Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

[imatree]

Summer officially begins today, the longest day of the year.

Anyone besides me a bit nervous about summer? Like, how to avoid beer on a hot day and at BBQs and wine at picnics? Or, losing motivation to get my drinking under control because well, hell, how do I hang out on the dock on a warm sunday without beer - sun and beer - or margaritas, or gin and juice, or white wine - just go together....

I think it's the worry of losing my motivation that bothers me most. I'd like to enjoy this summer, maybe even remember most of it. But first I need to quit and that is looking to be more difficult with each passing day.........

[Guest]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Hi imatree,
Guess the problem we share is more or less the same regardless of the season.

Some fab. pubs here with gorgeous beer gardens. I can remember cycling between a few of them enjoying a glass of wine or 2!!! at my frequent stop-offs. Guess I was drunk- cycling!!! Am playing safe this summer and substituting the parks for the beer gardens. So, resorting to the same (not so) old, change your routine tactics........
Hope it works and I don`t carry my cool-bag to the park!!! ha ha ha

Starlight Impress

[sujul]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Hi Ima and Starlight--

I agree that it's about changing the routine....I got through last summer by staying close to these boards, drinking lots of sugar-free Fuze (I ALWAYS had a bottle of this next to me at the pc, in place of the wine I previously had next to me....)

I also avoided sugar and other "white" foods like white rice, white flour, etc. I've slacked off a bit about this lately and I really notice the difference--more wine thoughts!

A biggy, though, is staying away from the events where you would normally drink...this can be hard, but its worth it in the long run...and I am now at a point where people drinking around me just doesn't bother me...I don't think of it as connected to me at all...it's simply not an option!

This was how I did it--hopefully, this plan will continue to work this summer as well...no way am I going back to the old routine of drinking, hating myself, drinking, depression, drinking, anxiety, drinking, shame, drinking, drinking, drinking.....

[ScoobyDoo]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Ima, I think the same could be said for winter... sipping red wine and a cheese & pate platter with baguette in front of the open fire place (ok - guzzling the bottle :H) goes together in my mind, which I'm now breaking apart with a sledge hammer. If you make it through summer with the goal of retraining your associations, you'll break that in no time, like Sujul has done. I'm working on mine too

Su, I can't wait to be at the same stage as you; being at events and not having a care in the world for alcohol... or even feeling liberated for the freedom of not having that feeling of wanting to drink. And Su, I'm with you... I'm not going back to my old routine of drinking-regret-anxiety-drinking.

Happy days!
Scoobs

[diamond]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Hi Ima,
I know what u mean. It's not easy, You see all these happy people on the garden tables outside on hot sunny days with chilled glasses of ice cold 'alcohol' - whatever their choice is and my mouth starts watering.

I suppose like starlight, sujul and scooby say avoid the association or the event etc
Good luck
Diamond x

[imatree]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Yeah, that's the best advice, avoiding the places and events that trigger. Trouble is the biggest trigger is just my own house,,, sitting on the deck, watching the water, kids swimming (I live on a bay)... etc. I've been thinking the key for me will be to keep busy. Just hanging out at home all weekend is too hard to stay away from drink past 3pm (and it's always in the house cuz of bf). I'm thinking of taking the kids out for hikes, parks, etc. And get my butt into my kayak! and on my bike!

[Guest]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Ima, yep! I intend to remember this one!
smiles
Mar

[sujul]

Welcome to Summer! (will it be a sober one?)

Sounds good, Ima! The other thing I highly recommend is to make sure you have plenty of OTHER things to drink.....not just boring sodas, but more interesting fruity things...Fuze is my favorite (blueberry, mmm), but there's all sorts of interesting stuff in that area of the store we never bothered to check out!