Is it a myth that when you quit smoking your body metabolism slows down?
I quit smoking in March of 2018. By June of 2018 I had gained 20 pounds. It’s been a fight, but I’ve lost at least 5 of those pounds. I’m down to taking in maybe 1000 calories a day. It seems like I should be losing more and much more quickly. Now I’m trying to remember what it was like when I quit smoking the first time, in the early 80s, and stayed quit for 8 years. It seems like the same kind of thing happened, but my body eventually got back to normal…but then I started having babies so whatever.
I looked it up and internet sources suggest smoking increases your body metabolism, and quitting slows it down. I don’t know whether to believe it or not.
If it’s true, when will I get back to normal?
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Well, if you don’t quit it stops.
It stops even when you do quit. That wasn’t the question.
No, it is not a myth, but what happens is your metabolism returns to normal..
The whole time you smoke, you are dosing yourself with a drug that elevates heart rate and blood pressure.
Yes, most people gain weight after they quit smoking. But one can lose 20 lbs, No one can grow another lung.
@Dutchess_III your body also slows down as you get older. So you have to take that into account as well.
I know. I’m not playing volley ball 3 times a week any more either. That’s why I’m cutting back so drastically on my calorie intake…I don’t need much.
WHERE THE HELL DID MY 50 CALORIE SNICKER RUN OFF TO???
CATO!! YOU TOOK MY 50 CALORIE SNICKER YOU DIRTY DOG!
@Dutchess_III If your dog eats chocolate, you have another problem to worry about.
He doesn’t normally eat chocolate late because I don’t normally have it in the house.
I had this same question way back when I quit and once read that nicotine messes with certain brain receptors that control appetite suppression and studies have shown the nicotine muscles it’s way and interferes with normal appetite regulation and hence the weight loss when smoking. Your weight gain is supposedly your body returning to normal weight.
It’s not a normal weight for me! I’ll lose it. I hate Halloween!
I always hear people say that women’s bodies change after menopause. They change in shape (no matter if the woman is heavy or thin) and it’s also harder for the woman to lose weight.
@Dutchess_III You hate Halloween? No worries, because there are more holidays right around the corner with lots of sweets and calorie laden food!
If I went through menopause (and I must have) it was 20 years ago (obviouosly it was not a memorable event.) I’ve only gained this weight since I quit smoking a year and a half ago. I quit even getting on the scales to see because it’s getting so incredibly frustrating. Yesterday, for example, all I literally ate was a small baked potato, at about 3 in the afternoon, to which I did add butter, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and bacon bits. A few hours later I had 4 Townhouse crackers with cheddar cheese slices on them. Oh, and 4 total of those 50 calorie Halloween candies. And I bet if I get on the scales I’ll weigh 3 pounds more than I did the last time I checked. I’m wracking my brain trying to make sense of this.
@Dutchess_III: My point about menopause is that it will make it harder for you to lose weight. You can google it and see lots of articles about it, it’s not like it’s my theory.
But…I went through it 2 decades ago. In those 20 years I never had a problem losing a few pounds here and there if I thought I needed to. Until now. It’s tied directly to my quitting smoking, not something that happened 20 years ago.
I’m just going to keep my calorie intake down and wait this shit out. If I have to I’ll start eating every other day.
What do you mean by “metabolism slows down?”
Do you burn calories more slowly than you do when you smoke?
So I’m just taking in too many calories still.
@Dutchess_lll It May not be “taking in too much” as much as “not burning enough.” I haven’t ever heard you discuss a fitness routine. Do you work out? Running around with the grandkids burns calories, but it isn’t a workout.
And a fully loaded baked potato may have been your primary meal, but it is a shitload of calories. So is an egg McMuffin.
@zenvelo Yes. I’m taking in more calories than I’m burning off. My activity level has been about the same for the last 10 years, and it depends on the day.
@Dutchess_lll: Do you drink alcohol daily? How many drinks per week? Many people don’t take those calories into consideration.
I take those calories into consideration.
What answers do you want us to give? I don’t feel like you’re finding anything useful here.
Well I think I got the answer. Yes, it’s a myth that your metabolism slows down when you quit smoking. I’m just eating too much and not exercising enough.
@Dutchess, as I said before, it is not a myth, you are no longer amping up your metabolism on nicotine.
You could drop ten pounds by Thanksgiving if you start smoking again. You would have a skinny corpse, although not lovely from what smoke does to your skin.
@zenvelo Smoking really does age the skin. My SIL is a twin in her 60’s and has smoked all her life. Her identical twin never smoked and looks much younger. Also, my SIL has lung issues from smoking.
LOL! For those who may be wondering, I’m no where near obese and most would argue I’m not even overweight, not by today’s standards. I just don’t like the weight I’m at. I’m about 15 pounds heavier than I want to be…I’m 5’ 9” and weigh 155 -160. I want to get back down to 145, where I was before I quit smoking. Hell, before that, I was 125 to 130. This is me in 2006, when Rick and I got married. (We had the shop. Extreme stress and extreme hard physical work.)
I know exactly what to do. I’ve counted calories all of my life. It’s requiring some tweaking I’ve never had to do before, and I’m just trying to figure out what to tweak and where.
@zenvelo is right…one thing for sure is I need to exercise more.
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