Whether men chose to quit cold turkey or cut down first may not matter. For women, however, cutting down first is important, because their withdrawal symptoms may be more intense. Mental gremlins are predictive of relapse. The first gremlin tells you to go ahead and have a cigarette because you will stop at just one. The second and third allow you to rationalize your habit by minimizing the health consequences of smoking.
Women tend to be haunted more by gremlins than men.
For example, men who relapse after going through a smoking cessation program typically blame the program. Learn the facts about quitting smoking and weight gain. Though most people do gain weight when they quit smoking, you can avoid that by making a few simple, permanent changes in lifestyle. You may be less likely to quit smoking if you try to exercise, change diet and quit smoking all at the same time. Quit smoking first and then wait until the worst of the withdrawal symptoms subside, then channel some of your efforts toward avoiding weight gain.