Hey it's Anna. We've been talking about alcohol on death, sex, and money. What you like

about having it in your life, and what you do when you don't want to drink.

When I crave alcohol, what else would you do? First, always think of water instead.

Sometimes I pray.

I cook, I cook, I'm a chef, that's what I do.

Instead you should try for a dopamine rush to get a workout, eat some chocolate or something fun.

We ask these New Yorkers how they deal with the urge, along with you, our listeners.

We put together this little special audio extra, because this came up a lot when you shared your stories

about alcohol that you could use more tips about what to do instead of having booze

whether you're sober or not like Rachel whom I talked to in our episode a few weeks ago.

She's a therapist who has two little kids

and the habit of relaxing with one or two drinks most nights.

She told me she wants to drink less less but is trying to figure out how she can

still give herself a treat.

Chocolate works pretty well. I have definitely used that as a substitute sometimes.

Sometimes though, I will just try to kind of acknowledge the impulse and just like,

yeah, like I really want to mix that drink right now but instead I'm going to turn on

this music really loud and sing ridiculously and dance around for five minutes and see if it passes.

You know, you have to kind of surf the urge.

When you all are surfing that urge, a lot of you skip alcohol by swapping in something else.

If the craving gets very intense, I'll usually splurge on something like French rice.

I will instead choose Perrier or Pelagrino.

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