Recovery is the new Black (The Sober Thread)

14 days tonight, my sleep has been awesome. In addition I have very vivid dreams of which I usually don’t. Bloating is down and I am peeing like a race horse with clean eating and a lot of water. Really salty things are starting to taste disgusting if I chose to treat myself with my cheat meal.

Zero desire to drink most of the time. The saved money is very nice. I have found walking helps a lot at the end of a harsh work day rather than having a beer.
 
Still going strong. Much easier to go to bed now. I ised to hydrate alot when drinking alcohol. Like I would chug fluids the next morning. I made the mistake of trying to do a 5 x 8 threshold work out last night after doing two harder day is the day before. I should have known better but anyways I was able to do two sets properly I started the third and backed it off because of cramping and I feel felt that I could not maintain the power. Looking back I’m sure I was a hair do you hydrated as the threshold power felt very difficult towards the end and my calves were locking up. I still have a sweet tooth to an extent some Christmas cookies/Candice still on the table at work but in general I feel better the bloating has gone down and now I am down to 197.8 in the morning.
 
Weighed myself this morning after breakfast. I’m down to 216. That’s 5 lbs in 15 days! I’m happy about this. The goal is 195 by April 1st.

Slept poorly last night, mostly because I had too much on mind. Neighbors dropped off a thank you card for watching their kids this week. They included a bottle of Knob Creek. Told the wife to hide it. 🤭
 
Ah, day 16. Hump day.

Got to grab my wife a couple beers for the football game. Won't be a problem.
She finished a bottle of wine last night - i think we opened it a week ago - we meaning i poured her a glass.
Two bottles were open since the beginning of the year, and she just finished the first.
If i'm involved, it would be 1 bottle in a night plus opening another.
So not only am i drinking it, i'm also a bad influence.

That got me thinking, where do we go with this habit-breaker effort. Probably shouldn't go right back
to crushing a couple/three every day - that is where I was.

So here is what I'm thinking
1. More non-drinking days than drinking days. some weeks it might be 4-3, aiming for 5-2, but 6-1 is in play, perhaps a 7-0 now and then.
2. Look at non-alc beer alternatives. I don't drink soda unless i make my monthly swing through McD. When it makes sense to pair with food.
3. Remember how good it feels waking up clear-headed.

Keep it rolling.
 
@Patrick one is too many and 100 is not enough
not only do we have stop drinking, we have to change our habits, and the crowd we hang out with
it's playing with fire having alcohol so close by you could have a moment of "I dont give a f*ck" and slip up
fake beer does not work for me, neither does decaf coffee, it's the buzz I'm after, no sense trying to no fake that

only way to wake up and not feel like chit is no alcohol, period
 
I did a dry spell last year, from November through April, to help focus on work, save money and do more fun things like night rides instead of solo couch drinking. When I went back i set rules, nothing on work nights, no more than a 6er (best controlled through supply, only buy a 6er), nothing after 10pm. It worked for a while then morphed back to old habits, so this November I went dry again. My return might be just with family on holidays, not sure. Liking the returns everyone else is experiencing, better sleep, more money, doing more with my time.
 
Dingo said:
@Patrick one is too many and 100 is not enough
not only do we have stop drinking, we have to change our habits, and the crowd we hang out with
it's playing with fire having alcohol so close by you could have a moment of "I dont give a f*ck" and slip up
fake beer does not work for me, neither does decaf coffee, it's the buzz I'm after, no sense trying to no fake that

only way to wake up and not feel like chit is no alcohol, period
Click to expand...
Assessment of @Patrick is i dont think he drinks like you or I, though he never missed an opportunity to try and keep up with me :)
Test is where are you 6 months from now after your 30 days. I pulled plenty of 30 days because of some disaster I put myself or family in. If "You" think you have a problem then YES you have a problem. If someone else thinks you have a problem then you most definitely have a problem no matter if you think you dont.

Spouses sometimes fall into your problem trap because it becomes a if you can't beat them, join them. This was the case for us. You come to find this out after putting together a few days months and years they are just normal drinkers.
 
Dingo said:
@Patrick one is too many and 100 is not enough
not only do we have stop drinking, we have to change our habits, and the crowd we hang out with
it's playing with fire having alcohol so close by you could have a moment of "I dont give a f*ck" and slip up
fake beer does not work for me, neither does decaf coffee, it's the buzz I'm after, no sense trying to no fake that

only way to wake up and not feel like chit is no alcohol, period
Click to expand...

can i change my internal narrative? that is the question.

sitting around at 3am binge watching TWD and looking for more alc cause i drank everything in the house vs
a non-alch beer with dinner. Can i do that?

While i've stopped the former years ago, I still would open another even tho it is the 4th Q of MNF.
That is getting put to rest this time - and perhaps not drinking on a Monday is a better idea.

Seems non-alc beer has improved since the days of kaliber - haven't tried it. Even with these, I'd avoid
going 2 or 3 deep, cause why? It pairs nicely with a bacon-cheese-burger. A glass of wine with a steak or pasta.

Zero doesn't seem realistic or necessary if I can execute the plan. Responsible consumption?
 
Patrick said:
Ah, day 16. Hump day.

Got to grab my wife a couple beers for the football game. Won't be a problem.
She finished a bottle of wine last night - i think we opened it a week ago - we meaning i poured her a glass.
Two bottles were open since the beginning of the year, and she just finished the first.
If i'm involved, it would be 1 bottle in a night plus opening another.
So not only am i drinking it, i'm also a bad influence.

That got me thinking, where do we go with this habit-breaker effort. Probably shouldn't go right back
to crushing a couple/three every day - that is where I was.

So here is what I'm thinking
1. More non-drinking days than drinking days. some weeks it might be 4-3, aiming for 5-2, but 6-1 is in play, perhaps a 7-0 now and then.
2. Look at non-alc beer alternatives. I don't drink soda unless i make my monthly swing through McD. When it makes sense to pair with food.
3. Remember how good it feels waking up clear-headed.

Keep it rolling.
Click to expand...

Excellent work! I worked 6 days a week when I quit which helped me whittle down to 6-1 eventually. I think at my worst during/right out of college it was 4 nights drinking (relatively heavy). Everyone reacts differently, you may drink Feb 1 and realize how shit it feels the next day or you may revert back to your regular drinking. The science is against you drinking less over time statistically.
 
alcoholics cannot have responsible consumption, one drink and responsibility goes out the window thats how we got here in the first place
the only thing we can control is the first one, after that alcohol is driving the bus no telling where the next stop will be
 
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1TrackMind said:
I did a dry spell last year, from November through April, to help focus on work, save money and do more fun things like night rides instead of solo couch drinking. When I went back i set rules, nothing on work nights, no more than a 6er (best controlled through supply, only buy a 6er), nothing after 10pm. It worked for a while then morphed back to old habits, so this November I went dry again. My return might be just with family on holidays, not sure. Liking the returns everyone else is experiencing, better sleep, more money, doing more with my time.
Click to expand...

Trying to set rules like this was just a chore. Trying to babysit myself into only having 2 or 3 or none on weekdays just was tedious to the point of not being fun. It was a job and I still felt like shit. I knew I wanted more and was depriving myself...it eventually just became way easier to not have any because when I had 2 or 3 I wanted 20 until I wasn't making memories anymore and I woke up the next morning somehow in my bed.
 
15 days. 1 beer tonight. I'm out. Maybe I'll do a damp January. I needed it to deal with the kids and chill a bit. Well I didn't need it, but I wanted it. I've enjoyed the 15 days. Maybe i'll go the rest of the month without. The good beer in the fridge was calling to me. As long as I break my 2-3 beers a day habit it's a win.
 
xc62701 said:
15 days. 1 beer tonight. I'm out. Maybe I'll do a damp January. I needed it to deal with the kids and chill a bit. Well I didn't need it, but I wanted it. I've enjoyed the 15 days. Maybe i'll go the rest of the month without. The good beer in the fridge was calling to me. As long as I break my 2-3 beers a day habit it's a win.
Click to expand...
Too easy bro. Call it a slip and get back on the wagon. No excuses!
 
cassinonorth said:
because when I had 2 or 3 I wanted 20 until I wasn't making memories anymore and I woke up the next morning somehow in my bed.
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This. So much this. I know it’s not everybody...but yeah man. I get sick of trying to piece together conversations I had with my wife and retracing my steps to hide how blackout I actually was.
 
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