First Weekend
 

Well this will be the very first weekend in as long as I can remember that I am not planning on drinking at all....nothing...not one! I have made plans to keep myself busy but I just keep coming back to SR because it feels so safe and I'm with like minded people. I did a nice long workout with my favorite trainer this morning just to start off on the right foot. I'm worried my husband is going to get bored with me if I am not participating in the social drinking activities that we normally do together. He'd say not to worry about it but I do. Hopefully going to see me daughter today to get out of the house. Thanks for reading.

Sounds like a great start to the weekend wholeself. Is the plan to leave alcohol behind for good? In the early days, keeping busy was key for me. Not just busy, but scripted. Occupied. Every morning I would write down an agenda for the day and stick to it. Some of the agenda items were things like "do nothing" or "free time", but every minute was accounted for in advance. I used that for several weeks. What is your plan wholeself? What do the next few days look like for you?

Sounds like things are off to a great start wholeself. Your husband is right when he says not to worry about it too ;-) Especially early on, we tend to obsess ourselves as much with "not drinking" as we did with drinking. It's perfectly fine to enjoy other activites, and as you get more time under your belt it will eventually become second nature to enjoy those things. I know it sounds daunting, when I was still drinking I did literally everything with a beer in my hand or at least closeby. Mowing the lawn, cooking, reading, whatever it was I always had a supply of beer at the ready. I couln't fathom making it a weekend without beer - but guess what, you are already partway through one and look at how far youve come!

Welcome and great plan! I also found drinking excessively to be at odds with my fitness goals, and conversely, fitness activities helped to minimize my drinking over the years. The key in early recovery is to keep busy and avoid temptations - drinking related friends and activities mainly. Or things that can trigger you. Be aware of your AV (addictive voice) which may suggest a drink would be fine at some point.

Good luck and keep posting!

One more thing wholeself. Your hubby and others are likely not going to be bored if you are not drinking. They might even be relieved. But one thing you'll discover, and it is so liberating - NOBODY cares what you are drinking or not drinking. They just don't.

Hi wholeself. I was worried about how boring life might be without alcohol. Yet I had made myself boring by being dependent on it - and not truly enjoying my life.
I admit the first few weeks were a little strange. Though I was thrilled to have it out of my system, I was a little disoriented. We've relied on it for so long - become used to the slight numbness it provided. It's not healthy, not helpful, it weakens us & changes who we are. You're doing a great thing. Be proud!

I got some strong peer pressure from my old drinking buddy. We drank together sometimes, and especially after golf.

He would almost call me names for not drinking with him. He seemed to resent me.

When I was drinking I could care less if someone else wasn't drinking except as the night wore on.

As I got more and more drunk, sometimes I could tell the non drinkers, like my wife, were annoyed by my drunken antics.

Bottom line is drinkers are addicted, even so called normal drinkers. The addiction will lie to the most severe extent, e.g. I am having heart palpitations because my boss is stressing me out.

Booze is poison. Getting clean hurts from every angle for a long long long time.

I still crave, but I know better.

Thanks.

I like the agenda idea. I am going to try that tomorrow. Today has gone very well for a day I would normally have been having drinks with friends and hanging out. Just chilling at home now. I feel great. Thanks for the ideas and support.

Your spouse may push back. This is a pretty common senario on here. Read around to see how others have handled it. Search the forums for key words. Many have quit and stayed quit while their spouses continued to drink. You can do it!