Smoking,worrys, & reasons too quit!

Muggwuffin

New member
I am, and have been a smoker for over 12 years now, terrible i know, i would really like to quit-its just doesnt fit in with the new healthy lifestyle i am striving too achieve! im a firm believer too do something that needs extream effort and motivation-you need too have some solid reasons why you want too do this.

My reasons are these...

it makes me smell of stale smoke
its bad for my teeth
bad for my skin
it costs a bomb
as hard as it is too remeber when i feel like a ciggarete-it IS killing me slowly.

i already have some pretty solid reasons too quit..but one thing worries me, as far as i know smoking acctualy increases your motablizm by 10 odd % (where the body has too work harder too flush out toxins) this has totaly put me of quitting in the past..i dont want too gain more weight. the oviouse aunser would be too add in extra cardio/excersize, but my cardio abbility is very poor atm but i understand it would improve after quitting with time.

there IS one thing that im really interested too know-could smoking hinder building muscle because of worse blood flow?? i think if so then that would be a huge motivator for me too quit!.

have any of you quit in the past?/what where your reasons?.
 
Nicotine may do that, but you don't have to consume it through a cigarette -- as you quit, if you use the gum or the patches, you'll still be getting the nicotine that produces the appetite suppression.

The problem with a lot of weight gain post-quit is because your taste buds heal themselves and suddenly food tastes better to you and it's easy to overindulge.

If you are keeping track of what you're eating and how much of it, you'll note that you can exercise better, as your lungs clear out the damage you've given them. You'll be breathing easier and improve the rate of oxygen reaching your cells.

Watch that you're not eating more and I think you'll be fine quitting in regards to gaining the weight, specifically.

Maybe someone else can verify the muscle connection.
 
Thanks for your advice winedeer:) im on a calorie controled diet so that shouldent be a problem, i know from the past that sugary foods seem too help cravings so i will make sure i stick too healthy foods, excersize and hope for the best.

for anyone else interested in my question towards effecting muscle groth i found this on another forums..

"Q. I was just wondering if smoking has a negative effect on bodybuilding and fitness?

A. I assume you started working out because you want to be healthy, not make your body rot from the inside out! Over the years I have trained many smokers, and have found out the biggest reason they ened up quiting was the negitive effects smoking had on their performance. With bodybuilding, a reduction in workout performance means less muscle building results and thus an inferior physique. This reduction in performance is compounded by the fact that smoking directly destroys all of the body's cells. This includes muscle cells!

Smoking Has The Following Negitive Impact On Performance:

* Smoking reduces fitness levels through irreversible respiratory-system damage: This means that one cannot train as long, and the quality of training they do engage in is compromised. Smoking has an immediate effect on respiration, increasing airway resistance and therefore reducing the amount of oxygen absorbed into the blood.

* Often the determining factor, that allows one to succeed in bodybuilding, is whether they can complete that all important final rep, or that extra half-an-hour of cardio. Smoking significantly reduces the likelihood of either of these things. Smoking slows down lung function and reduces lung growth, leaving the smoker literally gasping for air when they need it most.

* The heart-beat of a smoker is 30% faster, on average, than that of a non-smoker: This forces the body of the smoker to expend more energy (in the form of heart-beats) to keep up with their non-smoking counterparts. This faster heart-beat is due to the stimulating effect of nicotine. The resulting increase in heart-rate, and blood pressure, paradoxically, decreases the flow of blood through the blood vessels, and this, in turn, reduces performance.

* Those who smoke produce phlegm more than twice as often as non-smokers: Phlegm builds up in the airway and prohibits correct respiration (breathing). This is because smoking causes chronic swelling of the mucus membranes.

* Tobacco significantly reduces oxygen availability to the muscles during exercise: Carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke has a higher affinity to haemoglobin (an oxygen carrying molecule in the blood) than does oxygen. Smoking, therefore, encourages the replacement of oxygen with carbon monoxide and, resultantly, causes oxygen depletion and a corresponding reduction in performance.

Carbon monoxide has a two-fold negative effect, in that it reduces the amount of oxygen absorbed into the blood from the lungs, and the amount that is absorbed into the muscles from the blood. Oxygen is important for the functioning of all energy systems in the body, so any mechanism which interferes with oxygen transport and uptake interferes with energy production, and therefore, athletic performance.

* The tar in cigarette smoke adds to airways resistance. This tar coats the lungs, reducing the elasticity of the air sacs and resulting in the absorption of less oxygen into the bloodstream.

* Tar also affects the cleansing mechanism of the lungs, allowing pollutants to remain in the bronchial tubes and lungs. Increased phlegm and coughing, and damage to the cilia (the hair-like projections which "sweep" pollutants out of the airways) are the result.

* Decrease in maximal oxygen intake... Although exercising can increase maximal oxygen uptake by up to 20%, smoking can reduce this effect by up to 10%.

* Research also shows that cigarette smoking probably damages cells in the testes - the cells that synthesize testosterone. Testosterone levels within the body govern the muscle growth process from training. Thus, smoking may well hinder optimal testosterone production and interfere with the body’s capacity to build muscle.

* Another recent study examined the effects of smoking on exercise recovery. Chronic exposure to the nicotine in cigarettes leads to insulin resistance, making nutrient transport into muscles and other tissues more difficult. This study demonstrated that the muscles of young men who smoked, recovered a lot slower from exercise compared to non-smokers. Results showed that smoker’s muscle glycogen replenishment rates were much slower compared to non-smokers. This means that smoking directly interferes with insulin/glucose metabolism in muscle. The bottom like here is that smokers do not recover efficiently from exercise.

To Conclude: Smoking is linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, heart damage, inadequate testosterone levels and poor insulin metabolism; these factors must equate to poor results from bodybuilding. "

i packed in this morning:)
 
I have no idea if smoking inhibits growth of muscle but if you are looking for good advice on quitting let me give a little of what I learned.

I have been a non smoker for almost 1 year- quit 1/9/08- and have no interest in doing it again. I quit because I was kiling myself with food and smoking. I was 265 or thereabouts when I quit. I was walking 4.5 mph on the treadmill for 35 minutes.

I am now 215 or thereabouts and can run 7.5 mph on a treadmill for 45 minutes. I am literally in the best shpae of my life.

I quit easily. I wanted to. I was opn the patch for 9 days and then let the patch fall off and never put it back on. I just decided to not smoke. In my experiance you need to want to before you will. YOU need to want to- not for anyone else but you.

Ever since I quit alot of good has happened in my life and i do not consider it a coincidence.

good luck.
 
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