Several years ago my across-the-street neighbor's daughter and her roommate came for a visit. When they were ready to leave, I noticed the roommate's hands were shaking. I asked her why and she said she was nervous about flying. I told her I had some dramamine if she wanted. She said no, she had her crystals and that would do, she believed in natural "stuff", as she busily lit a cigarette. I guess that's natural enough.

My husband and I used to work out almost 2 hours a day here at home. We have a home gym. We lifted weights, did a floor routine, treadmill, rowing machine, the bike, the whole nine yards. I lost 25 pounds in six weeks and went from a size 14 to a size 9. But after each workout, we sat on the couch with an ice cold glass of water and lit a smoke. Trust me, we shook our own heads when we did that, but it was a habit that was hard to kick. Although we did kick it. And we found all the weight we lost when we did that........ hmmmm

debby, I remember my sister was always fit looking, UNTIL she quit smoking. Now she's quite heavy. Doesn't look like the same person.

My DH plays organized softball in a league with his friends and has for the last 15 years or so. It's not real serious, but the guys can get competitive etc. I always laugh at the guys who round home plate and run to the dugout to catch a quick smoke between innings. And they wonder why they get winded easily!

My gym is across the parking lot from a McDonalds and once in a while you see someone leave the gym and go in to eat!! That's the one time I'm not tempted! I just burned off 400 calories-I don't need to go eat them back!

It certainly doesn't sound healthy, but at least he was doing one good thing for his body by exercising. I smoked for over 20 years and know how hard it is to quit. Like Debby and Glenda's sister, quitting caused a new set of problems for me.

From Mary Shomon:
I also believe that smoking/nicotine creates an artificially high metabolism that masks the fatigue/lethargy commonly seen in hypothyroidism. When the smoker quits, this masking is removed, and the full effects of hypothyroidism on the metabolism and thyroid are felt.

And, for smokers with undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction, without proper thyroid hormone treatment, stopping seems to be a metabolic/weight gain double whammy, as they lose the appetite suppressant, metabolism-upping effects of nicotine, and experience the full effects of the hypothyroidism.

Dam#ed if you do, dam#ed if you don't. lol I wouldn't tell anyone not to quit smoking... but I'm not sure I'm healthier now than I was when I smoked. It's just a different set of problems including autoimmune hypothyroidism, extreme weight gain among other things.

Teresa..in our adult softball leagues..you'll see guys with a beer in one hand..a cig hanging out of their lips..while "playing" center field..

There are professional athletes that smoke...

Our daughter was in a major hospital being treated for cancer. We had to walk past LOTS of employees standing outside smoking.. no one can convince me they aren't seeing the end results every day!

McDonald's does sell salads, Teresa, so maybe that's what they chose, instead of the Big Mac (at least, here's hoping!)

On the way to the gym, in the mornings, I pass one of those walkin medical care places, and in the back is ciggie break time.

You know when they go back in the patients can smell smoke on their clothes.

Since I do not and have never smoke it does not bother me as much as hubby. He smoked but quit about 40 years ago and smoke really gets to him. BUT he had a doctor tell him when he was diagnosed with non invasive bladder cancer--all smokers usually will get this--(cancer) because it is caused by the stuff in cigarettes. This particular type of cancer is called the smokers cancer.

Years ago I visited my uncle, a heavy smoker, at the VA Hospital where he had had surgery for throat cancer.

He was in a whole *ward* full of guys just like him.

The air was chokingly thick with cigarette smoke;
those guys were holding their fingers over the openings in their throats, just a'smokin' & a'smokin'.

It's a powerful powerful addiction.

My brother died of bladder cancer, and yes, he said the doctor told him about the connection between smoking and that kind of cancer. He also had quit for many years.

Ditto to Lydia! I don't want to start smoking again; but sometimes I think I felt healthier as a smoker!! But at the very least, I'm not going broke killing myself anymore! ;)

I absolutely hate cigarettes. I'm so glad my sister and both my daughters all smoked as teenagers but quit the bad habit. My Mother is 87, has smoked all her life, is on oxygen 24/7 due to COPD and emphysema. the worst thing is that in my state (New York) cigarettes are sold in pharmacies. Imagine, t5he druggist who sells you medicine has a giant display of cigarettes.

It is now illegal in Alberta for any drugstore to sell cigarettes. And stores that do sell them (corner stores, grocery stores, etc.,) must keep them all behind a door or curtain. They are not allowed to be visible to the public.

I work in a drugstore. I think out of about 50 of us who work there, only seven smoke.

Glenda - I thought you smoked, too, or am I mistaken?

Nicotine interferes with digestion in the stomach and is the cause of weight control. When the nicotine is removed, craving results and digestion improves. Many people increase food intake due to the craving and with improved food processing, they gain weight. With diligence, weight gain will abate after the nicotine craving subsides, however, a person must watch his food intake for that to happen. Eating too much is also habit forming.

My dad was in his 60s before he quit tobacco. he kept a dis of hard candies to suck on when his craving became too great. He had been trim all his life and then he put on 25 to 35 pounds - it showed. A year later, he was able to loose the candy dish, and two more years, he had shed these extra pounds. It is estimated the he added 10 years to his life by quiting. He died at age 82 from heart and lung failure. very likely, with proper medical intervention, he could have lived longer, but he refused.

My DH had bladder cancer and has emphysema really bad, too, so he had to quit smoking. He's 74 now and still works almost 12 hours a day. DD finally quit by using an electronic cigarette because she didn't want to harm her dad with her second hand smoke. It really helped her quit cigarettes. You can get so many different flavors with or without nicotine until you wean yourself off the nicotine. There is no smoke but instead it is a vapor and it has no smell to most of the flavors or else a pleasant soft smell. The best ones are sold online and they are also the cheapest.

I put on weight after I quit smoking...and am still trying to lose the extra 20lbs....I had more energy when I smoked .

I know it's a powerful addiction and so hard to quit. Although I've never smoked, I have the same sort of problem with overeating. Can't seem to quit.

Smoking can be so deadly. My grandpa died of Emphasema. He's smoked as a young man and had quit fairly early, but spent his last few years on an oxygen tank and in a wheelchair.

My step-daughter's mother (my husband was widowed) died of COPD in her 40s. From what I've been told it was a terrible illness, and she smoked right up to the end. Emi will never smoke after seeing all her mother went through. I'm pretty sure of that.