The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Are Going To Need A Bigger Bus!

[Mouseface]

Hello, tis me, Mouse

Welcome to the Brave Babes Battle Bus, it's a place of solace, support and sanctuary, but also it's also a Bus full of chatterboxes, waffling on about all sorts!

Our aim this year is to kick the WineWitch or WW into touch and get sober!

Some of the Babes on board are doing Dry January, some drink in moderation, some just drink. Some of us are sober, some of us are trying so very, very hard to be.

Some of us have been dry for days, weeks, months and some of us years...... some of us are just starting out and are scared of what stopping drinking means. It's not forever, it's just for today if that's what you want.

We have a saying on the Bus One Day At A Time. Or ODAAT

Take each moment, each day and each blip as it comes.

Although some Babes have been here a while and kind of 'know' each other, we all have different lives, different roles to play, different places to sit on the Bus, but we ALL have or have had abusive relationships with alcohol and we're here because we want that to change; for the better.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE so don't be afraid to just jump right in and say hello. Post as much or as little as you like! It's all up to you.

For those who want to catch up - here is the PREVIOUS THREAD

And the first ever thread, with links to the others over the last almost 3 years! FIRST THREAD

lovely Nemo pictures!
Smellslike don't worry about giving back- you're time will come! The thread would be very boring if we were all at the same stage. Good luck for today. What can you do today to not drink? Chuck out any alcohol in, avoid triggers of getting hungry or upset. Post here and look after yourself.

So sorry I missed the two gorgeous M's Happy Birthday, but belatedly Happy Birthday.

Also sorry I haven't got time to name check everyone, Gerald is rattling along, but Smells I am a bc survivor and coping with the whole chemo/radio thing was so doable without the booze, god only knows what I would have done if I had been drinking. Alcohol made me so emotional, and I think I would have been incapable of handling it at all had I been drinking. So doing as well as you are whilst fighting the bloody addiction is just amazing to me. You must have incredible strength, can you imagine what you would be like without the sure fire annihilation of ethanol?

When I finished the treatment there was a real need to celebrate with fizz, but resisted and bought myself a really expensive pair of high heels and a short skirt. I thought if I didn't have the boobage least I still had half decent legs! Silly but reasonably safe.

Take care everyone, there is so much going on in real life with losing the stigma with this shit, I really hope one day soon we can just talk about it as honestly and openly as any other life threatening disease.

Lots about it in the news at the moment Sarah. It's as if the media have only just realised that booze is endemic. It's everywhere. There was an article asking where in Britain can you go to socialise that doesn't involve alcohol. In other countries people just meet up for a chat without needing to add alcohol into the mix.

I blame the weather myself. And the fact that it's so socially acceptable it's 'the norm'. Hard to avoid though, as we all know.

Hmm, something to ponder on.

Have a good day folks. It's 'Try Hard' Tuesday. Ma I've got 2lb to lose this week too, let's do it together. Now drop and give me 20

kot - oh, good for you! It sounds as if you got through a really bad patch. I ought to go and sleep when I'm feeling tempted.

inside - hello lovely. Hope you are feeling ok.

sarah - I don't think I've said hi yet. Hello!

faire - it's January media, isn't it? It annoys me that this comes round once a year but next December it'll be all about cocktails and wine again. Ah well.

Btw - did anyone else see the Guardian article (a bit ago now), discussing 'dry January'? It said one month off the booze doesn't really do anything and you have to just keep to moderation (or, for most of us, I guess, completely off!). Does anyone know how much healing your body does in what sort of timescale?

I didn't even know until recently that alcoholism also changes your bones and makes them less strong. It's a scary business.

Anyway ... day 6 for me. And I must not drink today. I've got to go and argue with a stupid smug bastard at the garage who is trying to cheat me, so please send me a few calming vibes to help me deal with it without using it as an excuse.

kot - I think when you diet the sugar cravings go a bit haywire. For god's sake, if you're really reaching for the wine, have some sugar, right? A glass of something sweet like juice wouldn't be the end of the world.

I don't know this in any sort of scientific way, but my impression is - if you have a glass of booze, it stays with you for at least a couple of days and all the bits of your brain that you'd managed to quiet down start screaming out for more. Whereas, if you have something sweet on a diet, sure, it'd kick you out of losing weight very fast, but it wouldn't be fundamentally unhealthy in the same way. And you would be able to get back to the diet the very next meal you eat, because you're also eating healthy stuff that is progressively making your body feel better. So there's no comparison of how bad something sweet on a diet is, to how bad a drink when you're trying to stop is.

(In my very humble, faulty, kicked-in-the-face-by-the-booze-once-too-often opinion.)

Good luck LRD with stupid, smug, bastard at the garage Really interesting what you say about alcoholism weakening bones. Both my dm & her ds are very heavy wine drinkers, both have had brca my dm had both her hips replaced in late 40's & her ds has had her knee joints replaced twice. My dm would never, ever associate anything that she has gone through with being a heavy smoker & drinker. Interesting though as I've always wondered if there was a link to her needing her hips replaced at a relatively young age to her lifestyle choices. Day 12 for me & think I did read an article saying that the January detox is quite pointless if you go back to old habits as soon as you finish. I'm seriously thinking of giving up wine completely as can see its so harmful to me but we shall see! Good luck for today brave babes xx

isinde at poonami!!

Glad you're ok isinde. I don't get itchy skin - but restless legs! Must be the same thing.

Onwards and upwards!

clutter - thank you for the good wishes! Right, I'm off ... I'll think about what you say as I go, that is interesting (and sad).

Hi guys, had a really heavy weekend on the wine, I feel
Physically sick and shaky and mentally I'm gutted, spent money I shouldn't have and my done no housework since Friday. I'm gutted at how weak I am and my depression has got a grip of me good and proper. Can I have a hug please? X x c

Morning, tis me, Mouse

Help - thank you xx

Ma - glad you had a nice bday in the end xx

Koti - WELL DONE! I mean really well done for kicking that bitch into touch last night. You sounded really down and as if she was going to get you..... It's so hard when all you can hear is her telling you that you can start again tomorrow, the day after, who'll know etc. Go you! xx

Clutter - I did read an article saying that the January detox is quite pointless if you go back to old habits as soon as you finish.

EXACTLY

Why bother to detox for a whole month only to go right back to where you were? I think I said as much the other day but your body has already started to repair the damage done, only 15 days in!

Your liver is the main organ to benefit of course but your entire body is thanking you for stopping tipping gallons of toxins in each and every day.

If you don't stop for good, forever, then that's fair enough. No-one is saying that (unless you want to) but giving up wine is one of the best things you can do if you are going to continue to drink occasionally..... white wine in particular. It's loaded with sugar and chemicals that when you actually read what they do to you, you'd never drink another drop.

I think that we should have adverts showing exactly what damage white/wine can do to you, like they did with the smoking campaign where the white sludge dripped out of the cigarettes, onto the actors's lap, what was in their arteries etc when cut open.

Or adverts showing a drunken parent caring for a small child, maybe asleep when the baby is crying for a feed or nappy change. asleep
I think there needs so be some shock tactics brought into this bloody society to help those who really do want to give up.... if you can't see it, you don't want it as much. We all know about subliminal messaging!

Sorry for ranty post but it pisses me off that there is no limit or regulation on alcohol advertising and availability.

Must dash, Nemo has jabs and I have to grab bits from town.

Just wanted to leave hot chocolate, warm muffins and hugs for those in need this morning and a supply of wet fish for those in need of a slapping with one too! xx

Day15. I think I need to start focusing on the positives of not drinking as I'm dwelling too much on missing it.
Definately sleeping better, actually start looking forward to bed from around tea time rather than wanting to stay up to ridiculous o'clock drinking.
Skin and eyes look tons brighter.
No avoiding talking in people's directions with stinky wine breathe.
Can get out of bed easier in morning (just!)
Not buying rubbish at shops in an excuse to make it look like wine was an after thought.
Not worrying so much about the damage I'm doing myself. I too found out recently you can damage joints and I've been having pain in my legs so was convinced that was that.
Loving not getting that 'oh she on one' looks of disgust from my family.
Actually remembering ends of program's in the morning.
Reading again.
Much more organised.
Only thing I'm miffed about is weight gone up if anything but I aren't watching my diet at all.
Sorry selfish post but needed to get that down where I could see it
Good luck today x

thanks isinde I spat water all over my keyboard reading 'Poonami'

babyjane big hugs to you. try not to beat yourself up too much! instead plan 'going forward' (as my boss would say) what can you do today to recover? BTW were you the one who was talking about Crohns/potassium/magnesium? If so, can I PM you?

ma glad you had a good birthday! has anyone else noticed the smell of fish on the Bus nowadays? I think there may be something rotting under one of the seats...

alias thanks babe, I do have crohn's which makes abusing my body in this way even more ridiculous!!! And of course you can pm me anytime, anything I can do to help x x

Morning all, sorry not to namecheck everyone, it's going too fast! Had a close call in Sainsbury's yesterday afternoon and found myself in the wine aisle after a day at work telling myself I was going to have a drink. But just as my hand was snaking over to a bottle of half-price sauv blanc I came to my senses and marched myself over to the till. Well done me don't you think?

Mia your post about drinking on an empty stomach resonates - nothing beats the feeling the first half bottle gives you if you haven't eaten for a while. I'm another one who doesn't want to drink after they've eaten dinner so an afternoon snack has to be part of my routine from now on. Even if it's a doughnut with sprinkles on (DD's favourite). Better fat than falling over eh?

Sarah I have a picture of you in my head wearing a short skirt and killer heels and looking amazing. Thanks for dropping by :)

tiger you are doing brilliantly and well done soma on the supremarket challenge. Well, I had my slip up on Sunday and a couple of glasses last night for my birthday and guess what? Two next day breakfasts of coffee and paracetamol, black bags under eyes and fuzzy head. In only 2 days!
Christ almighty! So Bootcamp weigh in is on Friday - faire stop slacking at the back there - and definitely dry January is back on track.
indie you ok babe?
kot you did a good job battling the booze AND the blues.
baby have a hug ((baby)). It's so bloody hard isnt it? Please keep riding the bus and posting. We are all in this together.

gotta go before Boss sees I'm not actually doing any work
Oh, and on the hip front, doc says bursitis. Same to him!

oh well done soma

"better fat than falling over" this is my new mantra

Good job soma you should be proud of yourself, good job!! X

purple how's you babe? X

Hello everyone
Glad to see so many of you are doing a good job of battling the January blues.
Welcome Needs. Your story sounds familiar to me.

I haven't managed a dry January as I had planned - had two glasses of wine last Tuesday. I thought about them really hard and found they were not as nice as I was expecting. I stopped drinking while there was wine in the bottle and haven't drunk since. I do not feel confident about drinking in big social gatherings though. Maybe I will have to be sober when out for ever.

I have a big party to go to in Feb, lots of old faces, I will be very nervous. I am thinking: maybe I should drive? And then I won't even have one.
Whatever I do I must make a plan, think hard about how I will manage booze, and stick to it.

Well done Soba!

Positives of not drinking:

you can spend the calories on cake or whatever you like
you have the energy to exercise
things are not so overwhelming when you have a hangover, work is more manageable
you can spend the money on a lipstick or something
you have evenings to spend on reading, writing, whatever you like doing
the mornings exist to you once again
you can be silly with your kids in the park instead of counting down the time till you can go home and sit down
you are free, free, free
depression lifts
period pains are not so bad (sorry if tmi)
your children see you as a young-ish, pretty-ish, bright, clever, organised, stable, positive presence and you do not cringe when you have to face the inevitable fact that you are their primary role model (this is the biggest one to me, my dcs are both girls and it is obvious that the same sex parent is the hugest most enormous role model, it is awe-inspiring and terrifying to see it in action, how much they want to be like me)