[lebski88]

> a few weeks to get to the point of not wanting to smoke again

That's a shockingly short amount of time for smoking. For me, after a few weeks I'd say some of the worst cravings had passed. But for a good year or two afterwards they'd occasionally come back, albeit briefly. I quit about 15 years ago, but given the right situation I can still feel it.

[PaulRobinson]

I had this a little.

I didn't actively fight it. What I did instead was note in my own head that I somehow wanted a cigarette and think to myself "OK, if I still want one in 20 minutes, I'll have one", and then went and did something else instead. An hour or two later I'd think "Oh yeah, that was weird, didn't I want a cigarette a while back?"

Very occasionally it comes back - a sunny day and a beer garden with a few pints and a pack of cigs feels like something I'd very much enjoy, for example - but it's brief and I can quickly rationalise it: "how strange a thought, for a non-smoker".

[deinonychus]

>but it's brief and I can quickly rationalise it: "how strange a thought, for a non-smoker".

i really love how you pose that. thank you for sharing, i'm going to come back to this post for inspiration. i personally get a lot of mileage out of the "lets see if i still care about this in 20 minutes" strategy for other things like food or a screen-related impulse.