Your triggers

[FarfallaP]

Your triggers

It embarrasses me to admit that "quality wine" hasn't exactly been MY aim in recent years...accent has definitely been on the "quantity." However, having said that, in her book "Why French Women Don't Get Fat," Mireille Giuliane (SP???) outlines a method whereby she & her husband open a very GOOD bottle of wine, and as I recall, each have a glass, then decant the rest into a small bottle to be drunk at another time...I will look that paragraph up one of these days, to see if that method might seem sensible to me now. (It seemed inane to me at the time I read it, of course...EXCEPT tjat the thrust of her approach did include staying slender without feeling deprived, and staying slender has of course led to my hunger & therefore, hunger as a trigger for...ta da! More booze.) FF

[FarfallaP]

Your triggers

And another big trigger, for me, is -- celebration!

When I got my most recent "Normal Abdominal Ultrasound" results, I wanted to go immediately to our favorite restaurant to celebrate...which, of course, just "happens" to have "two for one" Happy Hour all day, every day. Talk about irony...

FF

[LibraryGirl]

Your triggers

Yes celebration is a big one for me too FF. That and anger, boredom, depression, lol. I have learned to do other things to occupy my mind, but I still have those triggers. I have been reading around the board tonight and am going to look into Bach's Rescue Remedy, and Amoryn. I recently got an Estrogen patch, but took it off last night...it's a weekly patch. It's got the same warnings as the birth control pill, and I quit that years ago because of it, so kind of stupid to start back on it. I did notice a change over the week I used it, in that I wasn't crying for no reason, but the depression and anger is still there. I don't want to take another SSRI, and I really want to see if these "natural" AD's can help me.

[FarfallaP]

Your triggers

LG,

I had really good luck with Sam-E, from the drugstore, which I was careful to take along with a B supplement...someone here recommended it, on the holistic thread...now I save it to take during times which I anticipate will be challenging for me. It's a little bit expensive, but I could feel my mood "lift" within a few hours, and the lightness lasts all day. I do not know how/if it interacts with other things...Amoryn has piqued my interest, too, am eager to know what you think of it. FF

[HabitualDefender]

Your triggers

This excellent thread deserves a bump, thanks for starting it Eve and your reasoning behind it (from a newbie perspective).

My biggest triggers are getting home from work, firing up the lawn tractor or snow blower, thirsty after physical exertion, work from home days in mid-afternoon, just about anything having to do with weekends/holidays, grilling out or deep-frying wings, feeling like I deserve a reward, and......

.....feeling like I want to crawl into a hole and hide after a particularly large or long bender!

-HD

[drinkingal]

Your triggers

Oh the reward thing has always been a big trigger for me too Habdef, as soon as I did any work on the house, fixing something up, doing some painting, yard work, bam, there it was every single time telling me to treat myself, I deserve it. At the moment I'm finishing up painting my hallway from top to bottom and right now it's just no big deal not rewarding myself. This is just my opinion, but I think what happens is that we create all of these drinking habits and you teach your brain to associate all of these tasks with drinking.

Here's a funny example, when I was drinking very heavily every night, there was one recipe that was my fall back, because it was honestly the only thing I could cook even drunk as a skunk. When I starting doing af days, I found I could not cook that meal because it instantly made me think of drinking and I would just crave al like you wouldn't believe. How silly is that? It took me a long time before I could cook that recipe sober because of that because the habit was so ingrained in my head.

[Eve11]

Your triggers

drinkingal;1371440 wrote:

Here's a funny example, when I was drinking very heavily every night, there was one recipe that was my fall back, because it was honestly the only thing I could cook even drunk as a skunk. When I starting doing af days, I found I could not cook that meal because it instantly made me think of drinking and I would just crave al like you wouldn't believe. How silly is that? It took me a long time before I could cook that recipe sober because of that because the habit was so ingrained in my head.

A most interesting post Drinkingal because it is like Pavlov's dogs salivating at the sound of the bell. Our brains do become conditioned to certain events that remind us of drinking and this is what triggers are. Those things that remind us or "trigger" us as to why we think we need a drink. When we can determine what our triggers are, sometimes we can prevent falling in that hole because we learn how to avoid the trigger. So, for example, you drive down a street on the way home and pass your favorite liquor store. Seeing the sign triggers your brain that you "deserve" a drink for your hard work that day, project you completed, whatever the excuse. Once you realize that trigger is there, you drive a different way home. It's really all about learning what triggers us so we can get stronger at playing this game. That was such a good example of what happens DG!
:l
Eve11

[HabitualDefender]

Your triggers

Yes yes yes DG and Eve!

Pavlov's dogs. I took mostly psyche in college as electives for my engineering degree. Wild stuff the mind does, and to think it's so deeply ingrained for our survival. Kinda shows how modern day society has brought us so far from our genetic heritage.

Here's to Labor Day long weekend here in the US! I'm going to mainly try to keep the lid from flying completely off, will check in during the weekend to help me do it.

-HD

[LibraryGirl]

Your triggers

One of my big triggers is anger and frustration. I had one glass of wine last night when I got home from work and decided I really didn't feel like drinking. What I wanted was to do something relaxing with my bf, maybe watch Netflix or something. When he said no, I am interested in doing something different (for the umpteenth time), I said screw this, and opened a bottle of wine. I regret it, and I'm not sure what to do to handle the frustrations in my life. I feel overwhelmed sometimes, and a little bit ashamed that I even complain, knowing how hard some others have it. I am not drinking tonight, but I am no closer to being satisfied with my life. I hope tomorrow brings a better outlook.