Question about smoking?

[LiLRage]

Ok... Im 22 year old female. And just recently gotten serious about the shape and tone of my body. I have smoked for years and want to stop. I eat healthy and exercise and go to the gym and really want to quit smoking. My question is this, if I quit smoking will I still gain weight if I eat healthy or ppl just gain weight cause when they quit smoking they go to food. I really need some input cause I would really like to quit but Im afraid I will add on pounds instead of losing weight.


Thanks

[quicksilver]

well for starters what are your stats:ie how tall are u, how much do you weigh, ex. but smokin definatly isn't good for you, nicotine messes with your system, and if your going for weight loss then smokin will effect your cardio, meaning that you will tire before you have really burned any calories. its best to quit, like i said i don't know your stats but i would guess that you would gain some weight due to your appitite increasing from the withdrawls

[quicksilver]

but most people replace cigarrettes with food, thats why they gain so much weight

[freaker]

Smoking decreases appetite. That's the only way it really helps people stay thin. Your appetite will most likely increase when you quit, but this is not such a bad thing. What you want to do is eat small meals every 2-3 hours and eat a lot of vegtables with every meal to fill you up. If you have a good diet consisting of protein, healthy complex carbs, good fats, and lots of vegtables you will see great results from your weight training and cardio. I personally think it's a matter of will-power and is mental more than anything. Cigarettes do not effect metabolism to a great extent. Plan out a good diet and stick with it. After 4-6 weeks when the cravings for cigarettes have totally subsided, you'll be able to evaluate where your appetite and metabolism really is.

[AyJay]

Ok, I know this is the ladies' forum and all, and I shouldn't be ease dropping.

But I wouldn't be working out in the first place if I were smoking. I'd do my best and quit first, otherwise you'll just make it hard on yourself and not get the gains you'll want.

Anyway, that's my advise.

[ctgblue]

I completely disagree with AyJay
I don't care if you still smoke, getting in shape is a "step at a time" process.
If you start increasing the intensity of your lifting and cardio, this will help you to stop smoking as you will find it harder to push yourself in the gym.
You need to keep working towards building more lean mass. Legs and back are good targets to add muscle fairly quickly.
This will also help you feel better, burn more calories, and help you keep off any weight from some nominal increase in food intake. Not gonna allow you to start downing Ben&Jerries like it's breakfast though.
As you see yourself getting stronger you need to force yourself to see that the cigarettes are holding you back from your goals.
For example, I like cigars but, unlike cigarette smokers, most cigar smokers smoke a few a week. When I started really adding weight to my squats and Deadlifts, I knew what was holding me back, the nicotine. So I just stopped for a few months, added 60lbs to my squat and 55lbs to my deads.
Now I only smoke a couple if I am out playing golf. I know, as badly as I play, that I will burn off the nicotine during the weekend and it won't affect my workouts.
If you can back off for 2 weeks and hit the gym hard, maybe the improvements you see will help you stick with the no-smoking campaign.
Good Luck, it's a tough road, but you can do it.

[LiLRage]

Thank you guys for all your advice. Im slowly cutting down on smoking. I still do cardio and walk/jog 4 miles or more a day. And Ive noticed good results so far. I dont really get out of breath tho,but Im sure if I started running I would. But like I said Im cutting down everyday till I get to 1 day then 0. That way Im kind of weaning myself off of those nasty things :D Now when I completly quit smoking,for all you ex smokers I got another question. How much weight did you gain after you quit? If any at all?

Thanks :)

[Matthew D]

Near as I can remember.. I think it was about 15 lbs.. but for being able to breath.. hell I still would take the extra 15 lbs.. anyway, I got rid of that too.. plus a few more..
Hey Rage, are you doing the patch? That helped me the first 2 or 3 weeks to keep at it.. "food for thought"
Matt D