Nicotine Cravings
Nicotine cravings are hard to overcome when quitters are not prepared. Often they are due to psychological effects rather than physical. These are easily counteracted by motivation, anticipation and proper planning.
Below you will find a list of typical triggers of nicotine cravings, many of these will appear on your list together with some of your personal ones. We have also suggested proven methods of dealing with each instance. The key is to break your normal pattern of behaviour enough that the experience is no longer associated with a cigarette (i.e. do it differently!) On waking up – switch your breakfast/ shower/getting dressed routine so that the order is different. Exercise briefly if you can. Prepare your day journal of how you feel, what yesterday was like.
With Coffee - Reduce your intake (see Caffeine). Try a different drink? Have at a different time? Alcohol - Avoid in the early stages if possible. Vary types. Stressful work experiences - rather than get emotional, take a break, go for a short walk. Try our breathing exercises. Driving - Remove ashtrays, change your music/radio tastes, join in and have some fun too! Crisis - Breathe, go for a walk, focus on how to resolve the situation not on how you got there or what is lacking. Other smokers - look at how silly they appear sucking those fumes in. Do they appear happy? Imagine their body is transparent and you can see those noxious fumes entering their body and the harm it is doing. Telephone - Use a different phone, different ear, doodle whilst talking, anything to change the experience. These nicotine cravings are lethal to your resolve, which makes them literally lethal to you. Never underestimate, the sillier solutions the better. Never take another puff! Exercise First, identify those situations which you believe may trigger a craving. Second, prepare a plan of how you will deal with each scenario. List as many possibilities as you can think of. Back from nicotine cravings
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