Posted on 06/12/2011 12:02:11 AM PDT by neverdem
Back when I smoked, I was unable to lose weight. It was bizarre and kind of scary. Then I quit and dropped the 10lbs I had wanted to lose.
One of the biggest lies I told myself when I smoked was that, on some level, smoking was okay for me to do. That it wasn’t “that bad” for me, that I had a right to smoke, and, oh gosh, it would be impossible to quit, so just keep doing it. Once I did quit, I realized what I liar I was.
Back when I smoked, I was unable to lose weight. It was bizarre and kind of scary. Then I quit and dropped the 10lbs I had wanted to lose.
One of the biggest lies I told myself when I smoked was that, on some level, smoking was okay for me to do. That it wasn’t “that bad” for me, that I had a right to smoke, and, oh gosh, it would be impossible to quit, so just keep doing it. Once I did quit, I realized what I liar I was.
I agree. The idea of painless weight loss has appeal, but one should be wary of any drug that affects one’s freewill - even if it’s intent is positive.
When you quit smoking, you were finally able to taste your ex-wife’s cooking. It alsways tasted bad.
At some point, I started inhaling a little here and there. Fast forward a few more years and I had a cigar habit just as bad as cigs. I would smoke a 3rd of a cigar, put it out smoke some more later, etc. I was basically dosing myself with tobacco just like a cig smoker.
I tried cutting down to 3 or 4 a day, couldn't do it. So I finally decided I had to give em up. They were giving my bronchitis. They were giving me problems with my gums. Anxiety about cancer. I believe they were aging me too--skin and hair, etc. I quit 7 months ago.
I'm like you--a junkie. Don't ever forget you've got a monkey on your back. And don't compare yourself to people you see who somehow manage to have an occasional smoke. We're not like them. It's all or none. If we could regulate it, we wouldn't have quit. But we can't, so we did, and you don't want the hassle of having to quit again. My two cents.
I believe it.
I actually know women who chew nicotine gum to stay skinny.
I guess it’s better than doing coke which some of my sorority sister used to stay skinny back in the day.
Smoking is the number one cause of preventable deaths
I had no idea that death was preventable
I have smoked for over 60 years and i do not think it is going to keep me from dieing, and it don,t squelch my appetite.
However it does keep me from getting too fat because with all of the extortion taxes on tobacco i can not retire and keep on smoking, so i have to keep on working.
The so called experts can argue all day about all of this but like i said i have smoked for more than 60 years and i still can not answer the question ( is it a habit or is it an addiction? ) so i really don,t know how smart these experts really are, but if they think that death is preventable then maybe they are not too smart.
The problem is that any fool can put professer or doctor in front of their name and have all kinds of clout when it comes to government rules and regulations and all of these fools stick together for the love of power.
so i would just like to remind them of one thing this country is all about.
Just a bit of the constitution of the united states.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Some people will question how some people could be happy by chewing gum, other people would question how any one could be happy by going to church, etc.
If every one was exactly the same i think it would be a sad situation, if every one was exactly like me i would want to get the hell out of here.
>>But we can’t, so we did, and you don’t want the hassle of having to quit again. My two cents.<<
Your two cents are like 2 million dollars if we get even one person to see that not only must one quit smoking but one must quit smoking forever — there are no half way measures.
Now, to be fair, I know nothing about the eCigs and it seems they are a successful way to eventually quit. But once done, one must be DONE!
I guess I am too old school and my fear, which I have been quite honest about, is that the distance between eCig and rCig (Real — get it?) is too short.
But if it works as a quitting mechanism (I used Nicotrol inhalers like a crazy man (+Xyban) for a few months!) then all the best to all!
But quitting AGAIN??? *shudder* I just don’t think I could do it!
It is THAT thought that keeps my fingers in check.
All the smokers I know are over weight. They over eat and smoke and dont do any exercise. Dont know one skinny smoker.
First off, my deep sympathies to yuo and your family for the passing of your sister. I have yet to lose a sibling but I am sure I will be devastated. I will add you and your family in my evening prayers for comfort.
I think we are talking about the observed physiological effects on our metabolism after quitting smoking. The anecdotes are certainly trending in the same direction -- weight gain AFTER quitting.
I had a friend who passed (also too young: in his early 60s) who was already overweight and a heavy smoker. His doctor told him to not even try to quit -- said doctor feared the additional weight gain sure to follow (and stress, etc.). I lost a mentor and a true friend when he passed.
My mother also smoked and it led to her early demise (well, that and 7 kids to be brought up alone: she was married when all were borne -- another story for another thread)
Sometimes the sum total of the abuses one heaps on the body eventually catch up :(
God gave us a lot of resilience mechanisms but they can only be stretched so far.
I guess the news is they have found the exact mechanism. But Nicotine as a weight loss aid has been known for decades. I have known people who used nicotine gum as an appetite suppressant.
Thanks for the succinct diet advice, LOL. Some people do "nourish" themselves this way, hard as it is to believe.
Why are smoker’s skinny? Because while they’re smoking, they’re not eating a Snicker bar. At least I’ve never seen a smoker eating one while smoking.
I once did business with a very caustic and witty older woman, tops in her field, who resided in Manhattan, and smoked like a freight train, never being without one if she was awake.
I’ve had dinner with her many times, with a cigarette in her left hand and a fork in her right, alternating bites of food with a drag on the cigarette. She was thin, very elegant, looked quite a bit older than she was and had a voice like gravel.
She died about ten years ago and it was a real loss. To my knowledge, the cause of her death was unrelated to her truly epic smoking excess. She was in her late sixties and died in her sleep.
“if every one was exactly like me i would want to get the hell out of here.”
That is the funniest thing I have read in days. I can relate,
Where did he get the Helen Thomas doll?
I hesitate to post this - I do not wish to encourage anyone to smoke.
But when I quit smoking, I completely lost my ability to FOCUS on my work.
I think that I am self-medicating for ADHD. I don’t know, all a doctor will tell you is to quit smoking, blah blah blah.
When I work, I get absorbed in a problem, I walk around, I juggle variables in my head, smoke, and eventually, I return to my computer and write down the answer.
When I quit smoking, I lost the ability to do this. Eventually, I could not live with myself, and decided brain power was better than lung power.
Yes, smoking is going to kill me. If the Melanoma doesn’t get me first.
But at least I can THINK.
Well, this is fascinating - as it turns out, I am not the only one to notice the effect.
http://adhd-treatment-options.blogspot.com/2009/02/nicotine-withdrawal-effects-differ-in.html
It is not so simple, or there would not be so many people struggling to lose weight. The more one loses, the more the body compensates by burning fewer calories. There is a set point of weight that is difficult to defeat, although it can be manipulated somewhat.
“The Dieter’s Dilemma: Eating Less and Weighing More” - probably out of print, but a good read.
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