Just wanted to share with you all..... the beast just tried to trick me! He said to me : " Congrats on 1 week! WOW Chris you are doing so well !! You have proven that you can do it !! -- so why not just celebrate tonight with a drink ? Enjoy yourself you deserve it !!!!" ... Heck NO !!!!!!!! What a trap !!!!!! Alcohol can be so convincing and smooth and even seductive. Only to get you in the dumps 10 times worse than you were before!! I am going to stay strong thanks everyone for "listening" it helps SO much!!!!!!

Great job, Chris!

That little voice can be soooo convincing!

I'm glad you shared with us. For me, it helps reinforce that I can shut off the voice that tries to tempt me. I haven't had it happen much but I know that we can make it through.

I too gain so much strength from the people here.

I'm glad you're with us, Chris!

Thanks so much Aarry and everyone !!!! Just sharing it makes the voice shrink if not go away. It diffuses it. It wants to be my secret friend. When I expose him he feels much weaker because he is shined on by the light of sober and clear-minded people! Love this group and so grateful for you all !!!!! :ring

Great job recognizing the trap!

I just had a huge trigger also. I'm exhausted and hungry. Just had a crazy thought that I need a drink. I used to give in because I would convince myself I deserve it after a long work day. Instead I treated myself to some French macaroons and fancy tea. Still wont be home for an hour so just need to make it until then. Scary how strong the desire and AV are right now though. It helps to tell on it.

I want to do this to my AV

:e124:

And then get on with my day....:)

For some reason, an image of Gremlins just popped in my head. :lmao

However, maybe putting an image of Spike to the voice will help recognize when the voice comes back.

I'm all for making anything associated with alcohol look as unappealing as possible. That's why I've been referring to alcohol as poison.

Well caught, calichris! You've mentioned in posts before that you would drink after taking lots of exercise - maybe your AV likes to creep in under the guise of reward after effort? Sneaky!

Agree Toddle!! The thing is that when I was binging in the past I would not recognize it was a trap and I would give in easily and hence it was so hard to get out of the endless cycle. Only being clear and sober can we see how much of a nasty trick it is! Grateful to have clarity !!!!

I'm glad you recognized what was going on and took steps to cut off the cravings. Remember to stay hydrated and eat regularly.

Good job! :c011:

So true Soshi ! The AV likes to find any possible little entry point and can be very seductive. It's a trap we all know it!

Grateful, Great job recognizing the trap yourself !!!! Awesome!!!!! :c011:

I always find if I snack on something it helps with drink cravings, I always drank on an empty stomach so perhaps I associate hunger and tiredness with drink...thats when Id have one (when I was binging). In the end I had it whatever state I was in, horrid stuff

I am a numbers guy. I like to rate things on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being nothing and 10 being strongest). I must say that 30 minutes ago before I shared the AV with you all my cravings shot up to a 9/10 (9 out of 10). Now just by sharing they are down to 4/10. I know that after having a bite to eat that it will be 1 or 2 out of 10 !!!

I did too. I would start drinking as soon as I got home.

Just before I quit drinking, I could have burnt my house twice. I put food in my toaster over and passed out. I can't tell you how much time the stuff was in there but it scared the crap out of me.

I guess I should have learned dumping 5-6 ounces of vodka on an empty stomach was a baaaaaad idea.

That's a great idea to describe cravings, Chris. I like it! I shall do this the next time a craving comes up. I think it will be useful in assessing the situation I am facing.

I'm glad to hear it's going away! Way to stay strong! :c011:

Ouch, thats scary Aarry, I know lots of people who have done similar, left the oven on etc...I broke my ribs once and walked around in a daze for a week thinking it was a bad back...What a drunken idiot I really was!!:gaah

Wow! That was a biggie then. Sounds like your blood sugar was low - and great that you got it right down by posting first.

I kind of like the idea of a cravings Richter scale..I've had a good steady today so nothing over a 5 when I went on a bit of a booze-themed nostalgia trip. Just got on with something else and was fine.

Yeah, I've done so many things drunk in the past that I did not realize until the next day and by the grace of God I was still alive (and so was everyone else). It was like playing rusian roullette eventually the luck would have run out. So grateful to be out of that trap with you all !!! :fireworks2

Ha ha you make me laugh toddle! :lmao

Someone mentioned on another thread H.A.L.T which stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired. This is danger time for us ex alkies. I've spent this week trying to read those signals in myself.