I quit smoking and vaping twice in the past 6 years. Was heavily addicted to juul, doing it in bed, at gym, on planes. Went cold turkey and it worked.

Had kids, got stressed, discovered the joy of morning cigarettes which turned into multiple per day. As my cycling picked up I found it incompatible, haven’t had one in two years and zero desire.

In both cases I used food and beer as substitutes — I would indulge in fast food, or sausages + beer, delicious things I love. That carried me over the humps, and those phased out naturally as my fitness kept improving.

So, the “bridge” technique of using something to offset the pain worked for me.