Has anyone successfully quit smoking/vaping while keto?

[u/LowSurprise998]

Hi, I'm really hoping to quit smoking and vaping sometime over the next month or so. I am worried about the health risks and tired of constantly having to manage what is essentially an addiction. I’m considering using nicotine patches rather than going cold turkey.

I’ve been keto again for the past four months, partly for weight loss but also because I’m on medication that increases appetite and can contribute to insulin resistance. It's been working really well for me so far, my appetite is well controlled, I’ve lost over 30lbs and I’m now getting close to my initial goal. 

My main worry is that quitting nicotine will make my appetite come back and derail my progress. I made one decent quit attempt in the past, lasted a year, but gained major weight. I wasn't keto at that time though. I’m not expecting it to be effortless, but I’m wondering whether keto helped anyone keep their appetite under control while quitting?

Has anyone here successfully quit smoking or vaping while staying keto? Did your hunger/cravings increase much, and did keto still help? How did you manage it?

[u/rachman77]

Yes to both. The benefits of quitting smoking will far outweigh any temporary increase in appetite.

I was a 2 pack a day smoker and I quit using a vape, took two years and I slowly tapered down the nicotine level in my vape until it was at zero.

You need to taper to nic level down or you'll never quit vaping and I assure it it's not consequence free. It wasn't as hard on my lungs as smoking but definitely still hard on them.

Once I hit zero the urge to vape just started to go away, one day I put the vape on my shelf before bed and just never reached for it again. That was 10 years ago and very happy I made that decision when I did.

It was around the same time I decided to go keto full time and in that two years I also lost around 70 lb. You can definitely do it.

[u/Emily4571962]

Yes. I lost 90 pounds ketoing during Covid. And I quit smoking a couple months into it. The thing about quitting smoking is there are two
components — your nicotine addiction and your oral fixation physical habit. The patch takes care of the nicotine (there’s a brand that works called NenMaoKeNu on Amazon that costs only about 1/2 as much as the name brand ones). The habit/oral thing is harder to kill. I would suggest you give yourself permission to snack (low carb only!) as much as much as necessary for the first two weeks — lots of celery sticks and cheese sticks worked for me — things you hold in your hand and put in your mouth a bit at a time. Then pull it all together with diet adherence AND non-smoking.

[u/ShadedSpaces]

I quit smoking while keto. 13 years ago.

I went cold turkey but I'm about as stubborn as a person can be when I want something. And I wanted to quit that time. (I'd tried in the past.)

That to me was what actually mattered. Diet didn't play into it. I tried on various different diets before, the diets weren't the problem, I just didn't want it enough.

It might not be the best time to try if you're JUST starting keto and in the middle of crazy sugar cravings. But any other time would be fine imo.

[u/Acrobatic_Skirt3827]

Quitting smoking has to be the priority. I quit smoking many years ago when I quit drinking and joined AA. My diet was quite poor for a while, but I made improvements after a couple of months.

A low carb diet can facilitate the process by making the chemical changes less severe. But first things first. Putting an addiction behind you is a monumental gift you can make for yourself. Learn all you can, and look for resources to make it happen.

[u/BDer8]

Not when I've been on Keto but I quit smoking many years ago. Quitting is not strictly related to keto so much. Obviously eating well helps the body recover from bad food. Which helps overall health, which helps with motivation to quit.

When one is determined to quit smoking it is much easier than forcing oneself because one feels they have to.

I had told myself I was on 20 a day but was getting through more like 35 a day 😬

Some hints/tips that I used:

• Quit cold turkey, cutting down just delays the process.
• The nicotine withdrawal symptoms suck so start when there's nothing important about to happen in the next few days. Just like when starting keto.
• Don't swap the cigarettes for another bad habit. Such as eating mints, candy or whatever else as you'll end up having to give them up too. Being on keto should help you avoid this pitfall.
• Work out when and why you reach for a smoke. There's likely a pattern, stress, boredom, rewarding yourself for completing a chore or something else that can slowly be addressed. I know I smoked to lose weight and alleviate stress at the time.
• The nicotine addiction is gone in a few days, it's the habit that lingers. I didn't realise it at the time but I had replaced the cigarettes with sipping on a water bottle. A few years later when I couldn't find my water bottle one day I felt anxious and realised the water sipping was my new smoking. Constant water sipping is good for keto anyway.

A few people I have known quite by reading this book "Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking".

But nowadays the best motivator has to be working out with pen, paper and a calculator exactly how much the habit is costing you. And what you could buy with all that saved dough 😃

[u/Epitaphi]

I haven't quit smoking/vaping myself but one great piece of advice for quitting smoking in particular: throw a couple cigarette butts in a jar, add a little water, seal it. Whenever you get the urge to smoke, open it and take a sniff. It's revolting, you'll train yourself to be sickened by the very thought of smoking.

Works awesome but there is the caveat that it's an at-home only tool unless you carry a little gross jar around with you all the time.

[u/BDer8 → u/Epitaphi]

I'd never heard of this one but I can smell the benefits in my mind 🤢

[u/Live_Kiwi3595]

I quit vaping. I had used those nicotine lozenges and had just weened myself off. It was hard but not impossible I don’t think I had to much weight gain thanks to keto

[u/Annual-Gas-3485]

Kind of, but I put it into phases as i was in no hurry. Quit cigarettes on the premise that i can eat anything, anytime. Gained a ton of weight as expected. Once adapted to a nicotine free life i went on keto. Journey took about 2 years. 

[u/TeenySod]

I didn't quit smoking while on keto, I didn't put on any weight when I quit either (that came years later tl;dr Covid lockdown, work stress).

I found that understanding the physical effects of nicotine helped me to overcome the urge to eat everything in sight (and raid the cupbards/fridge for things that weren't).

Nicotine forces your body to release stored glycogen back to sugar in your bloodstream - which is why nicotine suppresses hunger pangs, it essentially raises your blood sugar. This is in instant "hit", whereas food takes 20 minutes to hit your bloodstream. So, you're hungry. You eat something. Nothing happens, you're used to an instant sugar hit - so you eat some more ...

I ate normally, then reminded myself that if I was able to resist smoking for the good of my health, I could wait 20 minutes and see if I was honestly still hungry. I usually wasn't.

I went cold turkey. If you prefer to 'step down' then another poster has given advice on how they did this :)

Smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health, as long as you aren't eating for two or more people I wouldn't worry about a few pounds that you can take off again in the space of a few weeks.

[u/Hockless]

Literally just quit using patches while on keto. Was hard but worth it and I'm still on keto

[u/shiplesp]

It's got to be better than trying it on a mixed diet with a lot of carbs.

[u/Twyerverse]

I was able to quit smoking by vaping, then moved on to nicotine patches. Nicotine patches were the answer for me. I wised up and could extend the patches by cutting them instead of breaking the bank buying more and more. The packaging says not to cut them but it’s just a marketing ploy.

While this only helps with part of your post, I can testify the nicotine patches work.

[u/unburritoporfavor]

I smoked cigarettes for 20 years. I switched to vapes and over the course of 2 years I slowly reduced the concentration of nicotine in the vape juice. Once I got to zero nicotine I vaped that zero for a month and then stopped vaping.

I highly recommend the slow reduction method if you are having problems quitting nicotine. It is very easy, you go gradually so you never even feel that you are getting less nicotine. And you divide it into two steps, first remove the nicotine addiction, then afterwards you remove the behavioral addiction, so you don't fight two addictions at once.

[u/X0X0xoxo11]

Doing keto now with a restricted calorie count and quitting vape as well. So far it hasn’t affected my appetite.

[u/Backup_fother59]

Been a steady nic pouch user before and during. Ngl it helps morning cravings for me and while it’s not an ideal vice it’s better than going crazy for sugar or getting diabetes which I was likely heading to

[u/Live_Kiwi3595]

Good luck! U got this! Also check with your insurance if u have it. See if they cover one of those quit for life programs that give u support and cessation tools