How You Overcome?

[Fee33]

If you have a craving like a strong one what would be your best answer only Choose One! 

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Breathe deeply and slowly. inhale/exhale

[elvan]

I am with Jackie on this one, breathe in slowly and deeply, hold the air in and then let it out very slowly.  It helped me through many intense craves.

[MarilynH]

I'd give my head several shakes and say right out loud that I didn't smoke anymore and continue on with whatever I was doing, it worked for me along with many other methods of distraction. Fee33

[JACKIE1-25-15]

You said one answer.  It is another day so I will give you another one.  I was pretty much a closet smoker.  Before going out I would shower and put on perfume.  So when I got a crave i would spray perfume in the air to trick my brain to think it was not time to smoke.  It worked.  You just have to have more than one because one thing may not work all the time.  Your brain catches on so you have to have a backup. lol

[freeneasy]

Take a deep breath of cold air. Stick your head in the freezer and do it. Hold it in a few seconds and have a lemon cut up l on hand to take a bite on when you exhale. 

[elvan]

There are SO MANY and some worked better at different times...I know you said only one.  I have to stick with the deep breathing but may I add that while I was doing so, I was adding NOPE?   Not One Puff EVER.

[Thomas3.20.2010]

Brush your teeth! Who wants to put a stinky Sickerette into a clean mouth? 

[maryfreecig]

Come to Ex and write, write, write, write, write and write some more. And what would be your #1 top pick crave kicker?

[ahkhippiechic]

The simple answer for me is that I IGNORE the b...s..t that the addiction is trying to feed me.  There are some moments when its sliding on the ice and so all you do is hold on and wait for it to be over (but that is all you do, hold on!).  Thoughts are constantly coming and going in your head.  When a withdrawal symptom hits it triggers your dopamine starved brain to say “HEY LETS GO SET FIRE TO A STICK AND BREATHE SOME TOXIC MATERIALS! SOUND LIKE FUN!  YAY!”  I just skip over that thought and move onto the next one.  It’s like the thought you get when someone skips ahead of you in a long line or cuts you off in traffic.  You consider violence and harm for a moment and move on.

dont feed the monster