The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 11

shaggydoo
shaggydoo Posts: 8,406 Forumite
First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
edited 11 January 2012 at 11:28AM in Debt free diaries
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Here we are again, time for a new thread, new starts, new challenges, NEW POSTERS PLEASE (not that there's anything wrong with the old ones, so please stick around ;)).

Let's take a trip down memory lane and remind ourselves of In Search Of Me's (ISOM) original post in Part 1:

"There are a few of us who want to give up/cut down & I thought it would be good to widen the net to support each other along the way!
For me alch & feeling good for the time I'm drinking & then rubbish after go hand in hand. A bit like drinking & smoking & drinking & getting the munchies! Last year I gave up alch & fags for 10 months & then "slipped" towards Christmas until by Jan I was doing both with alarming regularity. I dread to think how much both cost me financially and I know physically that I've felt rubbish. My lungs hurt, have put on weight & literally none of my clothes fit so I will have to buy more - which means a dent in my budget that I can ill afford. My skin is also yukky & much nicer when I dont drink/smoke!
I had my last ciggies the night before last & last wine on Tues. I know I will feel 100% better when I crack it but also know it will be hard. One disadvantage here is that all too often DFW "parties" tend to involve alcohol so I'm also hoping that this can possibly be a safe haven for those of us who want, or need, to abstain, for now at least!
Anway - I hope that this can be a place of real support for people who are sturggling. I do wonder whether there is a link between debt & drinking as from the Jan thread it was obvious that so many struggle to give up! Plus I know for me that I feel much hapier and in control when I dont drink (or drink in moderation) - which of course begs the question "why do I do it?"! Anyway, I do but will now try not t ad hope some of you wil join in. Some days I know I wil fail, just as I do with my debt free journey and I am more than happy to be given a swift (but nice!) kicking when I do! Hugs all and dare I say...:beer: but this time with water!!

PS have amended this slightly as I have decided that I will try for the moderation way! That means for me not drinking over the recc limits (bottle & a half of wine for me!) but I know at times this will be a struggle plus I'm aware that others want to do the same."

And here's what she started!!! :

Part 10 is HERE

Part 9 is HERE

Part 8 is HERE

Part 7 is HERE

Part 6 is HERE

Part 5 is HERE

Part 4 is HERE

Part 3 is HERE

Part 2 is HERE

and the original starting thread is HERE

Here is a post from back on thread 1 or 2 (can't remember, but a long time ago), a post which means a lot to us on here....from Springwatch Girl. Don't know where SWG is as she hasn't posted since back then, but I am hoping that the sun is still shining in her life :)

"Well, week 5 of no alcohol and I see a different person in the mirror. My eyes no longer look dull and vacant, they actually have a little sparkle and my skin doesn't look like uncooked pastry anymore. I feel that I have won a battle but not yet the war. Hope everyone else is at the point they want to be, I never want to be that person I was, I have been tempted but I just think back to what I had become. The sun is shining at the moment and I feel good and want to continue to have the sun in my life"

Let us, once again, begin...... :)


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What do we do when we fall? We get up, dust ourselves off and start walking in the right direction again. Perhaps when we fall, it is easy to forget there are people along the way who help us stand and walk with us as we get back on track.
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Comments

  • shaggydoo
    shaggydoo Posts: 8,406 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    edited 27 February 2012 at 8:53AM
    JANUARY 2012

    SET YOUR Target_logo.jpg

    Everyone Welcome.
    What do we do when we fall? We get up, dust ourselves off and start walking in the right direction again. Perhaps when we fall, it is easy to forget there are people along the way who help us stand and walk with us as we get back on track.
  • shaggydoo
    shaggydoo Posts: 8,406 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    edited 31 December 2011 at 5:05PM
    January :-

    happy-smiley-thumbs.gif = 7 Days AF

    smiley-happy0005.gif = 14 days AF

    cheerleader-108.gif = 21 days AF

    angel-smiley-004.gif = 28 days AF

    smiley-score010.gif = 30 days AF

    :j = target achieved


    Bearacus /TF


    Beckseven


    Bigdrinker /8


    Caramelcaron


    Cheezypeas
    /27


    Chloris


    Cleggie /30

    Gardenanna

    Happyshopper


    Jevvers


    Legsand

    Mackeroo


    Maman
    /10

    May


    Shaggy
    /17


    Pricey SOS


    Rachel


    Xille




    PLEASE PUT YOUR TARGET AFDs IN A BOLD RED FONT and good luck! (and if I've made any mistakes, don't be shy, please let me know!)

    EVERYONE WELCOME
    What do we do when we fall? We get up, dust ourselves off and start walking in the right direction again. Perhaps when we fall, it is easy to forget there are people along the way who help us stand and walk with us as we get back on track.
  • I wonder if I could join this thread....very long time lurker.

    I have often wanted to join but I'm afraid with quite a big drinking problem I lost all self esteem and ability to even post a comment - and I was often drunk on the evenings I wanted to post a comment and ask for help.

    Big Drinker - a lot of people who know me think I don't drink at all....I hide it well, drink at home and am fairly good at bouncing myself the next morning - I have 6 children.

    I am trying so incredibly hard to stop drinking altogether - it is all or nothing for me I'm afraid. It has been harder, I think because my boyfriend drinks heavily every night so there is always whisky in the house.

    I have been steadily cutting down for some time now - probably 6 months or more. Falling down, getting up, falling down but determined to win my battle. I have been AF for 3 days (temptation came with a bottle of baileys at Christmas but I only had a couple of glasses and refrained from moving on to the whisky.)
    I am a Mum and don't want to be a drunk Mum. Last New Years Eve we were completely drunk by 7.30pm, my eldest boy called to say they'd broken down just down the road - I couldn't help. I don't want to be that sort of Mum. This year I hope to remain completely sober.

    My biggest problem is Friday night - I have a feeling in my belly and it needs to drink, once I have the first drink I will carry on drinking. It's horrible and I don't want to be that person anymore.

    Tonight I hope to conquer the first step....the Friday night feeling.

    Sorry for such a long first post. I wish you all well with abstaining as much as you need to.
  • cleggie
    cleggie Posts: 2,169 Forumite
    Hi. I lurked on your other thread for a while, so thought it was about time i de-lurked!!
    I would like to give up alcohol and this thread sounds like the perfect place for support!

    Why do i want to stop drinking alcohol? Well, i want to lose weight, but also i want to prove to myself that i can do it! I have increasingy wondered if i am becoming too reliant on alcohol, so will be looking into other ways to relax. Normally i ALWAYS have a bottle of wine on a Friday night, so this evening may be a challenge for me! I need to find something (besides alcohol) that signals the end of the week- any suggestions?
  • shaggydoo
    shaggydoo Posts: 8,406 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    welcomewagon.gif Welcome crazymum and cleggie. Tons of Good Luck with your alcohol free journey..... would you like to join the January challenge?
    What do we do when we fall? We get up, dust ourselves off and start walking in the right direction again. Perhaps when we fall, it is easy to forget there are people along the way who help us stand and walk with us as we get back on track.
  • cleggie
    cleggie Posts: 2,169 Forumite
    Oh, and i am aiming for 30 days AF!
  • shaggydoo
    shaggydoo Posts: 8,406 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    cleggie wrote: »
    Oh, and i am aiming for 30 days AF!

    You're on the list. l_good_luck.gif
    What do we do when we fall? We get up, dust ourselves off and start walking in the right direction again. Perhaps when we fall, it is easy to forget there are people along the way who help us stand and walk with us as we get back on track.
  • Chloris
    Chloris Posts: 712 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    cleggie wrote: »
    Hi. I lurked on your other thread for a while, so thought it was about time i de-lurked!!
    I would like to give up alcohol and this thread sounds like the perfect place for support!

    Why do i want to stop drinking alcohol? Well, i want to lose weight, but also i want to prove to myself that i can do it! I have increasingy wondered if i am becoming too reliant on alcohol, so will be looking into other ways to relax. Normally i ALWAYS have a bottle of wine on a Friday night, so this evening may be a challenge for me! I need to find something (besides alcohol) that signals the end of the week- any suggestions?

    I am searching for a treat for Friday too. As am on diet the chocs off the menu too! Will be very interested in suggestions. :T
  • cleggie
    cleggie Posts: 2,169 Forumite
    Chloris wrote: »
    I am searching for a treat for Friday too. As am on diet the chocs off the menu too! Will be very interested in suggestions. :T

    The first thing i thought of was a pampering evening. Face mask,exfoliate and moisturise whole body, facial scrub etc. all of these things i already have in the house, so instead of getting bladdered on the sofa, we could do that?
  • What a lovely idea for a Friday night.... I desperately need something, last Friday evening I went shopping to Tesco to try to avoid drinking ....it was going well until I came home to a drunk boyfriend and got so bored of drunk ramblings I stupidly decided to have a glass of whisky....and off I went.

    Tonight I shall stay away from the drinking boyfriend and maybe try what you suggest - a pamper evening...there's always a first time :)
    Thankyou, I shall think of you all and try incredibly hard.

    Can I please have 25 AFD - very tentative on this as I don't want to completely fail ....but I can try.
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