Smoking Doesn't Lead to Fat Loss

This reminds me of a study that said diet alone can help you lose weight, but again that leads to calorie deprivation and muscle loss, not what you should be after. That just leads to being a skinnier fat person.

This is one of those "duh" research studies. I can't imagine being hungry after breathing in noxious smelling smoke. I know a lot of people smoke to suppress their appetites...models, actresses/actors, etc. but it never pays. You're much better off being 10 lbs overweight and not smoking, health-wise.

Those poor mice....I always feel bad for animals in studies where they are being tortured like that. I know I'd hate to be put in a big smoke cloud every day...that's why I avoid bars.

Just goes to show, you can't just depend on nutrition to help you lose weight. You have to do it right with diet and exercise in order to lose the right kind of weight (fat).

Clearly, any weight loss or no weight gain "benefit" from smoking would be from putting something other than food in your mouth. As to smoking somehow making you burn more energy, my only thought would be that your body constantly trying to heal itself would require energy, but even then...what do I know?

Anything else aside, smoking is just disgusting.

nicotine is a stimulant and is a mild appetite suppressant. that's the only reason it's sometimes associated with weight loss or maintenance. same goes for cocaine - most uppers are appetite suppressants. of course, a person can still override any appetite suppressing properties by overindulging, hence the numbers of obese and overweight smokers.

Re: normal-weight obese...that's why you want to make sure that when you lose weight, you really are losing fat, and not muscle....and why you need to do strength training in addition to cardio.

Re: smoking and weight/muscle loss....that makes a lot of sense, how many smokers are really fit?

Perhaps the nicotine raised their dopamine levels, leading them to eat less.

It's odd that no fat was lossed.

If you ate less, wouldn't your body use stored fat as energy?

Jenn Nguyen said:
If you ate less, wouldn't your body use stored fat as energy?[...]

Not if you're unable to release stored fat as free fatty acids due to high levels of insulin.

Exposing animals to secondhand smoke proves nothing. This is a ridiculous study, and does nothing to prove or disprove how people maintain their weight through smoking.

I just read an article in Allure about smoking and it said most smokers will regain 5 pounds related to their metabolism slowing back down, and the rest is due to overeating to compensate. So, perhaps it does speed your metabolism up a bit - but not much.

It probably wouldn't raise your metabolism any more than lots of caffeine would. I've known several smokers who quit and didn't gain anything. My mom used to smoke and she said when you aren't smoking, you can taste food better and you want things in your mouth a lot. Chewing sugar free gum would probably help a lot with that.

my husband and i have a theory that our obesity epidemic correlates with the drop in smoking. i am convinced i maintained a lower weight for years by smoking. i gained 25 lbs the first yr i quit smoking and 20 the following yr.

its been 7 yrs of yo-yoing ever since. not sure if it is related but my hunch is it is.

blog nerd said:
my husband and i have a theory that our obesity epidemic correlates with the drop in smoking. i am convinced i maintained a lower weight for years by smoking. i gained 25 lbs the first yr i quit smoking and 20 the following yr.[...]

I think that your theory is total crap, to put it bluntly. There are too many healthy people out there that aren't overweight and don't smoke. The rise in obesity has a lot more to do with people eating larger portions and exercising less than a decrease in smoking.

A note: Nicotine actually raises testosterone levels, which should preserve muscle. But the overall effect of eating less may cause an overall loss of muscle.

it's so hard to give up smokeing...but i realy want to get rid of the kg's.....i knw you have to cut down in smokeing if you wish to exercise more...but i cant when i'm trying to catch my breath....i'm caught in a rut, and if i cut down smokeing, i eat more...but i'm still out of breath when i'm working out due to the damage i've already done....what the hell do i do?