the simple answer to that question is when you start replacing those reflexes with other more positive ones. When you leave for work, pop in a stick of gum. when you walk the dog, plug in some music. That's otherwise known as the "habit" part of smoking. the rituals we go through that include smoking. Start replacing those with those mentioned above or create your own, but do the same thing for each task, i.e. walking the dog, leaving for work, coming home from work. retrain your brain to associate the thing you're doing with something that doesn't include a cigarette anymore. recreate memories. I always used smoking when I was trying to figure out something. That happened to me around 4 months into it and I was playing Shera lugging up this 100 pound treadmill into the house. I was standing in the kitchen thinking of ways of doing this without killing myself. I found myself instantly reaching for that pack of cigarettes without even thinking about it. The only thing that popped in my head was, boy, old habits die hard. Then I started taking notice of when and why I wanted to smoke and developed new practices. I think smoking is 3 percent physical and 97 percent emotional, a head thang. Quitting is only as hard as you make it to be. You'll do just great.
For the first month, I cut up some straws and puffed on those when things got tough while I was making my brain go through hoops. Soon I found I didn't need them anymore because I was creating new habits. Tomorrow I'll have 1,000 days quit and I was one heck of a chain smoker for 43 years. This really can be done. Just dig your heels in and stick with it. If it's too hard to go cold turkey and you feel you're crawling the walls, try the patch. did wonders for me.
