No More Chardonnay for me! My booze-free Diary

MarylandCookie_2

Sorry to hear you've not been well Chardonnany, sounds like your holiday has come just at the right time for you. Have a wonderful, relaxing, happy time. Be great to hear from you if you get chance to post. Which meditation audio book are you listening too? I'm still trying to meditate and find my guided meditation CD really helpful, but fancy a change.

80 days, wow, that is so impressive. I've been pondering counting days, but I've had some thoughts and would welcome any advice/hints/tips. If I say I'm not having/doing something - I ALWAYS want to do it, have it. I know that makes me sound like a petulant, spoiled child, and I'm not (honestly!!) does anyone else feel like this? Hope it's not just me and how do you/did you overcome this? Thinking about it, it's not just alcohol, I feel the same about Haribo sweets and chocolate too!!

I can easily goes days, weeks and not have a drink - not think about it, but I know the minute I say I'm not drinking I'll obsess about it.......my next night out is at the end of September, so I'm planning on not drinking til then, see how I go and then potentially not drinking on the night out. Food for thought.

Anyway, enough rambling from me!

Have a great day everyone xx

Carviscocker

Hi! I'm still alive after the roast dinner and it was pretty good! I live by myself so any opportunity to have a meal cooked for me is a bonus!

I've signed up and got an email from Belle and I've also signed up to a hangover free life both of which have been interesting reads so far! I'll have a look out for Annie101uk.

MC I hope you have a lovely day off and enjoy the gym... I need to go back particularly as I don't have a hangover as an excuse anymore ��.

Chardonnay I hope you have a lovely holiday and you feel better soon! 80 days is very impressive well done!

HB you sound like you're going to be very busy! How satisfying will it be though to be able to do those things yourself!

Thanks again everyone for your advice and comments it's really helping me to focus on the positives! Xx

Honey_Bear

MarylandCookie wrote: »

I've been pondering counting days, but I've had some thoughts and would welcome any advice/hints/tips. If I say I'm not having/doing something - I ALWAYS want to do it, have it. I know that makes me sound like a petulant, spoiled child, and I'm not (honestly!!) does anyone else feel like this? Hope it's not just me and how do you/did you overcome this? Thinking about it, it's not just alcohol, I feel the same about Haribo sweets and chocolate too!!

I can easily goes days, weeks and not have a drink - not think about it, but I know the minute I say I'm not drinking I'll obsess about it.......my next night out is at the end of September, so I'm planning on not drinking til then, see how I go and then potentially not drinking on the night out. Food for thought.

That doesn't sound spoiled or petulant - that sounds entirely normal!

I find that if I say I'm going on a diet I feel compelled to eat chocolate, cheese, Twink's Hobnobs (made with butter, obvs) all day, every day. As soon as I stopped thinking I needed to lose a ton of weight, I did - but that mindset took 10 years to filter through!

If you feel compelled to drink, if you say you're bound to obsess about not drinking to the point of doing so when you'd prefer to be AF - then you need to find a way of letting yourself off the hook, so to speak. So if counting days is counter-productive - don't count days. Do whatever works for You. What works for one person will differ wildly for the next person. Chardonnay found doing Belle's 100 Day Challenge didn't work for her and she's having more success this time around, I wouldn't be without Belle for the world. She counts my days so effectively that when I forget to, she lets me know when I've reached another milestone - 400 Days last Saturday!

The important thing is to know what makes changes possible for you, and what stops you being the person you want to be.

MarylandCookie_2

Thanks HB, wise words as usual :0) My mindset at the moment is I can drink if I want to, but I'm choosing not to, Just like I'm choosing to think of my health and well being and go to the gym and keep fit and healthy.

Carviscocker

Hello to everyone! Just a quick update.. I'm on day 11 and it's going well! I keep having moments where I think about alcohol ALOT I have been reading a lot about quitting/cutting down so I think that's probably got a lot to do with it.

I've joined various challenges on here for money saving so hopefully that will occupy my mind!

Hope you're all well and not suffering to much with the cold!

MarylandCookie_2

Hi Carvis, hey well done on day 11 - or 12 as it willbe now! Great going, how are you feeling? Good luck on the challenges too. I popped into our local co-op last night picked up 2 pieces of breaded pollock for 62p, should've been £2.24, and a liver and bacon meal for OH at 64p, should've been £2.25, was dead chuffed!

Hope Chardonnany is having a great holiday!

Have a great weekend xx

Carviscocker

Hi ya.. On day 12 today. I've had an inner battle today. It's Friday, I got off work 3 hours late and it's Friday. Ordinarily I wouldn't even need those for a reason to drink.

Been to asda and didn't get any wine and some yellow sticker stuff.

I'm pleased I did t get any alcohol but I hope it's not as much if a battle as this all the time!

Well done on the YS stuff! I love a bargain lol I almost feel like I'm getting one over on the supermarket!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend! X

Honey_Bear

Well done, Carvis! Apart from the things I've already mentioned that helped in the early days, I found reading blogs and books I borrowed from the library about stopping drinking helped enormously. Chardonnay found a couple very helpful that are mentioned in her posts and I think were by men, the ones that worked for me were written by women who'd really struggled to get to grips with their addiction. Most public libraries have about 50 books on booze in the food section, and two or three on giving up drink in the health zone. I heartily recommend a visit to see what you can glean for free!

You're doing incredibly well. Good on you.

Carviscocker

Hi everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend! Sorry for my moaning last post! I think it was my version of 'hump' day! Last day at work this afternoon then a few days off which I'm really looking forward to!

I've been sticking with the challenges so those plus not drinking means I've hardly spent any money so that's positive!

I'm on day 15 today! I've got a work night out on the 17th which I'm a bit anxious about but that's ages away so I'm going to try not to obsess.

Thanks for your advice!

MarylandCookie_2

Hey Carvis, well done on the challenges and on the not drinking - you're doing really well. I know what you mean about your night out, I've felt the same in the past. It helps me to visualise how well I've done, how good I've been feeling, and just keep hold of the feeling. Thinking how you'll feel if you do drink, might also help.

Good luck and keep up the good work :0) xx