Quitting smoking


(Chelsea Barnett) #1

I feel like I probably post too much up here. Oh well.
I am trying to make a lot of lifestyle changes all at once. I think I’m ready to try to quit smoking. But I also think I should wait until I’ve been doing keto longer. As I know that I will want to eat more when I quit…like I have before in the past.
Has anyone successfully quit smoking while doing keto ? I don’t want to gain weight if I try to stop now.


(Susan) #2

I quit smoking 28 months ago by using e-cigs. I wasn’t keto at the time, but was trying to reduce carb intake. I found I smoked more when drinking wine, so reducing that helped. I stopped using the e-cigs months ago and haven’t looked back.

Keto is all about health, right? So quitting smoking is right up there with it. Not saying it’s easy, but smoking really is just a habit that can be broken.


(Chelsea Barnett) #3

I want to quit so so bad. I’m sick of feeling like I need a cigarette. But I don’t want to end up stuffing my face with food when I have an urge to smoke And lose all of the weight loss progress. I tried the vaping before but it just didn’t cut it for me. But maybe I can try it again now that I really want to quit?


(Susan) #4

Yes, definitely try it again. Any craving does pass remember whether it’s for food or smoking. I used to get agitated if I misplaced my e-cig or couldn’t buy the one I wanted (menthol), but that’s all gone now. I thought I could never stop, and tbh I really used to enjoy it. It was when I became out of breath walking up and down steep lanes and hills on holiday in Cornwall that I decided I’d prefer to have healthy lungs than a cigarette, and quit as soon as I got home. Sometimes we’re scared to attempt things ‘in case’ we fail. But have another go, with e-cigs or something else like the gum.

Not sure how gum and keto go together :thinking:


(Ashley Beane) #5

I quit smoking long before keto, but my suspicion would be that when you’re really fat adapted you will have an easier time fully kicking the habit. When you really sink your heels in with fat adaptation, your body won’t experience cravings in the same way it once did.
For me, the urge to binge is virtually non existent now because keto re-wired my brain to disassociate food with impulses like cigarette cravings and other emotional triggers.

I say go forward in faith and try to quit. Listen to your body. Be conscious of your long term goals, and remind yourself frequently of the keto successes you’ve worked hard for. You’ll never know until you try.


(Omar) #6

I quit smoking 20 years ago cold turkey

Keto life style is important. I am afraid trying to quit smoking you will quit keto and continue smoking. :grin:

Stabilize on keto first then go for it.


(Allie) #7

I quit way before keto, my last day as a smoker was Nov 5th 2000, and I just stopped. For about six months I “tried to stop” but kept giving in and smoking again, then one that final day I just decided enough was enough and I was stopping, so I did.

That’s when I started exercising, suddenly I had loads of energy that needed using up.


#8

I read ‘easy way to stop smoking’ by allen carr, 10 years ago, after 15 years of smoking and numerous attempts to stop. It really was super easy. And I felt the same way as I do now with keto and the change of paradigm.


#9

If you can just quit as others have mentioned then do that as that is obviously best.
Myself, I quit smoking and I took up vaping some three or four years ago, I still vape because I enjoy it. I did the research on vaping as I did on keto before trying both. So I guess I am a happy keto vaper. If one could vape beef, I would vape it. Only kidding, I like my beef fried.
Give vaping another go, if you can’t give up any other way. You have nothing to lose, by doing so, like keto vaping get’s a bad press. But keto is better than carbs and vaping is better than smoking.
If you decided to give vaping another go, first of all buy a decent set up, I.E mod and tank. Then you have to find a e-juice you enjoy. You can make your own e-juice. I just buy a concentrate I like and then make my own adding nicotine to a strength I also like. I do not consider nicotine to be harmful, cigarettes are harmful.
You will soon become a bit of an alchemist, and usefull in keto, ref macros etc. . My favourite vape is “Heisenberg” as in Breaking Bad. But I also like to vape coffee in the morning. Just do a search on google and find a vaping forum near you. Join it , jump right in and ask questions, they will be very helpful to assist you, buy the right kit and make your own juice. Vapers are like keto people. Nice people, just talking/listening from each other’s experiences and giving the time to helping other people as they share the same journey. And of course, share the science. Good Luck.


(Chelsea Barnett) #10

I had a nice mod that I purchased when I was pregnant. I used it for a while. But sadly I still smoked while pregnant. If I can find that I’m going to get some vape juice…or maybe attempt to make my own. It seems complicated thouhh lol


(Chelsea Barnett) #11

I’m thinking maybe I didn’t have enough nicotine in mine. I did the 8 ? Or 6? Maybe if I get higher nicotine it would help me more.


(Chelsea Barnett) #12

That’s how I feel. Handle one thing at a time.


(Raj Seth) #13

Aeons ago, (right outta college) I saw a doc who told me that to get myself healthy I needed to fix my weight - more than quitting smoking. He said - smoking , one day you will realize it’s stupid and stop - but the weight is insidious - and will kill you

So I’ll paraphrase that - quit if you want - but not at the risk of quitting keto. So I would stay - prioritize keto and normalization of the body, and attempt the quitting on top of that, but if it doesn’t take - give the body some time to normalize, then try quitting smoking again.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

Stuff your face with keto food, if you have to. Fat bombs, perhaps? As long as it’s not carbs, the weight gain, if any, should be small. Like the other drugs of addiction, sugar targets the brain’s reward centers—which is why you can eat sweets as a way of getting off some other addiction. But if you stick to protein and fat, you should be fine.


(Mark Rhodes) #15

I quit chewing tobacco 4 weeks ago after coming home from Ketofest. Some observations:

  • I gained 5 pounds. I ate more and frequently along with snacking keto snacks
  • My blood glucose on average is 1.0 mmol higher. My HbA1c has climbed from 5.2 % to 6.0%.
  • My BHB lowered from an average of 1.5 mmol to .6 mmol
  • My carbohydrate intake went from 15g to 36g because of snacking and types of foods

I suspect much of this is from an elevated cortisol effect which is ironic as I quit chewing to end cortisol not induce it!! I would think that as my body adjusts the cortisol will lower and so will my insulinemia and I will create a new normal.

Perhaps this link will be useful https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8790020


(shane ) #16

I am also in the group of using E cigs to help me quit.

Quitting the electronic cig/ vaping is night and day different than quitting smoking cigarettes.

There is a lot more than nicotine in those cigarettes that is addictive.

If you can vape long enough where a cig tastes like ass, you have cigs beat. You must commit to doing it.

I used half a box of nicotine patches to quit vaping.

Your diet shouldn’t stop you from stopping smoking. Losing weight is not even close to being as important as stopping smoking. Forget about gaining a couple pounds. Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for yourself. Period.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

Tsk, tsk! Mark, you couldn’t just have an extra BPC? :grinning: :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

Good for you, though, and do what you have to, to tough it out. I’ve known heroin addicts who said quitting nicotine was rougher than quitting heroin, so hang in there! :+1::+1:

P.S.—Prayers ascending.


(KetoQ) #18

I used to chew tobacco for a long time, and luckily, it got to a point that I became disgusted with it and quit over 11 years ago.

I know quitting smoking is a tough nut to crack for many people. I guess one thing at a time in your life. Perhaps as you continue to lose more weight and get healthier and exercise more, smoking will seem too insane to keep doing.

Good luck.


(Chelsea Barnett) #19

As a former heroin addict, I can agree with that. Nicotine is hard to quit. Maybe because it legal and easier to access. Either way. It sucks.