newbie who's cooking her way to sobriety!
 

Hi all!

Great site. I'm on day no. 2. Doesn't sound like much but we all have to start somewhere. I've tried so many times to quit, but for some reason I feel it this time. I love to cook and I've decided that becoming a chef is more important than drinking. Usually by this time of nite I'd be trashed, but not tonite. Instead I cooked Mexican. Homemade flour tortillas, black beans and rice, grilled chicken, pico... anyway, it was so good. For dessert I made pate a choux pastry with Bavarian cream. I'm allowing myself two of those. I've learned that every time I try to quit I'll crave sugar. To a point I can make myself sick. I'm focusing on creating new recipes and cooking something amazing every day. The worst thing for me are the night sweats. Terrible, but doable. So, wish me luck, and good luck and hugs to all of you who are climbing this ladder! :nyag:nyy:nyae

hey cookie!!! Welcome to SR!! This site is great!

Mmmmmmmm...........hope you're dinner was great! :)

Hey Cookie,

I'm a big foodie as well so let's swap some recipes. :-)

I am 11 days sober and before I made the decision to start for good, I had put myself on a rather strict diet in order to lose the 20 pounds I've gained in the last several years of heavy drinking. I would literally factor in all the calories from how ever much liquor I knew I was going to have and then back the rest out in food calories to total less than 1200 calories a day (which is what I needed to lose weight). It was pathetic to put liquor in a higher priority than food, but that's what I did.

And it was a struggle. I would very rarely stay under 1200 and that was eating like a bird. I was sometimes drinking 1200 calories in booze. So there was no room left.

Anyway, since I stopped drinking I've lost a little weight without trying and now I can eat like a normal person and enjoy food again. Yay! Although I do still have to watch the food calories in order to un-do the damage from drinking. I'm giving myself 2 months to lose the 15-20 pounds I want to lose.

Happy New Year!

Sunset! Yay! I too need to lose 15-20 pounds. I did the same thing as you, counted back the calories and "drank" my meals instead of eating. I love cooking and trying new things. I'm putting the money aside that I would be spending on alcohol (ALOT!) and plan to buy some new kitchen gadgets. I've also promised myself that if I can stay sober for one full year I will enroll in culinary school (I'm semi-retired). I'm so excited! I know I can do this, I'm just tired of drinking. A good friend gave me a Nordictrack treadmill for Christmas so I'm digging it. I hope this positive attitude continues, too many times something dramatic would happen and I would use that as an excuse to drink. Only time will tell.

Four days and counting! I didn't have night sweats last night! Woohoo! I still didn't sleep great, but better than the night before. I just fired up the grill and am preparing chicken to BBQ. This is a little tough because I love to drink when I'm grilling, but I can do this! I went to the golf course and walked nine holes. I'm gonna hurt like hell tomorrow! The goal is to wear myself out so I'll sleep better and hopefully drop a few pounds in the meantime. God I'm hungry!