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

If I lose a pound a month I will be at my target in 18 months! Better not take that bloody long!

Oh and mouse...here. Have this.
You deserve a break, nemo will be fine. Dh will be fine. Dd will be fine. Let go and relax!

Bloody phone typing! Sorry all! Typoatastic!!

Ma - thank you, I needed that!

DD is out at her friends house. So DH really is solo......

I know you're right though. I know it! Thank you xx

mouse SLAP! you know that you can help Nemo better if you take care of yourself first? it's no good if you are exhausted both physically and mentally...

now somebody please slap ME... I'm not drinking, but I can't find an alternative way to deal with emotions, I've tried the CBT toolkit but worries just go round and round in my head...

The squid is back!
Where have you been, preciousssssss?

Well, as long as mia has finished with the 'squid tarts' pasta then I can just get hold of a tentacle or two and ...SLAP...!

joey come on. Make up a verse or two I liked those. What do you enjoy doing? When's the last time you bought a new book or some clothes? Can you treat yourself for staying af for so long? Well, do it anyway woman!

Tut ma,I hope you have brought a tentacle for everyone.

How much did it cost?

yeah I have pain au chocolat for breakfast tomorrow.

there was a young lady called guggs
who was always ready with hugs
she oiled up a squid
nothing rhymes with squid
but at least we no longer have bugs

Joey
i mean they don't have to be long . sorry

joey I luffs you

I've got a rhyme so ner ner ner ner! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Ok, I've done nothing to lighten your mood but you have made me very happy. x

Also the squid cost six (s) quid, see? six squid?

Right, I'm off to bed with Hilary Mantel now. Night babes

Yay! Ta Da!

cross post with kotinka. As a prize for that you get to keep any leftover bits of squid you can wrestle from ma's grasp.Love to see the art work of the ww and bb.

Really off to bed now.x

koti yeah I try and do sudoku, night time is the worst though. I like your suggestion of actively disagreeing with negative thoughts - will work on that. thanks.

you're up next for a limericks!

at Joey's limerick (you've got a way with words there you know) and sick squid.

joey when I catch myself thinking NATs (negative automatic thoughts) I say firmly 'be kind!'. I absolutely wouldn't say those negative, judgemental things to someone else, so now I won't let myself say them to myself either. Wise words as always from Venus about countering the NATs. I know I've said this before, but I find learning a language on my ipod really useful for quietening my mind and stopping anxiety. Before, I would lie awake for hours with worries churning around in my head, and things always seem so much worse at night too. Now I focus on the course and it's just repetetive and soothing enough to distract my mind without stimulating it.

I prefer cooking to buying ready meals because I'm a gluttonous pig and I love to eat - home cooked food tastes soooo much better than ready made! I have so much more energy when I'm eating low GI and not lurching from one sugar high and crash to the next. I also find it much easier to resist the WW when my blood sugar level isn't in my boots. I feel like I'm missing out on my 'treat' when I don't drink, so I've been trying to cook extra nice, healthy food so that I've got something properly nourishing (in every sense) to look forward to in the evening.

Some low GI recipes we've had over the last few weeks...
Slow cooked squid in whores' sauce @ Gugg
Slow cooked kashmiri butter chicken, a mild and fragrant curry.
Slow cooked hunters' chicken with cannellini beans (and dumplings if you aren't dieting!) and broccoli.
Chicken and mushroom risotto made with farro, a grain similar to pearled barley - lower GI than risotto rice and really bloody lovely, with a little bit of cheese stirred in at the end.
Pasta with chicken/chorizo, mushrooms, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and creme fraiche.
Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon with lentils in a mustard sauce and lots of veg.
Butternut squash, cubed and roasted with rosemary, whole cloves of garlic, tomatoes, courgette and mozzarella.
Lots of stir fries with noodles or egg fried rice.

We do eat quite a lot of meat, but whatever roast we have on a Sunday feeds us halfway through the week in leftovers. I tend to just put a little bit of meat in for flavour, and lots of veg (obviously you'll only put in as much as you know you can tolerate ok) All the slow cooked dishes will do two nights worth of portions and the chicken ones use thighs (cheap). Squid's dead cheap too. I'm happy to post or pm you any recipies you like the look of.

Ma I watched you DD's video and commented. She's so beautiful and what a gorgeous voice!

Mouse I hope you have a lovely, rejuvenating spa day and I'm sure your DH will cope fine with Nemo.

Wow, epic post. Sorry!

Joey
stick in there. you will be well.

i've just done a long good post and it's either been timed out or i've fucked it up.

going to bed now but do i deserve a glass? i know the answr is no but i really feel like it.

FUCK OFF WW and BB

you will not win

NO WINE TONIGHT

Love to everyone

Don't give in Phoenix you deserve kindness from yourself, not drinking! Love the name change btw.

Night babes, I'm off to dream of snow.

Hi Babes Just popping in for Boot Camp results for Ma

Weight loss - 6lbs
Sober days - 8

(Small boing!)

Sorry not to catch up properly, the faux working course + RL is frigging exhausting! My team won the bowlling, natch! Will read back this afternoon. Just to say, though, hugs for you Joey, hope you are feeling a bit more 'up' today. xxxx

My word of the day, today is PERSIST!

'Til later, my Lovies!

I'm so excited about the imminent snow that I can't sleep! [ grin]

Koti at the moment I'm steadily losing weight (weigh in today so I hope that's true). I limit my portion size with rice, and only cook with basmatti when I'm trying to lose weight. For stir fries, I boil it then let it cool a bit, then egg fry it - beat together an egg per serving (so I usually make a 3 portion stir fry so I've got lunch the next day) with a dash of soy sauce , heat a tiny bit of sesame oil in the pan and empty the eggs in. Cook them briefly like an omelette, but while the top is still runny, tip in the rice and stir through. That way the runny egg coats each grain of rice and the set bit breaks up so you've got bits of egg like you get in takeaway egg fried rice. The egg lowers the GI of the rice so you digest it more slowly and don't get a spike in blood sugar and therefore insulin (which lays down fat). I love risotto (arborio etc) rice but it's high GI so verboten for me at the mo. Hence I was pleased to discover this farro grain lurking at the back of my cupboard (presumably from my last short-lived health kick ) as it's low GI and also really nutritious, unlike rice.

So who's got snow then? I'm absurdly excited, despite the fact that I do a voluntary job which requires me to drive and I really hate driving in snow.

Please will everyone feed the birds and put water out for them? They've had a tough year and are very vulnerable in this weather. Even if you chuck an apple out on your lawn, the blackbirds will find it. Joey you are exempt as you are allowed to feel very unfriendly towards starling at the mo!