If you are a recovering alcoholic — particularly one who has tried to quit many times before — the urge to drink is overwhelming, consuming and controlling, particularly in a place like Los Angeles where alcoholism is sometimes glorified. But the reality is, there are very simple things a person can do to kill a craving and move on with the day. Killing a craving is about moving your thoughts in a different direction.
1. Milk and cookies
Part of an alcoholic craving is for the sugars in liquor. Consuming cookies and milk satiates the body’s need for sugar and the thought of mixing alcohol and milk is very unappealing.
2. Walk
The same endorphins activated by alcohol consumption are released when a person exercises and the need for that release is appeased. While anaerobic exercise can spike a craving, low-rate aerobic exercise seems to kill a craving for an extended period of time.
3. Clean
The worse thing for a recovering alcoholic is free time. Cleaning the house, the yard, the property or your car requires concentration and action. It also provides a semi-immediate reward. The feeling of being organized helps a person advance forward. Clutter is an irritant that pushes alcoholics to throwing their arms up and the bottle back. A clean home is a sober home.
4. Shower
Getting in the shower or taking a bath gives a person the sense that they have a fresh start. Though the day may not have been going well, a shower is a chance to start over.
5. Masturbate or have sex
When a craving is terrible, there are few things that sound more appealing that a drink of liquor. Sex, for most people, is one of them.
6. Visit an older person
Old people have the ability to make younger people feel either exceptionally good or ashamed. If you are doing things right and living sober, they are the first to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, no one can make you feel like you are wasting your time and potential faster than an old person can.
7. Take a nap
Sometimes a craving is nothing more than stress. By lowering your stress level and relaxing, you can kill a craving.