Recovery is the new Black (The Sober Thread)

JDurk said:
Caved last night with a pour of bourbon. Didn't sleep much the night before as I've made a pretty significant career decision and notified my employer.


Feeling this big time. Need to get my head right and going dry this month has been a big help.
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For myself, "playing the tape forward" was a crucial technique in the early days of sobriety.

Okay I'll have this beer, I'll feel good for about 20 minutes. Then I'll want to chase that feeling with another, and another...crap. The night is ruined, any chance of being productive is gone, I'll probably eat a bunch of crap, sleep like crap, wake up feeling like crap, eat like crap the next day, anxiety ridden the entire next day (do I smell? I bet I did something stupid last night? Is my partner mad at me?), leading to eating worse etc. Moderation was a myth for me...I really never felt a point to just have one. I bet some in here can relate to that.

Alcohol is a feedback loop for me. The more I drank, the more I had to drink to escape from whatever problem came up....which was mostly caused by alcohol. 1938 days since my last drink. I agree with others in here, I don't even think about alcohol anymore...never get offered it, barely ever around it honestly. Just not a part of my life like heroin or meth isn't.
 
Cassinonorth said:
For myself, "playing the tape forward" was a crucial technique in the early days of sobriety.

Okay I'll have this beer, I'll feel good for about 20 minutes. Then I'll want to chase that feeling with another, and another...crap. The night is ruined, any chance of being productive is gone, I'll probably eat a bunch of crap, sleep like crap, wake up feeling like crap, eat like crap the next day, anxiety ridden the entire next day (do I smell? I bet I did something stupid last night? Is my partner mad at me?), leading to eating worse etc. Moderation was a myth for me...I really never felt a point to just have one. I bet some in here can relate to that.

Alcohol is a feedback loop for me. The more I drank, the more I had to drink to escape from whatever problem came up....which was mostly caused by alcohol. 1938 days since my last drink. I agree with others in here, I don't even think about alcohol anymore...never get offered it, barely ever around it honestly. Just not a part of my life like heroin or meth isn't.
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Great work man congrats on finding success and your reasons not to go back and yeah of course we can relate Lol but wait what is this moderation you speak of 🤣🤣🤔🤔
 
Soundguy said:
Keep it going guys. I could use the motivation. Alcohol is a very life or death situation for me and this time of year gets pretty dark.
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oh shit mean. Fuck alcohol. You will still be happy without it! Please talk about it if you need to.

I kinda stumbled upon dry January. I got really sick after christmas and every food or drink turned me off for a few days. I'm even off coffee! Well, its only been measly 9th day haha. But I don't miss my almost daily drink or coffee. I don't think alcohol messes with my sleep much. I'm just a light sleeper but I'm not as tired and my sprained knee from 5 years ago doesn't bother me as much! THIS IS THE BEST THING! I even get up early with even alertness to work out before work and kids are up. I hope this is my new groove.

Coffee smells so good mid afternoon though! I had headaches for nearly 5 days giving that up. Tea is my friend now.
 
Cassinonorth said:
For myself, "playing the tape forward" was a crucial technique in the early days of sobriety.

Okay I'll have this beer, I'll feel good for about 20 minutes. Then I'll want to chase that feeling with another, and another...crap.
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Thank you for sharing these. Great technique and explanation of how to reshape your thinking about alcohol.

My favorite lines:
“You have all of these amazing chemicals in your body and all of these amazing hormones that can actually make you feel phenomenal.”

“The feeling of being just blessed with life itself didn’t occur while drinking.”
 
My heart felt thanks for all the deep thoughts in this thread. I've been contemplating a change. I'm sick of the shitty sleep and the next day "hangxiety". If I'm having more than one, I know that riding will not happen the next day. (I'm 55, this took hold around the age of 50). Might push my "dry month" to a bit later, as I don't know how I can ever skip the Apres Ski beer. Might try an NA.
 
littlev21 said:
My heart felt thanks for all the deep thoughts in this thread. I've been contemplating a change. I'm sick of the shitty sleep and the next day "hangxiety". If I'm having more than one, I know that riding will not happen the next day. (I'm 55, this took hold around the age of 50). Might push my "dry month" to a bit later, as I don't know how I can ever skip the Apres Ski beer. Might try an NA.
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Do a dry January then. Or just take 30 days off. It's small commitment really, and the overall improvement is pretty eye opening.
 
Marked my 4th early morning workout in 2024. Makes the day go faster, feel more energy, get things done. All I need is 20-40min to sweat to jump start the day. No coffee! When I go to sleep I look fwd to exercising. This is addiction too?
A drink is good but feeling great through the day is better! Let’s go!
Was so hard to resist a little scotch over the weekend though. I may have if I didn’t have to drive 2hrs home in the snow!
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Soundguy said:
Keep it going guys. I could use the motivation. Alcohol is a very life or death situation for me and this time of year gets pretty dark.
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This time of year is really tough. But all the more reason to keep making healthy decisions.

I was never a big drinker but I'd have some heavy IPAs on weekends and sometimes during the week. When I found out I was getting divorced around this time last year I stopped both alcohol and social media cold turkey. Just felt like the best thing to do for myself. I noticed within days how much better I felt and mentioned it to a medical professional friend of mine. He said very matter-of-factly "Of course you feel better. Alcohol is poison".

Keep it going dude.
 
@jdog the guest’s background sounds like a perfect scam and his voice has been scientifically engineered for persuasion. He could probably talk me into jumping off a bridge.

@Soundguy damn man. Sorry. Props to share your lows
 
littlev21 said:
My heart felt thanks for all the deep thoughts in this thread. I've been contemplating a change. I'm sick of the shitty sleep and the next day "hangxiety". If I'm having more than one, I know that riding will not happen the next day. (I'm 55, this took hold around the age of 50). Might push my "dry month" to a bit later, as I don't know how I can ever skip the Apres Ski beer. Might try an NA.
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I started with a dry month, it was December but I just had enough. Sometimes I could control it, most of the time I didn't stop. I kept telling myself it's only beer, not hard liquor, it won't be a problem, it's not like I drink every day, the usual mental games. It's been over a year now without a sip and I don't miss it. Start small, and cliche as it is, take one day at a time. Your budget and waist line will thank you.
 
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