There are many people who put off quitting
cigarettes because of weight gain. I have not had a cigarette in over four
years, I've lost over 50 pounds and kept it all
off!
In April 2012 I was a physical mess. I
was 60 years old and overweight at 235-240 pounds.
I had smoked for 42 years and had severe sleep apnea. I also
used a cane to walk. I was going
downhill ...
Then, In 2012 my neurologist did me a
huge favor and convinced me to quit cigarettes (or else
he would fire me) ... now it is April 2016 and I weigh a
healthy 175-180 pounds! Believe it or not, I lost
over 50 pounds in the year I quit smoking with this
method. Now, I have kept it off for three
years mostly by nicotine gum, lozenges, sensible
eating and moderate exercise. My story may sound
unbelievable but is backed by medical reports from
respected doctors.
I haven't had a
cigarette in over 4 years; my balance is much better and
I no longer need a cane to walk! Nor do I have sleep apnea anymore. All
my medical tests have vastly improved! My weight
is tracked every two weeks by my long-time and much
appreciated family physician. People who know me are amazed at how
well I look today after losing 10 inches off my belly
(size 44 down to size 34). I can even dance again!
This
page is not a substitute for medical care.
Consult your health care providers before
beginning any new program.
WEIGHT LOSS - Nicotine
Patches & Gum Helped me Quit With NO Weight
Gain!
Chart covers April
2012 to Fall 2015
Update: October
2016 My Weight has held Between
175-180 for 3 1/2 Years
British Royal
Society for Public Health Says:
Nicotine is "No more dangerous than
coffee"!
A new
report from the British Royal Society for Public
Health has found one myth about the dangers of
smoking has endured for decades. The research
suggests nine out of 10 people falsely believe
nicotine is very harmful to their heath, when in
fact it is no more dangerous than the caffeine in a
cup of coffee.
The British report
promotes the wider use of NRTs like nicotine gum and
lozenges to fight cigarette smoking. It is further
proof that medical nicotine is vastly different from
tobacco nicotine. The report says that 9 out
of 10 people wrongly believe nicotine is much more
harmful than it really is!
Harm Reduction and How I Quit
Cigarettes
Using HR for Weight Loss
The support of my excellent doctors also has
a lot to do with my success. Please talk to your own care providers,
show them this website and the research links. I would not have been able to quit
cigarettes without NRTs (Nicotine Replacement
Therapies).
I cannot say enough good things about the nicotine
patch, lozenges and gum. Today's gum and lozenges
taste much, much better than the old peppery gum
they had years ago. The new mint and cherry flavors
are great
tasting! They are still tangy
- too keep children from
thinking they are candy. The spicy taste does not appeal to
kids but most adults can
like it.
Medical nicotine is very different from
tobacco and cigarettes. In Sept 2013 the US Food and
Drug Administration said:
After 20 years of testing and
more than 117 trials with over 50,000 smokers, "NRT aids do not have
significant potential for abuse or dependence".
Read NEW FDA Guidelines for Nicotine
Lozenges, Sept 2013!
It is now easier to quit than ever
before with the new FDA rules!
Which Is
Really Worse?
Medical Nicotine OR Obesity?
Despite
all the weight loss shows, diet gurus & gyms people
are still gaining weight. People lose weight and then
regain it back in a depressing cycle of dieting.
Medical
nicotine seems no worse than expensive methods such as
surgery, pills and extreme diets. Nicotine
may not be the ideal appetite suppressant but it works
until something better is invented. Nicotine boosts your
willpower.
NPR: How
Nicotine Curbs Food Cravings
Nothing works
better than Nicotine
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137085989/the-skinny-on-smoking-why-nicotine-curbs-appetite
To quit cigarettes I used BOTH nicotine
patches and nicotine lozenges. I continue to use gum and
lozenges today with my doctor's support. This is now approved
by the FDA. New federal guidelines in Sept 2013
allow users to use two nicotine products at the same
time. It's harder to quit today than it used to be and the
products are safe.
This method is often called " Harm
Reduction " by scientists. The idea
behind Harm Reduction is simple - nothing is as bad for
us as cigarette smoking. Anything we can do to get off
tobacco is good simply because nothing is as harmful as
cigarettes. Relapse rates are very high with cigarettes.
The idea of HR can also be applied to weight loss. Here
is an excellent link from respected researchers on
tobacco and harm reduction.
The FDA’s Sept 2013 guidelines also allow
users to continue using nicotine replacements as long as you
and your doctor feel necessary. Nicotine products no longer
require a prescription and can be purchased at most grocery
stores. The FDA said that years of
testing NRTs like nicotine patches and lozenges has found very
few harmful effects! They
have been tested for over 20 years with over 50,000 smokers. It's the tar
and additives that kill - not the nicotine!
The relapse rate for smokers like me is
over 80%. I will likely never be nicotine free, but I can be
cigarette free! Nicotine patches and lozenges are much
better for you. If I can quit with patches and lozenges
ANYONE can. I've been cig free for 2+ years and I use about
6-8 lozenges a day.
Lozenges are made in 2mg and 4mg
tablets. They dissolve slowly in your mouth and are great after
meals and for quick cravings. They also make your breath smell a
LOT better than it used to with cigarettes (or
chew). Lozenges and gum both come in cool flavors like
mint, cherry and orange that taste much, much better than the
old gum. We could develop lozenges without nicotine that will
also suppress the appetite. Having a long lasting lozenge has
been vital to beating the cravings for cigarettes,
food and for losing weight.
Critics may
charge that this method keeps me addicted to pharmaceutical
nicotine. That’s may be true, but long term smokers have
relapse rates of 80%. It's a pipe dream to think I can be
completely "nicotine free" after smoking 42 years. Today I
am on FAR less nicotine today than I was when I smoked -
about 60-70% less -- and
medical nicotine is much safer than nicotine from
cigarettes.. I smoked almost two
packs of cigarettes a day for over 40 years. If I reduce the
nicotine content down by 70% that is good enough for me
right now. I can always cut back more later. I'll be happy
if I just never smoke another cigarette!
Believe it or not, medical nicotine may even have positive
health benefits! Perhaps it's the hundreds of other
additives the cigarette manufacturers add to tobacco that
change nicotine from the beneficial medicine Native
Americans used into a killer today. Medical nicotine is much
cleaner than what's used by cigarette companies.
I also have another webpage on nicotine - using it as an
appetite suppressant. Is obesity or nicotine a bigger danger
to us? This is a question we should be asking. If you are
interested in nicotine and weight loss please see my other
page. It has much the same info as this site, but it's for
non-smokers. www.nicotineandweightloss.com
Tobacco Companies RAISED Nicotine! Making It Harder for Smokers to
Quit!!
I had tried the NRT patches and gum in the past and
followed the directions on the package. However, they never
seemed to work like they were supposed to and like many smokers
I lost faith in NRTs. Recently I discovered one reason why they
may not work as well as they should ....
According to Dr. Daniel Seidman of Columbia Medical Center
"today's cigarettes are not the same ones your mother or father
smoked". Today's cigarettes are actually STRONGER,
MORE ADDICTIVE AND HARDER TO QUIT than cigarettes a few
years ago (see
Dr. Seidman's great blog on Smoking Cession here).
Dr. Seidman is a top researchers on smoking. He recommends the
same quit method that worked for me: "With cigarettes
delivering a stronger dose of nicotine, consider using two
forms of NRT. The combined NRT approach not only delivers
nicotine more aggressively to replace that from cigarettes,
the U.S public Health Service 2008 update (8) found this to be
the best of the medical options available for helping smokers
quit".
I had tried using either patches or lozenges to quit cigarette
smoking, but using just one method never worked for me. When I
used BOTH a patch and a lozenge then, I finally got
results! I did not want a cigarette and my energy level
did not crash. The old doses on the packaging were simply not
enough to keep up with the increase in nicotine in cigarettes.
It may be hard for you to believe, but the tobacco companies
have been making their cigs MORE ADDICTIVE to keep smokers
hooked.
Nicotine is a mild stimulant and most people have big drops in
their energy levels after quitting cigarettes, but this method
keeps my energy up! Also, I thought I would gain weight, like
always before. But, nicotine lozenges and gum are terrific
appetite suppressants.
With a lozenge in my mouth I am simply not hungry between
meals. I don't believe using a patch alone would
work for appetite control.
Believe it or Not, Today's Cigs
are MORE Addictive than 20 years Ago
Questions
& Answers on How I Quit Smoking
What About
Nicotine's Side Effects like High Blood Pressure?
I had a heart exam the year before I
quit smoking. All appeared normal except for slightly
elevated blood pressure which is fairly normal for men
my age (I take Lisinopril daily). If
you have had any history of heart trouble or high
blood pressure be sure to consult with your doctor.
Show her this web site. Medical nicotine is
a much safer form of nicotine than what's in cigarettes -
but it's still a mild stimulant. Check with your doctor.
Also, see this
British study by the Royal
College of Physicians of London which says,
"Although it is unlikely that medicinal nicotine (or any
drug) is completely safe, there is no evidence that
medicinal nicotine is carcinogenic, or that, in practice,
its use increases appreciably the risk of acute
cardiovascular events ... To practical purposes,
therefore, in comparison with smoking cigarettes, use of
medicinal nicotine is extremely safe."
Why Not Quit Cold Turkey?
I tried quitting cold turkey at least 5 times. Each time I
went back to smoking weighing more. The longest I was ever
completely off cigarettes was one month. I had made it to six
months previously using the gum. That is why I tried two methods
at once - with both lozenges and patches. I am over 60 and I
have smoked for over 42 years. The odds of my relapse are high.
Today I am on about 25-30% of the nicotine I was
consuming when I smoked cigarettes. That's a big drop in my nicotine, and
I can always reduce it more.
Can people who Chew
use this Method?
YES! This is the perfect method for tobacco
chewers! Lozenges and flavored gum are a much
cleaner, better way to get your nicotine fix. Also,
most kissing partners would much rather taste a lozenge
than tobacco.
What about Chantix and other
medications to quit smoking? I used Chantix on a
previous attempt to quit smoking. I took it for several months
and it helped me a lot. I had no ill effects and could have
continued using it. But at the time you could not take Chantix
for more than a couple of months. After I was taken off Chantix
I soon started back smoking, plus I gained a few pounds more!! I
have only good things to say about the time I used it. I did not
use Chantex this time. I knew the prescription would soon end.
What about E-Cigarettes or
“vaping”? I have not used e-cigs, but
these may help many people quit and I would try it if I
were ever attempting to quit smoking again. E-cigs were
very new when I quit. I fear the smoke/vapor could keep
me wanting more to smoke real cigarettes. Plus, vaping probably won't
curb the munchies the way that lozenges and gum can.
However, it's is very possible that a person
could use BOTH vaping and nicotine lozenges/gum - each as
replacements for the cigarette, which is so much worse
for us.
If I was starting over to
quit I would probably use e-cigs. But I might not have lost weight by
vaping and I might not have thought of using
gum/lozenges. I would still need to go outside for my nicotine fix
rather than reach into my pocket! It's much easier to
use lozenges and gum than to leave work for any type
of smoke!
We need more research on e-cigs and other, less
harmful forms of nicotine than cigarettes. New research
suggests e-cigs
may have hidden harms. However, medical nicotine
products have been studied for decades and found to be
safe when used as directed. Sadly, too many
people feel it's a choice between ONLY smoking or ONLY
vaping or ONLY using nicotine lozenges. Nothing is as
bad for us as smoking cigarettes (or obesity), so almost
any change is good.
Did you use any
Mind-Body Techniques and how did you cope with stress?
Yes, to boost my motivation I did positive affirmations and
relaxation therapies every night for the first year. The
affirmations were about quitting cigarettes, weight loss,
exercise and relaxation. I still listen to them to keep my
motivation up. For almost 30 years I've listen to Dr. Emmett
Miller and Stephen Halpern's music. You can find many of their
programs on You Tube. Some might like working with a hypnosis
practitioner or try acupuncture.
I have little fear that people
will start chewing (or smoking) because of using
medical nicotine. The two products are very
different - one tastes terrible and one tastes
like a cool mint. Today's gum and lozenge taste
much better than the old peppery flavor. For the
safely of children, they are made with a spicy
flavor that kids do not like but most adults can
like.
4 EASY
WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT!
I've used
these tips & lost over 50 lbs
1. I weigh
myself each day at the same time - in the morning.
My weight fluctuates quickly. Daily weights show me the small changes.
2. I control cravings between meals and after dinner
with nicotine lozenges or gum. Nothing else can suppress
the appetite like nicotine gum or lozenges. Gum and lozenges are
much better to control food cravings than patches, cigarettes or vaping.
3. I eat ALMOST WHATEVER I want for breakfast, lunch
or dinner - in reasonable portions. For example, I quit
buying half gallons of vanilla ice cream because I would
eat the carton in three days. This was my habit for years.
I still love ice cream but these days I drive and grab a soft-
serve ice cream cone -- every day. This keeps me from
being deprived
and I don't feel like I am "dieting".
4. I do not eat after dinner until breakfast the
next morning - when dieting this includes late night alcohol (which contains
sugars).
Nicotine gum makes it easy to
avoid eating until the next morning (getting a
good night's sleep is also very important). This
is also
known as "Intermittent Fasting" or simply IF.
I drink very
little alcohol, so I don't know it's effects on my
method. You could try only drinking with dinner
or shortly
afterwards, but stop as early as you can. But, alcohol
is an intoxicant and we may be tempted to eat more when we drink
(and smoke too!!)
ALSO: Quitnet.com is among the best online support
blogs but even they report an "average 5-10 pound"
weight gain when people quit using the most popular ways
of quitting smoking. Quitnet has been going for over 20
years and has helped thousands of people. http://blog.quitnet.com/quitblog/bid/109436/Avoiding-Weight-Gain-When-Quitting-Smoking
UPDATE! New Research on I.F.
Intermittent
Fasting WORKS!
Starting in the summer of 2012 I cut out all
nighttime snacks after dinner. I simply do not eat after dinner
until the next morning's breakfast, often 12+ hours later. I
used to eat a lot of ice cream late at night and I knew I had to
quit this bad habit! Read the exciting new research from the
prestigious Salk Institute.
Scientists call this "Intermittent Fasting" - giving your body
an 12 - 16 hour "fast" between dinner and breakfast. I've been
doing this for almost 2 years and am now convinced that simply
avoiding eating after dinner is a major factor in my weight
loss. Here are several links about this simple, yet scientific
way to lose weight and still eat the foods you love - in the
daytime.
You don't have to count calories hardly at all! I
try to eat only between about 8-9 am and 6-7 pm (but some
researchers say you can vary the time as you need). This makes
dieting easier because you can eat mostly whatever you want
during the daytime.
It is hard for many people to develop sufficient willpower to
resist ALL between meal snacks. But, perhaps people could
develop their willpower to resist the cravings for a regular
8-12 hour period only starting after dinner. We could teach
people how to use their willpower for a short, defined time like
12 hours.
Check out these links for the the latest research and also look
for see the new book called "The IF Diet" published in
Jan 2014 by Robert Skinner. It's a very impressive book that
collects the most recent information on Intermittent Fasting. I
had not heard the term before, but I have been doing it over two
years and it works.
See
this Great News Release & Video from the Salk Institute
Intermittent Fasting Wikipedia Article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting
? How
Much Do NRTs COST ?
One big reason to quit cigarettes is
because they cost so much, over $6.00 a pack now.
All smokers would like to save money. Unfortunately,
quitting is not cheap either. Sure, you could
go "cold
turkey"
and simply
quit all nicotine - but the odds are 80% you will
fail and soon go back to smoking - weighing more. But both the U.S.
FDA and the British Royal College of Physicians
have
concluded that medical nicotine is
nowhere near as addictive as tobacco.
The biggest financial cost with my
method is in the first few months - when was using
both patches and lozenges every day. After six
months I began to cut the patches in half, which
still kept a low-steady dose in my blood stream. I
continued to use lozenges for cravings (at first
about 10-15 a day). Like cigarettes, you
have to be at least 18 years old in most
places to purchase nicotine replacement
therapies.
I still keep a few patches around for
emergencies. Before I go to the store and buy
cigarettes I will reach into my medicine cabinet for
a patch - or more lozenges. I keep NRTs close to me,
and I try to keep cigarettes far, far away. When I
quit I was doing it because my doctor said I had to
- now it's because I want to stay cigarette free!
The costs of cigarettes
in
money, respect and health make cigs a losing
proposition. Many employers won't hire a smoker
and it's impossible to mask the odor of cigarettes
on clothes. Today my clothes are fine,
my breath smells great and I can freely walk
anywhere! Is that worth the cost of NRTs?
YES! YES! YES!
Can Nicotine HELP
People?
Nicotine is being studied for use in
Parkinson's and Alzheimer Patients!
We
know that nicotine is the most effective appetite
suppressant on the planet but nicotine may have other
medical uses such as with people with cognitive disorders.
Here is a brilliant new article in Forbes by Sally Satel,
a well respected journalist on medical research and
ethical issues.
Sally Satel also
links to a
recent study by the British Royal College of Physicians
of London which studied nicotine, smoking and NRTs.
On page 270 the Royal College of Physicians write: "The safety record of medicinal
nicotine products is extremely good. Although it is
unlikely that medicinal nicotine (or any drug) is
completely safe, there is no evidence that
medicinal nicotine is carcinogenic, or that, in
practice, its use increases appreciably the risk of
acute cardiovascular events, or indeed that nicotine
itself is responsible for much if any of the harm
caused by cigarette smoking" .
Research Needed on Nicotine
& Weight
At first we did not know what was causing my weight loss when I
quit smoking. Most doctors have forgotten what many teenagers
know - that nicotine is an appetite suppressant! We did
multiple tests in late 2012 and early 2013 when the weight loss
passed 25 pounds and then a few months later, after I had lost
over 50 pounds. But, everything looked very good - better than
they had in years.
My doctors and their staff could not explain the weight loss.
They kept telling me not to worry, but I had never even heard of anyone who lost
50+ pounds in the same year he quits cigarette smoking
without having cancer. It was an unbelievable transformation for an
overweight smoker of 42 years that none of them had ever seen.
Nothing physical, metaphysical or psychological
seemed to explain the weight loss. But, perhaps if we had been in Europe we
would have known it from the Nicorette company's own
advertising! I was using nicotine lozenges and they were
suppressing my appetite. In hindsight it's funny now none of
us well educated men and women thought to look for the
simplest explanation - the nicotine lozenge I had in my mouth!
I want to emphasize again, that I did not do any special
diet, nor did I do any hard exercise. I did do a lot of
positive thinking and affirmations, but when I quit smoking I
completely accepted that I would GAIN weight. Unplanned losing
weight for a smoker is a scary thing. We think it must be
CANCER - and often it is. I was eating my usual diet at
mealtimes but I had quit eating between meals almost without
realizing it. I just kept a lozenge in my mouth and did not
even think about food or cigarettes. It works that fast and
that well!
I could not have avoided the hunger pangs without nicotine
lozenges or gum. No other lozenge I know of has this effect. We need research for a nicotine-free lozenge
that curbs the appetite. Science can do this – if we demand it.
It's clear from ex-smokers in Europe that you can avoid gaining
weight when you quit smoking using the lozenges, gum and
patches. This will allow you to avoid snacking in the evening
after dinner!
Critics may charge that this method keeps me addicted to
pharmaceutical nicotine. That’s true. But, long time smokers
like me have relapse rates over 80%. My original goal was to
quit cigarettes. All my medical tests have vastly improved. I
smoked for over 40 years, it's not likely I will ever be
nicotine free, but I can be cigarette smoke free. That's good
enough for me, my family and my doctors. I am using far less
nicotine now than I was when I smoked cigarettes and medical
nicotine is much cleaner than tobacco nicotine.
Also, radical as it sounds, pharmacological nicotine may have
positive health benefits. Perhaps it's the hundreds of other
additives the cigarette manufacturers add to tobacco that change
it from the beneficial medicine that First Nations people used
into the world's biggest legal killer today. Medical nicotine
has been studied by for over 20 years and found not to be
significantly harmful (compared to cigarettes). Given how
harmful obesity we should also be asking if nicotine could help
with weight loss too.
Non-smokers may read more at my website www.nicotineandweightloss.com