Less alcohol- January 2018- one day at a time

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  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,175 Member
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    Alpha12 wrote: »
    Good for you, Julie! You can do it. Take if from someone who succumbed to temptation last night - IT'S NOT WORTH IT for all the reasons you've listed as well as being dissapointed with oneself. Good luck!

    No wine for me tonight. I'm starting over.
    Thanks so much! I appreciate your encouragement! I'm rooting for you, too. Xoxo
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,285 Member
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    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.

    I am looking forward to actually seeing what happens on Jan 31, and secondly enjoying a cold beer in February. I am seeing the differences....stay with it
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,175 Member
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    NormInv wrote: »
    Day 12 in the bag....Friday evening, did not feel any urge to drink. I must be dead inside eh

    Bravo! Well done!
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,285 Member
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    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    NormInv wrote: »
    Day 12 in the bag....Friday evening, did not feel any urge to drink. I must be dead inside eh

    Bravo! Well done!

    Thank you, stay strong, get excited about seeing what is to come
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,175 Member
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    ku1980rose wrote: »
    At a spa party tonight. Wine availablr. Oh my goodness, it is so hard to not have a relaxing glass of wine. But I want to stick to my goal and not drink this month. It's so hard!!!!

    Hang in there! Tomorrow morning, you'll wake up and feel sooooo good!
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,175 Member
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    SuzJok85 wrote: »
    donimfp wrote: »
    @MaryBethHempel, I'm 60% through This Naked Mind. She recommends going through it slowly, and I'm going to do that when I finish this blitz through. There are so many insights I never thought of before. For me personally, I've always dreaded the idea of the AA-type approach. I figured if I have to be thinking about drinking every day for the rest of my life, I might as well be drinking. I know that doesn't make sense, and I do not mean to bash AA in any way; I know many people, including my best friend, who have really been helped in that program. However, Ms. Grace gives me hope that I can come to a place where I don't even think about alcohol much. And her rationale makes a great deal of sense to me. One insight is that alcohol doesn't make you feel good . . . it just gives you relief from the distress it, itself, has caused. Anyway, I'm glad others recommended it. She was a 2-bottle-a-night drinker, so she knows what we're going through in terms of struggling to moderate or quit.

    Hi, I just wanted to share my experience with AA. I think everyone you'd meet who you'd know well enough that they'd admit they're in the program is on a different part of their journey. I have to say that 3.5 years into sobriety, I don't worry about drinking much at all. I go to AA meetings to help other alcoholics find recovery, and to stay connected with the spiritual program that keeps me sane. (Quitting drinking is only the beginning. "Our drinking was but a symptom...") I have a parent who has been sober for 43 years and goes to meetings for the same reason. Although there's definitely talk of alcohol, I feel that most of the meetings I attend focus on how we cope with life's ups and downs and how we can help others. There are other programs out there that might work for you, I can only speak to my experience.

    Basically, I wanted to share this, because I see so much of my old self in some of these posts in this forum. (Please understand that I am not assuming everyone who is trying to reduce alcohol has a problem. I just have read a few things by some people that make my heart break a little.) I used to have to plan out my nights all the time. I promised myself I'd only have 2-3 drinks (and end up somewhere past 6), that I'd drink water between drinks, that I'd only drink out with friends, that I'd save money and only drink at home, that I'd make the wine bottle last all week (it was always gone in one night, save 1 cm I left behind to prove to myself I didn't have the whole thing), that I'd just buy mini single serve wines and have just one a week (I'd have the whole pack), that if I just switched to a hard liquor I didn't like, I'd drink less. I had all kinds of reasons for drinking, "It's Friday!" "It's Tuesday!" "I had a rough day," "I'm celebrating," "Classy people have wine with dinner," "A drink a day is healthy," "This wine is local and pairs well with ______" (I was a Yuppie Drunk...) I drank when I was happy, sad, stressed, bored, lonely, mad. Practically every night I had a reason. It wasn't until I would find myself drinking night after night, after I had promised myself I wouldn't, that I was losing control over my choice in drinking.

    I am ridiculously lucky that I had that moment of clarity. I was only 28, and I've met women who spent far more years drinking not for enjoyment, but to live. It's a progressive disease. If I start again, it will only take days before I'm back to where I left off.

    I first quit with the hope that if I stayed sober a few months, I could then drink normally again (like a sugar "detox" or something). It only took me a couple weeks of sobriety to realize how overcome with anxiety and anger I was. I was scared, and I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. Going to the grocery store, or just driving to do my errands made me antsy. I worked very hard at sitting after work and trying to learn to unwind with hot cocoa and playing cell phone games. It was slowly dawning on me that something was seriously off. I finally worked up the courage to go to AA.

    Once I started going, I was welcomed with open arms, I met tons of people and connected with a bunch of women who understood what I was going through. Sometimes I wish I would have tried it years earlier, but that was realistically the first point in my life where I was ready to be honest with myself.

    I just joined MFP, so I'm not sure how private messaging works just yet, but if anyone just wants to talk about concerns they may have, don't feel shy. I'm not here to judge anyone, cause I've been there, and many people I now know and love have been there too.

    Thank you so much for sharing this and your experiences. I am learning so much these last few weeks. And I do agree that I am drinking to suppress other issues I am having in my life. I want to get to the root of them as well. I see a lot of myself in your first paragraph. Xoxo
  • SanDiegofitmom
    SanDiegofitmom Posts: 303 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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.

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