Which is harder, quitting smoking or getting into shape?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The Dvl household is still struggling with smoke-quitting, but it’s looking good this time 'round[sup]*[/sup]. We’re also starting the process of getting into shape—losing the 15 to 20 or so pounds put on over the last couple years of trying to quit.

Changing our eating habits seems laughably easy in comparison. A dinner of asparagus, baked eggplant, and black beans rather than cheese tortellini and garlic bread? No problem – making such choices pales in comparison to the choice not to bum a smoke from someone. We’re not dieting per se, just making conscious choices to make better selections, eat smaller (i.e., un-American) amounts, to not snack so often, and things like that.

When I say easy, I don’t mean it’s effortless. I mean it’s easy compared to the extreme hell that quitting smoking is/was. Given this outlook, it sure seems that we’ll easily get in shape by the summer. But… quitting smoking is somewhat passive in nature—mostly choosing not to do something. Whereas eating better takes a lot of negative choices (e.g., choosing not to snack, or choosing an apple over an apple tart), a major component is exercise. This requires making the active choice to get up an hour earlier, to get on the treadmill, to … to … well, you get the picture. Yes, there are ways around things (i.e., who said you have to exercise in the morning), but by and large, there are a lot of active choices to be made.

So, TM, in your experience, which has been easier?

Anyone out there quit smoking but never shed the extra pounds?
Anyone get in shape but still smoke?
Anyone every achieve both?

And as an added bonus, has anyone ever quit smoking, got in shape, and stopped procrastinating?
Share your stories and opinions!

Thanks,

Rhythm

[sup]*All hail The Patch, and its homicide preventing-goodness![/sup]

2

Quitting smoking was far easier for me. Far. No contest. I’ve quit smoking (really quit, with multiple year gaps) three times, but I get heavier every year.

Quitting smoking for me wasn’t the hard bit. Not lighting a cigarette isn’t hard. It’s staying sane while you’re not smoking that’s tough. Still, I found acupuncture (along with ear tacks) and herbs took care of that part pretty nearly completely. I did spend two days crying a lot (contrary to popular myth, I find only some smokers get irritable. Many of us get really, really weepy instead) but then it was over.

I haven’t found a good acupuncture or herbal treatment for overeating, now that they’ve taken my beloved ephedra off the market. I wish there was something else as good, but there just isn’t. Pseudoephedrine comes close, but now it’s a pain in the ass to get the quantities I’d need. The prescription meds scare me with their side effects, so I won’t go there.

I perplexed as how active choices (which I agree are a hard part of getting in shape) are easier than passive ones (not lighting a cigarette and inhaling). I always find it easier to not do something. If I could simply not eat food and survive without hunger pains, headaches, stomach cramps and nausea, I’d be as thin as a supermodel.

However, I have to say that I have really been on my own - my family is slim, and not interested in keeping high calorie/low nutrient food out of the house, nor are they willing to take walks with me, but they were really pushing for me not to smoke. I think the food/exercise thing would be much easier if I had a person I lived with to support me/push me/catch me in the process, but it has to be someone who’s also going through the process. When my skinny husband makes snarky remarks about my food choices while snarfing down a huge bowl of ice cream, it doesn’t help.

3

I’ve quit smoking (again) and am working on the getting in shape part. Actually I have found that working out in the evenings has helped to take my mind off the cigarettes. I think getting in shape is definitely easier, at least for me. I used to be in really good shape but tend to yo-yo on the weight a bit (mostly depending on whether my thyroid is in check). I’m built just like my father (thanks, dad!) so I do have to be careful not to overdo weight training or I bulk up like a guy.

I’ll stop procrastinating later.

4

It took two weeks to quit smoking. After that I was done quitting and no longer smoked, piece of pie! Sure, years later I still crave the damn things, but it’s not really all that tough.
Getting into shape is an entire lifestyle change, I hear. I could stop eating crap for two weeks, no problem. I might even be able to exercise for two weeks, but I can’t stay like that for any length of time. If I could drop 30 pounds and get all muscular in 2 weeks, I could and would do it.

Or maybe I’m just more addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle than I was to smokes.

5

Seconded.

I was always a bit overweight but I ballooned when I stopped smoking and I just can’t seem to get the weight off again.

6

Hell yeah. The bitch about restricting calories is its a constant grind, but no single decision will make you fit or fat. So for me, it’s easy to rationalize eating too much. If eating the right amount and exercising each day instantly made me slim and fit, and overeating or skipping a workout made me blimp up in a moment, it would be easier to stay motivated.

I’ve never smoked, but I imagine there has to be an advantage in being able to just give something up entirely. You HAVE to eat food, several times a day, no less! So many opportunities for the “devil on your shoulder” to make the case for bad choices.

(I also imagine nicotine being a physical addiction is a DISadvantage, so I’m not poo-pooing the strength it must take to quit - good on yer!)

7

I was actually faced with this choice (sort of) and chose to quit smoking.

I was a pack-a-day guy and had gone to the pharmacy to pick up something for my wife. While I was waiting I checked my blook pressure on one of the test yourself machines. And…it was borderline high (something like 140 over 88). I was in my late twenties at the time and pretty damn sedentary. I can distinctly remember thinking to myself “Well Self, what do you want to do? Quit smoking or get in shape?” I quit smoking that day and haven’t touched a single beloved Camel filter since.

About two years ago I decided to get into shape and it has been HARD. Whynot and Rhythmdvl have it pegged with the active/passive dichtomy. It is a lot harder to get up at 5 am everyday to go running when its ass cold and pitch-black outside than it ever was to deny myself a smoke. Plus, getting in shape (at least for me) isn’t a one-time choice. I have to constantly monitor my food, level of exercise, performance, etc. It is a little easier now as I’m actually in pretty good shape but it remains a constant struggle. I keep waiting for that magical moment when I’m going to realize how much I love exercising but so far it hasn’t happened.

8

A while back I did moderate to strenuous excercise every day for about five weeks, lost about 20lb, and got into better shape than I’ve been for absolute years. The whole time I smoked like a trooper and drank beer like it was going out of style. I’ve since become sedentary again and put it all back on again. I still smoke like a chimney. :frowning:

YMMV.

9

My dad did both, I think around the same time (at least both things were before I was born, so it seems like they were simultaneous to me). He seems to enjoy his daily excercise. But he’s told me multiple times that quitting smoking was the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.

Of course, he could just be saying that to scare me off ever trying a cigarette. It’s worked :wink: