Oh man, those first couple of weeks are so tough if you are trying to quit completely. It such a battle, but if you keep a sense of humor and simply laugh and tell the voices of withdrawal in your head, "Nope, not this time Phillip Morris, this time I win....not you" it seems to defuse the battle.
I think a large part of the equation is the persistent preoccupation of denying yourself of something. Like dieting, the sheer thought that you are consciously denying yourself, only makes the desire grow stronger, which may finally lead to binge eating, which then causes self-imposed guilt and finally and end to dieting.
Many will say to simply have a smoke, this cures the anxiety and takes away the preoccupation of self-imposed denial. If you smoked a pack a day and reduce it to 1 a day or 1 a week, in essence you are still gaining a huge victory instead of 20 or 100.
No matter what you do, be cool to yourself and realize that this is a long process. If you can get passed that critical first 3 weeks I promise it will get easier. The craving will come and go, but they will only be fleeting. You'll be doing something and all the sudden it will hit you, "Man, for some reason I really want a smoke right now", 20 minutes later it will be gone.
Be your own best friend, if you need a smoke...have one, if you choose to hold strong then laugh at the voices that are taunting you. I can remember after day 4 or 5 having hard cravings, looking in the mirror and giving myself the finger....then laughing about it. Those little voices are a sign the chemicals addiction is losing the battle and trying it's hardest to make a last stand.
Hang in there!
