Starting new life without alchohol
 

Well its the morning of day 3 and already I feel very positive about the change. Even though I have no withdrawl symptoms, at least not physical I feel better. I suppose that I have never really tried to stop as I didn't really have a problem in my mind. I purposely left beer in the fridge from the weekend (Saturday) and even when I got home from work last night I had a look at them and my mind or alcohol voice as its called was trying to get me to drink one but I was able to stay away. I believe I needed the beer in the fridge just to prove to myself that I can overcome the issue. I always feel that I am quit strong when it comes to temptation, but then again why did I drink for 20+ years.

Sorry for ranting but it helps me to be able to write stuff down even though I am a poor writer. I don't want to talk to any friends or family about this yet (they don't think I have a problem anyways) as they will just tell me I don't have an issue.

I am already looking forward to getting out of the house more and back to the gym which I use to love but for some reason stopped going years ago. I am now starting to get pissed that all those years of wanting to get home as fast as possible was because I (my brain) wanted alcohol, what a waste. Anyways I am looking forward to the future, I am going to look for a local gym and have a bunch of stuff planned for the weekend with my 9 year old son. I do lots of stuff with him now but I was always rushing home and I noticed I would get angry with him or other people for the simplest things, that im sure was part of the addiction.

Thanks for listening,

Brian

Congrats on your new sober life!

Throw the beer away. You don't need it. :)

Congrats Brian, sounds like you're definitely headed in the right direction. Keep it up!

Just as a word of caution... now that you've proven to yourself you can keep beer in the fridge without drinking it, maybe time to pour it out? Only saying because I've done the same before myself. Had a bottle of whiskey on top of the fridge and was able to ignore it for days. Then one evening decide to have "just one", and we all know where it goes from there...

Well done Brian! Stick with us here and you will be glad you did!

Congrats on Day 3 Brian. I felt the need to "temp" myself early in recovery too. I didn't keep alcohol at home but I did attempt to hang out at my local drinking place and abstain just to prove that I could. A couple of times that led to me drinking again, and I also found that it really wasn't very entertaining being the only sober person among a crowd of drinkers.

Exercise and planning activites with your son sounds like a good plan as well. Have you considered any "formal" recovery plan? It could be as simple as joining one of the monthly or daily threads here, or as involved as AA/AVRT/Smart/Life ring, etc.

Hi Brian,

I am a "waste not, want not" kind of person and the thought of dumping perfectly good alcohol down the drain always stuck in my craw. So what does one do with unused beer? Drink it, of course. If you can't find it in you to pour it out, donate it to some neighbors or friends. Use it as slug bait in the garden, without sampling it. Pour it on your petunias. Don't keep it around to prove you are stronger. The alcohol, combined with a BSD day, always beat me.

Keep going on the plans like Scott said. I'm roughly your age, 50, and I have a 9 year old sson and an almost 7 year old daughter. They take a lot of energy. Sometimes I find myself quite frazzled with them. But since quitting drinking, and I was a heavy daily drinker like you, I have so much more energy and patience now that I don't view my kids as interfering with my drinking. And the kids now notice that I have time and attention for them. My focus is so much better. Keep rolling along!

That's awesome brian!I took a 2 day hiatus from the gym this weekend and my body is alresdy feeling it. Funny, considering the damage I used to do to my body how now it craves motion and nourishment and doesn't like going into stasis

I lost every single time I went toe to toe with alcohol. That is why I have a dry house because I got tired of having the snot beat out of me

Congrats on day 3 Brian. The anxiety will definitely lessen as each sober day passes. Keep up the great work.

Congrats on day three, as others have said - get rid of the booze.

Welcome back Quitforson :)

apart from the gym and more activities do you have any ideas on a plan specifically to help you abstain?

D

Really glad to see you give it a go. I recall we were similar drinkers from previous posts. I'm having good luck filling my evening "drinking" time with things I dont do when I drink but enjoy sober. Reading before bed is fantastic. Worked out tonight at 8pm in my basement. Rode bikes with my younger kids last night at sunset.

Quite the eye opener to say the least. I never did any of these things after my first beer. I had beer in my fridge until yesterday. I gave it to my neighbor. Simply told him I was trying to shed some pounds and it was standing in my way. Now my beer fridge is stuffed with seltzers and I've never been so properly hydrated in years.

First 5-6 days were tough in the evening. Last couple have been quite pleasant. Congrats and best wishes!

Hi Dee74,

I do not have any plan other than not drinking. I just decided I was going to quit, that is the same way I quit smoking over a year ago. Although to be honest I have been thinking about quitting for awhile just like I did with cigarettes. I am not usually the type of person that gets help I just rely on my own strengths. This forum seems to be enough for me if that makes sense.

Brian

Hi MisterChill,

I know what you mean about doing things after a beer or 2, all of the thoughts about what I was going to do would quite quickly get forgotten about. Today is day 4 for me and I am going to give the beer I have left away tonight or tomorrow. strangely enough it is not bothering me looking at the beer every time I open the fridge but I suppose that can change in a short time, I know I should get rid of it sooner rather than later.

You should give that beer away to the drain of your sink.

Today is day 4 and still no physical withdrawal symptoms except for maybe a bit of brain fog. I don't think I drank enough per day to have the shakes or insomnia type of symptoms. I am sure if I was going to get any withdrawal symptoms It would have happened by now, I will consider my self lucky. bought some new summer cloths last night to treat myself for quitting, well I needed new cloths anyways as I never did shop very much for that type of thing.

Brian

Congratulations on day four. The brain fog will go with time.

Brain fog departs. Clarity comes back. Well done on day 4.

Today is day 5, still have the beer in my fridge, I think tonight I will finally give it away after I pickup my son. I have proved to myself that I can resist it so its no longer required. Not to be gross but I used to go to the bathroom every morning and have very liquidly bowel movements and now I don't, I suppose its because of the liquid in liquid out theory. Anyways I feel less tired and stronger than I have in a long time. My son is going to wonder why I am so much more active, actually he will be quite happy about it I am sure.

That's it for now, thanks for listening.

Brian

Congrats on day five Brian. You will notice so many things that get better the longer you are sober.

Keep on keeping on.