Smoking while losing weight
 

Does anybody else smoke?
i smoke cigarettes and find myself smoking more when i get hungry to calm my cravings. i herd you burn more calories when you smoke? Id like to quit but if it helps me lose weight i think im gonna continue?
what you guys think?

It is really difficult to quite it.

I also smoke, unfortunately. I've attempted to quit many times and have been successful for a few months at times. In my efforts to quit, I did a lot of reading about smoking to prepare myself for what to expect. Here's what I understand from what I've read:

1. Smoking affects blood sugar levels in the blood which is part of why it helps control appetite.

2. People who put on weight when they quit smoking are normally replacing cigarettes with more food not only out of the oral habit, but also because they experience more drastic swings of low blood sugar as their body adjusts and this makes food cravings quite severe.

3. Some people do burn more calories as smokers. Typically any drastic calorie difference is a result of sever damage to the body which disallows it from functioning normally. I've heard that long term heavy smoking can put as much stress on your organs as an additional 30-50 pounds of body fat. This is not an ideal way to burn extra calories.

Now, I am not a doctor, so I encourage you to seek out information and read for yourself. What I do know for sure, is that the times that I have quit smoking, I haven't put on any weight. Part of this was because I would eat fruit throughout the day, especially when I wanted to smoke, to boost up my blood sugar levels without adding a lot of calories. Also, I've found that after a week or so of not smoking, I have an abundant amount of energy and I want to move around all the time.

I really would encourage you to quit if it's what you want to do! Quitting is much easier when its done out of a genuine desire to do so, and I'm sure you know that those moments do not come often.

I agree with Beebee.
I am 46year old, 27y smoker, now 3y tobacco free.
Smoking raises you heart rate into the low “heart healthy zone” in this zone your body tends to use more fat than glucose. This is why my weight stayed fairly constant till I first attempted to quit. Over 2 years trying gum, patch, lozenges, and then Chantix I gained 50 pounds. After a failed 6 month bout with Chantix and in utter desperation to pass the 1.5mile run to keep my job, I tried an electronic cig. You still get nicotine but no tar; e-cigs are about harm reduction not abstinence. After a week my chest no longer felt heavy and I could now start exercising without feeling like my heart was I going to jump out of my chest. I passed and my run time has improved by 1m30s over 3 annual tests and I mostly just did brisk walks to train for it. I also was able to lose 40lbs, mostly from exercise… it was more comfortable to do! The last 10lbs just dropped off in 2 weeks when I started eating paleo.
Look at Electronic Cigarette Forum :: for unbiased user information on how to start. It saved my job and my life.

I continue to use the electronic cig and have reduce my nicotine use by half, and will continue to reduce till I am at zero nic. Maybe then I will consider quitting using the e-cig.

Personally, I lost more weight (and more quickly) after I quit smoking. My endurance increased, my mental and physical health improved drastically.

My best advice? Replace cigarettes with sugar-free Trident gum.

I've managed to quit for about 6 months so far. It hasn't really affected my weight at all, although I was pretty overweight to begin with, thankfully I've not gained that much from quitting.

Well worth it though, I feel a lot healthier, and my circulation has improved no end.

Smoking is bad for health and when following a diet plan smoking is strictly banned as it is not healthy and can bring serious health consequences.

Burning calories due to smoking is a myth.

What is happening is, you are smoking more and eating less, and thus you have lower calorie intake, so your body needs to burn stored fat for energy to compensate.

Carry on smoking while weight loss is a bad bad idea. The side effects that can negatively impact your health and actually cause you to gain weight when you get older.