Hi John, and a belated welcome to Freedom!
There is a phase of quitting that seems to fall under the old adage "When you are up to your behind in alligators, its hard to remember that your objective was to drain the swamp...."
You are tackling it exactly the right way. Education is the key. Keep reading, keep journaling.... keep letting those rationalizations break on the sure knowledge that this is temporary. It Will Get Better.
You may have to take it on faith for a while. I had to. Besides Joel's information, the only role I have here is to let you know that the struggle is temporary, that many, many have gone before and succeeded, that this is doable, and that in the end you achieve comfort:
image
Normal life.... without craving or wanting to smoke, as an ex-smoker.
You are doing this!
YQB BillW Five years, four months, one week, two days, 3 hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds. 58654 cigarettes not smoked, saving $11,437.33. Life saved: 29 weeks, 15 hours, 50 minutes.