Cravings are sometimes hunger
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Colorado
Posts: 390
Cravings are sometimes hunger
I've noticed in 8 months of sobriety that I still get cravings, but maybe everyone feels a bit of it... even normies? I don't have a huge appetite, but I've noticed I don't crave much if I eat regularly and healthily.
I've been craving a bit more midday sometimes due to lack of food when out on the job-site, but if I make sure to pack a good lunch, and actually eat it, both my hunger and cravings are satiated.
Learning how to re-live life sober, I've watched other people rush to get food when they're hungry. It's not unlike alcoholics rushing to grab a drink when that feeling strikes.
Many times, getting a meal or healthy snack in you really helps curb cravings. Yeah, it takes a bit longer, but I've found it helps.
I've been craving a bit more midday sometimes due to lack of food when out on the job-site, but if I make sure to pack a good lunch, and actually eat it, both my hunger and cravings are satiated.
Learning how to re-live life sober, I've watched other people rush to get food when they're hungry. It's not unlike alcoholics rushing to grab a drink when that feeling strikes.
Many times, getting a meal or healthy snack in you really helps curb cravings. Yeah, it takes a bit longer, but I've found it helps.
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Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 771
This is really interesting. I’m only on day 10 of sobriety, and I used to eat very little to save calories for wine. Now I’m back to eating breakfast for the first time in a long time, and it does seem to keep me more on an even keel. Then the other night I was feeling the cravings, but after dinner, I started to feel better. So I definitely think there is something to this.
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Glen Allen, Va
Posts: 2,589
I’m guessing you have heard of HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, tired. An awful lot of cravings can be lessened by just reviewing those and satisfying or resolving them. Definitely helped me. Hope that helped!
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 1,339
I think that anything that activates that dinosaur part of our brain, like hunger, can put a person in early recovery like me more susceptible to listening to the AV pull and subsides when those impulses are attended to in a healthy way. I'm less sure of how emotional responses in people cause us to want to use, but strong feelings either way can affect me.
The opposite of addiction is connection.
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Oregon, USA
Posts: 373
There are some good journal articles about how alcoholics tend to be hypoclycemic. I know for me, especially in early recovery, I have to eat every two hours or so to keep me feeling stable and to stave off cravings. Fortunately I don't have a sweet tooth so I can keep things fairly healthy. I also avoid too much caffeine as that seems to mess with my my mood too.
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: uk
Posts: 2,428
I found HALT a very useful tool.
I also agree that at first I couldn't tell what my body wanted, I would feel something and assume it was an alcohol craving. I was very numb to all my feelings and it took me a long time to learn to recognise them.
I also agree that at first I couldn't tell what my body wanted, I would feel something and assume it was an alcohol craving. I was very numb to all my feelings and it took me a long time to learn to recognise them.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
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I'd also add that I ALWAYS have something to drink with me, usually more than one kind of bev. In the am coffee and sparkling water with lime- and I only drink coffee early, like before 7 or 8 when I get to work) ; I often get a large diet lemonade to last through the day and I always have a ton of that lime sparkling water and regular water on hand.
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Right here, right now
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I think your intuition is right on. The HALT acronym works for me too. I do best with six small meals a day.
Also, I try to avoid processed sugar. I find that if I am eating and living healthily, I have less cravings in general.
Also, I try to avoid processed sugar. I find that if I am eating and living healthily, I have less cravings in general.
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,978
I used to replace alcohol for pretty much everything. Hungy? Great that means have a drink because my stomach is empty. Thirsty? Oh that means I need a shot. Tired oh you need a shot or 5 to sleep.
I think when we become drunks there are some majorly messed up associations we make between drinking and our normal bodily needs.
Getting sober for me was relearning what my body was actually telling me.
I think when we become drunks there are some majorly messed up associations we make between drinking and our normal bodily needs.
Getting sober for me was relearning what my body was actually telling me.
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