Today we’ll discuss cravings! We want to talk about physical cravings as well as emotional (psychological) cravings. The good news? Alcohol only stays in a person’s system for about 7 days. I understand that those 7 days can seem like a lifetime when you’re giving up something you have convinced yourself you love, BUT IT IS ONLY 7 DAYS.
The bad news? Emotional / psychological cravings can be triggered for years to come! We’ll discuss how to best deal with these cravings.
Have you ever been told you ABSOLUTELY cannot have something ever again? In college, I found out I had celiac disease and couldn’t eat gluten - which is in all of the wonderful things everyone loves - pizza, pasta, bread, beer, goldfish, anything with soy sauce, TWIZZLERS! I was shocked to learn all of the wonderful foods that had gluten in them. I would do great on the diet for a few weeks and my stomach started to heal. But then everyone would want to go out for pizza and I thought - one slice won’t hurt, right? The good thing about food allergies is that they tell you right away - ABORT! THIS ISN’T GOOD FOR ME! My brain quickly learned that succumbing to the cravings for a good slice and my need to fit in was not worth it. Alcohol is a little harder because the negative feedback comes much later in the night or perhaps not until the next day. Cutting alcohol out requires retraining of your brain and connecting the dots from the negative input (alcohol) to the negative output (hangovers, sleeplessness, drunk texting, skipped workouts, anxiety, etc) - and you’re doing that right now!!
Most of us have attempted to quit drinking on multiple occasions, only to find ourselves giving in to the cravings. The problem with this is that now we’ve taught our subconscious that eventually we will give in and have that drink (or in my case in college, a pack of twizzlers).
(And anyway, when was the last time someone questioned another person quitting gluten?! I wasn’t a glutenaholic, couldn’t I just eat responsibly?)
Our goal today is to teach you why we having cravings and how to deal with them. We want you to learn what “duck” mode is and also provide a helpful visual that will keep you on the straight and narrow during this experiment.