoke.

Hope that helps, the grapes and carrot things are great advice too. Plus, grapes are yummy.

Good luck, Carole. Being a lifelong non-smoker, I don't have much useful advice. My parents were smokers who quit about 15 years ago, but I was an adult living on my own by then, so I really didn't see how they coped on a day-to-day basis. I think they used the gum to help.