Ciggyfree Blog & Gov Alert

One of the problems I have had when I quit before, is weight gain. I would transfer my smoking habits to eating habits. And of course I would eat the wrong things. I knew, since I quit for specific health reasons, that gaining weight is not an option.

As I prepared myself to quit this time, I looked ahead at what I would do about displacing the smoking behavior. In past quits, my favorite distraction from cravings was M&Ms. I also used food as a reward for making progress in my quit. I would always feel better for a little while when eating any deliciously evil and unhealthy food. I found that Tootsie Roll Pops were an excellent placebo for the physical act of smoking.

Just as you can imagine, I would pretty much blow up like a balloon when quitting smoking. And then I would compound the problem by not losing it when I went back to smoking. So each time I quit, I would step up, and never step down. I ended up looking like a human bowling ball, pretty much.

This time, gaining weight was out of the question. I just could not afford to do so anymore. Not only that, I have to lose weight. So I decided that it would be real torture to starve myself and crave cigarettes at the same time, but I didnâ€™t have any choice. So I gave up all the things I like so well, Pepsi, chocolate, bread, potatoes and all that stuff. And I didnâ€™t miss it even half as much as I anticipated.

I realize now that my eating habits had a lot in common with my smoking habits. I let the behavior take control, and I did not care to think about what I was doing. The food I ate was just as much self-medication for my feelings as smoking was. Just another crutch. And that kind of food abuse is every bit as self-destructive as smoking.

I have lost over eighty (yes, 80) pounds since I quit smoking. You will lose weight when you stop pouring sugar down your neck at the rate I was doing it. And the daily exercise helps too.

It just goes to show you that a person can take control of their life, and change the things that need changing. We have the power to do what we need to do.

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