Anticipating Body Changes and ChallengesAs you look toward the first two weeks of being cigarette-free, you will encounter many common feelings that will either make you or break you in the quest to be smoke-free. This is where your support system plays an important part in your success. Some of the feelings you will no doubt come up against include: · Feeling depressed · Bouts of insomnia · Crankiness, frustration, anger · Anxiety, nervousness or restlessness (when you experience these feelings, don’t break down and have that cigarette, play hardball with your feelings) · Cloudy thinking · Hunger or weight gain Not everyone experiences these types of feelings, but, if you do experience any one of these types of feelings, go to your support system of either your family, friends, or contact any number of independent smoking support groups, or to the smokefree.gov website that provides additional help and support. If you keep true to your goal of quitting, the entire process will be worth it in the end. Most people that try to quit and find themselves unsuccessful usually go back to smoking within three months as these truly are the hardest months. When thoughts of despair and cravings come back, be steadfast and call your support group or talk to someone who is supportive of your desire to quit and do it right away as the longer you wait the more tempted you will be. An inspiring tool that you could look to for guidance and reflection is a “cravings journal”. A Cravings Journal is simple to make, print out and fill in. Here is an example of such as journal, adapted from the “One Step At a Time Program – Book 3 from the Canadian Cancer Society” that you can make on your computer and print it out as an extremely effective tool in your stop smoking campaign:
The Journal serves really two purposes: knowing how to anticipate when you seem to crave your cigarettes and most importantly, keeps track of your successes in removing cigarettes from your life. 
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