I stopped smoking and got fat.

[BodaciousTatas]

Why does this happen? I am huge :( but i feel hungry all the time and this increase in energy I am supposed to have was all a big lie.

What can I do to stop constantly feeling hungry?

How long is it since you gave up?

This happened to me too, ive put on loads even though I dont think ive been eating more than before, nor have I been snacking on biscuits or anything like that.

Have lost a bit of it now though.

I gave up in Nov 11.

I have definitely been eating more, I think i am going to try the Paul McKenna approach of only eating when I am hungry. I have also been replacing cigs with lattes which have almost definitely made me fatter.

Congratulations! You should be over the worst of your cravings by now. I put on 1 1/2 stone giving up - but it was worth it and I lost it when I was ready, maybe about a year after I gave up.... don't start smoking again because you're frustrated about your weight gain - as I have known many people to do, you'll lose it...eventually.

If you feel hungry drink a glass of water. Sometimes it is easy to mistake thirst for hunger, and drinking plenty of water is good for you anyhow.

This happened to me, and it took me years to deal with it. First of all, do not be tempted to start again. Repeat stopping and starting again can really bugger up your metabolism. I agree about drinking water, try it in a nice glass with ice and a slice of lemon or lime. Lastly, try increasing your exercise. Your cardio fitness will have already improved just through giving up.

Loads of reasons. The main ones are that fags suppress your appetite and people that have given up tend to eat something when a craving hits for that endorphin release the body is expecting...read the Alan Carr book.

Paul McKenna would definitely be a good approach IMO.

because every time you had a smoke you heart rate increased and you literally burnt more calories whilst puffing away.

So for example if you smoked 10 per day that could mean you burnt of an extra 300 calories per day, so at the end of that week you would have burnt of 2100 calories.

Think if you where to go on a diet you would try to decrease your intake of food by this type of amount over a week - so you can easily pile on a pound per week without increasing your food intake.

Now you have stopped and you do't make your heart work hard with smoking each day.

So go for a bike ride or walk or swim to burn off the calories that you used to by smoking, but you need to do it every day - but in a healthy way

Thanks all.

I need to stop reaching for the biscuits i have ordered the PMK book and am looking at incorporating some walking into my day.

You gave up smoking when the time was right for you.
You'll give up over eating,too,when you get to that right time to deal with it.
And you'll be able to do it,because you were able to give up smoking,and that means you have determination and willpower.

I recommend you start a diet that means a bit of obsessing, i'm saying this because i get slightly obsessive about things eg smoking so when i gave up i neededsomething to focus my energy on to replacethe gap , does that make any sense?

Obv its not good to obsess about something but i am just realistic in how i behave

If you replaced cigarettes with lattes initially, how about replacing them with just a standard coffee with some semi skimmed milk - way less calorific - I lost 1/2 stone in 6 weeks once when I replaced latte with no sugar to americano with a good slug of semi skimmed and 1/2 sugar!

I too have given up the fags, started again, given up again, done the Dukan to lose the weight, gained the weight, started smoking again, decreased the ciggies, and got fat again over the last two year period. It sucks. I think about food a lot.

My advice is to weigh yourself every day, at the same time. Knowing exactly how much you weigh does mean that you don't fall into that "I can't be fat I was only XXstone when I last weighed myself 7 years ago....." trap. If you up the exercise and drop even 1lb, it does motivate you to keep going. I am now trying the Couch to 5K running plan that was mentioned on a thread here - and for once I seem to be slowly losing the weight, firming up and feel less inclined to go for the biscuits. I feel good too, which I never did when I smoked, or when I was on the Dukan.

Good luck. I know how you feel.

What is Dukan?

I love slimming world but not only am I broke at the moment, my college course changed to the same eve as both my local sw group.

Have taken not of replacing Lattes with and Americano as well.