The Sober Squad- Alcohol Free Living
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Good morning friends! I found a decent article about drinking wine on NYT. Nothing earth shattering but always a good reminder why we quit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/well/eat/drinking-alcohol-women-psychology-health.html4 -
Good article @RubyRed47. I didnt care at all what I was eating when drinking my beer. Whos caring about calories when a beer is at least 110 calories or more. Hence I was fat.
So this morning I put my winter coat on to take my daughter out for the bus. I thought I grabbed the wrong jacket. I could zip this up with 6 inches to spare. What an elated feeling. I mean I couldn't move in this jacket last year. The shoulder area was tight. I Could barely zip it and when I did on a cold day I looked like a sardine. Gray coat 😂😂😂. I've lost my big beer belly!! Hope you are all faring well!
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I didn't drink (or smoke, use other drugs, etc.) for about a year. Not because I had any substance use problem, but because I just lost interest in recreational substances (I think I told the story of this in this thread a long time ago...tl;dr I saw an alcoholic guy during a night out and it depressed me so much that it just turned me off the whole idea of drinking for a long time).
Then last month I decided to start drinking again, in moderation, mostly because of FOMO. Well, turns out that now I actually can't. I drank three times -- moderate amounts of 1-3 drinks each time -- and every time, I got EXTREMELY depressed and suicidal for 3 to 4 days afterwards. I felt like I was being buried alive. It was pretty terrible.
It took me a few times to realize that the alcohol was causing this. Nothing like this has ever happened before -- I had no emotional ill-effects from alcohol in the past, even during the times when I drank too much in college and so on. But I guess I just lost all tolerance for alcohol due to taking a break from it for so long? IDK, it's really weird.
But anyway due to this, there's literally no point in me ever drinking again...so I guess my body made the decision for me.8 -
I do appreciate all of the posts here.
Thanks.5 -
laurenq1991 wrote: »I didn't drink (or smoke, use other drugs, etc.) for about a year. Not because I had any substance use problem, but because I just lost interest in recreational substances (I think I told the story of this in this thread a long time ago...tl;dr I saw an alcoholic guy during a night out and it depressed me so much that it just turned me off the whole idea of drinking for a long time).
Then last month I decided to start drinking again, in moderation, mostly because of FOMO. Well, turns out that now I actually can't. I drank three times -- moderate amounts of 1-3 drinks each time -- and every time, I got EXTREMELY depressed and suicidal for 3 to 4 days afterwards. I felt like I was being buried alive. It was pretty terrible.
It took me a few times to realize that the alcohol was causing this. Nothing like this has ever happened before -- I had no emotional ill-effects from alcohol in the past, even during the times when I drank too much in college and so on. But I guess I just lost all tolerance for alcohol due to taking a break from it for so long? IDK, it's really weird.
But anyway due to this, there's literally no point in me ever drinking again...so I guess my body made the decision for me.
Not sure your age but as we get older, alcohol's effects on us changes and rarely for the better. After drinking, I will feel shaky and very very anxious the day after- even if I'd had only two drinks. The day after is awful emotionally. I'm happy you figured out the trigger and how detrimental alcohol's effects are on your brain. That is so scary. Hugs. Thanks for sharing this.5 -
@laurenq1991 drinking makes me horribly depressed too🤪 of course the first few seem to lift my mood but as the night rolls on forget it I just feel so down and down for days after too,yup good reason for us to avoid it,hope all are well💖6
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stephanne13 wrote: »I do appreciate all of the posts here.
Thanks.
Thanks for the message; sometimes it's a good reminder that even a few posts can help others. Let's keep posting, friends. Good, bad or ugly- sharing is so important. No one likes to feel like they are the only ones who struggle with alcohol's strong pull.5 -
I recently joined Weight Watchers to get a more concrete experience- I'll go to meetings, etc. BUT I will not stop using myfitnesspal- it has change my life so significantly especially with the less alcohol and sober squad threads being a huge part of my search for sobriety. xo7
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Anyone no posts since the 27th1
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Happy Halloween everyone! I'll be handing out candy to all the little ghouls tonight. Usually I'd definitely be indulging in the wine but not this year. Working hard on my health and fitness goals and they don't include alcohol. The rest of the candy is going to have to go to my husband's office with him tomorrow morning. I can't have that here tempting me. Have a fun evening, All!3
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Good morning friends! I took a well needed day off today. I'm really happy! I also weaned myself off of any meds I was on for my vertigo but anti-depressant as well. I want to start fresh and try to improve my health naturally. I've kept drinking to a minimum because when I thin I can have ONE drink, it turns into four. The brain switch never turns off. It's just so much easier not to start with a sip- just abstain. Wishing you a great day!4
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@laurenq1991 drinking makes me horribly depressed too🤪 of course the first few seem to lift my mood but as the night rolls on forget it I just feel so down and down for days after too,yup good reason for us to avoid it,hope all are well💖
Me, too. I get anxious feelings the day or two after I drink. My nerves feel shaky as well. It's so not worth the few hours of mind numbing alcohol.3 -
Hi all! I’ve been “lurking” this thread since I decided to stop drinking and thought I would finally post something here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, struggles, and successes about alcohol on this thread; reading them has been such a good support for me. Today is day 103 alcohol-free for me. I am so proud of myself! It wasn’t easy to get to this point. Some books and some online resources (this thread is one of them) really helped me to stay the course. I also learned that talking about drinking has helped me to change my behaviour, which led me to posting here. Not keeping it secret anymore – secret that I drank too much, why I drank, why I stopped, tools that helped me, etc. Kinda “throwing it out to the universe”, if you will, to take ownership of my relationship with booze.
Again, thank you for sharing here. You’ve all helped me more than you could ever know 😊
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Good Morn to all
@stubbornloser Congrats on 103 AF days AND thank you for sharing. YOUR post has helped me (and likely others) more than you know. I was just commenting to someone recently that I was concerned this thread was dying a slow death due to the lack of commenting & at the same time expressing that the Sober Squad thread is definitely needed and your comment has proved that. It also confirms to me that although some don't comment regularly doesn't mean that they aren't "lurking" and getting the help and encouragement they need from those who do share either regularly or when the mood hits.
Please continue to share.6 -
For those struggling, please reach out when the urge hits...whether it is to a friend who supports your sobriety or this thread or watching a Craig Beck/Annie Grace video....or some other resource that has been mentioned here. Even PM someone here rather than post it publicly if that's easier. It just may help you to resist the urge...at least it will give you a pause between the urge and the act and may be enough of a lag to lose the urge.
I rarely feel the need to watch a video, but did daily for the first 6 months of my struggle, sometimes twice or more daily if needed. It was like I needed to reprogram my brain and when I look back, it is like my sobriety became my 2nd job. At times it was a lot of work, but 17 months later it feels like this is my new way of life. The last really strong urge was when my bro died 3.5 months ago. I am SO glad that I reached out on this thread then cause if I hadn't I may be still struggling today.
Hope everyone has a happy, AF day8 -
lorrainequiche59 wrote: »For those struggling, please reach out when the urge hits...whether it is to a friend who supports your sobriety or this thread or watching a Craig Beck/Annie Grace video....or some other resource that has been mentioned here. Even PM someone here rather than post it publicly if that's easier. It just may help you to resist the urge...at least it will give you a pause between the urge and the act and may be enough of a lag to lose the urge.
I rarely feel the need to watch a video, but did daily for the first 6 months of my struggle, sometimes twice or more daily if needed. It was like I needed to reprogram my brain and when I look back, it is like my sobriety became my 2nd job. At times it was a lot of work, but 17 months later it feels like this is my new way of life. The last really strong urge was when my bro died 3.5 months ago. I am SO glad that I reached out on this thread then cause if I hadn't I may be still struggling today.
Hope everyone has a happy, AF day
Congrats on 17 months ! You are a fighter, a motivator, a friend and an inspiration!4 -
Hi, dont post very often but lurk a lot on MFP for advice etc.
Has been in the back of my mind for a while that I am drinking too much, came to a head last Wednesday when (on a school night) had 10 cans (and a takeaway Indians, which no way would I have had if it hadn't had been for the alcohol). This was the culmination of probably drinking at least 6 cans of lager 5 or 6 nights out of 7 for the last 3-4 months. Just too much too often and absolutely need to do something about it :-(
Bought a few books (Alan Carr and the Naked mind one) like where they are coming from and although I am only a few days AF I feel confident about the future.
Love this thread, will spend some time reading through all of it.
Hope posters keep posting their motivation, success or any hints / tips that you feel may help8 -
Thanks for sharing @iancity Best wishes and take one day at a time.
I'm listening to youtube "Jordan Peterson on alcohol" He says there's something edgy about drinking, and when you quit, you gotta to have something edgy to replace that.
He also says it's the only drug you take that when you have too much you may get violent.
We all know that when you quit, you have so much more time in an evening. So, plan ahead on some other substitutions to spend time on.
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Thought I would share some resources that I found helpful.
When I first decided to stop drinking, I found a short PDF of a book online called Tired of Thinking About Drinking, by Belle Robertson. Link to PDF: https://tiredofthinkingaboutdrinking.com/Book TOTAD - March 2016/[PDF] Belle - Tired of Thinking About Drinking - May 17-16.pdf. I also subscribed to receive daily emails with stories, ideas, tools, and strategies about not drinking from the author. I find that I really relate to the content of most of these emails. They are typically a quick read. Link to site: https://www.tiredofthinkingaboutdrinking.com/
The next book I read was The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, by C. Gray. And most recently, This Naked Mind, by A. Grace.
I would love to know of any books or blogs etc. you found inspiring or helpful.
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