Quitting vaping. Will I gain weight?

[Elizabethgregory]

Hey guys... I'm a 21 yr old female. I've never been a cigarette smoker.... I've smoked a few cigs before but only recreationally at parties and such. Never been a daily smoker. I did however pick up vaping two years ago thanks to my ex-boyfriend, and have stuck with it ever since. The amount of nicotine I have used has been about 6mg in each bottle of juice... and I typically refill the vape tank every 2 days.
I recently broke up with my boyfriend who introduced me to vaping, and now I'm trying to kick the habit. I'm under a lot of stress and the nicotine cravings are at an all time high. I've read a lot about how quitting smoking causes weight gain... I really would prefer not to deal with this side effect. I'm relatively healthy. I'm petite, 5'4 130 Ibs... and have a good bit of muscle. I do cardio/lift weights 2-4 times a week and eat healthy. I really want to just kick the nicotine habit for good but I wanted to know what you guys think I should expect in terms of side effects such as weight gain? Thanks!

 

[Tonee N]

Hello and Welcome.

Since you really haven't smoked cigarettes which have ALOT more ingredients that add to the nicotine and since you are active finding a new hobby/sport, etc to focus your time on should help you.
Switching flavors and lowering your nicotine level might help, works for some of us.
Hth

Sent from the future

 

[listopencil]

Along with the nicotine withdrawal you're likely to get cravings to satisfy an oral fixation. So buy large containers of gum. A lot of brands make containers shaped like cups, to fit in your auto cup holder. Those are good. You can also try hard candy. Sugar free hard candy is available cheaply at dollar stores if you're worried about spiking your sugar intake. Sugar free gum is too, of course. I would recommend that you try freeze dried veggies. You might find some that you like. They are a bit spendy but you can find them near the chips in grocery and drug stores. Also purchase a decent large water bottle and keep it filled with clean cold water as much as you possibly can. The idea is to satisfy your cravings with stuff that's going to be relatively healthy and unlikely to cause weight gain.

 

[Eskie]

First bit of advice, now is probably not the time to take on stopping. When things settle down and you don't have a lot of stress going on then go at it. Best way I know off is to slowly lower the nic concentration. Once you're down to little to no nic, then you should be able to stop without a big problem.

As for weight gain, that's associated with eating more when you stop smoking and the appetite suppression of nicotine itself. Just be prepared for some other manner of handling the oral fixation habit smoking and vaping create.

 

[Opinionated]

It's a matter of finding other things to do with your hands while sitting. Take up knitting or counted cross stitch is good when watching t.v... you can also place a bottle of water where you keep your vape and take a sip of water when you reach for your vape out of habit.

Exercise more, especially if you start feeling hungrier than normal. Exercise is an appetite suppressant. Just make sure you take in the right amount of calories for your activity level as you will need some extra calories to compensate for the extra exercise.

Avoid stress, and avoid the things which caused you to vape mindlessly for a month or so.

You will be fine though, it gets easier each day that passes. Nicotine is out of your system within one day. The rest is your own mind.. so keep it occupied with other things.

 

[r77r7r]

I love gaining weight! For me it's hard because I prefer healthy foods and enjoy exercising. When I can get maybe 5 lbs on mid winter from awesome foods, I try to waddle around fat and happy like Winnie the pooh .

 

[stols001]

I'd agree with Eskie on tapering your nicotine, not necessarily just stopping, at least right now, unless of course you feel really solid and ready to take that on.

Nicotine on its own is similar, stimulant wise, to coffee. Most people who stop drinking coffee don't gain huge amounts of weight. Nicotine is similar except you do have the hand to mouth issue. That can be a problem, and gum and etc. is a good choice. I like cinnamon sticks for that, they taste good, you can kind of chew on them OR suck through them, and no calories. You can try a straw for this, too. Finding other things to do with your hands is useful, I like to knit and craft, personally.

You may find it easier, or harder, than you think. I'd think that if you continue to eat in a healthy way and exercise, you will stabilize at your natural weight over time, regardless of if you gain a few pounds at first or not, (fibrous, chewy veggies like celery and cabbage make great snacks, I have found, if I'm dealing with an oral fixation, not hunger). So I wouldn't freak if you gained a pound or two at first, things will equalize.

I too am happy when I can gain weight, I hoped I would gain some when I switched from smoking to vaping, but I didn't. It's kind of a bummer for me, I feel like I eat way more and my exercise has remained fairly constant, but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. I've had that problem for a while, though, so I wasn't expecting vaping to fix it, but maybe the amount of food I've been shoveling in? It tastes so good. You won't have that problem though, switching from vaping to not vaping, your tastebuds aren't dulled the way smoking cigarettes does.

Best of luck with the switch, sorry to hear about your breakup!

Anna

 

[celticluvr]

Another thing you can do... is after you taper off the nicotine... is just vape 0 nic. Buy yourself an all new setup and give your old one to someone who may wanna quit smoking. Then you won't have anything you had while with the ex, and it won't remind you of him.

Plus, it'll help anytime you get a craving for something sweet. I know if something happened between my guy and me, I'd still vape so I wouldn't drown myself in the proverbial Ice Cream.

BUT if your heart is completely set on quitting, I'd slowly ween myself off the nicotine (a good time after the breakup as stress will make you wanna eat alot, or at least it does me.), get down to 0mg and slowly start leaving the vape at home when you go out for short trips and work your way from there.

 

[the wind]

I read a lot of good advice but is Elizabeth going to respond to any of it?

 

[mcclintock]

From the description, I'm not sure she is consuming a very significant amount of nic or even vaping that much. If it's 6 mg/ml and a big tank though, could be more nic than me.

 

[rob33]

The tobacco companies add ingredients to cause all the cravings. Vaping is way easier to quit, the actual withdrawal will only last a week or so. However the calming and relaxing feeling you get from nicotine will be what you miss. Since you are so young this may be easily over come. I can hear you now, "why haven't you quit?". It's that calming effect, after spending half my life in the military, the other half running a business, and close to 40 years of marriage. I need all the help I can get, lol

 

[AzPlumber]

At a half a tank of 6mg per day, just quit and move on.