Its an oral fixation. People that quit smoking sometimes start biting their finger nails a lot or start drinking or eating. Its the fixation with having something in your mouth that causes them to eat. They found cigarettes comforting, now they find food comforting.

I honestly can't believe how many women still smoke. I don't have the exact numbers, but I read a poll in the USA Today about 6 months ago that showed the number of male smokers was down a HUGE amount over the last 4 years, while the number of female smokers hasn't budged at all. Too many women afraid of getting fat.