Welcome to Ex. I'm so glad you found us. Congratulations on quitting!!! There are many things to do to get yourself into action when craves come along. And you can take action before a crave comes on, or a trigger happens etc.
I highly recommend that you sit down and write out a long list of things that you are willing to do other than vape or smoke when a crave comes along. Make your list personal to you and try to keep things to what you like or love to do. The list should be 15, 20 things or more--including stuff that does not take long to do.
Reach far and wide in your life experiences for things to do. When I quit, I already liked to walk so I did more of that. I started taking pictures while walking, then I'd sketch from some when I got home. I started going to flea markets and yard sales making a game of looking for tools, art supplies, books that I was interested in. I collected nature books because that was exactly what I was interested in. My list was personal to me--it made sense. Going into the local book shop and looking for good reads helped get my mind on other things.
In reality when we do things other than smoke, vape, use, we are really relearning life. The brain keeps fussing for a while, but eventually, and thankfully, we forget to want nicotine!!!
That's where coming to Ex regularly can help you reframe your thinking. We all need to feel encouraged!!!
Another thing about quitting nicotine is that we've lost a major reward. This must be replaced--that happens one day at a time, one step at a time.
I found counting how much money I'd saved by not smoking very rewarding. But along the way I found other ways to feel satisfied, gratified. And these things do not have to be big.
You might find yourself resisting rewards as not good enough replacement for nicotine. But that is what nicotine addiction did to your brain--it stole your ability to feel happy, sad, and everything else without having to have a nicotine chaser.
But we do relearn life and before you know it you will be able to live just fine without nicotine.
