In my opinion smoking and being overweight have the same negative effects concerning your health. Nevertheless some people smoke even more when they want to lose some weight-it is never the other way round that people quit smoking to lose weight :-) What do you think about this topic? Which is worse-smoking or being overweight?

Tough one......

Cigarettes are supposedly more addictive and harder to kick than heroin and of course is really bad for you.

Being overweight does also shorten a persons life span, leads to serious medical complications and dramatically affects their emotional and mental health.

But, in my opinion smoking is MUCH worse than being overweight for one simple reason:

Obesity affects the individual who is obese. Smoke is in the air everyone breathes. Second hand obesity never killed anyone, the same cannot be said for smoking.

sirant

Smoking is a choice that people make... I'm not exactly young, I've been very aware of the surgeon general's warnings on packs of cigarettes since I was 3 feet tall... and was able to read.. yet, every single day, people pick up the smokig habit knowing it's risks.

It drives me crazy to see people under the age of 30 smoking because there's no way they do not know the risks involved.

Now I could also argue that obesity is also a choice that some people make... which is true because my years of doing nothing or half hearted attempts to lose weight was a choice... but it's not like the majority of people wake up in the morning ad say, hey today's the day I'm gonna become obese.

People do not need cigarettes.. they do not need to start smoking...

Easiest filler to put in the spot of reaching for a cigarette is reaching for a fried drumstick...

As a reformed smoker, I would much rather be grossly overweight than to have smoked for years.

people don't quit smoking to lose weight because, personally speaking and from most I've talked to, you gain weight when you quit smoking.

Both - except that smoking also affects the health of others nearby.

That is a tough question. I am a smoker and I decided to choose one thing to do first, either quit smoking or loose weight. Since I used to eat a lot of junk and got very little exercise, I figured it would be too much to do both at the same time. I wanted to tackle one challenge at a time. I decided to loose weight first, because since most people gain weight when quitting smoking, I figured that if I lost the weight first then quit smoking I would be more aware if I started to gain weight due to quiting and that I would have an easier time to adjust my food intake and exercise more to avoid a gain. I also think that if I gained weight by quiting smoking I would have a harder time loosing the weight after, I used to think the more I had to loose the less I wanted to try since it would be so much harder. I was ready to loose weight but I am not yet ready to quit smoking. Looking better will give me the added motivation to quit. I decided once I reach my goal weight I will quit smoking and will start toning my muscles (the added gym time will take my mind off of wanting a cigarette, since I tend to not smoke if I am occupied, I can go days without smoking if something else occupies my time, but once I get bored that is when I smoke)

Health-wise, smoking a pack a day is equivalent to being 100 lbs. overweight. Most people would have to gain 100 lbs. to equal the health effects of smoking. It is better for your health to be overweight than to smoke. Smoking kills more people per year than obesity, and even though some public health experts will tell you that obesity is approaching smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the US, that's only because so many people have quit smoking--and we're still not there yet.

Many people, especially teenage girls, start smoking to lose weight. When you have a cigarette your metabolism speeds up temporarily (like 5-10 minutes). However, it is not enough to make you lose weight, so this plan doesn't really work. Also, when a person quits smoking, the average weight gain is 5-10 lbs, and this usually happens because food starts to taste better. People overestimate the amount of weight they think they will gain if they quit smoking.

Research also supports multiple risky behavior change--meaning, it's okay to try to change more than one thing at a time. The coping strategies you use to avoid picking up a cig are the same strategies you can use to avoid picking up a donut. And the more you practice these strategies, the better you'll get at them.

If anybody is thinking about quitting smoking, I can't recommend pharmacotherapy enough. Use the pills, the patch, the gum, and the inhaler all at once. The tools available today really work.

And weight gain does not HAVE to happen. Many people find that food tastes better once they quit, so fruits and veggies that previously were bland can start tasting better. Also, when you're not smoking, exercise is a LOT easier. Nicotine replacement therapy also attenuates the minor drop in metabolism that comes with quitting smoking. Weight gain is not a sure thing when you quit smoking. Epidemiological research suggests that quitting smoking is the most important thing you can do to extend the number of illness-free years of your life.

As someone who quit smoking on 29th October 2007 (50 days today) and not 1 single drag on a ciggie i also decided to lose weight in November 2007 under the belief i would probably put on weight while quitting.I did need to lose weight anyhow because to be honest it shocked me when i realised i was in the obese category.

My start weight was 14st 11lb (207lb) it is currently 14st 7lb (203lb) ok not a great amount lost but slowly losing it and still quit smoking.My 1st target is to get my BMI down and move out of the obese catergory,my overall goal is to get down to under 12st and into the ideal weight category (top end) no matter how long it takes.

So it does seem possible to do both at once.

Meery xmas and a happy new year to all and good luck with your weight loss.