H.A.L.T

To Halt means to stop abruptly. 

Halt and H.AL.T. hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Yup that about covers it all for the makings of a relapse. Learning about this little acronym has saved me more then once since getting sober.

In the beginning when I was craving alcohol, using this acronym as a barometer helped me to remember to take care of myself such as eating and drinking when I needed to, which in turn helped my cravings. I remembered the old timers telling me that if I got 2 or more of those things going on at the same time it could ultimately lead me to a relapse. They said to eat plenty of sugar to keep the cravings down because alcohol has a ton of sugar in it. Ice cream was my favorite. In addition to eating a lot of ice cream, I would eat two oranges at a time. Anything that tasted good really helped my cravings and helped me to keep my blood sugar in check. Most of my life I have suffered from low blood sugar, so quitting drink actually made that worse to a certain extent. Whenever my blood sugar got too low, I would get extremely hangry and not even realize what happened; I just got feeling miserable and angry. I was an extremely picky eater, but getting sober certainly changed that. I love to eat now!

Learning to take care of myself was a challenge because drinking was always involved in all areas of my life, eating, cooking, sewing and crafting. I hid my wine most of the time in a plastic tumbler. My brain was always telling that if I drank my life would be better. For me alcohol was the cure all to my moods and depression, but actually my drinking amplified everything in me that didn’t feel good. Sometimes things went well and other times not so well. My insecurities would come out and ruin the moment.

Now after being sober for sometime I still use H.A.L.T.  I have learned to eat regular meals because that makes so much of a difference with controlling my emotions. Plus, I don’t enjoy the effects of my blood sugar getting low. I believe there should be a D in there somewhere for depression. Being tired and having depression are the two things I have most problems with. Most days I am extremely tired and that makes my depression worse. Plus, then the depression and fatigue lead to isolation, and I have to be very careful with that. Although, this last year has been better; I have more women in my life that I stay current with by doing my morning check-ins.

Trying to maintain that balance of emotions and my health are a full time job. I started this blog as a way of connecting to others and it is going along, but not as I would truly like it to. At times I feel as though I am not reaching as many people as I was hoping I would. Which is indictive of one of my character defects of having unrealistic expectations. But, I guess this blog is doing what it is supposed to do, helping me to grow in all the right places.

So when I start to feel overwhelmed, I try to remember to stop and take a look at what is really going on with me. Why am I hangry? Why I am reacting and behaving in a way that more then likely I will end up having to make amends for later. H.A.L.T is a basic beginners tool, but it it one that I still rely on to stay in emotional balance. Also taking a breath at those times and saying the Serenity Prayer is another way to regain balance and to be able to evaluate what is really going on with me. It has taken many years and a lot of sharing to be able understand my emotions and be able say what I am feeling is so very important.

God Bless; stay healthy and happy. Remember your gratitude and smile because you are worth it.

https://aa.org/

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/?blogsearch=halt&fmode=title

https://healthypsych.com/h-a-l-t-hungry-angry-lonely-and-tired-a-self-care-tool/