Just quit smoking

[Garyra]

Hi everyone,

This is the first time that I have posted in this forum, but thought you all might be some help. I started dive master class a few weeks ago and during some of my studies, I ran across the reason that it took for me to quit smoking. The risk of DCI is just too high for me. I either had to quit smoking or diving and I just couldn't stand the idea of not diving. I smoked my last ciggarette 08/04. My birthday is 08/05 so I figured I would give it to myself as a birthday present.

One of my concerns is that I am currently at 240 lbs and about 6'2". I have a large frame but would like to get down to about 200 lbs. I know that even if I don't change my eating habits, I will gain at least 10 -15 lbs because Smoking increasies caloric consumption. That means that I am going to have to start dieting just to maintain my weight.

I am also wanting to increase my Stamina and Cardio. I haven't taken the swiming tests for DM yet but the 400 yd swim really intimidates me. I am hoping that it will also help my air consumption. I am tired of being the first one to run out of air.

Any advice and/or support would be greatly appreciated.

 

[starfish365]

Hey Garyra - I too quit smoking in November and at the same time decided to watch what I eat in order to keep off the weight. Well I did ok until three months ago and then started eating late and lots of pizza and large qty of carbs.

since then have changed the way I eat and what I eat....have lost just over 10 lbs....

the easiest way to lose weight is to cut back on the carbs...I mean the pasta and the bread, pizza, etc. Although eating them in small doses seem to be ok for me, I find one is not ever enough. Eating lots of veggies and protein - a lot less of the carbs. I'm not saying cutting out pasta and bread altogether if you don't want to but it will help to not have so much. Snacking is tough....I'm a chocoholic and cookie monster, but have switched to cream cheese and celery or a few crackers. Have developed a love for olives and also snack on those.

Good luck! You may consider joining the SB weight loss challenge and get inspiration and support from them.

 

[6474286]

Hi everyone,

This is the first time that I have posted in this forum, but thought you all might be some help. I started dive master class a few weeks ago and during some of my studies, I ran across the reason that it took for me to quit smoking. The risk of DCI is just too high for me. I either had to quit smoking or diving and I just couldn't stand the idea of not diving. I smoked my last ciggarette 08/04. My birthday is 08/05 so I figured I would give it to myself as a birthday present.

One of my concerns is that I am currently at 240 lbs and about 6'2". I have a large frame but would like to get down to about 200 lbs. I know that even if I don't change my eating habits, I will gain at least 10 -15 lbs because Smoking increasies caloric consumption. That means that I am going to have to start dieting just to maintain my weight.

I am also wanting to increase my Stamina and Cardio. I haven't taken the swiming tests for DM yet but the 400 yd swim really intimidates me. I am hoping that it will also help my air consumption. I am tired of being the first one to run out of air.

Any advice and/or support would be greatly appreciated.

Gary,

Well I hope congrats are still in order! I stopped smoking just before starting serious diving a couple of years ago, and apart from the extra 8-10Kilos I put on, I haven't regretted it once. I will not lie, I still find it hard after 2.5 years, but it really is worth it!

Now about the air consumption, the smoking, doesn;t really make much difference, most of the air in your lungs is CO1 if you smoke, and thus in theory you don't use as much air as a non smoker (Doc, please correct me if I am wrong here!)

However one aspect that does really help with the air consumption is physical fitness, the fitter you are, the less air you require!

You don't need to become a fitness fanatic in order to reduce your consumption, swimming once a week will have give you an imporoved consumption within a couple of months.

Just remember diving is meant to be fin, not hell!!!!

Paul

 

[mstudley]

Now about the air consumption, the smoking, doesn;t really make much difference, most of the air in your lungs is CO1 if you smoke, and thus in theory you don't use as much air as a non smoker (Doc, please correct me if I am wrong here!)

I have to disagree here as this is flat out not true for a number of reasons. Have a smoker and a non smoker run up a flight of stairs and see who is out of breath first. This is directly related to air consumption. Your lungs work much better when you don't smoke.

The actual gas exchange in the alveolus works better also. I don't want to get into a ton of detail here but take a look online to find out why this is so.

Anyway... congratulations on quitting. It's tough but worth it. I still have one on occassion but I'm able to keep it at that. I wouldn't try that to start (or in general really) because it's very easy to go back to smoking regularly.

Good luck.

 

[6474286]

I have to disagree here as this is flat out not true for a number of reasons. Have a smoker and a non smoker run up a flight of stairs and see who is out of breath first. This is directly related to air consumption. Your lungs work much better when you don't smoke.

The actual gas exchange in the alveolus works better also. I don't want to get into a ton of detail here but take a look online to find out why this is so.

Anyway... congratulations on quitting. It's tough but worth it. I still have one on occassion but I'm able to keep it at that. I wouldn't try that to start (or in general really) because it's very easy to go back to smoking regularly.

Good luck.

I agree with your statement! I was suprised myself to hear of the statement I made, maybe it is very incorrect, comments are more than welcome, especially from Doc's.

That said, on the other hand, if you are a fit smoker, can you not also run up and down stairs; I think it has more to do wiht general health than smoking or not?

Paul

 

[mstudley]

That said, on the other hand, if you are a fit smoker, can you not also run up and down stairs; I think it has more to do wiht general health than smoking or not?

Paul

It's hard to say and I certainly am not a doctor. My best guess would be the fit smoker would have less endurance and less efficient usage/gas exchange than the fit non-smoker.

You are also dealing with an unlimited supply of air when running up and down stairs. The rate of consumption -could- be higher in the smoker but it's irrelevant because of the unlimited supply. At depth this becomes an issue since you are breathing from a tank.

 

[rainbowangel]

Hi!

I just wanted to toss a congratulations out to you (hoping that it's still in order!) I quit smoking three weeks and one day ago, and if I can make it... I'm sure you can! I am the queen of lacking will power.

The only suggestion I have as to keeping the quitting smoking pounds off is what I've taking up doing. I found for me the actual 'nicotine fit' wasn't really a problem quitting. My hardest times has been on breaks/lunches at work. I used to go have a smoke... for the first few days I was like "What the heck do I do??"

Now... every time that I have a break (or everytime I get really frustrated and think "gee, a smoke would be nice about now"), I take a short walk around the block. Just that little bit of added exercise in the day has been enough to fight the quitting smoking weight gain.

Good luck with staying off the cancer sticks and with getting your DM certification!!

 

[quimby]

originally posted by rainbowangel
That said, on the other hand, if you are a fit smoker, can you not also run up and down stairs; I think it has more to do wiht general health than smoking or not

Definitely agree with you, I used to do some heavy swimming back when I smoked and after I quit there was literally no great improvement from the wind standpoint. I've known long distance swimmers who smoked like a chimney and then jumped in and swam 20+miles. Too many people worry about gaining weight when quitting etc, and it's all excuses. You quit and get anxious so you replace smoke with calories, hence weight gain. Quitting does nothing for making you physically fit, just improves gas exchange(not to mention less chance of slowing down by cancer, copd etc) but you have to do something to require that gas to be exchanged
Dont get me wrong, I understand the consequences of smoking, both from the respiratory aspects and a lot more, but in a whole lot of cases its just a excuse for being politely "fitness challenged". For a 400yd swim the only excessively hard part for a fit smoker would be if he had to make the swim WHILE smoking, just hell to keep that el ropo going

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Congrats! I quit 10 years ago. Yes, I put on pounds, but I am so much healthier now. The food part didn't hit me till about 3 months later when my taste buds woke up. I figured, its not the lack of smoking and metabolism that puts on weight, for me it was tasting food again. OH my Gosh! Everything tasted so good! Everything!

Also, trying to accomplish two goals is a recipe for failure. Everything I have read about losing weight and another objective (stop smoking, reading more, taking classes, you name it), you will get too frustrated and fall back on old habits.

So, get comfortable without the cigarettes first. I carried a cigarette around with me the first few days and went thro the act of smoking. Faking lighting it, taking deep inhalations, exhale, repeat, holding it in my hand. Really helped me get over the hurdle. After a little while I just needed to breathe deep and exhale like I was smoking to get past the urges.

Good luck ya'll who have quit, in time, you will know you did the right thing.

 

[CameronMartz]

Congratulations and good luck. Watching my brother quit after smoking from age 13 to 30, I can appreciate the courage it takes to face this addiction.

To answer a few other comments, yes, you can be relatively fit (from an athletic performance standpoint) and a smoker. Tour de France cyclists once smoked on the belief that it "opened the lungs." However, we now know that smoking does indeed limit your fitness progression and peak. The good news is that these effects appear to be reversible, though this reversal is far from instantaneous. You can read more about this here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12750589

A fast walk around the block is a great way to beat the urge. One study looked at incorporating brief (5-10 minute) intervals of exercise in a smoking cessation program. Researchers found that these bouts were very effective at controlling short-term cravings.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14997270

We're all pulling for you.

Cameron