Hi Richie,
I'm totally with the others on this one. You can minimise the weight gain but you can't minimise cancer or emphysima.
I used to argue with people that smoking helped me to control my weight, until someone told me that my smoking was affecting my body (heart lungs etc...) like a hundred pounds of weight would.
So, even though I was a sickly 130lbs, my body was working overtime thinking it was supporting around 230lbs. pretty good eh?
NOT
Anyway, I quit a year and a half ago, and yes, I've put on weight but then my weight went up and down while I was a smoker too.
I've gained a grand total of 30lbs and have lost roughly 10 of that.
I would encourage you to stop smoking - you'll be doing your body a huge favour not to mention the peace of mind you'll have once that's out of the way.
Also the rewards of not smoking are tremendous!!!! They can be a huge motivator to keep the quit! The first thing I noticed was that I always had money on me. no more spending cash hand over fist to smoke...nope.
you'll notice all sorts of little and wonderful things once you kick that nicodemon to the curb.
Go for it! we're all here to cheer your every success!
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]9/9/2006
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 547
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 21,880
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $10,940.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 50 [B]Hrs:[/B] 16 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 53