No will power...

I don't smoke, but I can imagine what you are struggling with. I am not sure how to support you except to suggest that maybe redirecting things might help. Instead of food, you need a non-food will power booster. For some this can be exercise which for many will boost their will power and move their mind from being mainly desire driving to more logic driven where you can say no to food, cigarettes or whatever because it does not fit with your goals. Another possibility is to redirect away from chocolate and other dense calorie sources to something less dense like raw veggies. At least then you can satisfy the desire to have something in your mouth and not blow the calorie budget out of the water.

I can't offer any suggestions, but I know how you feel, kimbaclay.

I've smoked now for ... 8 years? Wow, can't believe it's been that long. Right now I'm struggling with this persistent cough. It makes me want to quit very badly because I worry about the long term effects to my health.

And then there's the weight. I want to take off the weight and not put it back on. The trouble has been, for me at least, if I quit smoking, I start eating a lot more and gain weight - but I can quit. If I stop eating as much, like now when I'm trying to diet, I smoke more. I cough more. I want to quit, but I know that will derail the whole diet thing.

I know that changing my diet and quitting smoking are both going to be good for me. Again, though, the willpower. I just don't have it. I have a scapegoat, too, only mine's my messed up childhood. It's an excuse, sure, but it's been such a fine, well-serving one that it's hard to let go and move on. :sick:

I hope it works out for you. Best wishes and luck.

I quit smoking 2 years ago after 20 years (I started at 14! So it basically felt like my whole life). It was so hard to get over the mental triggers..but it can be done. Gum is an option, of course, but that's not always satisfying. I chewed pen caps and straws...not great for your teeth but helps the oral cravings .

Sometimes, if the cravings got really bad, I'd hit the deck - pushups, situps, squats...whatever it took to get past it. I think that eventually started working like Pavlov's dogs...now just out of nowhere I want to do pushups! LOL!

Now, I just think about how crappy I felt when I did smoke - the daily sore throat, the coughs, the drained feeling after any exertion. And I smell current smokers that walk by and am embarassed that I used to smell like that myself!