If I had to do it all over again, I wished I never got into the habit. I was 19 and the girl I was dating and most of the dudes I hung around smoked. At the time my father was also a smoker. I smoked and kept going to the gym and partying. After getting married my wife politely asked to quit because she didn't want our child around it. I promised her once we found out she was pregnant I would quit. Two days after I found out we were going to have a child, I quit cold turkey. It's been almost 3 years now and I haven't looked back. My cardio has gotten much, much better and I can taste food better.
I think the addiction to nicotine and the relaxing feeling you get during and after smoking is so great, most people feel that if they quit that they'll never have that kind of satisfaction. Again I quit cold turkey and had a few cravings and even dreamed I was smoking, but after 2 weeks it wasn't that hard.
I believe that in order to quit, if you want to in the first place, you have to set a goal date to actually stop. Once that date comes, go cold turkey. The weening off nicotine just makes it that much easier to go back IMO. And don't associate, except for eating, with the triggers that habitually got you to light up. For me it was drinking at the bar and eating lunch at the bar when I was working. After I left the bar it was much easier to stay on track.
If you smoke I encourage you to quit, because except for a little metabolic burst, there is NOTHING beneficial. If nicotine is the problem, then see a specialist or chew gum.
