The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Starting the Summer Filled With Luscious Mocktails.

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm Mouse and I used to drink far too much. Too much vodka to be exact, then too much wine, then too much cider....... you can imagine how it went.

This Bus is full of people like me, and people like you actually. Sober people, drinkers, a few not surers, and those who are simply 'somewhere'.

The one thing that we have in common is that we can/do/did/will abuse alcohol.

Some for a number of years, some months, some for their entire adult (and before) lives.

The support here is for everyone. Those in AA, those who are taking medication to help, those going it alone, those with the support of others. We're all here for the same reason.

Why not come and say hello? We are all so very different in our every day lives but we all have a common theme.....

And, for those who want to see where all of this began 2 years ago, HERE IS a link to all of the past Bus rides.

Doh... Soma and JWN

Afternoon, tis me, Mouse

Ma - drop your carbs to less than 30/40 a day and the weight will fall off. To achieve the maximum effect, take your carbs to no more than 20g per day.

I posted about another diet a few pages back..... that has lots of details in it and a good variety of mixed foods. It's not as low as 20g per day but then again, it's not an Atkins diet.

I lost nearly 2 stone, finally hit 10st which was my goal and have since put 1/2 stone back on! So, I'm starting a diet again tomorrow as today was a bit of a faff, we had to dash off to the CDC for Nemo's last assessment which took forever.

I'm mentally knackered now. Anyway Ma lots of water and I mean loads. 4 pints a day. I have a pint pot next to me and just top it up when it's empty.

Oh well, the clam of being a mother with a liquid eating boy, means liquid deposits.

Wine is a killer for undoing all of your hard work. You do great with food but then there's the wine with hidden sugars and carbs in. Up your protein and lower your starchy, white flour, chips, spuds of all kinds, sorry! Bread will be he hardest thing to give up.

You'd be best sticking to a low fat, high protein and fibre diet but one hat YOU want eat you can use foodfocus.co.uk to check what your eating and lo the weigh is too.

It's hard work but very rewarding when you get on the scales!

Hello lovelies

Am on the wine tonight.

It was my uncle's funeral today. It was a wonderful service, and one of our mutual friends from the rooms spoke about how inspiring my uncle was. He struggled with booze for all of his life, but didn't touch a drop when told his condition was terminal. He was much loved and wonderful when sober, but the absence of his children and ex-wives told the story of the years when he was mad, bad and terrifying to know.

I bumped into some of my old friends from the rooms, and will get in touch with one of them. I had a chat with a woman I used to sponsor and she looks terrific, which is wonderful. I miss my AA friends.

I'm feeling like shit tonight and am polishing off the rest of the white wine in the house. I need to get my shit together.

Big hugs xx

ok mouse didn't really understand all of that but will try. I didn't have bread with the soup at lunch, didn't have the pasta or potato salads, and had chicken and yet more salad for tea. does that sound ok? bloody boring though and its only day 2.
what is all this sunshine you are talking about? it's pissing down here yet again!

Checking in for my Brave Babes fix :) Some great posts, don't know where to start....

Huge hugs to you {{{{{{{{{{{{Mia}}}}}}}}}}}}}} and welcome back on board, I've missed you! Alfie is adorable and really no trouble but MrSTM turned out to be a flake - but I really don't care and am quite alright about it.
DD is away too at the moment so I know how you feel. In fact she's got four separate weeks away this summer, and only one of them's with me! It's great for her, she has lots of family connections on both sides and I know she misses me when she's away.

Joey, Faire's post is one to copy and paste somewhere so you don't forget it. We ARE real and you're very real to me. Even if we don't meet we have a connection that is strong and what we share here is extraordinary.

Mouse, I'm in awe of your 32H frontage (or is it GG now?). You're right about how fattening the dry white is, all those empty calories. It's obvious how much it was contributing to my weight problem and not drinking has been a major factor in dropping a dress size (although I do eat too many carbs, another lover of pasta, bread etc here).

Waves to Theresafire in Aus. Rows with ex-H were one of the biggest triggers to my drinking as well and my boozing was a major factor in my divorce. I hope it doesn't get to that point with you and that the rows diminish as you get to grips with the way you drink. I've decided to take the antabuse until my birthday on 8th September - that'll be 4 months on it. I hope that'll be long enough to give me the foothold I need and I can venture forth without it! I'm not completely ruling out social drinking but neither am I telling myself that I can have the odd glass or two. I'm just going to see how it goes and not make any decisions now. What I do know is that my feelings about alcohol have changed and that I don't ever want to be out of control or hungover again.

And that means never going back to being the drinker that I once was.

Hi again everyone,
thank you all for the welcome, kind words and advice.

day one without my wine is proving even harder than I thought.
At the moment I feel sick, shaky and metaphorically pulling my hair out.
Feel like I will be literally pulling it out any minute now.
Considering having one glass of wine to calm me down, gutless wonder that I am.

faire; noone in rl for support really, just you ladies on this bus.

Guggen: Thanks for the wave, extra big wave back.
If you're a gimmer, then I'm a double old gimmer with bells on.
Ive drunk too much wine for about 20 years and for ten years before that too much of whatever alcohol I could lay my hands on.
There ia a bit of a family history of heavy drinking and
alcoholism but thats another story and no real excuse.
Hope you are finding it easier than me if you aren't drinking today.

Joey: Hope your new day one going well, I think seven weeks was fantastic, you've proved to yourself you can do it GO GIRL.

So many of of you on this journey have achieved so much and already cracking up on day one. SHAME ON ME. Must try and get through today.

reynard don't beat yourself up. Day one is great.

I've been drinking since I was 15, with several years off when I was attending AA. And I'm back on it again - today is day zero.

Well done on day one.

hi soma glad to hear Alfie is still happy!

I swear someone has greased that slippery slope, as I have more wine tonight. At least I bought some elderflower to dilute it, and I also bought less than usual.

As mia said, the 7 weeks were hard enough, but to not feel any better (physically) made it seem a bit what's-the-point. But I remember now... I did feel better emotionally - less worry & anxiety.

Hmmmm.

Sunny good to see you back. I'm sorry to hear about your uncle, can you hook up with any of those AA friends again and start again tomorrow?

Reynaud you are so close to the end of day 1 - don't blow it now. Go and do the drill, clean your teeth, have a large glass of water, put on your PJs and go to bed with a good book or your laptop and then you've done it, and you can start on day 2 tomorrow

Hi Bproud I'm considering it. I'm going to get in touch with my friend, I'm so glad we've got back in touch. How are you lovely? xx

Evening babes X

joey I don't think I feel any better either. The tiredness is still there and the headaches sometimes. But emotionally I am definitely more positive. That's enough for now

reynaud do try and stay strong tonight. You will feel so pleased with yourself in the morning.

I'm tired and will be off to bed shortly. My 4 days away with the kids has left me exhausted!

I'm anxious to hear about the job application that I sent last week. Closing date was today. The application said that they hoped to do interviews next week. So I would expect to hear very soon if they want to see me. I really, really want it!

When I was away, I had 3 glasses of wine (large ones) I didn't feel that I was doing the wrong thing. It was on 3 separate occasions. I sound like I'm justifying this to you all. I'm not really. But when my friend offered when we were relaxing in the evening, it just seemed to be the nice thing to do.

However, now I'm back to Asda extra special grape spritzer. It's lovely actually Definitely tastes nicer than white wine. Now I need to stop eating peanut mm's!!

rural (reynard? Not sure what to call you ) well done on coming back to let us know you're having a wobble. How are you doing now? Did you cave in or are you struggling on? Those cravings do pass, they seem to be really strong for about 20 minutes then go away for a while, so stick with it. Maybe go and have a bath, or do some star jumps or come back here for a chat.

I could never have alcohol in the house during those early days, made it too easy to open a bottle.

Sunny sorry to hear you're going through a tough time too. You've stopped before, you can do it again. When the time is right x

I'm feeling really good, thanks Sunny good luck with your plans.
It must be so dispiriting for Babes who don't feel any better for giving up. I have always had low level depression, so have to manage my moods in other ways as well as not drinking, and that includes eating well, exercising and access to fresh air and sunshine. I spend as much time on this now as I used to spend on drinking, managing my drinking, planning my drinking.

If I look after myself I feel good. What I notice now as opposed to when I was drinking is that I think I AM WORTH IT!

rural hope you got through the evening. I am one of the serial failures on this bus, can rarely manage even one day and am in awe of the babes who clock up weeks and months and years.
It is a bloody hard thing you are trying to do - just try to keep on trying. I hope you made it tonight, but if you didn't then try again tomorrow.

Hello mateys,

Dh just gone to bed, he has been working at home today, and even though I have gone into town and done all my Dad's Birthday stuff (he is 80 on Friday), done 3 hours college work and read some crap book , he is still tireder than I am!!

I think maybe it's because he is a country boy, or just that he is programmed to go to sleep at 10 and wake up at 6.30, just what the books tell you to do!!
I thought that when he had finished work, we could go for a walk along the beach , but he has just fallen asleep, just hoping that it's not a portent of things to come, as the older longer poster Babes will know.

Anyway, Rural NO SHAME ON YOU whatsoever, and don't think about that. When I first came onto this thread I did that forever and a day, and people on here made me realise that the one day you decide to make a change is the one that counts. If you have succumbed today, tomorrow can be your day, the one that counts.

Sunny I'm sorry to hear that your Uncle passed on. Sending love xx

Indie how are you doing, my lovely?

Ma How can you say you are a failure? I admire you for your runs, your work ethic, your people skills (how much more do you want ) You're fab!!

MrsMousieMouseface I haven't got that pm yet, I don't know if I'll be able to help, but, pm me anytime.

Right, off for a cup of tea and more crap book (maybe I should change my charity shop?)
xxxx

Thanks for the support and encouragement Faire, Daisy, bproud and sunny.

Faire: I don't mind what you call me, rural is where I live, extremely rural in fact. The official name for this sort of area is " Isolated community" I believe.
Rural people (around here anyway) refer to a fox as Reynard.
Not that there is anything foxy about me unless its a mangy old one.

I've not given in to a drink yet and I've done the drill, I am in bed on my laptop.
Sunny: faire is so right, you've done it before so you can do it again.
I am going to try to sleep now, previous experience tells me that without a drink there isn't much hope but its that or give into temptation.

goodnight all, thanks again couldn't have got this far without you

ma I do not think of you as a 'serial failure'! Actually the opposite, you're always here on the bus, and if you have a stumble you keep picking yourself up and trying again. Thats got to be harder than staying off the alcohol permanently! I know, the first few days are by far the hardest so I think you are really tough to keep on trying.

And even if you do stumble, even just one day sober here and there is better than nothing at all. You are NOT a failure.

Great job Reynard day one done and dusted.
Ma I agree with Thurso you are a terrific support to so many people on here. for you

I want to board the bus but worry that i am too far gone. You are all doing so well so will lurk for support. Well don
e to you all, you sound like you are doing so well and are giving hope to the rest of us x

Morning all,

Hi to fellow newbies crystaldash & Reynard and small wave to everyone else- I am in awe of all you. That makes me sound about 15, doesn't it?

reynard you did 1 million times better than me, I knew I had 1/2 a bottle of the white stuff and I knew I was going to drink it. As I drank it I began to feel shit, so I kept going and had the lot. I wasn't brave enough to 'fess up on here because I didn't want to hear that I should put the bottle down. I'm now happy to receive the mighty ass kicking I deserve, and my ass is big enough to take quite a kicking!
Reynard you did really well- day one is the worst and you have managed it.

                      Right :I'M NOT DRINKING TODAY

Thurso this is a bit off topic, but can you tell me how you planted your wild flower garden? I have a wild patch which I hoped would magically become a beautiful wild flower garden. It has an interesting range of rye grass and some dandylions. Ho. Hum.

Morning all and it's another beautiful sunny one here. Got to make the most of it because it's set to change for the weekend.

Well, the plumber did turn up yesterday but couldn't fix the problem, turns out it's a bigger job than we thought. So I will have to get him back today.

I had a bbq yesterday and the thought of alcohol did not even cross my mind until dh opened a bottle of beer. I still didn't want any but was so pleased that it's no longer an automatic response to certain situations.

Well done Reynard and anyone else who didn't drink yesterday because you didn't want to. I bet there are no regrets today about that decision. Funny isn't it, how you never regret not drinking, even though at the time it's about all you can do to resist it. I'm a bit like that with cupcakes (another weakness)

Hello and welcome to crystal, not sure what you mean by too far gone, have you tried to stop before? You never had us babes before and we can help you if you want to try again.

thank you all . think I've got something in my eye.......
reynard bloody well done you, bet you found it really hard to sleep without the knockout juice but it will get better
crystal no such thing as too far gone on this bus. You can ride in the sidecar for a while if you prefer.
guggenheim no kicking allowed - unless we really feel you deserve it. Which you don't. Today is a whole new day to try again.

I feel slightly boingy......how very odd

morning!

MA! i dont think i can come up with one single failure on your part! you are my friend and i love the way you keep on getting back up and trying again, you are made of pretty stern stuff!

crystal, the only time you are 'too far gone' is when they are nailing the lid down! give it a go today! make today very special, to most people its just any old tuesday, for you, it could be the begining of a wonderful new start!

guggen - i have planted a small area of 'wild' flowers, my local garden centre has a selection of clovers and cow parsleys and the like, i planted a few small things in may and they are coming along great, i have mixed them up with lavenders and old fashioned roses and hollyhocks and i think that they will all look great this time next year, when choosing i looked at the labels to make sure that they were all very bee friendly, i now plan to get one of those bee houses (like a bird box but sort of tubes ) i like a fairly wild rambly sort of cottage garden, i dont get 'wildlife' (think scabby pigeons and even scabbier foxes) as im in town but i can do a bit for the bees!

good morning everyone - isn't it glorious?!

I am so stressing out about my work - boss has even asked for Daily Reports now... I'm actually covering another colleague today so the daily report is going to look pathetic

The tablets seem to have helped - sleeping better, much less tired! But so anxious about work - and angry, there's been a total lack of empathy or understanding. My manager really thinks I'm a slacker and I'm begining to believe that I'm NOT (or not completely - still surfing mumsnet as you can see )

Was drinking again last night, but aim to stay sober until the weekend.