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Day 18 Quitting Da Booze

Old 08-28-2019, 08:50 AM
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Day 18 Quitting Da Booze

Was averaging around 40 drinks(mostly beer) per week this summer. Was drinking at home and also going out and getting **** faced, spending too much cash, and making generally poor decisions. I wouldn't say that I hit rock bottom or anything, but I was certainly heading in that direction. I have been an on and off heavy drinker since I was 21. I am currently 33, and have seen my life stagnate a bit. I want to live a cleaner, happier, healthier life.

I am 18 days in and feeling a lot stronger and healthier. I have some fatigue and brain fog. Hopefully these lift in due time, and I am sure that they will. Currently popping vitamins and eating as healthily as I can. Also hitting the gym pretty hard. I am not pursuing any major life changes(career, business, new relationships) at the moment. Priority number one is staying sober. I aim to quit indefinitely. I am currently questioning whether I will ever introduce alcohol back into my life in any capacity. If I do, it would be strictly special occasions(twice a year on vacation or something).

Super excited to be sober and know what a life changing decision this can be
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Old 08-28-2019, 10:01 AM
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Welcome to SoberRecovery! 18 days is awesome!

Here's a couple good threads to join. Read around and post often--it works if you work it!

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...ml#post7256809 (24 Hour Recovery Connections Part 454)

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...-1-2019-a.html
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Old 08-28-2019, 10:24 AM
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When I made my introduction post 10 months ago I also guessed I was drinking around 40 drinks (75 units) a week. I liked to drink at home, in bars, and at friends houses. I drank beer and whiskey.

Every social activity revolved around alcohol. I was scared to quit but I knew I had to. My main concern was I would get black out drunk a couple nights a month. I would not remember hours of the night. Sometimes I would engage in behavior I was not proud of.

Now that I have been sober for 10 months I have realized countless benifits. Their is no way I would ever go back to drinking now.

If I have one tip its read "This Naked Mind" by Annie Grace.
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Old 08-28-2019, 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by NastyTime View Post

Priority number one is staying sober.
That's the ticket !

My sobriety date is the #1 most important thing in my life !

More important than God !

Without my sobriety date I ain't got no God or anything !!!

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Old 08-28-2019, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by NastyTime View Post
I am currently questioning whether I will ever introduce alcohol back into my life in any capacity. If I do, it would be strictly special occasions(twice a year on vacation or something).
If you are an alcoholic I'd say no chance. But I don't know if you are an alcoholic.

I certainly understand this alcoholic's mindset and I was negotiating the terms of my future drinking soon after I quit too. And at six months sober I thought drinking every six months (twice a year compared to daily) was a great idea.

But if I drank twice a year, why not three times a year. That's not that much more. Hey, why not just round it up...four times a year. That's a whole lot better than what I was doing. But I'd rather drink on major holidays. How many are there? New Years, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. Okay, I'm going to only drink 6 times a year...Wait, I forgot the Super Bowl, and my birthday, and my anniversary, and the solar eclipse.

See where I'm going with this? For me it was simpler to just never drink again. Ever. And special occasions are still special. I just don't drink on them.
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Old 08-28-2019, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by NastyTime View Post
am currently questioning whether I will ever introduce alcohol back into my life in any capacity. If I do, it would be strictly special occasions(twice a year on vacation or something)
If you’ve become alcohol dependent, and I suspect this is the case unfortunately, you must stop drinking totally. I spent months looking at research into former heavy drinkers who quit and later attempt to drink in moderation. They all failed with very very few exceptions. The mind of a heavy drinker becomes hard wired to expect alcohol. Abstinence helps reduce those feelings, but drinking again reawakens all the old urges. There’ll be a “reason” to drink every day after that.

Its way easier to just quit than attempt any moderation, even occasionally.
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Old 08-28-2019, 05:05 PM
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Great job on 18 days. I quit for a few years when I was about your age. Those were a few of the best years of my life, and I can actually remember them clearly. I wish I had stayed sober instead of letting my AV trick me into drinking "moderately."

Keep it up, man.
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Old 08-28-2019, 06:27 PM
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Welcome aboard NastyTIme - and congrats on day 18

For me the only way I can live is not to drink.
I try not to confuse abstinence for control.

I haven't taken a drink since 2007 but I have no doubt the same bad things would happen to me today if I did.

Trying to keep alcohol in my life - when it was obviously a disastrous relationship - was a dream doomed to failure.

D
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Old 08-28-2019, 06:29 PM
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It's great to meet you, NastyTime. 18 days is wonderful.
We're here to encourage & support your new, alcohol-free life. Well done!
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Old 08-28-2019, 09:48 PM
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Makes sense to me.

“The PDP (Positive Drive Principal) says that all human behavior is driven by the pursuit of happiness and that, when you choose to do something, you do so because you see it as your best available option. This concept is vitally important because the only way you will stop desiring heavy substances and change your behavior is by seeing more happiness in the change than in the using. You must reach that conclusion yourself because, as Aristotle said, “We desire in accordance with our deliberation.”
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Old 08-28-2019, 10:58 PM
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Well done on hitting day 18 NastyTime. I am on day 20, so with you all the way.

From previous failed quit attempts, I know that, for me at least, 'one glass of wine with dinner at the weekend', leads to one glass every day, then half a bottle, then a full bottle, then several strong (quadruple) G&Ts every evening so that I am in a stupor. Like Rd2quit, 70-80 units per week.

I do not intend to drink again, and know that the offer of 'go on...one drink won't hurt you' for me, is a poisoned chalice.
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Old 08-28-2019, 11:24 PM
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Like all of us, Badga, you thought you could moderate, and why not? It seemed an easy enough idea to just cut down. But as we all now know (hopefully) it doesn’t work that way, and we all end up drinking the same amount as before.

I mentioned before I know a heavy drinker who now “moderates” to not exceed the U.K. recommended 14 unit weekly limit (which equate to 1.5 bottles of wine), but it’s a miserable existence snd he spends all his evenings gulping down the allotted amount and then craving like crazy. No thanks. Quitting is the far easier option.
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Old 08-28-2019, 11:31 PM
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I'm on day 4 doing good I'll be happier at 18 days. I quit for almost 9 years and came back to booze 4 yrs ago thought I could control it too. I don't know like you if I'm an alcoholic probably am but alcohol and me are not good. I personally dont like a person being labeled. Best thing is stay away from it and life is much much better me included!! Good luck!!
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