Best Way To Lose Weight After Quitting Smoking

Not only is what I am going to share here the best way to lose weight – it is - in fact – the only way to lose weight. Yes – you heard me correctly – there is only one way to lose weight and that is to burn more calories than you ingest. Simple. Thanks for reading and ciao.

Just kidding.

But not about how to lose weight – this is how to lose weight for free. In fact – done correctly – you will actually make money losing weight if you buy and cook less food. I am going on a diet myself, having gained weight recently. I have gained the weight through a combination of sitting on my ass making a living blogging and more recently – quitting smoking.

Quitting the cigarettes has been total bastard for me. I decided that I wanted to be quit my the time I hit 50 years old and I am 49 this year – so – after my last birthday in August I quit. I had already put 30 pounds on over the preceding 2 years – basically because I spend all day on my ass. Now I have put on another 30 pounds in the 6 months since I stopped smoking. Which makes me an uncomfortable 291 pounds. 60 of which are recent additions. Now it is time to say goodbye to those extra pounds.


I honestly expected to put some weight on when I gave up smoking – but I am surprised at how much. Nevertheless – as I could see myself getting heavier – I decided that it was more important that I quit smoking than that I put on some weight. So – 6 months quit – now I do something about that.

"If you don't move, you get fat," says the image under Michaelangelo's David. Too true – and if you are feeling some affinity with the photo-shopped David – it might be time to think about going on a diet.

I am faced with the double whammy of spending too much time sat down and working from home where I have access to all the snacks I want, plus a smoking craving that meant I was stuffing my face with snacks at every opportunity. . So my approach is going to be two pronged:

No more sweets and snacks.

I have thrown out all the snack food and have bought some fruit and sticks of licorice root instead. You will notice that my page is not adorned with stop smoking products – that is because I think those products that replace nicotine in some way are a total and utter con.

I don't want to change my nicotine delivery system for another one that all all of a sudden becomes extremely expensive and taxed when the government Inc has got enough people hooked – no – I want to quit.

I quit cold turkey - and if I can quit cold turkey – anyone can. I was a hard core two packs a day man for 35 years. I started smoking when I was 13 years old and smoked constantly for the next 35 years. The licorice roots actually helped me to quit smoking and now I hope it will help me to lose weight. The odd thing about stopping smoking is that you feel hungry – even when you are not hungry. Or rather – your brain says "I want a cigarette," and your body says, "You are not smoking – eat something instead."

So my first recommendation is to buy some of these sticks. I have since discovered that licorice root is supposed to have significant anti-inflammatory properties, and is a popular remedy for cough, some complications of tuberculosis, and many chest complaints such as bronchitis and catarrh. It is well-regarded as a soothing ingredient for a sore throat and laryngitis and is often used in cough medicines.

I did not know that – but I am big believer in listening to your body, (except for the last 35 years where the nicotine voice was louder) and when I was driving all the local herbalists and pharmacist insane looking for something to put in my mouth that did not have nicotine in it – this was what my body told me was the right thing.

Another that is probably worth trying is tea tree oil chewing sticks – whatever works for you is the right answer. Let's face it – if you have just quit smoking – you have some spare cash in your pocket.

Screw You Big Pharma and Government Inc

I did some research into nicotine replacement products before quitting. Oddly enough – the statistics for comparing quitting smoking with and without nicotine replacements show a much higher chance of quitting using them.

In the first six months - while people are using the replacement therapy

Now try and find any statistics for the next 6 months after quitting the nicotine patches or gum. Go on - do an internet search, phone your local government anti-smoking department, pop into your local drug dealer – sorry – pharmacy. I dare you to find anything and when you do – guess what?

The success level drops to exactly the same ratio as not using anything. Once again we are being conned by the government Inc.

I had great difficulty explaining that I did not want a fucking nicotine product when I was looking for help about two weeks into quitting. I was going nuts and all the local pharmacies tried to sell me something with nicotine in it. It was so annoying and once again I am reminded that the Government Inc and the Pharmaceuticals Inc do not care one whit about me. They want money and addicted customers.

Move More Eat Less

The second part of my approach to losing weight will be exercise. I bought a mountain bike recently – using the money I saved from quitting smoking – and – although I have been ill on and off for the last three months, which I attribute to the stress of giving up smoking, and the weather has been horrible – I am planning on two hours of mountain biking three times a week, plus a 3 mile walk on the days I am not riding.

I splashed out on a heart rate monitor – a polar RS100 and a book by Stu Mittleman - "Slow Burn :: Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower." I have heard good things about Stu and so far – so good. I need some extra motivation and a plan and the book and heart rate monitor have given e that.

But – you must find what works for you, and if the thought of a bicycle and heart rate monitor has you reaching for the cigarettes with suicide in mind – you need to find what will work for you.

I genuinely do not believe it is possible to lose weight quickly, safely - you are probably going to put it straight back on if you try and lose weight fast. The best exercise to lose weight is one that you are comfortable doing and you are going to continue doing. As I mentioned earlier - the best way to lose weight - nay - the only way to lose weight - is to eat less calories than you burn. So th amount of calories you need each day to lose weight will be heavily dependent on the amount of exercise you are doing. I am going for long slow and hopefully enjoying the process.

I am lucky enough to live near some great mountain biking trails, the weather is starting to look like Spring is here and you may need to be creative based on where you live and what sort of person you are. Maybe join a gym; buy a kayak, go running, lift weights, take up karate – anything to make sure that you move more and eat less.

I am determined to lose the weight I put on giving up smoking and have now given myself a year to lose the extra 60 pounds. I am not going to be unrealistic. I think one year to drop 60 pounds is doable. But – I am not going to shoot myself if I don't make it.

After all - I am a non smoker now.

Edit - Updates on my weight loss program

I really struggled to eat less in the few months since I wrote this - but I have finally gotten the cigarette cravings down to a manageable level and feel I can now deprive myself of certain foods without wanting to kill an innocent bystander for smoking a cigarette within my view.

So - have added a few more exercises since I wrote this as I also decided I was losing my strength since I reached 45 years of age. I am now doing short bursts of dumbbell and kettle bell training in with the bike riding and walking. Three times a week weights and once a week static sprints on the bike in an attempt to kick my metabolism into high gear.

I have also gone on a low carbohydrate diet, which has made a dramatic difference. Cutting out sugars has been a real kick in the pants.

I started out at 291 pounds, and my goal is 220 pounds. I am fairly big framed and 71 pounds seems like a nice round number to lose.

Since starting the sprinting and adding weight lifting along with the low carb diet, I have really started to see some dramatic weight loss. I also feel great. Whether that is a product of cutting the carbs, cutting the alcohol or doing the exercise is hard to say - I think it is a combination of these. Either way - I am now well under way in my goal.