TheVoice

2 weeks sober

Feeling good. Had to deal with a few cravings yesterday after watching beer commercials on TV. They were relatively short lived though which was a good thing.

Need to get back to work, got a business to run.

Best,

TheVoice

SnoozyQ

Well done :-) 2 weeks is fantastic , keep going xxx

TheVoice

15 days sober.

I didn't have much in terms of alcohol cravings yesterday but did have a bit of a wobble when walking through the booze aisle in the supermarket. Probably not such a clever idea and I'll avoid doing that from now on.

I cannot believe I have gone this long without having a drink.

In some ways it feels like longer than 15 days. You're definitely in some kind of a haze when you're drinking all the time. There is no question about that.

It feels like the last couple of years have been a complete haze for me.

TheVoice

Just one more thing (without wishing to sound like Columbo)....... I have lost 1.5 inches off my waist since giving up drinking.

Now that I am happy about.

6'4" tall with a 38" waist. It could get smaller still and I'll continue to work on that.

Dee74

Congrats on two weeks The Voice

D

TheVoice

I have completed 16 days of sobriety.

Those alcohol cravings seem to come in the evenings, at dusk, i.e. the time I always used to start drinking. They haven't been as bad the past few days but they are definitely there.

Business seems to be picking up, and that is a good thing.

SnoozyQ

Fantastic Voice :-) you are doing great . Got through the hard part .

Keep going and fight this fight , we are all here to help you .


If you get the urge to pick up , come here first and we will talk you through it . That worked for me .

Well done :-)

Kissimee54

I am a binge drinker. I had long stretches of sobriety and then go off the rails. I always convince myself that it will be different this time. Wrong! It may have been easier if I was a daily drinker! After my last binge I am more committed then ever to stay stopped. I thank God that no one got hurt due to my negligence. I would never be able to forgive myself if that were so!

TheVoice

Thanks for posting Kissimee,

I solved my binge drinking "problem" by getting out of a company where binge drinking was an essential core skill for its employees. Since then (2011) I have not had a single binge.

But...... before everyone says "once and alcoholic, always an alcoholic etc....."

I did not solve the underlying problem i.e. that I like alcohol too much. My drinking merely took on a different form i.e. drinking every evening at home over a period of hours, many glasses of wine and sometimes hard stuff like ouzo. I never got "roaring drunk", unconscious or throwing up at home but did get intoxicated most nights, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. Waking up hung over most mornings and waking up tired (how stupid is that when we think about it?) is what motivated me to get this issue handled somehow.

I can honestly say I feel so much better without drink. Things like Apfelschorle or Johannesbeerschorle (apple juice or blackcurrant juice mixed with mineral water) really do take the edge off the cravings as well.

This is Day 17 of sobriety.

TheVoice

Kissimee54

I hope you keep coming back and posting. SR is just one tool among many I use to stay sober.

BTW - Don't know how to pronounce those German words (I am 1/2 German).

TheVoice

18th day sober.

Helping someone move house today which will take all day.

Spent yesterday evening helping my son set up his new model train set, much better than wasting my evenings sucking back wine.

TheVoice

TheVoice

19 days sober.

Wonderful day today. I earnt 170,-€ yesterday which I budgeted for a fun family day so my wife and I took our two children to the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum (German Transport Museum) and both of them really enjoyed it. My son in particular loved it as he's only 4 years old and utterly fascinated by trains at the moment. There are some really good train exhibits in there, some of them dating back to the 1860s - well worth a visit if you happen to be in Munich and like that kind of stuff.

After that we went and had lunch at a great Chinese restaurant. We went there a month ago and I had a beer back then but this time as we were ordering my 3 year old daughter said to the waitress "Mama will have white wine and Daddy will have a beer" but I corrected her and got a Johannesbeerschorle (blackcurrant juice mixed with mineral water) instead. My wife complained about feeling "sleepy" having had the wine.

Clear blue skies today so it really was just tremendous. So glad I have got this far.

What I love about Germany is the different relationship people have with alcohol here and the abundance of healthy, non-alcoholic drinks available when you go to restaurants. Sure there are drunks here as there are everywhere else, but it's much less of a big deal if you choose not to drink here than it is, say, in Australia or England.

We took our rubbish to the recycling bins today (it's the law in Germany - you have to) and it was the first time ever that there were no empty booze bottles in the bags.

Will post more here in the coming days and weeks.

Best,

TheVoice

Dee74

Congrats on 19 days TV

D

TheVoice

Thank you very much. Just taking it one day at a time, coming to the realisation that I'll never be able to "moderate" my alcohol intake other than abstaining entirely.

I have noticed that my wife has been drinking much less since I stopped. I must have been a very bad influence on her.

Thinking the next trip with the children ought to be to LEGOLAND here in Germany. You can even stay there overnight in a LEGO themed hotel suite and there's an ostrich farm not far away from there where you can buy their enormous eggs.

Better stop daydreaming and get back to work.

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement.

TheVoice

TheVoice

21st day of sobriety.

Feeling much, much better. Feeling physically pure and full of natural energy which is probably due also to healthy eating and quitting caffeine on 01/01/2014.

Haven't felt this good in years.

The cravings still come every now and again but their intensity and severity seem to be lessening.

My waist is down to 38 inches (around the belly button). I'm 6'4" tall so I don't look fat but could do with blowtorching off just a little more "Speck" around my gut to get in optimum shape.

There's a race up the world's longest staircase in June 2015 that I want to do. I've always been a runner but would need to do some serious preparation for this one.

I am really grateful to have gotten this far, 3 weeks is a good milestone.

TheVoice

TheVoice

25th day sober

Feeling a little tired today, probably because of taking on extra work to earn supplementary cash. I was also rudely woken up as my two little kids climbed into our bed.

My wife bought some wine today which was tough for me but I did not have any. She had one glass and that was it - I had already bought something else (non-alcoholic) to drink instead.

No regrets at all about 25 days of abstinence.

Shoshie8

Hi TheVoice, 25 days is great going - and good for navigating the wine situation. Nothing to regret there at all!

Dee74

Congratulations on 25 days TV
D

TheVoice

27 days without drink.

Have been feeling ill, coughing stuff up, and considerably down about my business but not hopeless. Just a little low, that's all.

Not going back to drink though. No way.

Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks of abstinence.

jkb

Four weeks is awesome. I was a binge drinker too so, I get it. Congrats and stay strong.

Jess