sillyguy

Morning

Today is day 18. I'm feeling great.

One of the reasons I used to drink was to relax. I always felt that I either deserved it or needed it to deal with the crap in life. I used to get annoyed at my wife when she didn't understand how much I "needed" it to relax and wind down.

I'm slowly learning that there are other ways to relax. Notably I'm finding that exercise is helping me relax. If I push myself then it helps vent some of the stress and negative energy inside of me. I get a nice kick of endorphins at the end and slowly but surely my body is starting to look better.

For those of you who feel tired all of the time (me too) and couldn't be bothered try to force yourself. Start small and go for a walk. Drink lots of water. You will find that it may help you with your stress levels too and help you unwind :-)

Dee74

Exercise is great for me too, sillyguy

D

Lusher

Hey sillyguy- I'll add another vote for exercise. For me, it was really the only thing that really helped- immensely!

sillyguy

Yep. It kicks in right away. The quick reward is a good Thi g for us. We just have to force ourselves to start doing it

SoberCAH

Glad you are here, guy.

For me, exercise is great, but so is reading a book.

SarahB60

Agree with exercise. Also long hikes or walks by the ocean. Both aware my favs in addition to exercise.

Soberwolf

Well done on day 18

i love to walk might even do a powerwalk sometimes to stay a little fitter and burn a lil extra esp uphill

Congrats

Justincredible

I agree with the exercise as well. It has helped me enormously, although I had to force myself at first. Some days I still have too, but the gains are increasing so I keep it up.

gaffo

I was very surprised to realize that there is actually nothing relaxing about drinking. I like exercise, even before I quit drinking but don't forget how relaxing good old fashioned sleep is without the drinking!

sillyguy

Good point. Its nice to sleep straight through :-)

AmICured

You are doing great and you are in the right path. Knowing the reason why you drank and finding a solution for it is the best way you can quit drinking. When I went to addiction counseling in a centre in Toronto, Bellwood Health Services, they told me about this, and actually worked well for me.

MelindaFlowers

Relaxation is a new concept for me. When I was drinking heavily every night my central nervous system was so messed up mixed with extremely high blood pressure that my body could never relax. It was always a fight or flight feeling. UNease. Feelings of fear, paranoia, and doom, like I couldn't sit still. Heart racing all the time and hands fidgeting. Boy was that a surprise when alcohol stopped giving me a buzz. Then I was literally never relaxing.

Now I can sit and just be. It hit me for the first time on Christmas eve. I was sitting at the midnight church service and I felt very calm. My heart rate was normal blood pressure normal, hands were still in my lap. My central nervous system is recalibrating.

Axiom

Congrats on 18 days Silly!

I was never a tea drinker before but I am finding it helps me relax after a long day.

sillyguy

Thanks AxiomDC. However, this post is a little old.

Today is day 41 for me :-)

Axiom

Oh...It that case. Way to go on 41 days!

mrjustin

Great post re exercise. I did my first 10 min on 3 on the treadmill today. My doc wants me to exercise but my anxiety had me worried about elevating my heart rate. Catch22. I know its just anxiety so am easing in really light till I fet comfortable again. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I felt so crap I was in bed.
Anyone else have to ease in to it with anxiety and all the toxic crap lwaving there bodies?

sillyguy

My anxiety is primarily social anxiety so It wasn't a huge problem for me.
Try to stay away from any uppers such as coffee while you are incorporating exercise.