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Share your quitting journey

Cravings

Lisa1030
Member
0 8 2
  Sometimes the best thing we can do when craving a cigarette is to simply redirect our attention to something different and interesting. Nine times out of ten, the urge is gone within moments.
   
  Our thoughts color our lives, so if you find that yours are taking you places you'd rather not go, take charge and shift your focus.
   
   
  When you first quit smoking, it may feel like your day is one long, continual urge for a cigarette. If you pay close attention though, you'll notice that most cravings to smoke last only three to five minutes. They tend to come off the blocks strong, and decrease gradually until they're gone.
   
  There are two types of cravings people experience in the early days of smoking cessation.
   
  Physical cravings are your body's reaction to nicotine withdrawal. You may feel a tightness in your throat or belly, accompanied by feelings of tension or mild anxiety.
   
  Psychological cravings are triggered by the events in your daily life. We all have hundreds of unconscious cues we give ourselves to smoke. When you quit, those cues will trigger the urge. Activities like driving, eating, drinking coffee or alcohol, or simply relaxing can trigger thoughts of smoking for many of us. Mental urges can and usually do produce the same feelings in our bodies as physical cravings.
   
  Keep things simple. Curb cravings as they come, one by one. The most effective way to do that is to interrupt your thought pattern on the spot. Shift gears and do something different for a few minutes. Change your activity, either mentally or physically, and the craving will lose its power and be gone before you know it.

Cravings to smoke are not commands.

How you choose to react to a craving can either increase or decrease its power over you. Try a little reverse psychology - instead of tensing up for a fight when the urge to smoke hits, relax and mentally lean into it. Let the craving wash over you, and accept it as a sign of healing, which is just what it is. The urge will run its course and pass. Practice makes perfect with this technique. You'll get the hang of it and will find it empowering.

Have some faith, and trust in the process of recovery from nicotine addiction. Thousands of people no different than yourself quit smoking successfully every day of the year. They don't possess any special qualities that you don't have. Everything you need to quit smoking once and for all is within you right now.

Believe in yourself and be patient. Take the time you need to heal and learn how to live your life smoke-free. You'll get there just as surely as the next person.

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