The Freedom Thread (Continued) - Enjoying the positives of an alcohol free life *Title edited by MNHQ*

[BunniesBunniesBunnies]

Hello all,

This is a thread for people who have decided that life is much better without alcohol!🤩 These threads were started by @Drybird, and they have changed the lives of many people.

Some posters on these threads have been sober for a long time, and some are only just starting. We are a very friendly and inclusive bunch and we are always excited when someone new joins the thread. The only thing we ask is that our posters have given up alcohol completely. Talk of moderation can be triggering for some people, so this thread is not the right place for that (there are other moderation threads🙂).

I hope to see many familiar names on this thread, and some new ones too! We always welcome anyone to share their feelings, ask questions or simply “check in”🙂

I’d also like to thank @Breathmiller for hosting the last thread (and to ask for your forgiveness for shamelessly stealing your thread title😳) - Thank you @Breathmiller 💐

Thanks all!

Bunnies

Fingers crossed for a quick result @Breathmiller!
Enjoy your run @Drybird2020!
@excitedemmi two weeks is great👍👍👍

@Touty well done. I’m all about the early dinners these days! I often eat at 5 (!). I think a lot of my booze cravings (when still drinking too) were actually cravings for different things - food, water, affection, company, solitude, sleep, etc. I really had to re-learn what each craving meant when I quit. Difficult but very rewarding process. Keep going, you’re doing great.

Very excited about HF Christmas now, thanks for a new term @Newmum738😂

Sorry I haven’t really kept up with these threads. I’m trying to use my phone less as well as not drinking! Is anyone else finding Christmas hard? I’ve been sober since July but it seems at the moment I’m seeing alcohol everywhere and it’s making things difficult. Im so proud of how far I’ve come and I’ve seen so many positive changes in my life. Why is there still a part of my brain telling me to throw it all away?

Welcome @FieldGuide! If you’ve managed since July , think how good you will feel by the new year! Remember why you gave up in the summer. What were your thoughts then?
I have a couple of wee mantras that are helping me a bit in weak moments. One is that If I decide to drink that’s my call, but I’ve to decide for tomorrow and not today, so important decisions are not made on the spur of the moment. The other is that I’m going to try this Christmas holiday sober to see how it is, and if it’s no good I can plan differently for next Christmas.
@Touty I so wish I could send her over to you . I must confess I find MIL staying Uber challenging. We’ve just all sat through Christmas Eve dinner where she barely said a word. My DH pointed out the decorated Christmas cake it took my DD and I hours to make and she said nothing!! I’m now hiding in the bath after spending 3 hours in kitchen cooking and clearing up. 2 nights almost down, 2 to go.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone and I really hope you get a negative test Breathmiller. I think you’ve had more than your fair share of self isolation this year. BTW I’ve made one French dish too, tart tatin, the caramelly apples actually smell delicious. Definitely getting more out of food since going AF, so that’s something else 😀 bye for now everyone.

Thank you @iamyourequal that helps.
I wrote down my reasons for stopping, so maybe I’ll have a read of them again before bed. I really want to start the New Year sober.

Definitely look at your list @FieldGuide. I know we are all different, but it’s so hard to go AF again once you have a drink. Your mind plays tricks and tells you you’ve learned how to moderate, but most people find that’s rubbish and with a few weeks they are back where they started. Good luck . Keep posting.

Thank you. I’ve spent years trying to stop, wanting to stop, maybe giving up for a bit then starting again. This is the longest I’ve done, I desperately don’t want to mess it up. I think it’s just the time of year. My brain is expecting to drink because it’s what I’ve always done at Christmas and it’s what I see every time I turn the TV on, or that’s what it seems like. I think maybe I need to come up with some different AF routines and habits that I can look forward to at Christmas.

@FieldGuide you have done amazingly all these months!!! Don’t throw it away now, look at that list and remember why you are doing this. Sometimes on a difficult day I break the day into small chunks and survive each chunck one at a time.

I’ve been up since silly o’clock with a waaay overexcited child. This would be awful with a hangover but as I went to bed early it’s actually fine. So grateful for HF Christmas.

Happy Christmas all x

Morning @BunniesBunniesBunnies , morning everyone
I've been up since 5.30 too- menopause madness !
Wishing everyone a very happy AF and HF Christmas Day xxx

Merry Christmas!

I've been up for a while too! 9 month old twins :D :D

@FieldGuide I know what you mean about the part of your brain that wants to throw it all away. AF is soooo good! Stupid brain - stop trying to trick me in to drinking again. I think part of it habitual. I am very used to having a drink with so many things that it's hard to form new habits. I even associate having a shower with having a drink as I would usually have a relaxed glass of fizz in the shower in the evening (like you would in the bath), which is crazy now I come to think of it.

It doesn't help that drinking around this time of year is so normalised and everyone is doing it everywhere! You can even drink Christmas morning without raising eyebrows usually! Well we will just have to be trailblazers!!!

Merry Christmas you wonderful bunch.

Me and the littlest hobo in the house have been awake a while, both far too excited. But we are waiting on dh and poor ds18 who thought this would be the year that his little brother wouldn't make him get up at silly o'clock.

Apparently the agreed time was 8.30am. But that's soooo long to wait!

We have had a busy night with not only a visit from Santa but also the tooth fairy. It's all go here.

Happiest of AF/HF Christmases to you all. I have spent many a Christmas morning really struggling with a hangover so this feels so much easier.

fieldguide keep going! You've done so well to get this far. Just take each moment as it comes today. I love being present for each moment in life now. I've missed far to much through a haze of drunkeness, life is for enjoying.

Still no result on my PCR here. Do you think they will be sending out results today? Really hoping i can see family tomorrow. (If it's negative of course)

Happy Christmas everyone. Thanks for the support here, you lot really are wonderful. I’ve woken up feeling much better. I don’t post here often but these threads have been so important for me in getting this far.

Really hope you can see your family tomorrow Breathmiller.

In one of my dreams last night I forgot I was not drinking and I had quite a few. HOWEVER, once I realised I had a massive internal struggle and then decided to not carry on. Even dream me is getting better!

Merry Christmas to all. Day 1 for me. I've had a stressful few days and decided it would be a good idea to have a drink last night. It wasn't. I've barely slept, feel rough, anxious and I've got the runs. Damn, damn, damn

Hi everyone
@Kindtomyself it’s a new day so please do what your name says on the box!
Fieldguide I’m a July starter so hold fast there.
Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful weekend and keep on track cos tomorrow can then be HF 👍

Thanks @BunniesBunniesBunnies and @iamyourequal, and Merry Christmas everyone.

Not feeling hugely merry, I must admit, but I’m here and I’m AF, so doing ok. I just find being chatty and social so much more of an effort when I’m sober. I miss that ‘warming the cockles’ feeling of the first few drinks.

I’ll focus on playing the tape forward and remembering how much more likely I am when drunk to get irritated with my folks’ ‘of their generation’ type comments.

Sorry not to have a more positive contribution to make - just feeling a bit bleaurgh.

Lads! How are we doing?? I'm at the gym. Had six croissants for breakfast. Stay sober.

Happy Christmas all! @HangingOver - hello, how are you? That is the breakfast of champions right there 🏆 Did your test results come back ok BreathMiller?

Hang in there Promises and Kind. It’s hard to “rewire” Christmas as AF. I just tried to work out how many hungover Christmas and Boxing Days I’ve had and actually lost count.. No more.

Hello fieldguide . I was struggling a few days ago but doing ok now. It’s my second AF Christmas but the first one was “let me just see if I can do this for a month”.

excitedemmi your dream version getting better too made me smile! Hope you’re having a lovely day! Is it your twins’ first Christmas?

We’re actually managing a quiet Christmas here, just the three of us, everyone helping out and no rushing anywhere or entertaining. DH is outnumbered by non-drinkers and I’m enjoying drinking AF with my daughter. Who seems to have changed from a girl to a young woman without me noticing.

Waving to everyone here quickly as dh is setting the table for lunch. Be back later.

A @PromisesMeanNothingSue it’s okay not to feel hugely merry. Just play it forward and hang in there.

@HangingOver six chroissants🤩🤩🤩

@Breathmiller they’re doing booster vaccines today so I’m sure they’re still processing PCRs soon, hope you get your result soon!

@Kindtomyself be kind to yourself, and well done for persevering with Day 1 on Christmas. Hope you feel a bit better now

Hello everyone merry Xmas. Had a rather good AF Xmas today. Thought of the day - I have to learn to sit with myself and my demons in peace and try to self soothe in other ways rather than drinking.

Something @BunniesBunniesBunnies said to me yesterday really clicked, it was along the lines of alcohol just blots things out rather than lifting one's spirits.

@AlloftheTime how is it going today? Hope the MIL has left by now?

Hope everyone is doing ok

@Touty good for you and very good to hear. There were some hairy moments my end but I stayed Alcohol free. Just when I opened wine for my father, was very tempted, but managed to have a strong word with myself and all good here.

I am really excited about waking up tomorrow hangover free, yay for the sober Christmas 🙌 I'm absolutely stoked I did it.

IIM off to bed in like an hour as one of my twins woke up a couple of times last night , so I am officially signing off on a job well done.

And blinking well done everyone who has stayed the path, it's not easy but it is so worth being strong and knowing you can actually talk yourself out of it is liberating and power in itself.

@Kindtomyself I'm so sorry , it feels so awful I know, I was where you were two weeks ago, but stay strong on this day one and you'll be two weeks, a month in, before you know it. You can do a sober boxing day, Christmas day and New year's still 💜

@BunniesBunniesBunnies thank you for keeping the torch of the thread lit, you have supported all of us in such a stonkingly fantastic way

I've survived an AF Xmas day! I'm on day 26 so far and feeling good about my choices. I've had a 3 day headache now so not sure if that's withdrawal or work stress. It's been a great Christmas not battling my conscience or my demons! We had Xmas dinner yesterday and picked at leftovers today so we could enjoy the presents and the playing with DS. I've had AF drinks and enjoyed those along with the food. Told myself I could have desert with my spare wine calories! Hope everyone is doing OK xx