I quit smoking 18 months ago. I gained 40 pounds. I gave myself permission to eat whatever I needed to to get through it for 4 months, but when I tried to lose weight (went on Atkins' induction, actually) I couldn't lose a thing in several months. My "helpful" doc put me on an antidepressant - lexapro - after about 2 months, and I actually gained... boy, I was tempted to smoke again (It raised my metabolism, so maybe I should just smoke again long enough to lose weight... heh)

Anyway, it's a year after that now. I took myself off the antidepressant (definitely necessary for some, even me for awhile years ago, but... "Doctor, I'm depressed because I can't lose weight. Help!" ... "Here, take this pill" ?? (I guess it worked in that while I was still fat, I just didn't care.) Anyway, got off of that, onto metformin because of a borderline blood sugar reading, and I finally managed to lose some weight. I finally did the M&E diet for a few weeks (still mostly M&E) and a good round of vitamins and supplements, and I'm now off metformin, too, with normal BS readings.

Quitting smoking definitely messed with my metabolism, but I'm getting around it. It takes work and a lot of trial-and-error, but you can do it. Better that than giving in to the nico-demon.

Robin
543 days, 7 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds completely smoke free.
16,299 cigarettes not smoked.
$4,488.00 and 4 months, 4 days, 12 hours of my life saved.
My quit date: 8/26/2005 11:00:00 PM