That's a good one. I used to do that when I was sick of drinking water.

I should be over the sugar withdrawal soon. I've listened to Chris Prentiss' tapes before and he has a good analogy that you have to fix the withdrawal from the addictive substance you got hooked to, then you can solve the reasons you started using them. Two different monsters.

Count me in for the June club. Day 1 is today.

Toughest day by far today (Day 6)!!!

The gremlins are trying to make their presence felt by suggesting how good it would be to have a few beers to relax after the stresses and strains of the day!!

Just need to ignore them and get through the next couple of hours!!

Hang tough, crystal. I know what you mean about 'just getting through a couple more hours'. I haven't had a day 6 in more than 6 months. You can do it! Blaze a path for me to follow!

Today is Day 7. Yesterday had it's rough places where I was pulling the usual logic that would let me drink. But, I just kept telling myself that I would never regret not drinking the night before, and would only wish I had not. I also held on to staying sober just fot the moment, just for the hour, just for the night. Today I woke up and imagined my busy day hungover - not a pretty thought. I feel physically better now, I look better already, I feel emotionally lighter and happier. At the bank I noticed how many happy, friendly people there were, and realized that I have been looking at the world through a negative lens for some time. Last night I slept like a rock. I could sleep some more if I didn't have to work, though. Not done with the tiredness yet.

Best to you all as you stay sober through the next 24 hours.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Severian :-)

Well, i got through the evening without a drink though i was sorely tempted I can tell you.

Had a really tough, very emotional and draining day at work, and from mid afternoon on there was this little voice in my head telling me how i had earnt a few beers, and how pleasant it would be to get home, kick back, and down a few chilled ones!

I dont attand AA meetings or have any other form of 'therapy' other than SR, but it was the encouragement and experiences that have been shared on here that were enough for me to prevent me from buying those beers.....so a HUGE thank you to you all for that!!

Of course tomorrow is another day,and no doubt the gremlins will be back, as I honestly cannot remember the last Friday night that I did not drink - we're talking many years!!

To get through tomorrow will be a massive turning point for me, but hey...its only another 24 hrs, just the same as any other 24 hrs

C'mon guys...stay strong...we June Bugs can do this!!!!

Day 2 for me.

Went to my first ever AA meeting last night. Was pretty nervous but forced myself in. I thought it fantastic. Everyone was very welcoming. Listening to other people share their stories was really eye-opening, I can't wait till my next one. Now just mentally preparing myself for a sober long weekend.

Hey Ozgirl
 

Weekends can be hard at the beginning, so try to keep yourself busy. I used to write, during the week, a list of activities I could do outside and inside the house during weekends. Anything to keep my mind from thinking about alcohol. Reading works for me. :23:
Exercise helps too! :ExeJump:

Eventually things get better.

Good luck :)

-RGO

I am also a bit nervous of this weekend. I will stay busy, but a day of good labor tends to make me feel entitled to a couple of beers. I think that goes back to my father - not an alcoholic - who would grab a beer after working in the yard all day Saturday, and drink it with great appreciation for having earned it. Sometimes he would even have 2.

I would have 2. And then 12 more. And then 4 for dessert. Almost like I'm an alcoholic.

:headbange

Catching up on posts... welcome Severian! Great to have you in the group.

Crystal, nice job in riding out those cravings. That sounds very familiar. I had a similar experience on Monday night and it was kind of tough. But I think we get stronger each time we get through an experience like that.

Shalisan, I loved your story about being at the bank and noticing the happy people. Once I started building up sober time (not just this time, but in past attempts) I was amazed at the whole world being chipper and happy in the mornings. It seemed like such a foreign concept to me. On days when I was hungover, all I wanted to do was crawl back in bed and curl up in a fetal position until it was over with. Ah, lovely alcohol.

I really wasn't tempted to drink at all tonight! And I went out. I went to my Bunco group -- a group of women playing this silly dice game. There is always food and drink, always wine (my DOC) and I always used to drink it. Tonight I did not. There were plenty of non-alcoholic drinks, so I had some Italian lemonade and then some decaff coffee. It was fine! Some of the women were drinking Lite beer from cans, which did not tempt me at all. One was having red wine, and that didn't even bother me. She knows me as a wine drinker, so she said to me, "Oh, I just opened this bottle of red." I told her I wasn't drinking because I had to drive, which is true (never stopped me before she could have said, but she graciously did not.) Many others were not drinking alcohol at all, so I did not stand out as odd one out. Maybe slowly but surely I can start to establish myself as a non-drinker in these circles and people will come to expect that of me.

I will be away this weekend... so keep going everyone! I'm going on a yoga retreat and I'm very excited. Organic foods, lots of yoga, hiking, swimming, sunning --- no alcohol. I'm so glad I'm going into this with 10+ days sober (will be 11 tomorrow). It will make the experience all the better.

Later... and have a good weekend everyone!

p.s. Hi RGO!!

Have a wonderful time at your yoga retreat!

Hello Shalisan and the Junebugs!

Shalisan, I can really relate to your experience at the bank. I remember going to work everyday and consciously noticing how nobody else was hungover. I thought "wouldn't that be nice" without ever adding two plus plus and finding the answer: don't drink the night before.

My hangovers were medium: headache, parched for thirst, feeling dumpy in general. I wondered what it must feel like to feel good at 8:30 in the morning. In the past month I have had about 20 sober days. I am on day 4 now.

I like what you said about looking at the world through glasses with negative lenses. That is exactly how I lived for three years. If I were to grade how I felt everyday at work it was a C-. Now I feel like an A everyday. Oh forgive me that was corny! But true.

Keep the posts coming. I love reading every single one!

Correction: I meant to say "two plus two."

Joining the Group Please
 

Good morning,

I would like to join the group as I relate to so many of our posts. I am a 28 year old married woman, with so many days 1,2 and 3's but can't seem to break that 3rd day. Often its the wine nights with friends (as Trader Jane mentioned) where I intend not to drink but falter quickly. Today is my day 1 (again!) and I would nothing more than to get into double digits and keep going.

Is anyone on actively working the steps - I have been pondering step 1 a lot. I know in my heart I have no control over alcohol, but my life has not become unmanageable...yet. I think part of step 1, if we choose to leave alcohol before a devastating occurence, we need to acknowledge that while not unmanageable yet, our life will quickly become so.

Thanks to everyone who is posting, uncanny how familiar our circumstances are. :thanks

Welcome AddingitUp!

Welcome. This group is just getting warmed up! Personally I am not working the steps (yet?). I do however acknowledge that I can not control my drinking once I pick up the first glass. It took a lot of negotiating, renegotiating, and rerenegotiating in my mind. The only times I did leave it at one was when it was not in my control. For example, last summer when my mother and I were at an art museum, she treated us both to a cocktail. Just one like non-problem drinkers do. I left it at that one, being in my mother's company and all but I really really wanted a second, third, and so forth. I only enjoyed drinking to get drunk. Not always sloppy drunk but drunk. That night after she dropped me off I did drink by myself until I went to sleep.

I'm on day 4 myself and yes, it is very hard.

I'm glad you've joined the group!

Hey June Group,

I was thinking that maybe we could bounce some around some ideas/habits/helpers that we find work to curb the cravings/urge to drink. I'll share a few things that are helping me.

1. Drinking regular soda. The kind with sugar. CocaCola classic and Dr. Pepper have been my beverage of choice. Soda has majorly curbed my cravings. Even if you like diet, but you're still having sugar cravings, give regular a shot. I eat candy too but I find that drinking sugary liquid helps to satisfy more than just the sugar. Or juice too of course but I like the fizziness.

2. Lifesaver "Pep-O-Mints." I have bowls of them all around my house.

3. Let yourself indulge a bit more in food. This has been a big one for me. Just knowing that I am consuming 1000 less calories a day in alcohol takes away my guilt from eating a piece of cake or pizza.

I think these are all out of the "textbook" but these have been my best three tools to curb the cravings.

Day 1
 

I have not been doing very well I am afraid. I hope its ok for me to post here. Figure since we are still in June and I keep messing up, now that I have found this thread I want to try again. So once again at day 1. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be day 2!

Of course you're welcome back! I've only gotten it together in June. I started SR in May and although I racked up about 15 days in that month I fell off several times in those 15. I got right back up and came back. I hope you do the same! Welcome back. :grouphug:

I treat myself with a mug of hot chocolate and a few pieces of dark chocolate after dinner (I am trying not to put on weight as I didn't eat very much when drinking and am scared I'm going to pile it on). I like to drink diet coke or creaming soda and lots of cups of sugary tea. I also have been buying books to read in bed at night, I love reading but don't do it all when I'm drunk. It also helps me fall asleep as does playing a crossword puzzle game on my Nintendo DSi.

I found that I can eat quite a lot without gaining weight now that I don't drink. Enjoy.

I hope I have the same experience!

Day 2 almost over here, heading off to bed to sleep sober.

I just wanted to give a shout out to TJ..... your fearless leader! :) Congrats on your double digit days of sobriety! Not an easy feat for anyone. Keep going! Something in your post grabbed me and I wanted to share my experience. You talk about becoming a non-drinker in your group of friends. I just wanted to say that I have successfully done it and it is NOT an issue. Sure, in the beginning they will ask why. My response was "I just feel better when I don't drink, and life is too short to feel crappy." There is not a person in the world that can argue with that reasoning. Now, after 7 months sober, they simply know I just do not drink. No one cares! It is me. It is a MUCH bigger deal in our own minds that it really is.

Anyways, I hope you all have a great, sober weekend. Enjoy waking up without a hangover. Cherish those early mornings feeling good. If we remember, mornings used to SUCK for us practicing alcoholics. Turn those mornings into times of peace and reflection.

Congratulations to all the June Bugs who are making it through their early days. I am back to Day 1.

What I find hard to understand is how quickly I can decide to drink in the late afternoon after work. Every morning whether or not I drank the night before, I know I can't drink, I know I should stop now before my life becomes truly unmanageable and I firmly believe that I will be happier if I don't drink. But then I un-decide and my resolve is gone.

I can relate Lyddie. Once my brain says, "wouldn't drinking be nice" I have to find something else to do or I will obsess until I talk myself into "starting over again Monday".

Today I decided not to drink. I'll worry about the rest later.

That's exactly it.

Wednesday evening I was home alone and paced nervously through my house looking for something to do for about an hour, trying to get my mind off the thought of drinking. Keeping an eye on the clock all the while because I know exactly when all the stores in my area close.

About 7:30 I gave up.

Thursday morning the failure felt worse than the jonesing for booze did Wednesday night. I must remember that for tonight.

Yoga retreat sounds fun TJ!! Have a great time, I am jealous!!

I am on Day 7 whoo hoooo... thats a week for me! Best Ive done is pregnant twice for 14 months (breastfeeding etc) but that was 6 and 8 years ago... and then last year around this time I made it 6 weeks and then slowly started drinking again once a week and then quickly came back to every 2 or 3 days UG... I know I will end up drunk 3 days a week again and smoking if I touch booze again so I am happy to stay away.

I am really looking forward to seeing how my life turns out in the next few years sober. I like to look at it as a fork in the road with two different endings... I can see the scenery and the end of both roads... this road is a much happier serene place so I plan to stay.

Thanks SR and June group!! I look foward to getting to know you all

OH and the things that help me:

1. Definitely sugary drinks and eating whatever I want. I tend to like healthy foods anyway so I am enjoying the tastes of the fruits and veggies I used to ignore.

2. Excersise is a MUST.. even just walking. You can walk 5Km in an hour or run it in 30 minutes... thats about 400 calories burnt. Enlist a friend, you'll feel so good!

3. Keeping busy doing things I couldnt do while drinking or drunk.. road trips, day trips, out to a movie, hiking, biking, museums, shopping etc.

Hello everyone! I am on day one again..

I just read through the thread, you all are very very encouraging. Here's my story:

I'm 27, married, in school full-time, working part-time. I had 15 days sober in April, and i felt amazing. Then I started drinking again.

I just wrote this in another thread but I got sloppy drunk the night before a final, woke up still drunk and took the final anyway. Seriously, how stupid is that?! I am really really ashamed. I am a very good student and I risked blowing an entire class on a night of drinking.

So, here I am again. Last time I got pretty sick after I stopped drinking. I hope I don't this time, I am not fond of throwing up.