JustJohn

52 days sober. All my triggers hit me at once. Some snarky exchanges between me and my wife. She took the dogs for a walk and left me to get over myself. Beautiful sunny day. Go outside and fire the sub-compact diesel tractor up and do some puttering around - yep - I loved to operate machinery under the influence. Mowing the lawn required the same. Grilling OMFSM!. My addictive voice is like a persistent lover teasing me seductively...

If I can make it to 6:00 PM EST I'm good. A full belly works too - just snarfed down what I was grilling along with some roasted veggies my wife made (dog walking is great therapy for coping with churlish husbands struggling with sobriety). Managed to stay on my low carb/keto diet another day.

Tomorrow is going to be beautiful too. Tomorrow is also weight lifting day, and I don't want to set back the progress I've made with diet and exercise. So I'm resolved to make it through this day, get excellent sleep tonight, and lift progressively heavier weights with each workout. The weight lifting "high" lasts a lot longer than a booze high with no hangover.

Thanks for reading! Keep giving sobriety a chance - it'll eventually stick!

TheAten

Nothing to say really but just wanted you to know someone read what you had to say and appreciated it 🙂 I don’t know you and I never will but I’m rooting for you and I hope you continue to become healthier and stronger, day by day.

anxiousrock

I am almost the exact same way! I'm just over 7 weeks sober, and the cravings are bad.
probably the only thing that kept me from drinking today is that I work tomorrow...

Aellyce

Good job on getting through, I know how challenging it can be. I had pretty much daily, sometimes very intense cravings in my first two sober months or so - I understand and feel for you. Initially, I was really scared that I would not last through them, but luckily came across a bunch of excellent tools to manage urges from SMART Recovery. I would recommend SMART (at least the urge management part) to anyone, and there are many meetings to talk about it and learn how to handle them using a variety of methods, like a pro . Part of it is learning about triggers and patterns. I found it immensely helpful, probably saved my life. Yes, eating a good nutritious meal is also a very effective, reliable remedy. It sounds like you already know how to shift your focus and find healthy distractions

Dee74

I believe you can make it to 6 and beyond, John.

Drinking never did a thing for me and my problems, it just attacked the symptoms.

Its all about learning a new skill. When I learned to deal with my problems in a adult and positive way, my cravings lessened dramatically

D

RUL23

im about to head for a nice long five mile walk. Agree 100%. Someone said it here once I think. That good quote about "I've never regretted exercising afterward"

Anna

John, I'm glad you got through the day and are feeling positive moving forward.

lifewithart

Hey great job posting here and reaching out. That is a huge step to surviving this illness and continuing on with sobriety. Enjoy the chill evening and workout tomorrow

FiveTries

🤣😀

Sounds like something my wife would do.
I read your post and I related to everything except you said. You have a nice running start with 52 days. I can't wait to get there.

JustJohn

Thanks for taking the time to comment everyone - sometimes these these replies help more than you my know. Seems such a little thing, but can make a big difference in the moment.

advbike

Good to hear from you John, and so glad things are going well for you. Please don't be a stranger here, I found (with considerable experience) that if I got away from daily reading and posting, the cravings start to bubble up. It's almost as if we need the daily reminder, and also the emotional benefit that comes from helping others. I suppose this is also a part of what AA does for those who mainly go for the fellowship.

At any rate, you're doing great in handling the voice of your AV. Keep up the good work!

JustJohn

Thanks - most days I stop by the forums and read. I don't post often. I tend to post when I have something I need to say, or to reply to someone's post that spoke to me, or if I feel maybe I can say something helpful for someone struggling. I've learned, often the hard way, that it's best for me to listen at least twice as much as I speak.

I do appreciate this forum and all these wonderful people that participate.