Less alcohol- January 2018- one day at a time

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  • SanDiegofitmom
    SanDiegofitmom Posts: 303 Member
    donimfp wrote: »
    @suzJok85, Thank you for your thorough and thoughtful post. I am the person you quoted and your post was a welcome eye-opener for me. These 12 dry days have been illuminating. I’ve struggled with this long enough that I can flip back through years of journals and see some version of “I am going to limit myself to 2 drinks max” popping up at regular intervals. Who am/was I kidding? All of the excuses or rationalizations you list ring true to many of us, I’m sure. I’m happy that your journey has led to a good place. In a very stressful week I confess I’ve been tempted to lose heart and give up. I’m grateful for this thread, which goes to show what support from like-minded people can do.

    I have “cut down wine intake” in pretty much all my January goals in my past journals too
  • SanDiegofitmom
    SanDiegofitmom Posts: 303 Member
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I’ve discovered another pro! I don’t wake up at 3am to pee anymore, lol. I thought I was just getting older but I’m realizing it was directly related to evening drinking and consequently trying to chug water before bed to prevent a hangover. I have been sleeping completely through the night this whole week and it’s so nice. Day 12 today!

    Oh my gosh I told my mom the same thing last night!!!!!!!
  • machchic
    machchic Posts: 229 Member
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I’ve discovered another pro! I don’t wake up at 3am to pee anymore, lol. I thought I was just getting older but I’m realizing it was directly related to evening drinking and consequently trying to chug water before bed to prevent a hangover. I have been sleeping completely through the night this whole week and it’s so nice. Day 12 today!

    MonkeyMeI21 this made me laugh, I totally know what you mean. I use to chug water all night in hope it would fend off the dreaded dry mouth and hangover.
  • MaryBethHempel
    MaryBethHempel Posts: 513 Member
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    Gotta say I am struggling tonight. However, I wont drink - this will be Day 12. BUT I started to feel grouchy that I "couldn't drink" tonight; what will I look forward to now? Negative self talk.
    So, I just had a little pep talk in my mind and said, "You can look forward to no hangover, more weight loss, no headache tomorrow, sleeping better, and working on a hobby you havent done in awhile..."

    So, I poured a La Croix in a wine glass. And will make a big pot of tea and chill. I will watch a movie or maybe journal or read. I have to continue to be strong. And read these posts. I look forward to them !
    Due to the blizzard, my plans were cancelled ; I was going to the bar to listen to a band. So, now there is no temptation which is good.

    GREAT JOB and Self Talk!
  • erikNJ
    erikNJ Posts: 1,009 Member
    NormInv wrote: »
    Regarding night time pee, I am still waking up to pee because of the increased intake of teas and water. If anything, alcohol was dehydrating me and reducing peeing. But its a small price to pay.

    If you are not a recovering alcoholic, look forward to enjoying a cold one in Feb....I suspect that we will enjoy it and not have the urge to go back to drinking

    I’m with you on that. I pee a lot more in the middle of the night cause im drinking so much water and staying hydrated!
  • machchic
    machchic Posts: 229 Member
    MaryBethHempel wrote: »
    I joined "The Alcohol Experiment" with Annie Grace, the writer of "The Naked Mind". I read about 2 1/2 chapters of the book yesterday. I received this email that I thought I would share to you all!


    Hello Mary Beth,

    "True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise all you're having is immediate gratification pleasure, which is fleeting and doesn't grow you as a person."

    -Aristotle

    Clearly, we like drinking. Otherwise we wouldn’t do it, right? At least, in the beginning we liked it. Right now, you might be struggling with how much you actually hate the after-effects. But there’s no denying that the first drink feels good.

    Before we can unpack all the complicated pieces of the alcohol puzzle, it’s important to understand what’s actually happening in the brain when we drink.

    So, I’m out with my friends at a bar and I order a glass of wine. I’ve had a hard day at work, and I’m looking forward to relaxing and laughing with people I love. That first glass makes me feel giggly and there’s a little rush of euphoria that makes me feel good, maybe for the first time all day.

    The area of your brain called the nucleus accumbens, or the pleasure center, is artificially stimulated by the wine. The chemicals responsible for that euphoria are endorphins (the same chemicals responsible for feeling good when you exercise) and glucose. The glucose is just a sugar-rush that happens anytime you eat or drink something with a high carb content. Alcohol is almost all sugar, so that sugar high happens pretty quickly.

    There are two main chemicals that work in the pleasure center. Dopamine, which is responsible for desire and craving, and serotonin, which is responsible for the feeling of satiety and inhibition. In a healthy brain, there is a delicate balance between the two. But alcohol throws off that balance and lots of dopamine gets dumped into our system, making us want more of what gave us pleasure (the alcohol).

    Since the pleasure center has been artificially stimulated by an outside substance, our brain seeks to regain the correct balance. So it sends out a chemical downer, called dynorphin. This actually suppresses our feelings of euphoria, and as the effects of that first glass start to wear off, our sense of well-being actually falls below where it was when we started drinking.

    That means we’re lower than when we got off work after a hard day. Bummer.



    All my best,
    Annie


    I just joined this morning too!
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,371 Member
    @MichSmish you're on a roll- good for you!
    @NormInv Funny guy! Can't break that record even if she's cute! Are you at 13 days?
  • justlog
    justlog Posts: 125 Member
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    Day 13 - alcohol free. Now, it's getting easy. Today, I had no craving, but i did eat a few extra peppermint patties that I shouldn't have eaten. Probably trying to get a sugar fix somehow. Hope everyone is on a roll, too. I am living by a simple motto I got from that guy on alcohol mastery on youtube. He ends his videos with "and keep the alcohol out of your mouth."
    I'm convinced if I just take one sip, I will go down hill fast.
    Once i make it to 30 days, I'm shooting for another month alcohol free. But must say that these 13 days have felt like 30 ! This month is going really slow.

    Awesome.. Remember.. I'm holding you to the Feb challenge! :)
  • justlog
    justlog Posts: 125 Member
    4 down - 46 to go to hit my personal challenge.

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