Originally Posted by
Gavinandnikki 
I even think about the same internal conversation regarding booze and the beast really pitches a fit - my beast loves to cause me anxiety - it knows me very well. In fact it's talking to me right now as I am typing this out.
The Beast goes on the attack because it is afraid, Pam. Do you know why? Because it knows something you don't -- that you are perfectly capable of making a Big Plan and sticking to it. If this were not so, the Beast would not be afraid, and it would have no need to preemptively attack.
Originally Posted by
Gavinandnikki I guess I have to stay on constant AV patrol.
Once you make a Big Plan, there will be a definite period where your thoughts coalesce around the new non-drinking mandate, but you won't have to be on patrol all the time. The AV will quickly become conspicuous, almost impossible to miss, and soon, AVRT becomes a mostly passive phenomenon.