Swimmer1990

So I'm on Day 8 which for me is a first in over a year. Been hitting the gym hard, focusing on work, my relationship, and finishing my Masters. Though the cravings are still there I feel I can better fight them the more positive things I do with my time. My thoughts of "you should just grab a small bottle and drink tonight" are promptly followed by "... but then your afternoon lift will be nullified and you'll be rushing to do homework tomorrow you could finish in the couple hours you have before bed tonight."

Sorry for the ramble - the urge to drink is still there but 8 days is a huge accomplishment for me - I'm 24 and generally my brain is good at saying "ehh you still have time before you need to really quit." I'm just thankful I decided to stand up to it before this really got out of hand. -No time like today!

PurpleKnight

Day 8 is fantastic!! Keep it going!!

SoberLeigh

Welcome to SR, Swimmer 1990. Yes, no time like the present; you are a very wise young man or woman.

biminiblue

Well done!

zjw

yeah I quit at 33. I thought that in my younger years oh you still have time. then its like poof a decades gone and the drinking is ions worse along with everything else and the pit to dig out of is that much deeper etc....

I had plenty of time to quit till i didnt anymore.

nip it in the bud now. Go to an AA meeting even if its not your thing go anyhow. Not to put down us drunks but I have to wonder if I went to an AA meeting at that age looked around that table would I have kept drinking? I dunno i guess i probably would have i would have felt it was a big joke and hit the bar on the way home. But there is a chance some of it woulda sunk in and I woulda quit then.

I'm glad i quit at 33 sure i can think gee i shoulda quit sooner but I coulda quit later too ::shudder::

Good job on the 8 days!

Hevyn

Glad to hear the good news Swimmer.

Soberwolf

Well done day 8

waynetheking

Keep it up swimmer, ur doing fine!

Brian339

I have not been sober for 8 days in six months. That is a major accomplishment keep it up. You are a serious power of example for me.
Please tell me how your doing it.

Dee74

way to go on day 8 swimmer

D

Jack16

That is BRILLIANT! WELL DONE! I'm right behind you on 6 days. You have inspired me to push on.

Great!

RecklessEric

Well done Swimmer.
Even on a practical level, your studies will benefit hugely from you being sober.
I struggled with drink through my early years in college.
Best not to try that!

MiniBK

Well done, as you gain more time, fighting the AV becomes easier and easier day by day

Swimmer1990

Thanks all! The positive words really mean a lot.

As far as what I did - I knew the first 3-4 days were going to be really sh*tty and I generally fail because I try to do them alone. I'm in a long distance relationship with a partner who knows I'm trying to quit, so I waited until the day before I was spending a long weekend with him to start because I knew I wouldn't drink for the 4-5 days due to not wanting to let him down.

When I got back home like I said the biggest thing was starting a positive routine. If I do get a craving now and start thinking how great it would be to unwind with booze, I make myself think about the late empty nights where I just laid on the couch feeling guilty and avoiding friends to drink followed by waking up clammy and hungover. Then rinsing and repeating every night.

Sleep was a huge deterrent for me initially because even though I never used to have an insomnia problem, the more I drank the more I felt I relied on it to sleep. Thanks to a mixture of chamomile tea, lavender oil, and heavy exercise this has not really been a problem this time around. Just having a routine at night has helped immensely because 8PM-12AM was my routine liquor time.

Again, thanks all, happy day 9!

RecklessEric

Don't forget, Swimmer- there's always people on here and in the chatroom if/when you get tempted.

TheWho

well done!

wish you all the luck!