SMOKING!!

Maybe busting out a few jumping jacks would be a better choice? Lol

I quit cold turkey and it really wasn't hard at all. Having been a smoker for 25 years and recently losing a family friend at only 38 years old made me think about my children losing their mother. Made it an easy choice. Good luck!

Small steps - You can't expect to do ALL of that at once, gotta work into it

In my experience, quitting smoking, like getting fit, losing weight and generally any other task that can be unpleasant, is only successful if it's something that you want to do.

Do you really want to stop smoking? Are you sick of spending your hard earned cash on cigarettes? Do your clothes smell like the inside of tramp's glove? Do you sound like an eighty year old woman on 40-a day when you walk up the stairs? If you answered yes to any of these then quit, not because you should, but because you want to.

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking is brilliant. Then again, so is going cold turkey because every day that passes is a day closer you get to being able to be a sanctimonious, self-righteous ex-smoker and it might annoy everyone else but the pride you feel is amazing! Just quit hun, don't worry about having a snack, dump the *kitten* first and everything else will fall into place.

Good luck :happy:

I did use smoking as an appetite suppressant, I started changing my lifestyle first - portion control, eating healthier, gentle exercise, before I quit smoking. I did struggle with the weight in the initial few weeks, but the starting the the good habits first helped with wanting to eat.

It'll be 3 years in June that I quit smoking. It is worth the effort, if only for the other health benefits. Quitting makes it so much easier to exercise, but you do need to be ready to quit and determined to quit.

Good luck!

I've just given up smoking 7 weeks ago. When I did smoke, it definately stopped me snacking. If I wanted a snack, I'd go for a smoke instead. However, it didn't really make that big a difference in my weight loss. Now I've quit I've got more energy for excersize, and I don't get as puffed out. This has made much more of an impact on my weight loss!

I do agree with you on not changing all your bad habits at once through. I started out trying to lose weight through my diet. Then I switched from normal coke to diet. Then I quit smoking. Now I'm doing more excersize, and am thinking about taking up running. Next will be quiting the fizzy drinks altogether but I am nowhere near there yet!

I think it's understandable that you don't want to make tons of huge changes at once - make changes that you can keep, give it some time, add some more changes. That's all fine

However, if you use smoking as a "reward" for good behavior, that's basically the same thing as saying I didn't smoke today, I'll reward myself with these four slices of cheesecake. If you reinforce one bad habit while trying to quit another one, you'll never be able to quit both. If you're not ready to quit, I would just maintain the same kind of smoking you were doing before you were dieting, and not treat it like a reward. Find some other way to splurge after good behavior. Good luck!

I am a smoker, and I find when I am craving something, late at night, I will just have a cigarette. Because by the time I have smoked my cigarette, my craving is gone. I know this is not good or healthy, but it is just something I do. And i know smoking is bad, but same as you, I am not going to try to quit smoking & lose weight at the same time, because I know i would fail. One thing at a time I think!

I'm kind of the same, except in the mornings when i get up, I'll have a smoke right away. But then I'm good for a few hours. Then as the day goes on, I smoke more & more. Sometimes at night I'll just finish a smoke, then literally within like ten minutes i'm lighting another one. Especially if i'm upset. If i'm upset I don't eat, I smoke. And when I say smoke, I mean like 4 or 5 cigarettes in a row.

I used to smoke and I used it to suppress my appetite all the time. I could skip lunch and just smoke 3 ciggeretts in half an hour and not miss food at all.

I then like you hated the way I smelled, looked to other ppl, and was self concious about it all. And the high cost of it. I got to the point where I hid to smoke and hid my ciggeretts and carried around a fabric spray, or perfume, or fabric sheet, all to wipe myself down after a smoke. Then decided to quit for those reasons although I loved to smoke, feel of it, the taste of it, the act of hand to mouth, the smoke out my lungs. But my grandson begged me and told me he would help me thru each day. I used chantix and quitting was easy for me. But after 6 years of no smoking I still love the smell of ciggerette smoke, not the tobacco smell though, I miss the hand to mouth, I miss the stress release of it. I still occassionally reach over for my pack on the night stand. I still occassionaly dream I am smoking and still want a cigg occassionally. It only lasts a few seconds though and I am glad I quit. I know that is not the intent of this thread but just wanted you to know that you will need to acknowlege that although you like to smoke you will want to quit anyway.

I'm a pack a day smoker. I've found that smoking while I'm hungry actually makes me HUNGRIER. Also, it makes the cigarette less satisfying.

It's also just plain ole' not a good idea to use an addiction to curb other perceived bad habits. We're addicts, that's going to be difficult enough to give up without adding the worry that it will ruin our weight loss progress on top of it.

very true!

When I smoked it just really..threw everything out of whack. Yes, it's an appetite suppressant, but so's black coffee, and I'd wager that being a little overweight is better than smoking! Now when I'm hungry I'll drink water (with Mio if I want something sweet) or just munch on carrots/apples. It's MUCH more effective, I assure you! Hopefully this doesn't come off as judge-y as it's not been that long since I quit, so I easily remember both sides of the issue

I was never a big smoker (1-3 a day), so when I stopped it didnt affect my weight. My friend is a chain smoker and when she stopped for a few days she gained weight, so I guess it did kinda work as a suppressent for her or it just keeps her busy for longer before she reaches for a snack.