Less Alcohol ~ NOVEMBER 2021 ~ One Day At A Time

Nov 1 - AF
Nov 2 - AF
Nov 3 - AF

I'm starting to dread the coming weekend. Lots of friends have plans and I am invited. I worry in advance...Well, I'll deal with it when the time comes. No need to stress myself yet.
I can't say I wasn't tempted to open that bottle today. I had a bad day and I was just dreaming of that little sip to take the edge off. But I held on. The temptation only lasted for a few mins but it felt like an hour 😅

Marmelade75689 wrote: »

Nov 1 - AF
Nov 2 - AF
Nov 3 - AF

I'm starting to dread the coming weekend. Lots of friends have plans and I am invited. I worry in advance...Well, I'll deal with it when the time comes. No need to stress myself yet.
I can't say I wasn't tempted to open that bottle today. I had a bad day and I was just dreaming of that little sip to take the edge off. But I held on. The temptation only lasted for a few mins but it felt like an hour 😅

Hi Marmelade. Totally get the ‘worry in advance part’. Huge congrats for getting through your planned first 3 days. I’ll let you know my plans as I get to weekend and how that plans out … well done 😊

Marmelade75689 wrote: »

Nov 1 - AF
Nov 2 - AF
Nov 3 - AF

I'm starting to dread the coming weekend. Lots of friends have plans and I am invited. I worry in advance...Well, I'll deal with it when the time comes. No need to stress myself yet.
I can't say I wasn't tempted to open that bottle today. I had a bad day and I was just dreaming of that little sip to take the edge off. But I held on. The temptation only lasted for a few mins but it felt like an hour 😅

Try to remember that the relief you get from taking that sip isn't actually from the alcohol, it's from the chemicals that your brain releases as a reward for giving it the drug it is hooked on.

You don't develop cravings for addictive substances because they're enjoyable, you develop addiction because they're addictive. The brain gets hooked and then floods you with happy chemicals every time you consume the drug.

So the bulk of the joy of drinking is actually chemicals coming from your own brain, not from the drug you are consuming. That's why just pouring a glass loosens your shoulders and the first sip is blissful. That's not the booze, that has nothing to do with the booze.

For me, I hacked the brain chemistry. Whenever I had a craving, I did something to trigger a similar release of happy brain chemicals. One of the easiest and most reliable ways to do this is to do 5 minutes of intense exercise. I live in a tall building, so I would climb 20 flights of stairs and get a massive rush similar to that first drink.

Other things that stimulate the same chemical reaction as giving the brain the drug it craves:
-orgasms
-eating rich foods
-music
-being out in nature
-mediation
-excitement, like bungee jumping
-accomplishing a major goal
-being rewarded for accomplishments
-helping people
-etc

So if you figure out what triggers your brain is most likely to release it's happy chemicals for, then you can bypass the booze and get the exact same relaxing high that you *thought* you were getting from the alcohol.

But always remember, the best part of drinking doesn't and has never come from the drug of alcohol, it's just the bribe your brain is giving you to get you to drink.

Just nov 1st AF
The rest has been vodka every day, Feel i need it to cope with a job i hate.
Here's to some more AF days , Great job everyone !

Lilylady3k wrote: »

@dethstar77 Half marathon is a wonderful accomplishment!!! And a new puppy ... I want to see pics.

Here you go @Lilylady3k - One with the wife (heroine of my story) and one with his big bro

Nov 1,2,3 AF
Nov 4, I'm having something tonight, but it's one of my pre-planned days and for a specific reason.

After tonight, hoping to get back on the AF streak until the next big birthday celebration in a week's time. I'm finding checking in here each day quite motivating.

Lilylady3k wrote: »

dawnbgethealthy wrote: »

Lilylady3k wrote: »

Nov 1 - steak night with red wine
Nov 2 - AF

Ah, good that Monte didn't get your steak : - )

I had a huge Montreal spiced New York strip with Blackened Prawns 2 nights in a row (half each night) and was thinking how nice Red Wine would have been with it on both occasions. I have grown intolerant to Red Wine sadly.
What kind of wine did you have with your steak?

LOL yes the steak was on top of the fridge until we cooked it this time!

Your meal the other day sounded yummy! Wine we had with it was a St-Emilion Grand Cru but I don't remember which vineyard. Really sorry that you no longer can tolerate the wine ... must come from your previous job experience many moons ago.

Loved St. Emilion.
I think the wine intolerance is just an aging thing. I do not like white, so that is not an option.

I am wondering if Monte was staring up at the top of the fridge : - )
Dogs have good snouts, for sure he knew where that steak was lol.

I ended with 16AF days for October. My ongoing goal is 16-20 AF days.
November 28th 2018 was when I started on this thread. My late Dad's birthday.
I have learned to drink less over the past 3 years, although it was very tough at first weaning myself off of being a daily drinker.

Diary style is how I roll and keep track.

November 1 - AF - Friday possible drinks day. Trying to topload this month instead of scrambling for AF days at the end of the month.
November 2 - AF - "School" night.
November 03 - AF - I really struggled with it, being AF. My trigger was having a day off the next day. So much self-talk: you will look better tomorrow, your weight will be down, your planned day is Friday before having Saturday off. So many split shifts, just tired and willpower questionable. Pulled it off.

Rolling total: 2AF days out of 2 days.

Marmelade75689 wrote: »

Nov 1 - AF
Nov 2 - AF
Nov 3 - AF
Nov 4 - AF

@Xellercin Thank you for the insight. I never thought of it that way.

I did a lot of work on this stuff in my early sobriety. It helps that I'm trained in the neurobiology of addiction as well, but none of it clicked for me until I stopped drinking myself. I never would have been able to explain it before I got sober, even though I intellectually understood it.

I also never conceptualized myself as an addict until I quit, because I wasn't a heavy drinker, and often went weeks at a time without drinking.

But my level of *need* for alcohol was intense; the way I was using it was as self medication, and those sober weeks at a time were not easy, but I white knuckled through them because I thought they "proved" that I didn't have a problem.

I thought because I could drink within the limits of all of these "rules" that I was "healthy," but I wasn't. I was just in the manageable stage of addiction, but it was likely to get worse.

If a parent were to die, or I lost my job, or had I been drinking when covid hit, I probably would have loosened up on those "rules" and felt totally justified in doing so.

I am endless grateful that I quit before covid. Keeping the wheels on through that would have been very challenging. Instead, it made being sober so easy with no socializing with drinkers for nearly the entire first year.

Stressful day sidetracked caring for my 32 weeks pregnant DIL while my son was out of town which ended up being busier than I planned. Day ending at my sister's home where she cooked for some of the relatives that arrived early for the baby shower on Saturday. I'm really surprised I stopped at 2 glasses of wine.