When will I feel I no longer smoke

I am coming up to my three day mark today at 10:00 AM. I still wake up in the morning and reach for that cigarrette. How long does it take to break that habit. It's not that I WANT one (usually) but it's just a habit to reach for it.

Kar - 2 days, 20 hours - 3 minutes - 21 seconds

My first month was real hell. After that things got a hell of a lot better, and they continued to get better as time went on. Now, I've been quit for a year, and several days will go by where I don't even think about smoking. I still have some pretty strong craves now and then, but nothing I can't handle.

You really are in the thick of things right now. I remember living from minute to minute without a cigarette.

We're all rooting for you. Hang in there. You will be glad you did.

You are reprogramming your subconscious mind to auto-pilot things/activities as nonsmoking. Odds are that much of your day-to-day activities will feel more naturally non-smoking within a week to a month. Just like they say a habit takes 21-28 days to become automatic, it's the same for not smoking. But the daily stuff that you conquer each day will be the first stuff to become easier. As Mike said, after a month things really consist of mostly easy days with a few trigger days here and there.

The more times you do something without smoking, the easier it becomes.
Stuff that do infrequently (see Aunt Smoker at Easter, etc) remain triggers until you've gone through them nonsmoking, and stuff like that can take a year until you encounter it (or however long).

Try to look at it as retraining your mind. It doesn't care WHAT you choose, it just wants to be sure it's doing the right thing today. So the subconscious mind will ask "are you sure we don't smoke when we do this?" sometimes over and over again. But it's just making sure it understands. Just keep answering "I don't smoke anymore" and the badgering will ease up. It (subconscious mind) just wants to be sure YOU are sure.

Dig your heels in. Quitting is not instant gratification. It's building something REAL, but also something sturdy, and that takes time. You smoked for a long time (i'd guess), so of course you won't feel easily smokefree at day three. But hang in there, and you WILL feel easily smokefree in far less time than you spent as a smoker..

For me it was the three and a half month mark. I had failed quits b4 by not knowing it's normal to have bouts of depression even in month 4...so reading and rereading the quit FAQS here helps lots.

Instead of grabbing a coffin nail during month one I grabbed a Tootsie
Roll Pop or a coupla Hershey's Kisses. Helped me with deprivation anxiety, which is whut I call it....and got me thru easier with CT ( cold turkey). I wuz tired of candy at the one month point. <g>

I also found remembering to help me a lot too. Remember Saturday mornings as a kid when all you really wanted was some CocoPuffs and the cartoons on the TV? Guess whut I did on Sat. morn.? Going back and remembering smoke freedom days has helped me lots. I know you remember yerself then, right?

Hugs from Rosie

Six months, three weeks, three days, 16 hours, 16 minutes and 52 seconds.
6230 cigarettes not smoked, saving $996.85. Life saved: 3 weeks, 15 hours

Oh yeah, I totally agree! I ate like ten boxes of Jimmy Neutron Choco
Donuts* cereal (without the milk!) the first month or two!

*it has now been renamed Cap'n Crunch Chocosomethingorother, but it's still crunchy "chocolate donuts" with sprinkles on them.. yummmm