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9 months

Old 09-29-2019, 12:44 AM
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9 months

Longest I’d “quit” before was 3 weeks 🤣

I still get the occasional urge of an evening, but that’s usually general thirst and always goes after I’ve drunk some juice or whatever. The main achievement I would say is losing that force of habit to head to the booze section of my supermarket.

I’ve also worn a Fitbit fitness tracker for a couple of years, and this estimates hours of sleep and stages, e.g. deep sleep and REM. Slept nearly nine hours last night! For anyone concerned about sleep in early withdrawal, it will improve loads!

My appetite is off the scale. Luckily I eat healthy and work out or I’d be the size of a house.

Finally, I’m not such a miserable git. My wife had a tough time with my moodiness whilst I was drinking. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a joy to live with 😀 but I don’t get annoyed all the time now.

Long may it continue. I mentioned on other posts my liver health going from fatty to fully healthy in eight months. That’s a huge relief. I’ve also mentioned being scared to relapse, and that’s justified. Life is good now.

Good luck all.
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Old 09-29-2019, 03:58 AM
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Congratulations Hodd

D
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Old 09-29-2019, 04:05 AM
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Good going and keep going.

I found 9-13 a mix of growth, good and bad, and continued progress.
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Old 09-29-2019, 04:25 AM
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I’m going to make this sound like an anti-climax, but not a great deal else has changed. I cut down a lot in 2018, was exercising a lot and lost the 40+ lbs of fat I’d carried for a decade. So, physically, not a great deal changed.

But saying that, I downplayed the fatty liver thing somewhat. To go from fatty liver to 100% OK in just a few months should be an incentive for anyone.
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Old 09-29-2019, 04:36 AM
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Great going.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:28 AM
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That's a great update, Hodd.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:43 AM
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The addiction is strong. It is incomprehensible I could relapse after knowing all that sr has taught me.

The health benefits alone are a reason to never drink booze again.

Booze is a neurotoxin that quickly permeates cell membranes. The addiction wasnimmediate for me because I enjoyed the buzz.

It took decades for the mental and physical damage to escalate to a state where the hell between fixes was too much.

Then climbing out was/is hell on earth.

Yesterday I made pancakes for the family. it wasn't a trigger last time I made them.

It was now.

OMG. I went and laid down for 3 minutes and boom, the crave was gone.

By any means.

Had a great night visiting w an old friend. We are very different, but I now can see I really like the guy.

Booze masked that.

Thanks.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:54 AM
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Nine months is huge. It was a big hurdle for me. So, so happy for you!
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Old 09-29-2019, 08:02 AM
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CONGRATULATIONS Hodd
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Old 09-29-2019, 08:13 AM
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Congrats on your nine months sobriety! Drinking can become so much more than a habit. It becomes a lifestyle. And changing a lifestyle is really difficult. I bet losing that 40lbs last year taught you change is possible!
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Old 09-29-2019, 08:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Upstairs View Post
I bet losing that 40lbs last year taught you change is possible!
Bit ashamed to say I started losing weight as I was due to meet an old friend and didn’t want them to see me as this fat guy. I shouldn’t be that ashamed as it’s fairly common I guess for school reunions and such things. I felt ashamed as I’m married and could have lost the weight for my wife’s benefit.

Anyway, trying to keep to 2000 calories a day is hard enough, but there was definitely no room in there for my 4 x 500ml (about 20oz) of beer a day so I cut down and the weight came off at an alarming rate, about 2lb a week for several months.

I still had the equivalent of 2 x 20oz cans of beer a day. This doesn’t sound a lot, but over a week it’s well over double the U.K. weekly recommended limit. It seemed so daft to work so hard in the gym and then drink 500 calories of beer. My big worry, though, was I always wanted more than 2 cans, and it would’ve been a matter of time before my intake crept back up - it’s the usual story of a heavy drinker trying to become a moderate one. The easiest way from then on, of course, was to quit.

Yes, a lot of things became possible with that 40lb+ weight loss. We shouldn’t judge others on looks, but I am certainly taken more seriously as a slim guy.



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Old 09-29-2019, 08:52 AM
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And for anyone reading who’s in a bad way right now, I’ll take you back to how I was in October 2017.

As well as my 4 daily beers, I’d buy a bottle of Gaviscon, an over the counter medicine for acid reflux, as I’d wake every night with burning stomach pains. This was either the beer or obesity or both. I was getting complaints about being late for work (lack of sleep, hangovers). I was 48 and not well at all physically. I weighed 240lbs (BMI 32).

It’s never too late to quit drinking, and not one person has ever regretted doing so.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:00 PM
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Good share, keep up the hard work.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:16 PM
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Congrats on 9 months sober! Thank you for sharing your success.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Hodd View Post
Longest I’d “quit” before was 3 weeks 🤣

I still get the occasional urge of an evening, but that’s usually general thirst and always goes after I’ve drunk some juice or whatever. The main achievement I would say is losing that force of habit to head to the booze section of my supermarket.

I’ve also worn a Fitbit fitness tracker for a couple of years, and this estimates hours of sleep and stages, e.g. deep sleep and REM. Slept nearly nine hours last night! For anyone concerned about sleep in early withdrawal, it will improve loads!

My appetite is off the scale. Luckily I eat healthy and work out or I’d be the size of a house.

Finally, I’m not such a miserable git. My wife had a tough time with my moodiness whilst I was drinking. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a joy to live with 😀 but I don’t get annoyed all the time now.

Long may it continue. I mentioned on other posts my liver health going from fatty to fully healthy in eight months. That’s a huge relief. I’ve also mentioned being scared to relapse, and that’s justified. Life is good now.

Good luck all.
I'm proud of you, Hodd. Keep up the great work. I think I'll get myself a Fitbit. Thanks for the inspiration. Have a good night.
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Old 09-29-2019, 10:37 PM
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I originally bought my Fitbit to monitor my heart rate when I first started exercising as I really thought it was too fast. It just gave me confidence to run. My heart was fine. I was just very unfit.

I like my Fitbit, but I doubt the readings are accurate. I once had a lengthy appointment at the dentist, and although I was fully awake throughout, my Fitbit said I’d slept for an hour! But I use it for comparison purposes to see heart beat (at rest and exercise), sleep time, daily step count and calories burned. I take the readings with a pinch of salt.

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Old 09-29-2019, 10:42 PM
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Congrats, Hodd! That's awesome!
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Old 09-29-2019, 10:51 PM
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Old 09-30-2019, 02:42 AM
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Congrats! And I feel you on the appetite thing. I'm generally a small person, but I feel like I may gain 50 lbs in the next few months if I don't keep moving. As soon as I stopped drinking I started REALLY eating haha.

Keep going!
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Old 09-30-2019, 04:16 AM
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Not sure what to suggest. Obviously it’s better to eat a lot healthily than to drink alcohol, but eating too much of anything will increase body fat unless a whole lot of exercise is done. It’s an unfortunate side effect of quitting booze. Take it easy and don’t go gaining 50lkbs 😀
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