Hi jazzfish.
RR was the first "method" I studied in more depth before I got sober, and what I really liked in it was the Big Plan thing. I think I was really done at the time when I quit and never felt there was anything attractive in a drinking life, never felt sorry beyond fleeting moments that I would live my life without alcohol forever. It was really like breaking up with a bad love affair and never wanting to see them again. What I did have though, and very intensely and for a long time were the physical cravings for alcohol. I say "physical" because it was quite clear to me how those desires were born in my head as the remnants of my past abuse, triggered by many different things, but even when I was craving intensely, I had that determination and closure type feeling as well that I don't want to go back to it no matter what and that it would only bring destructive things to my life and nothing good. But I don't think I could have gone through many of those urges with simply ignoring and "starving" them, sitting with them, at least in the first few months. There was no way to simply isolate those urges because they were interconnected with my being in profound ways. What worked best was responding to them in a similarly physical way: eating food, exercise, etc.
But I think this is probably not what you are asking, but a more holistic question. Well, based on what I have seen in the recovery communities with people who have successfully maintained sobriety in the longer run is that not many succeeded purely just relying on a Big Plan, AVRT, and nothing else special. It's usually combined with other recovery efforts, the variety that is discussed here on SR all the time about changing many things in our lives, caring for ourselves in new ways, and doing these consistently as a new set of habits. It seems like an attractive idea that we make a plan not to drink, then move on and live our life happily... it's just that unfortunately it's not that simple, not in the majority of cases at least. If that would have worked for me, I would now be probably at least 5 years sober, and I only have ~13 months during which I did a lot of those things recommended. Not any official program and I do it in my own ways, but lots of things. Whenever I try to take a break and ignore my recovery, I start to feel slipping (mentally) usually soon... not necessarily with conscious thoughts of drinking but slipping into unhealthy thought patterns and reactions.
It's definitely our conscious decision to pick up a drink, but typically there are lots of unconscious processes preceding it, that are not easily or not always responsive to pure willpower and good decisions. If they were, there would not be addiction. So perhaps think about what else you could use to supplement your RR/AVRT regime?