Only 97 more pounds remaining to become overweight! W00t!!

Ok, maybe some context might help lol..

Salutations from Sunny Greece. I'm George.

I quit smoking cold-turkey about 9 months ago. I was a chain smoker, doing about 55-60 cigarettes a day, averaged over 25 years (started smoking at 15). Also, I was (and still am of course) morbidly obese, and suffering from a lot of health issues (had a stroke five years ago, high blood pressure, pre-diabetic etc etc).

In the span of one month since I quit, I gained 9kg (~20lb), I presume exclusively consisting of fat. I managed to reach 178kg (392lb), the heaviest I've ever been.

There were four reasons for this.

1. My sense of smell and taste came back inside a week. Everything tasted wonderful, and I had a lot more money to spend on it since I didn't have to buy cigarettes. I was spending about 320€ per month on cigarettes, and this sum immediately moved over to take-out junk food..
2. My appetite increased a lot. Nicotine had been obviously suppressing it to a point.
3. Nicotine acted as a stimulant to me, indirectly helping my metabolism by boosting my heart rate. To give you an example, one month after I quit and before I started doing anything about my weight, my heart rate was an average of 15bpm lower than when I smoked. Of course, the effect was pronounced in me because I was a very heavy smoker. Generally speaking, one study showed a single cigarette to increase energy expenditure by about 3 percent within 30 minutes; another showed a 3.3 percent rise for three hours after smoking four cigarettes. Smoking regularly — about a pack a day — increased calories burned by about 215 calories according to one study, and by 10 percent to 16 percent in others. You get the point..there is a small and indirect effect.
4. I needed something to make the time pass and help with my urge to smoke. Eating was "obviously" a good substitute for me ("obviously" because I managed to quit after all), and feeling completely full/satiated all the time helped with my cigarette cravings.

And then I thought..."well, you managed to quit smoking and take care of your lungs dude, why don't you take care of the rest of your body now?" I've been the classic yo-yo dieter for 15 years now, and looking back, I think I always tended to half-*kitten* it and not take myself and my body seriously.

Time for a change!

Eight months in, I've lost those 20 pounds I gained and then 91 more for good measure. I'm 280lb now, and have a long, long, loooooong road ahead of me to fix myself.

I'll do it though, nothing is going to stop me. And I'm going to have fun on the way too! This time I'm sciencing the *kitten* out of this.

I pity that poor fat, it has no chance! None I tell you!

So...why did I make this thread? Well, not really to gloat or bask in my own glory for...still being morbidly obese. I just wanted to say, it's pretty weird sometimes what triggers us into action. Under other circumstances (and having gained or lost close to half a ton in my lifetime lol), the thought of quitting smoking and gaining weight was utterly and completely terrifying! But really...it was in the end what helped me sprung into action. And I really think that this time I can make it to the end!

Good luck everyone ! Every support or motivation you need, know that me and others are here for you. Let's do this!!

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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/kksrxi/only_97_more_pounds_remaining_to_become/