The Sober Squad- Alcohol Free Living

whitpauly

6:31 am in a warm Vegas, temps are nearing the 100's next week, really early! Maybe it's a blessing to kill off this dumb virus, anyhoo another 24 AF for me, hope everyone has a great day 🌺

Whydahdad71

I am proud of everyone here who is fighting the good fight! Booze sucks monkey pebbles! It ruins lives and leads to broken homes and diseases like cancer and heart attacks. God bless and stay 💪 strong!

lorrainequiche59

@WhitPauly you crack me up, "I figure if the world's gonna end, I'm gonna look good doing it." I LOVE it!!!! You GO girl

AND @Whydahdad71 "Booze sucks monkey pebbles" I'm stealing that at some point LOL

It's awesome to check in here and see all the buzz!! I miss hearing from @JenT304 though....I know your lurking

lorrainequiche59

I'm not sure how I managed to work, I have all kinds of free time now, but manage to fill my days with all kinds of activity...this is like pre-retirement, a little tester to see what's ahead in a few years.

I've been walking every day for the past few days and it is a chore...I used to walk lots, but the past few years it has been hit & miss...and although I have a relatively physical job, I am going to have to condition myself into walking any distance. That's my new goal. I have to talk myself into going knowing that when I'm done I'll be so glad that I talked myself into it.

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy weekend and please take good care of yourselves

RubyRed427

Good morning friends! It is such a sunny day here in the Midwest. It feels good! I have nothing new to report. I'm feeling great! Wishing all a great day!

@FeelinFooFoo I thought the same thing ... it's a sunny Saturday today, and I was reflecting of all those wasted Saturedays lying in bed with a severe hangover and missing the beautiful day! I remember lying in bed with my window open on a Saturday feeling like death, listening to people outside enjoying the day. I was so jealous of them. How great they must feel and how awful I felt. I'm happy today to be sober !

whitpauly

6:54 am in Vegas another 24,yup @FeelinFooFoo it is a thief! When I had my "relapse" my daughter from Portland was here, I barely remember 4 days of her visit😒 I'm glad I sobered up in time to spend SOME time with her but it was a sad time cuz my world had just shut down, she's terrified of the virus so she cried most of the time too, hopefully next visit will be a great one, so I say alcohol is a thief, sure it helped me escape my grief(for a bit) but it was still there if not worse when I sobered up and it stole money I surely could have used during this time, where is @JenT? Hope shes well, have a fabulous AF day all💗

Whydahdad71

I agree with all of you that alcohol does not solve problems. Booze simply just masks our issues while quietly creating newer and much worse problems. Drinking to hide problems is like lighting your legs on fire in order to stop feeling your headache. Love is truly a cure for whatever is bothering us. Love improves health, bolsters self-esteem, and positively"infects" all of those around us! Hangovers are the effects of poison in our bodies love on the other hand is the effects of peace radiating from our bodies..no recovery time needed to fix that!

laughingdakini1

I am not a drinker although my whole family of origin was/is. I'm happy to be your friend if you want. Good luck with it. I was thinking about how glad I am that I never became a real drinker--if I had done it for the past 40 or so years, even if I only spent $50.00 a week on it, that would have been over $100,000.00 down the drain, plus strain on my health and appearance that I don't need. Aging is tough enough without that!

nuffer

Howdy everyone.
I have been lurking since this thread began. I feel like I know many of you a little bit. I really appreciate the sharing and I guess now it's my turn.

Today marks my first year of sobriety. Though I'm pleased with myself, I know I'm not finished with the process of staying clear of alcohol, not at all.

At some point I hit a couple of months sober and realized that I had not been free from alcohol for most of my life. I started as a teenager and never went more than a month dry since then. I'm now in my mid 50s.

I was quite good at staying sober for a month. For the last dozen or so years I would take a month off at least once a year, sometimes twice. Usually they were short months, like February and September. But always with the knowledge I could start up again. Not could -- WOULD.

I started getting my weight under control while drinking heavily a few years ago. Many would say it couldn't be done. I'm proof positive that someone can get blackout drunk nearly every night and still lose 90 pounds. That's not a skill I'd put on my resume, though.

How I stayed sober for a year: A little bit of AA, some group therapy, and medications. I had to take considerable time from work as I was in a pretty terrible mental place a year ago. And sleep, boy howdy, what a lot of sleep. Rarely at the right time and sometimes not the right place, but clearly it was needed after decades of sleep deprivation from drinking. But absolutely the most important part was listening and talking with people who have also gone through this. I am so incredibly fortunate to have a small handful of friends who blazed a path of sobriety before me. They were always available for a call, text, or email. And my friends who still drink are supportive as well, as they saw that I was out of control for so very long.

I was "lucky" to be a functional alcoholic. I never lost my house, kids, or job. But it was getting to that point. Oh hell yes it was. Fortunately, whatever shred of self-preservation that wasn't yet pickled or destroyed let me get the help I needed.

Over the last year my weight loss progress has partially disappeared. Now I can get back to work on that with a clear mind and a much more positive outlook.

Thank you all again for being here!

RubyRed427

@nuffer Congrats on one year! Wow- bravo!
I am similar; i started in high school with peach schnapps in a styrofoam cup at parties... and took a small break when the kids were little, and then like a snowball going downhill, my drinking gained steam. Now, I'm 50.


And there is no doubt in my mind it takes a support system to help you and me stay sober. I'm really happy for you!!

RubyRed427

laughingdakini1 wrote: »

I am not a drinker although my whole family of origin was/is. I'm happy to be your friend if you want. Good luck with it. I was thinking about how glad I am that I never became a real drinker--if I had done it for the past 40 or so years, even if I only spent $50.00 a week on it, that would have been over $100,000.00 down the drain, plus strain on my health and appearance that I don't need. Aging is tough enough without that!

I'm convinced there is a genetic component to alcoholism. I'm happy for you that you never got this disease. And are richer for it!

SunnyDays930

Hi Everyone, I'm still here. I've been reading the thread but just didn't have much to say. I'm feeling more than a little depressed about all of this. I miss my granddaughters dreadfully. This separation is incredibly painful for me and I imagine they don't understand where Granny went. Their mother (my daughter) is militant about the social distancing and I have been dutifully doing my part but she's not making an exception for us. I am stress eating and have totally blown it as far as my diet is concerned. Tomorrow I talk to the dietitian and do not want to weigh in. I sound and feel like Eeyore so I've just been laying low. If the sun would come out that would surely help. I do read and continue to be inspired by all of you. Welcome @nuffer. We are happy to have you join us "out loud"

whitpauly

Aww Jen, I'm an Eeyore right now too, just a bad attitude! I think it's normal in these times to feel down, try to pep myself up but it only sticks for so long, we'll get thru this tho💗 7:24 am in Vegas another 24

no44s4me

Hi to all, like Jen, not much to say. Personally doing well, not a drop in over a year, 45 lbs gone and staying gone, working from home, etc. Jen, my granddaughter's 2nd b/day is in a few weeks and it looks like ol' Papa and Grandma are going to miss it, but as someone who checks in on his 91 year old very independent father and takes care of his immune compromised wife, what real choice do I have? I get it though. There’s face time which is cool, but still. That said, I try to count my blessings every day and finally seeing booze for what it is has indeed been a blessing. Ruby...Schnapps in a Styrofoam cup? Now that funny. Reminded me how I could nurse a beer all night and wonder how the hell anyone could like this stuff. Thoughts and prayers folks, stay safe!

whitpauly

5:44 am in Vegas another 24,@FeelinFooFoo congrats on quitting the e-cig as well! I'm the worst with that thing, even use it more than I ever smoked, I wish the thought of mine made me sick haha, @no44s4me ,sorry you'll be missing the birthday but you'll soon be able to make it up to her! She'll get to have two celebrations 💗 wishes for a happy AF day for us all

RubyRed427

I am looking forward to dropping some pounds; I have gained a bunch due to stress over the last year.
I am finding that the evenings are so much longer when you are not drinking. I will need to make a plan to fill that time better ..rather than sulk as if I am missing out on something fun, when I know that few minutes of fun (having wine) turns to misery and anxiety the day after. My last drink was Good Friday.

On the other thread, someone noted that they were finding and removing hidden bottles. I remember in my old house hiding bottles both full and empty in various places. I also remember going into the basement and taking a swig or two out of existing bottles stored in our cabinet. I also have a flashback of being a little girl and going into my Grandfather's garage where there was an old piano stored. I once opened the door of the piano and found a bottle of liquor in there.

I do miss the initial sip of wine however, but then after that... it usually went downhill fast!
On Instagram I found a good site called "Sober Celebrities".
Wishing all a good day!

nuffer

Hidden bottles. Hell yes, I had plenty of those. Everything I found after I stopped was empty, fortunately. I was trying to hide the sheer amount I was consuming from my family, so I'd stash the empties in all kinds of weird places, but mostly in and around my home office. I think I have found all of them now, and they've long been recycled. Part of my weekly routine was sneaking out late at night to stash my empties in the curbside recycle bin after everyone was asleep...

I was going through our emergency supplies a couple of weeks ago and found a sealed 1.75L bottle of bourbon. I put it back in storage. In case of the Big One, I will use it to trade for something else. I don't think I would have treated it so lightly six or seven months prior.

My stop drinking app (EasyQuit Drinking) tells me that I've saved $3160 over the past year. I'm sure that is not accurate, as it doesn't count most of the social drinking expenses.

Stay strong, it's so very worth it!

jamacianredhair

Day 1 for me! And back to working out/counting calories. 2 yrs ago my Father passed away and I turned to liquor to help mask the pain. I still haven't fully recovered from it. Probably never will.

So here I am back 2yrs, 60lbs and I don't know how many shots/bottles later. Gotta start somewhere.

SunnyDays930

@jamacianredhair I just read this line from my Tired of thinking about drinking blog I follow: Everyone who quits long-term has a last day 1. Wouldn't it be nice to have no more day 1's? And I am sorry about your dad. Mine died 4 years ago and I definitely had an uptick in my alcohol consumption. I thought it was helping and obviously it just adds to our misery. Anyway welcome to our forum. We are glad you have joined us.

jamacianredhair

JenT304 wrote: »

@jamacianredhair I just read this line from my Tired of thinking about drinking blog I follow: Everyone who quits long-term has a last day 1. Wouldn't it be nice to have no more day 1's? And I am sorry about your dad. Mine died 4 years ago and I definitely had an uptick in my alcohol consumption. I thought it was helping and obviously it just adds to our misery. Anyway welcome to our forum. We are glad you have joined us.

Thanks 😁