DRY 13

[lilybetsy]

This is the thread for all those who are living, or committed to living, life free from alcohol.

I will quote a sober poster "I'm fitter, slimmer, richer, happier & healthier"

Go sober warriors !

Almost today not drinking day 1 as in almost the day is over yay small steps

onewhite good luck tomorrow, just think how nice it will be to wake up Saturday hangover free with no regrets! What podcasts do you recommend? I'm burning through the bubble hour, love it so could do with some more suggestions.

lily how is your face?

ginger well done on an AF day- you'll feel good for it tomorrow.

Everyone else hope you are all going strong.

Becks blue drinker here, I don't find it a trigger, just a nice choice.

Evening all, yes, good luck onewhite at your social thing - I agree that the first alcohol free drink is key. You can do it!

I haven't really tried a lot of alcohol free wine/beer - I don't go out very much and can't see the point at home - but I can see how they would be useful socially in the sense that they 'look' right.

Watching the election result build up here...this passes for entertainment these days!!

Hi all.

I had some bad news tonight and have been sitting here waiting for the shop across the road to close so I know I'm not going to go over there and buy a bottle. I've managed it. Just keep telling myself that I have things to do tomorrow, and being hungover will only make them much much worse. I remind myself how blue and anxious and shamed I feel when I've been drinking, and how I don't have time to feel like that right now on top of everything else.

There's a silver lining: cast iron excuse not to go to this social thing. People are going to be pissed off with me for not going, but this is a matter of serious family illness so it comes first.

Hang in there everyone. Help me hang in there too.

Oh onewhite am sorry to hear this

Very well done for staying strong, you are completely right that drinking and being hungover is the last thing you need.

Hope you can get some rest and take care of yourself.

one well done on not drinking. And sorry about your bad news :(
Watching referendum here as well. Quite worried.

one hope you got a good sleep. You are right, being hungover will not help, it will just make life generally more difficult when you need to be strong.

onewhite sorry to hear of your worrying news, keep staying strong.

Friday normally a big trigger for me, but I have no intention to drink tonight.

Friday is my usual drinking day too efc (well, it used to be, that's crept over the majority of the week over recent months, but traditionally Friday/Saturday were the main days). Not feeling remotely tempted thankfully - although it is only 9.30am of course

Hello. Big wobble tonight - devastated over the referendum, work is crazy, having family stress, very tired. Very badly tempted indeed but am home with tea and cake. Have an early run planned for tomorrow, then morning coffee with a friend. Must keep playing the tape forward - I know I will regret a slip. Keep me on the straight and narrow, sober warriors.

sybil that's my plan too- other plans and play it forward. I've even let the kids have friends for a sleepover- their noise is distracting me from thoughts of drink!

Same here, very upset over the result. Just got in and am H, A and T. Going to eat, drink an AF beer and then head to bed. its been a long day. KOKO Sober Warriors :)

KOKO.

AF beer and takeaway pizza here.

Hugs all.

In bed on MN and glad today is a new day. Hope everyone got through a very trying Fri sober xxx

Can I join you? I'm currently on day 8 AF, been lurking for some time. DH about to go away for 7 days and am thinking about how to keep the wine witch at bay.......

glad made it through a very bad Friday, dh job very Euro based.

slim hope the pizza was good.

lizzy welcome, what's worked for me- cups of tea, sober blogs/ podcasts (I'm really taking time to get to an understanding of my need to be sober), remembering how bad I feel day after drinking, other plans (box sets, exercise). Keep going it's so worth doing.

Everyone else have a good weekend

Thanks etc, sounds sensible. I'm an evening drinker - 3/4 to a bottle of white wine a night. I can't stop at one glass or even two and sometimes go weeks without an AF day. I mostly dodge hangovers by drinking loads of water but often don't exactly feel great in the morning.

I have a busy life (job, volunteering, 2 lovely kids) - the to-dos are never done and I could work 24/7 and still not be ahead of myself. Thinking about it I use drinking as an excuse to check out.

Thinking about AA but not sure I'm ready-can you literally just turn up at a meeting?

Morning all.

Pizza was epic thanks efc.

Also very worried abut the ref result. DH lost his job a few weeks back and my work is writing projects proposals and project reports for EU-funded charities. Ho hum.

Welcome lizzie. :) 8 days is fantastic. I also used drinking to check out - it seemed like the only thing I had that was all mine. Now I find my sobriety is all mine and very precious. :)

You certainly can just turn up to an AA meeting. That is what I did, and I am now a regular attendee and enjoy it very much. Depends on where you are about the size. I have heard that some meetings in cities are quite large and so you can slip in and sit down the back. Where I live it is pretty small - we get between 10-16 people. People were immediately very warm and welcoming. I thought I would 'give it 5 meetings' then decide if i wanted to stay. If you do not want to just turn up, then ou just ring a number on the AA website and they will call someone who goes to the meeting you plan to go to and that person will meet you and help and support you for the first meeting.

www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/AA-Meetings/Find-a-Meeting

I like AA. I was pretty unsure at first, and desperately terrified I would see someone I know. But my experience is that it is very MUCH Anonymous. We have a code of silence about what happens in the meetings and who we see there and I feel very supported and confident about that. I view AA as one part of my recovery, like this thread and the sober blogs are a part. But it is good to talk to others IRL. :)

Welcome lizzy - well done on 8 days.

I have never been but I did look into it. You just turn up. I was not personally keen on the idea of AA because of all the higher power stuff but that's just me. There are also Smart Recovery meetings which are similar. http://www.smartrecovery.org.uk/meetings which I have heard positive things about. If I decide to go to meetings I think I'll try those.

I read sober blogs (a couple of us here also write blogs), listen to the Bubble Hour podcasts, have sober treats and exercise. I think it is important to have as many tools in your sober toolkit as possible. I also think that for me planning is crucial so like you, I would be thinking carefully about what I am going to do while DH is away and having it planned out. Does your DH know you have stopped drinking ? Have you got support IRL ?

glad and sybil well done on getting through a very tough day. I am still in disbelief at the result.

Waves to everyone. Xx

lizzy sober blogs are useful too because you see that people go through such similar experiences. And it's good to know about some of the ups and downs along the way and share them. I haven't been to AA but know that many find it helpful.

I am still very tired - woke up ridiculously early and still reeling from the referendum result and the implications. But stayed sober and am about to go and run. And feeling much less wobbly today. One day at a time :)

On the higher power stuff in AA.... well it certainly put me off a bit too. There is alot of talk about a higher power and what you might think that is. For me, for now I just consider the group itself the higher power... in that collectively we have alot more experience and wisdom than just me. So when AA says 'trust the higher power' I am currently interpreting that as trusting the group who know alot more than I do! That is how I am dealing with that issue in my mind at the moment!

I would say that if people are interested they should try a meeting out. It's not for everyone though that is for sure. I see this thread and my own personal reading of blogs etc as my primary tool. AA is like an added extra. The other issue to be aware of though is that some AA-ers are incredibly dogmatic about the programme and think it is the only way and the only right way to get sober. I disagree a million times. I think the path is very personal.

And I LOVE sober blogs. :)

Welcome Lizzy 8 days is brilliant :)
Slim yesterday was tough here as well :(
Apart from anything else in the wider political sense re the impact on the UK, I have so many friends who have been/will be directly affected. Personally my business will almost certainly be adversely affected and our investments, which we use to actually fund a lot of essential stuff took a huge hit. So yesterday I did a lot of stressful hard thinking, fielded calls and emails from worried clients and worried about how we are going to manage to pay the mortgage.
. None of this would have been made better by alcohol! But then, nothing actually is, is it?

etc :( and

Morning all, welcome newcomers, also very concerned here about the future. Spent yesterday very shocked and sad. But didn't drink so at least that's something. Echo what everyone says about sober blogs - I still read mummywasasecretdrinker every day - and sober treats as a huge help in not drinking.
Am visiting a friend who also doesn't drink tonight so today is sorted.
I guess we all must now keep on keeping on in all sorts of ways!