It has been many weeks since I have had any crave that was triggered by something. All my usual triggers like driving, after meals, coffee, etc. disappeared after the first month. The next month my cravings actually got worse, and they came out of nowhere, untriggered. Next came the mental cravings with my physical cravings becoming a rarity.
Now the physical cravings have come back strong. I didn’t realize it, but I have been practically stress free since I quit. Then work got super stressful last week, and I remembered what a trigger that was for smoking. As much as I don’t like anything about quitting, I do find things about it fascinating. I was sort of getting used to being an ex-smoker, who rarely thought about cigarettes any more. Overnight I was transformed into someone with a smoker’s mindset. I’ve got a zillion things I’m working on, and I’m wanting a cigarette really bad, so I promise myself I can have one as soon as I get these 2 or 3 things done. Then I finish those and reach for my cigarettes, and think, “Oh crap, I forgot I don’t do that anymore!” And I will do this multiple times a day. How do you forget you quit smoking 117 days ago?! The mind is such a fascinating thing.
The good thing is, I think these cravings are easier to deal with. I had to go back to some of my old tricks I haven’t used since the beginning like chewing gum and cut straws (thanks for the suggestion Dani_2017 ), but they work just like they did then.
