Controlling The Cravings and Triggers

As you have probably already figured out by now, the cravings of wanting to smoke a cigarette get exponentially higher when you are trying to quit. Even before you actually try to stop, the pure psychological need starts to haunt you before you have even lit your last smoke. A big part of controlling your smoking cravings are first identifying your triggers and then finding a new way to deal with them.

I refer to "triggers" as a particular activity or habit that increases your urge or sets you off to craving and then lighting up a cigarette. For example, like I explain in my book, one of my triggers was a full stomach. Immediately after breakfast, lunch, and dinner I would reach for my pack of Marlboro's and light one up. As I know and have spoken with many other smokers and ex-smokers, this is a very common trigger for a lot of people.

It sort of becomes a ritual or habit to automatically light one up after eating. Since I identified that as one of my triggers that caused a strong craving, I then realized that I had to start a new ritual after eating a meal. So, when I quit smoking I started to chew gum immediately after a meal. Not nicotine gum, just regular Wrigley's chewing gum. Of course you will want to choose a gum that you like.

On top of the gum, I started using toothpicks after my meals. Not really to pick stuff out of my teeth, but to use as something to "play with" and keep my hands and mouth busy. When are addicted to smoking it is not just the physical nicotine that you are addicted to, you have also created an "oral" fixation. The toothpicks seemed to help greatly.

Of course this is only one method and not everything works for everybody, but I am just sharing one of the things that I did to help aid me during the stop smoking process. You may hate gum and/or toothpicks, but it is just one idea among many. You have to find what works best for you.

If you are serious about kicking your habit for good, then please visit my website and download a copy of my ebook. I really believe that the information inside of it will help you in your new (or not so new) goal. Even if you have already tried to quit smoking once, twice, or ten times, you should find great benefit by reading my book. As I say on my site, "What have you got to loose?"

Scott
http://www.mywaytoquitsmoking.com