The Sober Squad- Alcohol Free Living

I'm on the move again!! For someone who really dislikes moving, I've moved twice in the past 2 years. Ugggh! THIS time I will be moving into a rent-geared-to-income apartment and my hope is to stay put. I had put my name on the list for a unit last year when I moved in here, but thought I'd likely be at my current place for at least 2 more years. The last two apartments have been very expensive so there's been more pressure financially, and I'm looking forward to having some of that pressure alleviated.

It will also be more doable when I retire (semi-retire) in 5 years...I don't have tons of savings so this move will help me manage on a limited budget...cause when my income goes down so will my rent. I'm also going to collect some of my government pension when I turn the big 6-0! So that will also enable me to give up a job or two and have more free time...YAY!!

Twooooo months AF for meeee today!!! There's been some DAMN close calls, but I've held my ground. This world is definitely testin' me!!! 😆 thanks everyone for helping me to keep on going!

errydayimmusclin wrote: »

Twooooo months AF for meeee today!!! There's been some DAMN close calls, but I've held my ground. This world is definitely testin' me!!! 😆 thanks everyone for helping me to keep on going!

Awesome!!’ 👍🥳🎉💜

In June of this year it will have been 7 years since I last touched a drink. Right before I quit drinking I was on a mission to get in shape as I was 215 lbs. I struggled until I made some healthier choices and giving up alcohol was one of them. I lost 75 lbs after that but of course with my love of food now it’s been hard to keep it off. I’m back up to 180 lbs but back on track and looking for some support and motivation. I find a lot of people I talk to sub food when they give up alcohol. It’s a tough journey sometimes. Looking for friends here to share wins and struggles with. Go ahead and add me as I’m terrible at adding people for some reason. Lol. Good luck all!

Sober since Christmas for health focus. No calories to waste on booze and I want to stay as hydrated as possible. Add me to this challenge

@CdnChick I'm terrible at adding people too! Congrats on 7 years AF seems like the less alcohol thread is busier this go around,that's great,anything to improve life quality and reach goals,one of my regular customers at work is a binge drinker like me,he was doing great on staying sober but on NYE he had one drink,think that one drink spurred him into a binge a few weeks later cuz his neighbor found him after a few days of not seeing him and he was in his apartment, out of it,ended up in the hospital with kidney failure! Luckily he's doing OK now,in rehab but his neighbor told me if she hasn't found him when she did they told her he'd have passed,sometimes drinking is just no joke,it does kill,I just hafta remember that when I get"the itch" anyhoo waves to all and wishes for a happy AF day

@kevinrfletcher
I like your chat with the bottle! I'm 8 weeks AF today, but I still have a 1.75L of Skyy vodka in the spare bedroom closet. I think my bottle is a girl though. She's the "secret" bottle I used to top off the regular bottle that my husband could see. I don't miss all the work that involved. I think it's time I had a chat with it ("*kitten*...please..."), say goodbye and kick it out of the house!

Congratulations on Day 3! And congratulations to everyone for another AF day!

To all Sober Squad friends, feel free to add me. Just a heads up, I don't talk about this alcohol journey anywhere but here.

I never really thought I had an problem w. Alcohol. But I started recording how much I actually drink and it was startling. I'm a bengie drinker. I would go through 2-4 bottles of wine in 2 days, then nothing for the rest of the week. I got to the point if I opened a bottle. I would finish it that night. I gont eve feel the effects of alcohol, I just drink to drink.

My finance and I are running/walking a 10K in April and we've both decided to not drink untill then.

But I figure we are getting married March 2020 and I'm trying to lose 100lbs by then. I'm going to obstain from alcohol until the ceremony.

It's been about 4 weeks sober. I do miss it but I'm trying to replace the want it with something else.

kevinrfletcher wrote: »

Day 4... Weekend's coming. Hang on tight, this is where it gets rough...

8 weeks ago today was my last drink...Hang in there :-)

@JenT304 I hate those dreams! So disturbing but then a relief,yes the plain fact is alcohol IS a poison and if I had that "turn off" switch I wouldn't even be here,I've been having romantic thoughts about drinking these past few days and really need to nip that! It's not even the taste I like,it's the drunk I like but omg if I gotta deal with puking,waking up all night,dry eyes,irritable bowel,etc forget it! That's my reality and I need to remember that, I hate commercials and shows that show drinkin as such a great time, I guess it was for me at one time but those days are looooong gone,waves to all and wishes for a great AF Friday

Did you know that St Patricks day is one of the most busiest days for bars .....and DUI's

I didnt know that until I happened to listen to the news with the stats on DUI's and increase of numbers of people arrested for public drinking and driving drunk.........something to think about.

I have a friend who stopped drinking about 7 months ago...totally stopped......His sugar levels have decreased dramatically, from the high 7s, down to I think, 6.5.......he is diabetic and he's elated that his numbers are down

Whatpauly ,you are right . Alcohol kills.........I still keep up with my friend Beverly's 2 children. Both in their 20s. Both really great kids who are so missing their mom. She drank...........heavily, so heavily that her husband couldn't handle it, and left her..........She then moved into a small apartment, wasn't working but drank straight vodka for years..........She hit her head one night , alone , must have been so drunk, she couldn't walk or stay balanced and fell on the shower door.........The police think that after she did hit her head , she sat down in bed, or passed out........and died of a blood clot that killed her from a blow to the head....... We dated in high school, she was tall, about 5" 11 120 lbs, incredible figure, she had looks, she had it all..........when I saw her before she passed away ,I literally was shocked. I hadnt seen her in over 30 year.........she had aged terribly, she looked 80 and she just gave in, her brain performance was bad.........she got very paranoid, couldn't accept her husband leaving her and getting custody of the kids.....and when they did an autopsy, her liver was as hard as a rock and green.......really scary...............

I agree, if people continue to drink, it not only kills them, but totally, totally devastated their loved ones after they are gone.. Best wishes to everyone and be safe this weekend....

Best wishes, Lloyd

@JenT304 Same here. It's how I always got back to the heavy stuff... I figure I will control it this time, start out with a beer or two, sitting on the beach, no harm there... two months later, it's a fifth of bourbon every other day. I'm tires of it all. Killing myself with booze. For all those that can control it, good on ya! I've seen a few friends that thought they could though, and it took them down. Powerful stuff. I quit smoking easier than I quit booze...

Day 4 in the books. I let "Jim" survive another day. I'll most likely kill him in the morning...

This app takes the wind out of my sails.. Just wrote a long heartfelt post and lost it when my phone reoriented to landscape.. Makes me not want to try to post this again because it pi**ed me off so much, but I felt it was too important not to.

I've decided to try to post here on Friday and Saturday nights. I've noticed, since joining the group, that we all seem to go AWOL on those evenings, at a time when many of us may need the most support. At times when I've struggled on weekend nights, I would look to this page for some inspiration to not cave to cravings, but there were usually no new posts. While any decision to allow myself to cave has been 100 percent on me, I thought that maybe starting to post those evenings may help people to feel supported and stay accountable.

I have found myself reluctant to re-engage after a slip up out of disappointment and embarrassment with myself. While I still continue to check in daily to read what others write, I'm less likely to share my own struggles.

But for those who are struggling, here goes: I made the decision to go AF on January 8th. I had one slip up in January, thus, 8 total days not AF, but.. 23 days AF. February, I had 5 screw up days, but 23 days AF. March, my biggest mess yet, 5 days not AF this month, despite making a commitment to the 90 day challenge. On March first, the night after my first overnight with my husband and without my kid in 11 months, my husband wanted to stop at a brewery on the way home. I think I allowed myself to indulge because on some level I wanted something to go back to how it was before baby. I then didn't fight urges hard enough when they came up the next weekend either.

Well, I am really committed again. Started my crazy diet again yesterday because I'm disgusted with myself and that diet leaves no room for anything bad, let alone alcohol. It's healthy, but strict as all get out and I need that quick loss to fuel me on at this point and keep me motivated.

So as pathetic as I feel that I said yes to a challenge and fell right off the wagon, I'm sharing this for anyone who feels the same. And thanks to this group, I have made a major change. I used to drink nightly. Not to excess (other than the fact that it was nightly) And I now no longer drink during the week and that's the new normal. So although it's not my ideal 100 percent AF, I've come a long way. Now to tackle the weekends. And that starts with posting Friday and Saturday nights both for myself and all of you..