Highwind

Maximus - I not had lasagne for years, im hungry and it just made my mouth water.

Looking forward to a quite evening here in the UK. Fish and chips for dinner and then a bit of play time with my son....he just in the process of taking his first steps. Maybe start a new boxset now I will remember what happens. Also be nice to the wife and try to remind her im not a complete waste of time.

It sounds like everyone is doing well today.....we certainly didnt pick an easy time of year to take the plunge.

Soberwolf

Evening everyone

Selfrespect

I can already tell that today is going to be difficult. I used to drink mostly early in the week (I hate Mondays!) rather than on weekends. I guess it has always been triggered by the stress of having left so much undone from last week and now having so much to get to. But I can do it.
I will not drink today.

soberjim

i so understand that feeling. Mondays are stressful and this will be a hard day to get through. I feel my av calling. I am going home and eating. that usually helps. Then a warm shower!

You can do it

julesonya

Just checking in. Traveling today and am really proud of myself for not ordering a drink on the plane. I almost always do and I just said no thank you and had my water bottle with me. Not feeling all that great, day 3 for me

Neverthought

Awesome Jules.........

Where are you off too?........don't have to say though.

julesonya

Minneapolis until Wednesday for work meetings. I have a dinner tomorrow night, the nice thing is I am new to this job so I can simply start by saying I don't drink. They won't even question it, whereas other jobs always said "but you used to party! Come on!" No thanks. My health needs to come first so I'm around for my son

leasha24

It's been one week since I had my last drink. I never considered myself an alcoholic as I didn't drink every day but when I did I found it hard to stop and next thing I know I was blacked out.... That didn't happen every time and sometimes I was able to stop drinking before I reached that point but not usually. I recently ended my relationship with a man who had an issue with alcohol. I loved him but he was unhealthy for me to be around and I found myself drinking more while I was around him. All in all I am proud to say that I have not had a drink for one week.... I don't know how long it's been since I have gone without alcohol for an entire week.... I really hope to continue this trend although I'm worried because it is the holidays and there will be a lot of drinking going on around me.... Any tips on how to get through this time without giving in to that "one" drink?

leasha24

I'm worried about the same thing. My family likes to drink and we have lots of Christmas parties coming up. I've made it though one week without drinking but it's been tough.... When I have had that craving to have a drink I made myself a cup of tea instead or got myself a glass of water so that way I was drinking something just not alcohol.... So far that has been helping.... Hope you are staying strong.

GhostFace

I try to keep it simple and just focus on one day at a time. My biggest fear to stop drinking was "How can I have fun at party's and social gathering without drinking?" I simply follow my plan and say no.

Some of my family members see me as a punk since I'm not drinking while others think I'm hungover from the previous night and can't drink.

I also thought I would relapse on the holiday but I'm seeing lots of benefits in my early recovery and I don't want to go back to how I was living.

Do you have a plan?

I find support here in tough situation and try to help others as well. It gives me a sense of commitment. Gym has been part of my plan also and an excuse to not drink.

To put it in simple terms I just say no. I'm also changing my lifestyle as my old way of thinking/being does not accommodate my new way of living

Daniel123

On day 3 here... feeling some anxiety kicking in. Fear of the unknown sober future maybe, can't be as bad as the drunken past though. Keeping strong!

leasha24

Thanks for the advice. I realized that my drinking was hindering my exercise performance as well. I have been training for an upcoming marathon and drinking has been a reason I have not trained as well as I should... I'm hoping that motivation to PR in my marathons will make giving up drinking a little easier.

ubntubnt

Alright, that's week one over with. Again, cravings pretty much non existent but it was a looooong week. For some reason when I stop drinking, even if I am not experiencing cravings I can't stop thinking about it all the time though I do find that putting in the hours on this site really helps me not wanting to drink. Just keep soldiering on I guess.....off for hols in two weeks for two weeks so focus on staying sober until then, and then it should be easy enough not to drink as will be with family only. Stay strong everyone.....

ubntubnt

A lot in this post I can resonate with. I am also used to stress about things like how I will handle relationship with my friends (all drinkers), what my night life will be like, what I will do for fun etc.

The answer is pretty obvious though isn't it? I can't take my old way of living and just strip out the alcohol. Because it was an alcoholic life I was living. The way I live needs to be rebuilt. It not a case of just stopping drinking, it a case of rebuilding my life to keep the good healthy bits and change the bad. This will mean making new friends, finding new hobbies etc. Who cares what my old drinking friends think about anything? Who cares what my family even think about my not drinking, this is my life we are talking about. If I don't stop my life will be over. This has moved well beyond wanting to take a break for a few weeks, thats what normal drinkers do. This is about life and death.

Wheatgrass

Funny I was thinking the same thing today. I wonder is it because I remember the whole week? I went ice fishing today for the first time sober since I was a young teenager. I actually had fun. I was worried that I might never be able to do that again. It also helped I went with a non-drinker instead of the usual party bunch. Goodnight all.

CuteNGayYay

Just wAnted to check in..busy day. In bed now. Day 6 is done. Goodnight all. Have a sober Tuesday

Highwind

Day 3 for me and feeling optimistic......going to find my first meeting tonight, what I was doing before hasn't ever worked so I'm going to put myself right out of my comfort zone and try something new.

Ali123

Just checking in, haven't for a few days. On day 9 - made it through the weekend, it wasn't easy at times, but I kept reading up on here when I needed to.

My skin is way clearer today, I've already had problems with bad skin, so I guess a lot of that has always been down to my lifestyle. Yet another positive!

Have a great sober Tuesday everyone 😀

snowbunting

Hey everyone, checking in here. I slipped after I made my first post in here - yay me *sarcasm* - but I'm on Day 6 now and it's going well. My anti-depressant dosage has been doubled as of yesterday, and now that I'm sober they might actually have a chance to work.

I'm having to work hard on what I call my panic-responses to certain things. When I think about tough things in my life - a sense of panic kicks in, and the only thing that numbs it out has been alcohol. I also get the panic-response if my husband goes away for work. Finding other ways to get rid of the sense of panic - or even better, controlling my responses so that the panic doesn't appear in the first place - is going to be key, and I think *the* most critical thing for me in this fight.

Sorry, just blathering to myself here, it's good to have somewhere to organise my thoughts.

I hope everyone is feeling optimistic, or at least grittily determined, today!

Yogini1603

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this website and looking forward to getting to know you all.

I'm on day two of sobriety and feeling really tired and rough, but I know it can only get better :-)