About Smoking - Cravings and How to Control Them
The cravings for cigarettes are caused by withdrawal from nicotine, a strongly physically and mentally/emotionally addictive drug.
The best thing you can do with this craving is just wait out the urge. The urges tend to last only a few minutes, instead of smoking choose to do some exercise; go for a walk around the block. And you can always practice the four D’s -
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- Distract yourself
- Deep breathing
- Drink water
- Do something else
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Cravings for a cigarette can be confused with hunger pangs and oral craving - desire for something in the mouth. Oral fixation is a common problem with ex-smokers and those people trying to quit.
Drink water or low-calorie liquids; be prepared with low-calorie snacks. The best I found was strips of carrot or apple, tasty and healthy too, plus gives you something to munch on rather than biting your fingers.
More info is available in our article on How to Quit or Stop Smoking Cold Turkey and Will I gain weight if I quit smoking? And how much will I gain?.