Ok, so I have a question and I would like some input...It's gonna start with a little story. A year and a half ago I lost over 50 lbs. Then I got a boyfriend and..naturally...I gained about 20-25 of those pounds back. Well for the last few months I have been trying really hard to lose the weight that I had gained, but I also wanted to quit smoking cigarettes with my total health kick. With the help of an e-cig, I have been able to go from smoking a pack a day to only one cigarette every few days in about a month and a half. I know its normal to gain a few pounds when you quit smoking BUT i changed my eating habits completely and started going to the gym for an hour of cardio 5 times a week. I have been working my as* off to negate the effects of quitting but I threw out all my fat clothes and I can't afford to buy new ones to accommodate the gain. I'm considering starting back up just so i can fit into my jeans. Should'nt the nicotine in my e-cig effect my metabolism the way a real cigarette does?
Weight gain and quitting smoking with the e-cig
- Thread starter sjf2004
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
Welcome to ECF. I haven't gained weight in the year I've been smoke free (I was a 2 PAD smoker), but I do know that for most people food simply tastes better. Also, for some, the flavor of their vape keeps the cravings away. Good luck.
I lost almost 15 pounds since started vaping 3 months ago. Convinced it's because I vape bakery style juices and have no desire to eat sweets.
I can only personally testify to my own experience, but I have lost about 25 pounds in 4 months since I substituted vaping for smoking. The reason, I believe, is two-fold. First, I, like you, got on a "total health kick" so to speak and began to eat healthier. Per physician suggestions, I incorporated more fiber, slow-burning (read "good") carbs, and vegetables into my diet, which has helped me feel fuller longer, thereby mitigating my snacking. Also, I changed my eating habits to eat more frequent, smaller meals to stimulate my metabolism. Second, after making the switch to vaping, I realized that my lungs can now handle significantly more cardiovascular exercise. So, I went from "working out" maybe once or twice a week to actually working out 5-6 days a week. The difference in my workouts was actually astounding, even to me.
Beyond that, Wikipedia cites a couple of sources suggesting that the average weight gain from smoking cessation is 6.2 lbs for men and 8.4 lbs for women. However, I am not motivated enough to read the studies cited to determine if those subjects maintained nicotine intake during their weight gain.
All in all, my suggestion is to keep a healthy level of exercise and maintain good dietary habits. The health and cosmetic benefits that I have seen in my person situation would more than outweigh a minimal weight gain. Hope this helps.
Good Luck!
Beyond that, Wikipedia cites a couple of sources suggesting that the average weight gain from smoking cessation is 6.2 lbs for men and 8.4 lbs for women. However, I am not motivated enough to read the studies cited to determine if those subjects maintained nicotine intake during their weight gain.
All in all, my suggestion is to keep a healthy level of exercise and maintain good dietary habits. The health and cosmetic benefits that I have seen in my person situation would more than outweigh a minimal weight gain. Hope this helps.
Good Luck!
Hi there!
I will shed some light on this seeing as I've managed to lose about 40 lbs in the past year while quitting (for the most part) analogs.
My views on how I was able to lose the 40 lbs was not necessarily based on a healthy "diet" or a lot of "exercise". The change that occurred was mental rather than physical. Dieting is a joke...because it entails changing what you eat for a determined period of time. Physical "regiments" are also ineffective in that they aren't reasonable to manage when life gets busy. In fact it is my change in mentality that has led me to quitting smoking and now looking for a healthier alternative in ecigs. What I'm saying is that if you want to lose weight, you have to make life changes...and for me the best way of doing that was educating myself on what is healthy and what is not and why.
Having said that, you probably understand what it's like to have a healthy perspective and attitude. I think at this moment, if you want to be "healthy", reverting back to analogs will only prevent you from achieving your goals. I think the important thing is to isolate what the problem is (metabolism?) and figure out how that can be dealt with. There are many other ways your metabolism can be affected (including eating small meals more often rather than having big meals). If you really want to lose weight, smoking is only going to impede the physical activity that helps you lose the weight.
Stay strong!...Don't do it! You'll be glad!
I will shed some light on this seeing as I've managed to lose about 40 lbs in the past year while quitting (for the most part) analogs.
My views on how I was able to lose the 40 lbs was not necessarily based on a healthy "diet" or a lot of "exercise". The change that occurred was mental rather than physical. Dieting is a joke...because it entails changing what you eat for a determined period of time. Physical "regiments" are also ineffective in that they aren't reasonable to manage when life gets busy. In fact it is my change in mentality that has led me to quitting smoking and now looking for a healthier alternative in ecigs. What I'm saying is that if you want to lose weight, you have to make life changes...and for me the best way of doing that was educating myself on what is healthy and what is not and why.
Having said that, you probably understand what it's like to have a healthy perspective and attitude. I think at this moment, if you want to be "healthy", reverting back to analogs will only prevent you from achieving your goals. I think the important thing is to isolate what the problem is (metabolism?) and figure out how that can be dealt with. There are many other ways your metabolism can be affected (including eating small meals more often rather than having big meals). If you really want to lose weight, smoking is only going to impede the physical activity that helps you lose the weight.
Stay strong!...Don't do it! You'll be glad!
What I've done to counter what you're going through is to pick up sweet or "flavorful" non-tobacco vapes. (Like a nice doughy cinnamon roll flavor, or some yummy gummy bear flavor, etc) in a low-nicotine content. When I need nicotine, I vape an 18-24 until the craving goes away. The rest of the time, to counter the urge to stick food into mouth, I vape the yummy flavors in an 8-12mg nicotine level. I find I seldom have to hit the 24, occasionally do need to hit the 18, but the 8-12 keeps me going while countering not only that hand-to-mouth snacking urge but the nicotine fits from smoking cessation.
Oh please don't go back!!! You've come so far! I've lost 10 pounds in three months without trying! Part of it is diet, for sure. I had to change what I was eating because my hubby decided to become a diabetic,, I had to eat what he had to eat, by default. No sugar, limited carbs, more fiber.. it is what it is, a lifetime change of a bad eating style. I also tend to vape sweet bakery juices,, so I really have no craving for sweets at all. Frankly, I'd rather vape than eat most of the time. I work the evening shift and I ALWAYS snacked when I got home at 11pm.. and not good stuff either. Not anymore,,, a big glass of water and a nice pomegranate, or tiramisu, chocolate vape and no more snacking. And I don't really miss all that junk anymore either. Keep at it.. find some good sweet bakery style juices,, or fruity flavors and you won't be sorry... I wish you luck!
While I've not gained any since changing over 6months ago, I'd still take an extra 20 lbs or so over going back to smoking.
I want to second & third ask of the suggestions that you try sweeter juices - ECBlends thin mint tastes EXACTLY like the cookie, including the lingering taste of chocolatey mint.
I gained nearly 40lbs between November and January due to a combination of high doses of steroid injections and prednisone packs, severely limited physical activity, surgery, quitting smoking and new horrid eating habits (lots of take out, delivery, junk food and fast/convenience foods that were not the norm in our house prior to my accident).
Since starting to vape in January, I've managed to stop the weight gain, and I much of the credit to juices that are sweet and/ or fruity curbing my cravings.
There isn't a magic bullet, and if your nicotine level is the same as the Nic level you smoked, you shouldn't have a decrease in metabolism - find sweet flavors you love and vape them when you crave cookies/ cakes, etc (someone needs to develope a chip flavor!)
Increase your activity level if you can - walking at a brisk pace is terrific exercise - drink more water, eat more veggies and don't stress over it. But whatever you do, please don't pick up the stinkies again! You can Always take the extra pounds off, but you can't always undo the damage stinkies cause - there is a reason smokers have double the mortality rate of non smokers!
Sent using Tapatalk
"Being happy doesn't mean things are perfect. It means you've decided to look past the imperfections." ~ anon
I gained nearly 40lbs between November and January due to a combination of high doses of steroid injections and prednisone packs, severely limited physical activity, surgery, quitting smoking and new horrid eating habits (lots of take out, delivery, junk food and fast/convenience foods that were not the norm in our house prior to my accident).
Since starting to vape in January, I've managed to stop the weight gain, and I much of the credit to juices that are sweet and/ or fruity curbing my cravings.
There isn't a magic bullet, and if your nicotine level is the same as the Nic level you smoked, you shouldn't have a decrease in metabolism - find sweet flavors you love and vape them when you crave cookies/ cakes, etc (someone needs to develope a chip flavor!)
Increase your activity level if you can - walking at a brisk pace is terrific exercise - drink more water, eat more veggies and don't stress over it. But whatever you do, please don't pick up the stinkies again! You can Always take the extra pounds off, but you can't always undo the damage stinkies cause - there is a reason smokers have double the mortality rate of non smokers!
Sent using Tapatalk
"Being happy doesn't mean things are perfect. It means you've decided to look past the imperfections." ~ anon
I've gained weight but it was already slowly going up before I quit. Just my crappy eating habits catching up to me now that I'm half way through my forties. Thats my next issue to tackle.
Your weight gain could be from drastically changing your diet. It could throw off your metabolism. You also might be building muscle from exercising and muscle is heavier then fat.
Your weight gain could be from drastically changing your diet. It could throw off your metabolism. You also might be building muscle from exercising and muscle is heavier then fat.
the thought of using sweet juices for satisfying dessert cravings is a great idea! Can't believe i've never thought of it!
Welcome,please don't go back to smoking,I did that so many times I can't even count.It just makes it worse to try to quit again.Good Luck
I suspect using sweet vaping oils might be counterproductive to losing weight. There is some research with artificial sweeteners which suggests your body expects something sweet to be arriving, and so produces insulin. When that energy doesn't arrive (because artificial sweeteners aren't energy), your body knows it, and continues to crave sweet foods.
I'm not sure how they sweeten e-Juice because the full ingredients aren't listed. I'd think it would be artificial though, because you can get more sweetness for less volume. Someone might clarifiy that for me.
This could be wrong. Who knows vaping may become an excellent way of losing weight. Somehow I don't think it will be that easy though....
I'm not sure how they sweeten e-Juice because the full ingredients aren't listed. I'd think it would be artificial though, because you can get more sweetness for less volume. Someone might clarifiy that for me.
This could be wrong. Who knows vaping may become an excellent way of losing weight. Somehow I don't think it will be that easy though....
Last edited:
Gained some but wasn't due to quitting smoking. It was due to an injury that left me in pain and I couldn't make myself do anything. I've gotten better and the weight is coming off. I have more energy at 42 than I did at 30. Exercising is easy now.
Your tastes are going to get better so the biggest thing is to not indulge. If you feel hungry, eat a healthy snack. I keep carrots and celery sticks available at all times.
If cravings get too bad, I drink my fattening water and allow myself 4 diet Oreos...then off to the threadmill for an hour to burn the water off.
Your tastes are going to get better so the biggest thing is to not indulge. If you feel hungry, eat a healthy snack. I keep carrots and celery sticks available at all times.
If cravings get too bad, I drink my fattening water and allow myself 4 diet Oreos...then off to the threadmill for an hour to burn the water off.
personally, I started a diet and vaping at the same time in January and lost about 18 pounds thus far.
It really depends on the vendor as to whether the full ingredients are listed or not. For example, GenXVapor does list its ingredients on the label -- and they use ethyl maltol, which is a very common (and very standard) sweetener. ECBlends also uses ethyl maltol. I won't say it's industry standard, because I'm not sure that there is an industry standard, but if there were one, I'd be inclined to say that's it. Most juice vendors will tell you the ingredients list, if not the proportions, if you ask them to.
For the record, there is a company called Vaportrim that's now marketing what amounts to disposable zero-nic e-cigs for weight loss purposes, so SOMEONE other than us has noticed this potential!
For the record, there is a company called Vaportrim that's now marketing what amounts to disposable zero-nic e-cigs for weight loss purposes, so SOMEONE other than us has noticed this potential!
Last edited:
I started my weight loss work over a year ago and have dropped 96 lbs to date. I have noticed in the past few months I haven't lost an ounce, other than that five or so pound up and down I've been going through. But I think I did the e-cig thing a lot differently from many people. I bought the starter kit, made my way through my last carton of cigarettes, and when I popped that last cigarette I didn't look back. My mom is trying to ease into hers, and many I have met did the same. I didn't, I just flung myself at it completely and refused to look back. I was a pain to live with that first week, but have been fine ever since, now heading for my second month on e-cig alone. However, I'm also not getting any of the benefits anyone said I would. My sense of taste and smell has not improved, I am still coughing, I am still coughing up *stuff*, and my stamina hasn't improved any either (it wasn't horrible to start with, I was running several miles a night while smoking cigarettes... no, not at the same time. LOL!). I was a 20 year smoker, though, up until 2 months ago, doing a pack to a pack and half a day. So my all over experience is completely different, I guess.
Personally, I wouldn't go back. Go the OTHER direction. Throw the cigarettes out completely! Just do it! Warn everyone, make the complete switch, live with it for the few days it takes, and go for it. The weight issue could just be a plateau.
Personally, I wouldn't go back. Go the OTHER direction. Throw the cigarettes out completely! Just do it! Warn everyone, make the complete switch, live with it for the few days it takes, and go for it. The weight issue could just be a plateau.
DON'T DO IT! You are still getting nicotine, so there should be no metabolic effect.
Plus, I second what a lot of others have said that vaping delicious, low-nic flavors through the evening has REALLY helped my late-night snacking problem. You may find that you snack a lot less and actually lose more weight!
Plus the improved lung function you will get from not putting tar in your lungs will help your workout routines be a lot more effective.
Hang in there!
Plus, I second what a lot of others have said that vaping delicious, low-nic flavors through the evening has REALLY helped my late-night snacking problem. You may find that you snack a lot less and actually lose more weight!
Plus the improved lung function you will get from not putting tar in your lungs will help your workout routines be a lot more effective.
Hang in there!
Don't worry too much, you'll likely be able to lose the weight again once your metabolism normalizes again. The question of whether or not vaping should keep the weight gain at bay is....well, personal. What quitting smoking will due to your body, whether or not you're vaping, is individual.
The nicotine you're getting is going to help you keep your weight down is really just up to your body. The nicotine you get vaping is natural nicotine. When you smoke a commercial cigarette, ammonia is added, this chemical reacts to the nicotine when combusted, essentially freebasing the substance. This reaction serves to make the drug more potent, and addictive. There are a lot of other things in cigarettes that are addictive too, and probably help to facilitate a low body weight. All of those toxins, are of course, toxic to the body. People who ingest high levels of toxins tend to lose weight because the body has to expend so much energy fighting and repairing the damage.
So yes, even though you've vaping you may still see a slight gain in weight. But don't worry so much about it! The health consequences of a couple extra lbs in much less severe than that of smoking. You should be able to get that weight back off once your body gets used to it too.
The nicotine you're getting is going to help you keep your weight down is really just up to your body. The nicotine you get vaping is natural nicotine. When you smoke a commercial cigarette, ammonia is added, this chemical reacts to the nicotine when combusted, essentially freebasing the substance. This reaction serves to make the drug more potent, and addictive. There are a lot of other things in cigarettes that are addictive too, and probably help to facilitate a low body weight. All of those toxins, are of course, toxic to the body. People who ingest high levels of toxins tend to lose weight because the body has to expend so much energy fighting and repairing the damage.
So yes, even though you've vaping you may still see a slight gain in weight. But don't worry so much about it! The health consequences of a couple extra lbs in much less severe than that of smoking. You should be able to get that weight back off once your body gets used to it too.
i have the same issue i droped 30 lbs. and have put some back on. it isn't the nic in cigs that curb your appetite. i think its the 4000+ other chemicals that do it. if you have to were sweat pants for a while so be it the weight issue if far safer for you imo than the risks with going back smoking. hang in there you'll get there.
cheers
from the slowly thawing north
AKA the east coast of canada
cheers
from the slowly thawing north
AKA the east coast of canada
- Status
Similar threads
