Newbies Nest

[sanchez]

Newbies Nest

Checking into the nest for the night. Had a light dinner out with a cousin and we both drank ginger ale and laughed when we thought of our more typical nights where we'd down a bottle of wine each then head home to drink more with me sleeping in a spare bedroom. Nice of her to be af for the night too. Sure does help to have support like that.

Hope all is well with everyone tonight (or this morning as the case may be)!
Sleepy and have a long day tomorrow so in bed with a dog curled up beside me. Sweet!

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

CD sorry to hear the meet ups aren't interesting. We went on a canoe trip today with 27 people (two big canoes) and watched the air show from across the lake, it was a meet up we've done before. I also found an outdoor yoga class through meet up. Keep looking you never know. A hiking group maybe? Even if they are older than you it's nice to have company, it's not so much about who you meet as much as it is about finding things to do (and not alone) and branching out. Still staying in is safer in these early months, I agree.

Londoner I am so glad to hear you're still on track that's awesome!

broken halo you are sounding so happy and so strong. It's inspiring, really!

Byrdie George Cloony? *swoon*

available, teabo I guess you have to decide what you want. Do you really want to give up AL? Then you want to start figuring out your triggers and work on a better plan to say no.

I made sure everyone I know knows I don't drink. So they'd never dream of testing my strength. They all want me to be successful.

I am at 90 days now and thought the cravings would be gone, but they still turn up at times. Tonight hubby and I had date night, saw a great movie "The Butler" then went for Italian food. Well I had already decided I would have a cranberry and soda but a glass of wine entered my mind. Again, I know better, when have I had one glass of wine? I know one leads to more. I actually don't want that buzz any more. So all I have to do is not have that first one. Simple as that.

[Emmy Lou]

Newbies Nest

Slowly working this forum thing out!

Hi, thankyou so much 'Broken Halo' and 'K9 Lover'...it's going to take me a while to navigate this thing...it feels very clunky after facebook...
'Samstone' I still can't find your reply but bear with me, I'm still looking!
I feel very good today. I had an alcohol (and smoke) free night last night, haven't had a drink yet today but I am planning to have one. Meeting my boyfriend at the bar where he works so I'll have one there, and one at his place later...tomorrow is alcohol free again...feeling like I can do this (lets see how I feel at the bar?)
Thanks again,
Em

[available]

Newbies Nest

Good evening all, well today has been great, spent it with my 2 girls wedding shoe shopping and I told my eldest daughter that I was not going to drink. She was very supportive which was wonderful and my other daughter I had already told. So we finally after 3 hours found the brides shoes and came home to me cooking a baked dinner and drinking fizzy drink. A lovely day and night and more optimistic about not drinking with the support of my family.

I actually said this morning when i woke up to a fuzzy head from AL to my daughter that i was never drinking again and she said "wtf i have never heard you say that before". I am hoping the button has clicked in this AL mind that life is so much nicer without AL.

I hope everyone has had a great day and staying safe and sober.

Hadit how did the footy go today? What a beautiful day it was in Melbourne.

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters

Had thunder storms here last night, more on the way. Not exactly nice cook out weather, oh well.

Available, the change in thinking is your best weapon
Have you thought about getting the MWO Hypno CDs or something similar? I loved them & used them daily for over a year.

Emmy, I wish you well however planning drinks in your early days is not generally recommended. You may want to look into posting on the Monthy Moderation threads & look for support there.

I see AllanK has reached his 1 year anniversary today! I'll go look for a party thread to help him celebrate

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Sunday!

Lav

[lifechange]

Newbies Nest

I've been a constant relapser. Always using some date in the future or tomorrow as my starting day, my day one. In aa they say that everyone can get sober as long as one is brutally honest. I'm afraid that maybe I really can't be honest with myself. I start off feeling confident, with purpose and short as well as long term goals. Each time i relapse it gets more difficult to convince myself that it's possible for me. I feel like I've tried everything-- but somehow, though doubtful, I still have hope that I can turn my life around. So this is the first day in a long time where I can honestly say I can get through the day without a drink. It doesn't seem easy, but it seems possible.

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

lifechange it's scary, I know. We all had to go through day one. It is doable. And it is incredibly rewarding. Hang in there. I think you're being honest with yourself.

Two bits of advice that really helped me in the beginning were get all the AL out of the house and stock up on nice AF drinks as well as all the good food you can afford. You may need to eat your way through the next little while and we are used to having a drink in our hand so you want to have some tasty alternatives. Stick close we want to help.

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

CD - just a thought, have you ever wanted to learn an instrument? Become a rock star in your spare time?

Lav I have often wondered about those hypnosis CD's. Maybe I'll give em a try too.

available, what a difference a day makes! Good to hear you're back on track. I think telling those closest to you keeps you accountable. That said, it's a personal thing. I just find saying it out loud helps me.

emmylou I found moderation way too difficult. I tried it for years before I came to MWO. I was always negotiating with myself. Only beer, no booze at home, only wine, only weekends, one one, only after dinner, you name it. In the end I had to admit I could no longer control my drinking. I would drink when I didn't want to. Now I don't drink at all and it is a lot easier to manage the cravings than it was to manage the drinking.

[little beagle]

Newbies Nest

Lav thank you for saying that.
Available I think telling family members that your not drinking and enlisting their help would let them know not to bring al around you. No temptation, not such a problem.
This really helped me when I was getting started.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Good morning, Nesters!
So good to see everyone!
Emmy Lou, I have to say that unlike many of the lucky ones, I did NOT get this on the first try, or even the 100th. What I CAN say with pretty good authority is that by the time a person seeks out help online for AL abuse, the Jeannie is out of the bottle. Theree is only one way to control this beast and that is to cut off its food supply. For me, (and countless people here) one drink IS our downfall. It only leads to another. What do 2 drinks do for us? (in the case being made for moderation?) it makes us relax, right? Then what happens? We have another and yet another. The key is to NOT take that first drink...WE CANNOT CONTROL THIS NOW. It is beyond fixing by moderating. Even on this site, moderation is TRIED with the help of HEAVY DUTY meds and they are not without side effects, see the meds section. Please try and come to terms that a Zero Tolerance Policy is the only path to freedom from this. Once I was able to stop bullshitting myself by saying 'I will ease into being AF, or maybe my problem isn't as bad as I thought' I was able to come to the realization that I am an ALCOHOLIC. I cannot have AL.....at all. I'm good with that. In these 956 AF days I have accumulated, I can honestly say that I don't know why I ever thought AL was doing me any favors. As a sober person, I can see that all it did was harm. I can see that I THOUGHT it was relaxing me or making me more social but I was WRONG. It was making me MORE anxious, depressed and isolated. Cut off the head of the beast...put AL down and keep your quit no matter what and no matter who! You will be GLAD you did. There is nothing to hang onto that's good....try and just let it go. It will be the best decision you've ever made. You will have to trust me on that one! Sometimes in life, you must take a leap of faith.
Sorry to preach, but it is Sunday morning! Hallelooooya!
Lifechange, good to see you! Make the decision to quit today and stick with it. You can do this!!!
Have a wonderful AF Sunday and wear white this one last time before we must put it away for the winter. XXOO, Byrdie

[C-Developer]

Newbies Nest



Posting on the wall of the circuit training room at Planet Fitness that I snapped a shot of with my iPhone, no doubt to inspire people to train harder, but I think it applies equally as well to all of us.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

3J's congratulations on 90 days!!! I was about to complain that you don't have your quit date in your signature line, but then I realized you meant business and made it your screen name!!! GREAT JOB!!! This is a better place because of YOU!! B

:day5::day5::day5:

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

Aw thanks Byrdie, you've been there for me throughout. I will always remember that first baby shower I was going to, I felt you were right there beside me rooting me on. Had the worst sugar hangover I've ever had from that AF punch but I'll take that any day over a real hangover!!

Just bought the CD's. I had a moment's thought of "wow they're not cheap" then I remembered the app I have on my iphone that says I've saved over $1000 being AF and I went ahead and ordered them, as well as the book.

I realize that this is far from the end of my journey, that I have to be vigilant, that sleazy AL wants back and I need to keep the door firmly locked!

[broken halo]

Newbies Nest

Hi everyone

3J, well done on your 90 days, I love your attitude and your posts, you inspire me!

CD, I hope the other wall says 'anything is possible', a great pic, and very powerful words.

Available, sounds like you had a successful and happy day without AL, well done!

Lifechange, the writing on CDev's wall is yours today, you are not alone in your journey. :welcome:

Emmylou, I can't moderate as the other have said it's too hard and always led me back to full consumption eventually. Give yourself a wee break is my advice.

The weather here has taken a bit of a turn for the worse and I have been a bit lazy today, reading and watching tv. I am going to get my arse into gear and get out to the gym for a while.

I was on facebook earlier and the number of updates about drinking was interesting! Things like 'great night, can't remember getting home' 'aff it' (Scottish for I am never drinking again!) and so on.

I am just glad it isn't me nursing a hangover and trying to remember if I made an arse of myself, lost my phone, snogged a wrong un, etc etc!

Happy sober Sunday everyone

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

Broken Halo we need a Scottish lesson

snogged a wrong un ?

Love it!