To consider re-starting smoking?

[SuperEkstra]

Three years ago I was a size 10. I ran 10ks 4 times a week. I looked great. But I smoked.

I quit smoking. It was really hard. And I'm now a size 20. I've put eight stone on. I've tried every way to lose weight. Everything's great for a week, then I can't stick to it.

Please don't recommend diets that have worked for you, as I guarantee I've tried them. I can't make it last. I feel like I need the dopamine 'high' from smoking which has been replaced by food.

I'm honestly at the point that I'm considering starting smoking again - I'm going to die of obesity at this point anyway, so I guess I'd rather be happier and thinner in the mean time.

I know it's a stupid idea, but I'm so so miserable. I hate myself and my inability to stick to a reasonable about of food. I'm disgusting.

After a while you’ll find your body adjusts to not having mountains of crap food, and the cravings become more manageable and more easily placated.

8 stone is a lot in 3 years & you're absolutely right, can't outrun a bad diet. As you know your issue is food I'd seriously consider gastric sleeve or bypass. Before you get heavier, before your health deteriorates. The stats show you're very unlikely to lose the weight naturally & if you do the chances of keeping it off long term are tiny.

Don't pick up the smoking again, you've done one of the hardest things quitting.

@glasgow357 no need to be such a prick.

I get where you're coming from as I smoked before and I could go a whole day with an apple, coffee, water and cigarettes. Why don't you try vaping? I quit smoking due to pregnancy and now just only vape. It took me a couple of days to get used to it. I've found the flavour I like and now I cannot stand cigarettes and I really hate the smell of them.

In case you're interested, this is what 8 stone difference looks like

@glasgow357

How the fuck do you put 8 stone on?!

There's always one...

OP - see your GP.

I think some form of help with why you're eating like you do would help you.

If you do that, you'll have 2 bad habits to crack. You did the right thing, to stop. My sister worked with an NHS adviser and stopped drinking too much (not much too much) then smoking and finally lost the weight she had put on along the way. Now she is slim she runs and walks etc. and eats a healthy diet. I stopped smoking myself snd it was hard. I'll never do it again. My weight certainly suffered and even now I constantly fight the stone snd a half I'd like to lose. I'm mostly .5 to 1 stone over my target, and focus mainly on eating healthily. You can tackle this. You can. You've just replaced one habit with another. What gap are you really trying to fill in your life? Ask yourself that.

That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve heard. Why in the world would you start smoking again....for any reason!! Don’t do it, you will regret it, you will start and this time you won’t be able to quit no matter how much you try. Smoking won’t make you loose weight. You will be a smoker and heavy weight, it won’t change it. What worked then won’t give you a guarantee if working now your a little older, beware!

The photos are BOTH beautiful, it’s your smile. Don’t start smoking again.

Op well done for posting.

Gently, Yabu to smoke again. You've done brilliantly to give up for 3 years. Do not restart.
Paul Mckennas 'I can make you thin' hypnosis is actually brilliant and all about the emotional addiction to eating. Give it a you tube listen.

Also both pics really are beautiful - you are stunning

@Nanny0gg

OP - see your GP.

I think some form of help with why you're eating like you do would help you.

Yes, totally agree with this. I’m an ex smoker, also suffered Anorexia since childhood which I only recently recovered from. This is about getting support around food, your mindset and how it’s linked to your emotions, starting smoking again isn’t the answer. I really feel for you, OP, but getting support from a GP, a counsellor or similar could really help. They could help you look at your feelings around both issues and also help suggest a plan. 5:2 is not always reccomended for those who strongly connect emotions to food, it can work better to do a simple healthy eating plan with full meals, extra fruit/veg to fill space and other coping mechanisms to keep your mouth busy (gum, sugar free lollipops etc). Try not to feel disheartened, you can get back to running, you can get support and make a plan. xxx

@SuperEkstra

Don't do it. Smoking 'may' have helped you maintain your weight previously.

However, it won't help you lose weight, it will just add another problem.

You're 10 years older now. That doesn't help either.

I understand the feeling of having tried everything, I truly do! & tbh totally honest. I HATE smoking, but if I thought it would hell me lose weight I'd give it a go. But I know it won't.

Don't do it to yourself 🌷

other coping mechanisms to keep your mouth busy (gum, sugar free lollipops etc)

That's really not a good idea. It can lead to metabolic issues.

Op, stopping smoking can trigger depression in some people. Do you think that might be a factor in the weight gain? If it is, a visit to your doctor for ADs and/or therapy would help a lot more than starting the fags again.

I went back smoking after 20 years for that same reason.
It worked great for a while and I lost a stone.
Now I've put the stone back on and I can't give up the smokes :(

I think you're beautiful OP. In both photos. You're a lovely looking woman.

Whatever you do, don't start smoking again - I am one year (and 3 days!) clean, and I will never go back to it. The sheer joy of being free from the addiction - the freedom to be comfortable anywhere at any time without 'needing' a smoke - well, it's priceless, and not something you should consider jeopardising.

Thde weight is another issue - speaking as something of a plump lump - I've only ever been slim for about 5 minutes back in the 80s, and - like you - have tried every diet known to woman. I've come to the conclusion that it's only when you make food and eating a non-issue, and stop thinking/obsessing about it, that it becomes manageable. I will never be thin, but by eating what I want (and identifying what it is I actually want, not eating out of habit/boredom/feeling deprived/needing comfort) I can maintain an acceptable level of chunk. I don't have any food rules, but I find I naturally moderate my intake - sometimes eating more than I need, sometimes less. It's all totally non-dramatic - and I think that's the way it should be - no restrictions, and only a little indulgence!

You are totally gorgeous in both pics, I think, so there's a blessing. I look like a potato much of the time, but DH likes spuds, so that's OK :) Just don't smoke again - it won't help your health, and it's smelly, and expensive and anti-social, and so, so, limiting.

I gave up smoking and put on weight and am fed up with the doctors constantly telling me every ill is too do with my weight when previously every illness was to do with smoking and I don't feel I can win.
However, I have in the last few years developed chronic asthma and have been hospitalised a couple of times with chest infections so I know I could not and would not go back to smoking and I am extremely glad that I gave up when I did as I'm not sure where I would be now if I had continued.
Basically I'm saying, please do not go back to smoking, there is nothing to gain by it, absolutely nothing, I don't believe that if I smoked again I would lose weight for one minute. I do however believe that I used food to substitute smoking when I first gave up I don't think this would be reversed by smoking again. It is a costly and antisocial habit which is thankfully dying out.
As others have said, I would start to build up your exercise again if your ankle has healed, even starting going for a nice walk which can improve your mental and physical health.
I wish you the best of luck but please don't smoke again.

@SuperEkstra

In case you're interested, this is what 8 stone difference looks like

You look beautiful in both!!!

Only if you can guarantee you would lose the weight, which you can. You would be more likely to end up both fat and stinking, plus unhealthy from both...

No idea what to suggest OP, sorry. Cocaine is great for weight loss! Joking...

Have you tried being in ketosis that gives a bit of a high?

Don't go back to smoking - the eight stone won't be just down to giving up smoking, although I also put on several stone after giving up.

Just imagine if you don't shift the weight and also now smoke your situation will be dramatically worse.

As you say, you need to replace the dopamine - find another way

It's shit isn't it OP? I was always a slim woman who ate what she wanted but smoked too.
The second I became a non-smoker the pounds piled on. The running I used to be able to do easily became a huge effort leaving me breathless and aching. Eventually ending in not even being able to quickly pop up the stairs.
Not only did I no longer have that joy of the smoking, I had to make myself extra miserable by being starving all the damn time, having to wear frumpy clothes being overweight and I have never been more unhappy with myself than now.

But would I go back to smoking? Not at £10 a bloody packet I wouldn't!!

But you're right. You do something that is supposed to make you healthier and it has the opposite effect.

But at least you don't smell, right?

I'm sorry to say OP it's done now. The weight is there. If you take up smoking again the result will most likely be you being an overweight smoker with faster ageing skin, an empty purse and stinking too.

Please don't, I watched my Mum die a terrible death last year of lung cancer, she was a smoker and what came out of her nose and mouth when she died will never leave my mind.