Old 09-22-2012, 11:59 AM
  # 117 (permalink)  
soberbythesea
Member
 
soberbythesea's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,525
Things that help me:

-Doing things that I enjoy... watching TV, watching movies, reading books, whatever it is, as long as it's not drinking.

-Reading books about addiction and recovery... some that have helped me in particular are Rational Recovery by Jack Trimpey, The Easy Way to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr, Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp, and the one I'm reading now Under the Influence is really good so far.

-Drinking nonalcoholic drinks... something special I wouldn't have had when I drank alcohol. I like making myself nonalcoholic cocktails, or trying different kinds of fancy sodas (my husband just bought me a bunch of bottles of black cherry soda that are in the fridge now).

-Letting myself eat what I want... for now. I found after a few days my junk food cravings evened out somewhat anyway. At least for the first few days, don't worry about what you are eating.

-This is my third time trying to quit, and each time I found I craved sugar in particular a lot... candy or soda is still better than drinking.

-Staying away from difficult "trigger" situations is helpful... and if I know I have to be in one then I make a plan to get through it.

-I write in my journal a lot... I was already a journal keeper, but it's especially helpful now.

-I find small ways to reward myself... candy, magazines... or maybe something bigger when you reach a milestone or overcome a big temptation.

I haven't been sober THAT long this time around (this is day 15)... but I made it almost 8 months before, and these things helped me then and they're helping me now.

Good Luck All
soberbythesea is offline