The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Kicking The Wine Witch Into Touch!

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm Mouse

Welcome to the Bus. We're a group of posters who have been on a journey to here, there and everywhere when it comes to alcohol and the abusing of it.

Some of us drink, some of us don't at all and some of us are trying to get there, really trying to just stop the cycle, break the habit and calm everything down. Some of us are desperate to not be 'that' person anymore.

One Day At A Time or ODAAT.

So what have you got to lose? Weight? Saggy, puffy eyes each morning? False friends? The risk of cancers and other fatal illnesses......... why not join us?

We have a resident MonsterCat, Wolf called Seth and Squid called Barry (best not to ask about Barry! )

And, if you want to see where we've been so far, the links below will show you. The first ever thread is the best by far, because the OP is just like you. And me.

FIRST EVER THREAD

PREVIOUS THREAD

Yay! silver

Evening Babes I hope everyone is warm - I cannot believe how cold it has been today - got ice cream brain just walking from the car into school!

I want to say thanks for your help, again, after this week. I feel I've whined far too much so, sorry for that. Have childishly felt rather 'picked on' by life this week.

Joey Thanks for letting me keep my gold star , it's polished and in pride of place on the mantelpiece! Sorry about your DD and the work stress. Hope it is all sorted really soon.

Mouse hugs for you for your continued support. DD and I came to a suitable punishment (tidying - which has helped with the state of the house!) but the next day she missed the bus as she took over half an hour straightening her hair! Ffs! All back to normal now, ta. PS Any pizza left for me?

Thank you, too Malinky, Free and Curry your words really helped me.

Ma Car stuff is awful, isn't it. It's just such a variable as far as finances are concerned, always at the back of your mind. It's too cold to diet properly, you are doing so well with the booze, congratulate yourself for that.

Help I hope your poor face is better soon.

And finally, thank you Clutter but could you just not make me cry next time!! Hugs!

So, took the DC for their swimming lesson last night and, as is the tradition, they get a treat if they have been good (a piece of fruit, crisps or a yoghurt) which meant popping in to Tesco Express on the way home. I'd been thinking of buying wine for hours* - all the reasons, all the excuses^ - and then, there I was, staring, for a good few minutes, at bottles and bottles of the stuff - all half price, too! And I walked away. Can't tell you why, I just did.

Good day today - some great charity shop bargains and a catch up with a lovely friend (who's going to USA for a year in 33 days - so, bitter sweet), house is looking much better and haven't had any cravings today.

Day 16 and a total of 8lbs loss!

Luffs you all. xxxxxxxx

two glasses of wine, and off to bed.
It's ok. No craving, no sadness, no weirdness, just a slight buzz and I'll leave the rest.
Only possible in the right emotional state. maybe I have to be someone who never drinks at parties.
I don't know.

good luck everyone
thanks for sharing about ADs, greeny

I've got them and will think about what to do tomorrow.

Good night all x

Silver so great to hear from you

Yay silver so good to see you.
You've been sober how long?? [Shock]
Tell us how you did it!

Night Babes - I too am going to Bedfordshire via a quick play on my new phone.

Curry - ^just a slight buzz and I'll leave the rest.
Only possible in the right emotional state. maybe I have to be someone who never drinks at parties.
I don't know.^

A person's emotional state plays a huge part in how much you drink. How far you go, what you do and how you do it. Well done on not being led by your recent emotions tonight. Think about the ADs and do what you feel is right. Well done on the weight loss xxxx

Purple - Yup, DD will give with one hand and take with another, that's how they roll! I'm referring to the missed bus.....

You sound brighter btw. Well done for not buying that wine tonight. That must have been a bit of a dither moment. Shall I? Shan't I? And then in the end, the desire goes away because you it the CBA wall! Well bloody done you! Are you back on your course on Monday? xxxxx

Right, I'm outta here. Nemo is settled and in bed finally, he was so unsettled and unsure as to what he wanted last night, all morning and then at school I didn't think he'd let me go. He's still not 100% but had a good day at school as it turns out. Made a new best friend and actually ate some food because this new friend did

It's still snowing here, thick as you like, 6 - 8 inches? Yes please!

Sorry, bit of Friday night smut for the Bus! But seriously, the snow is amazing. I love it. It's so thick! Sethy was coated and it took me ages to dry him off!!

Night Brave Babes. Wherever you are tonight, I hope you're safe and warm. xx xx xx

Hi Koti, nice to see you back. Your 'dancer' all better now? Baby Where are you? x

silver good to hear from you, you sound so positive

purple you get another gold star for resisting the temptation tonight! wow, 2 gold stars on your mantelpiece!

day 21 - that's three weeks

DD is okay, but she did have diarrhoea which is horrid for her, but it was a relief for me, because then I knew it was the right thing to do, to keep her off school... wish I had the confidence to make these decisions and not overthink it...

Aw purple sorry if I mades you cry, will definitely try harder not to do that next time! green made me cry with the you tube video, been a very emotional week!
No wine for me tonight, have thought about one all night but thinking of the day tomorrow with little boy
Off to bed night night all brave babes xx

Morning!

Mouse So good to hear Nemo has made a friend - it makes all the difference to children, doesn't it!? Sounds like the beginning of him finding his feet. Lots of snow here, although I think we've all had enough now. You can have ours, Mouse! Yes, back on the course on Monday (two weeks left) after it all seemed to fall apart last week with girls running off crying!? When it finishes, I'm required to do a further 4 weeks 'placement'! Deep sigh. Thanks for the supportive words When I looked at that much wine I actually felt a bit nauseous - hope that odd feeling hangs about for along time to come.

Joey Two gold stars?! I think you are spoiling me. Thanks Lovely. We have to keep them off school here for 24 hours after their last bout of S or D, we have no choice. You did the right thing. Hope your DD is better today? 21 days is fab! Well done you

Koti The course was 20% interesting/fun and 80% not applicable to me! Oh, yes and 100% emotional! (Not me, you understand, I'm a cynical old bag! ) Glad you are back on-line again.

Clutter That was 'making me cry' in a good way! Thanks for caring and well done for ignoring the WW last night. x

Curry Well done on stopping at two glasses.

Purple#WhyDoMyBoysHaveToGetUpSoEarlyOnANon-SchoolDay????

Morning purple glad your sounding brighter & more purple Well done for getting through a really difficult week.
Morning to all brave babes hope you all managed to beat the wicked ol ww last night, if not hope today not too difficult. curry how did you get on last night?
purple feel your pain with little boys not appreciating the sacrilege that is the weekend, my little one woke up at 6:20am! Then teenage one has to be woken out of her slumber!
Feel so much better not being foggy headed this morning.
Wishing all babes a good, peaceful day xx

Morning, tis me, Mouse

Koti - great to have you back with us lovely

Purple - we had well over a ft of snow again last night on top of what was left! This is the most we've ever had in years according to the older generation who live in the village.

It's been ace for Nemo but not for me. I can't walk in snow or sand, it hurts too much. Plus the ice is bloody lethal!

The course sounds like it's been a bit too much for some.... I do think that you'll benefit from some things, maybe not all of it and I know alot of it is patronising twaddle. Hang in there kidda

Today we're going into town to get DD some new shoes. I've just looked at her school shoes and they are falling apart! She didn't say a word and has been walking round in them in the SNOW like that .

It's stopped snowing here and is glorious sunshine so the snow is melting. I'm glad to be honest. As nice as it looks, it's getting dangerous as it's freezing at night so needs to go. We're due 12 degree tomorrow apparently!

Ma - I've decided that I'm going to do the 5:2 fasting diet as from Sunday. I've read about Michael Mosley on here and in the radio times (get me! ) and I really do think I can do it. It's all about control and soup!

I'll have another look through and list a few meal plans for next week, see if you fancy joining me?

I'm shattered after another rough night with Nemo. Colds are not great. I hate this time of year for him, roll on spring!

Right, shower time. I have treated myself to some Sanctuary Spa stuff with the £s I got for my birthday and Christmas. I love it! And Boots have it on offer just now, 3 for 2 with a free aromatherapy candle.

Bye for now lovely Babes. I hope you're all okay and safe wherever you are. xxxx

Hi Babes, haven't been posting much this week because I've been feeling shit shit shit, but I've got my boing back now so here I am.

This week's weigh in... Now 11 stone 13lbs, so a loss of 3lbs since 16th Jan and a loss of 8lbs since beginning of January. BMI now 25.26 (goal is 23, although 'ideal' would be 22).

I'm happy with that because I don't feel like I've been depriving myself of anything, particularly, just eating more healthily. I haven't really missed the wine apart from the odd pang. Even this last week, when I've been feeling so tense and anxious and irritable that I could hardly function, I haven't really thought about wine being the answer to that. I think it was a combination of really bad PMT (have now started period, a bit earlier than expected) and the fact that I've been adjusting to a lower dose of ADs (reduced by a quarter because I was feeling so good a couple of weeks ago).

Last night DP was out (at Mr WanderingHands' leaving party ) and I decided not to drink. I made myself a treat meal (homemade pesto with taglietelle, salmon, prawns and courgette... yuuuuuuuum) and had some icecream afterwards. DP is really hungover this morning and I feel all virtuous and smug. Icecream is my replacement vice at the mo - I blame my local supermarket for selling half price haagen dazs.

Going to MIL's today and planning to drink moderately. Next week looking a bit complicated as my parents are coming to stay for 3 nights and it's a big birthday for my DD. Normally I drink (too much) when they come down, despite the fact that neither of them are big drinkers (although my step-dad does have a glass or two of red every night "for his health"). Not sure what to do about that as yet. I still can't (YET @ Venus) see myself socialising over dinner without at least a glass or two or two of wine.

Sorry not to namecheck everyone. I have been reading all week and following all your highs and lows though. Nice to see Silver posting again. I've got to go and make a cake now - apparently they're easier to decorate if you freeze it for a night or two. i'm attempting a minecraft (geek alert) cake, as that is DD's current obsession.

Have a lovely, sober weekend everyone xx

Morning everyone

Tricky night last night with sceaming, ill dd2. but ok because dp and I were good humoured and united.
He took her away at 5 am and entertained her while I slept till 8 so I definitely owe him a nap sometime today. Infinitely grateful.
Supposed to be going out tonight, not sure I can abandon him to his fate with a screamy little one, but will take a night off the booze anyway. Either I will go out and take the car, or stay in and keep it simple on the tea.

Well done Silver
Well done purple

good to see you all
It's thawing here, and I am ready for it! Sunny day, green patches on the ground outside.

Mouse, good luck with the 5:2. I'm considering it myself. Let us know how you get on!

Mia - great to see you back You sound so much more positive than a few posts back. PMT can be a killer mood wise, especially when you have other things going on like trying to stop drinking wine like a dehydrated camel!

You're doing great lowering your BMI and I think looking at a healthy BMI is just as important as losing weight. Have a nice weekend with the out laws and with your parents and DD next week... don't let them undo you good work. Enjoy yourself and enjoy any wine that you have. You want to remember this coming week for all of the right reasons and do you know what? I reckon you will. I reckon you'll kick ass and keep control because you want to. xx

Curry - I was going to put a couple of days of meals on here starting on Monday. I need to have a look over the allowed foods and make a list of what I will eat. Soups are easy for me. I like simple stews too, just have to avoid the HUGE dumplings and door stop sizes of bread

Will keep a diary and post how I get on. Looking at it here 5:2 DIET I think I can do it because it's about low carbs too which is always a winner so I'm going to weigh in on Monday and then start!

Eeeeeek!

Sorry DD is poorly, I'm glad you got some much needed top up sleep, it's my turn for that tomorrow. Good to see you planning tonight too, have fun xx

Good morning,

Everyone sounds very chipper today!

Glad you are feeling better purple. Really well done on resisting the booze in Tescos. Try and remember how good you are feeling about that decision now, and recall it next time you are lingering a bit long in the wine aisle. You are doing fantastic!

Congratulations on 3 weeks alias, that is brilliant, you deserve a little treat...what are some of the treats you all give yourself for success?

I stayed in with DH and the kids last night, had my first booze free Friday in a loooooong time. And amazingly, I enjoyed it. Made a really nice dinner for the 4 of us, venison (from Aldi's freezer section, absolute bargain, totally scrummy, v low fat), sweet potato chips, buttered leeks (not so low fat!) and broccoli. Normally I would get through most of a bottle of wine drunk whilst cooking and eating it. And then start on the next bottle once kids in bed. It was nice not to. Felt much more like talking to, playing with the kids too. My DH had a bottle of Rioja (over the whole evening) and I wasn't tempted to join him.

Am feeling really calm and happy with my decision at the moment, long may that continue. Keep waiting for the wobbles but so far so good. Am reading my Allen Carr 'easy way to control alcohol' book again which is helping me.

It is a beautiful day in my neck of the woods. We are off sledging this aft before its all Melted. Now I definitely wouldn't be doing that on a hangover.

Enjoy your day everyone!

Hi all fantastic bus babes ... I am a serial lurker and have been following you all for a long time now. I have my own battles with the WW and messy, complicated, lovely but scary life. My DD is in uni and it's just me and dh now. Many evenings over a bottle of wine, sometimes too much and so I cut down, then it builds up, then I cut down and then it builds up ... you all know the story. I'm here today to say to you - lovely mouse, fantastic brave and kind lady - the 5:2 diet is fantastic. Not only does it help with the wobbly bits, but the control you need to stick to your 500 cals on your 'fasting' days, seems to exercise your 'control' muscle (does that make sense?). It has helped me so much with the WW because I can't drink when fasting, I don't like to drink the night before a fast as it gives me the carb munchies and makes it that much harder, and so that's four days that has more to do with the fasting than the drinking, iykwim. Also, although you could chew your arm off on the first couple of fast days (persevere - it gets easier), surprisingly the next day you really don't feel that hungry, but sort of springcleaned!! It is the greatest feeling and puts me in a fantastic mood all day (the looser jeans feeling helps too lol). Anyhoo, the best of warm wishes to you all lovely ladies - can I pop in from time to time??? x

Thanks ((((Mouse)))) xx This week I kept saying to myself
"Don't panic just because you're feeling shit, it does not mean that all the changes you've made are pointless, or not working. Just keep on keeping on, and see how you feel once your period starts."
Lo and behold, I feel a bit more human again. Made myself up a killer herbal tincture too, which always gives me a boost and is especially necessary if I've reduced my ADs.

Free that dinner sounds delicious!
Ladame you're selling me on the 5:2! I've read about it before. I might start with a 6:1 and see how I go.

Checking in. Colleague in work is doing the 5:2 fast and says that although she feels well on it, she hasn't lost any weight at all, so not sure. Am also not good at being hungry! I need to do something though. I've lost 6 lbs and stalled. Just couldn't get over the half stone and am now re-gaining which pisses me off no end.just feel like going back to the bad old ways to be honest. All this effort, cutting down drastically on the booze etc and not really seeing any major results other than being a bit less bloated. Feel a bit - what's the point tbh.

Hi Mia and Ma - Trying 6:1 first might be a good idea to see how you get on. Ma not sure why your friend hasn't lost any weight, I put on six lardy wobbly pounds over xmas and I'm pleased to say I've lost them and it didn't seem too hard. I won't go into the whole diet thing here, there is so much info on the interweb, even on MN. I can only say that I like it because I can't cut down every day. I hate running out of calories or thinking I can't have something. Then I start to feel deprived and then give in, and at that point giving in can include several glasses of vino collapso, followed by truly stoopid food. When I do the fast, I know that it's just a day and then I can go back to eating normally the next. Obv not go completely mad, but if you think about the science bit, for two days you are only consuming 1000 cals. If, on average you need about 2000 cals a day to maintain, you will have a cal deficit of 3000 every week. Also, my stomach does seem to shrink a bit and I get fuller more quickly, sadly not with the wine tho, but as I said above, there are four days that I won't have any, or it's not worth doing . So, I do Monday and Wednesdays and that means I can only have wine Thurs to Sat, which is a huge difference to what was going on before. Usually at least six nights a week in the kitchen with the old man and a bottle of Chard, eating tea late and feeling uuurgh in the morning.

Dame - hello and thank you for posting about the 5:2 diet. I am a bit of a fad dieter and have done most things in the past. I wouldn't say I'm overweight really (BMI is 22.6) but I have a few wobbly bits that I'd like to bugger off quite frankly.

I struggle to exercise (I guess you know all about me and my disability what with my constant whining! ) so really it's more about the food for me.

I'd like to lose about another 6/7lbs and then maintain it. Obviously since stopping using wine as pain medication and food, I've lost loads. I lost 1.5st in a period of about 6-8 months but it did fluctuate depending on my, ahem, bowel action. I struggle massively with constipation due to the amount of morphine I am on.

Why not unlurk a bit more and take a seat, even if it's just for the days you don't drink? x

Ma - you sound utterly fucked off. I often get stuck at the half way mark and it drives me nuts, well, it would if I had any!

How about a bit of a change for a few days to kick start you again or try what Dame suggests? I usually cut out all bread, pasta, potatoes and rice for two days and then allow ONE of those four in my lunch, not having starchy carbs after 5pm as I don't burn them off. I have a pint of water on the go all day, and just keep topping it up.

Ma, why not try 5 smaller meals for a few days starting Monday, we'll weigh in together, holding hands through the ether...... we could all chip in with recipes, snack ideas, nibble attack savers etc.

I hate feeling hungry and that is a MAJOR trigger for me to crack open a bottle of cider, not good.

Tonight we're on M&S dine in for £10. We've got a pork dish, rosemary potatoes, veg already in and lemon tray bake for afters, plus a bottle of white.

I KNOW I'm to drink and I KNOW how much I'm going to have. I will have one glass of wine with dinner and maybe a glass or two of cider before that. I KNOW what alcohol is in the house and I'm deciding to drink tonight. I don't feel like I have to, or not, there's no pressure either way. It just feels part of the menu if that makes sense?

What do yo normally have to kick start your day Ma?

day 22. I just read an article that said most people who started dry January have already given up, so aren't we mostly doing well? and those of us who have fallen understand that doesn't mean failure and we should just quit, we know one setback isn't the end of the world, we just pick ourselves up and start again.

I'm feeling very proud of everybody on the Bus today