Newbies Nest

[BPleasant]

Newbies Nest

"Well I really know the key with me during witching hour is EAT. Nothing like hunger to make my alcohol cravings go through the roof. When I eat they go away - at least the really gruelling cravings go away. And I know I can fight off the rest of them for the night. That was the deciding factor for me lasting AF15 not too long ago.... hmmm interesting how EVERY TIME I messed up with AL it happened to be on an empty stomach."

I put on a few pounds in February. I don't like to drink on a full stomach. Last night, I had dinner, the wine cravings went away. Then at 7, I poured a glass of wine and went to 3 full glasses. Wow, drinking less often packs a bigger buzz and the morning after effects are more pronounced. I feel like a drank more than I normally would and I didn't!

[NoraC]

Newbies Nest

Morning all - well actually almost afternoon here. I slept in. I never do this and it has been great. Haven't had a chance to go back & catch up on everyone. I am so grateful for this nest. I am going to be spending a lot of time here.
I was just skimming quickly and saw the comment about eating. I know that once I eat, I am less likely to grab that bottle. So, that needs to be something I remember.

We all seem to be spread out around the world so...........
Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. And Good Night.
:wave:

[Sophie75]

Newbies Nest

Hi everyone..sounds like a happy nest today..
Hippy Chick, I had a couple of choccie biscuits today. I was hungry when I ate them and I stopped at two so not feeling too bad about it. Likewise, one peppermint slice is hardly a full on sugar frenzy

Mama Bear, happy day 3..:goodjob: am proud of my sis

Welcome BurrCo and well done on 14 days

Hope everyone is braced for the weekend. Friday is definitely my weakest day so am going to wake up in fighting mode.

Was interested to read about cravings going after food..might just eat my way through tomorrow then:giggle:

Am off to sleep, gdnight everyone, talk tomorrow

[Hippy Chick]

Newbies Nest

Morning all. Already bloody hot and only going to get hotter.....

Love to read so many posts from all our lovely nesters. Everyone sounds strong and positive - I think we feed off each other. When one or two are having a bad time, it seems we all are. However when one or two are feeling strong and positive it lifts everyone spirits and we are all happy. It happens in my house too.

Chicken - Broome? Geraldton? Carnavon? I am actually about 45 minutes south of Perth on the coast too. You are sounding good today.

Sophie - I did OK yesterday although I get restless about 8pm if I havent had sugar (was like that with AL before) and start searching the pantry and fridge for anything to satisfy me, it wasnt a hunger, not sure what it is trying to satisfy. I think it is a case of the little child who cant have what they really want so they sulk and will just take anything. I think I am going to explore this a bit more in depth as I think this might help me understand my addiction better. A couple of choccie biscuits is not too bad. Maybe that is the thing to do. Just have one of what you want to satisfy that "need" then the craving goes away. Shame I cant do that with AL!

Gotta get ready for work. My big day at work today - I hate Fridays. Find it very hard and my mind often strays to thinking about having a drink. (Actually had a dream about getting drunk last night... It was strange. I even knew in my dream that I shouldnt do it but woke up before I did it - wish I had "woken up" before i did it in real life!).

Take care and catchya later.
Hippy

[Guest]

Newbies Nest

Morning Everyone from East Coast Australia.

An excellent morning so far but that may be because I have only just got up! Went to bed before hubby last night and was asleep before he came up. Hubby took care of the very earlier school run today - he wouldn't even let me get out of bed to make the school lunch. Hubby and son took care of everything themselves. I finally got up after 11 hours in bed.

Had a big couple of days at home - tidying the playroom!! Today is for those small jobs - paying the bills, filing etc.

I love school pick up time on Fridays as we don't have homework and don't have to get ready for tomorrow. Son and I just snuggle on the sofa and watch kids TV.

Not too worried about Friday nights anymore as I have done a few AF already. Saturday's the bad one for me.

Sober life is just soooooo good.

[Guest]

Newbies Nest

Hi All,

Can I just add to the comments about eating to beat cravings?

My drinking used to start at about 6.00 pm. Even though I knew I was actually thirsty, I would reach for the wine never water or another soft drink.

One tip about eating sensibly is to work out whether you are actually hungry or thirsty. The body's "thirst" signals are very primative. Before grabbing something to eat - try having a drink preferably water. Wait 10 to 20 mins and assess if you are really hungry or if your thirst has been satisfied.

I find this pretty successful for both food and AL cravings and depending on the craving I choose Coke Zero or water.

On the other hand, if having a snack gets rid of the AL cravings go for it. Sorting out a couple of extra pounds is far easier than sorting out AL dependancy.

Spam

xx

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Wow, pretty busy around here for a Thursday, good thing to see

Since we're being honest & talking so much about food - well I have to fess up! I gained a few pounds myself this month BUT I plan to work it off as soon as all this snow melts & we can start moving around normally outside!! I'm dying to get back to my garden & flower beds.

Sunni, I feed this 100+ lb. Swissy & share my home with her - the least she can do is help out with snow removal!!!! She was born in Germany (somewhere near the Alps), just loves to eat snow

Wishing everyone a safe & cozy night in the Nest!
Looking forward to waking up unhung tomorrow on my 11 month AF anniversary
Good night all, the night light is on!

Lav

[NoraC]

Newbies Nest

Lav - great job!!!! 11 months!!!! :goodjob::goodjob: What an inspiration.

Spam - excellent advise about the 'hungry or thirsty'. One of my main problems is that I would put off dinner so I could get started on my drinking. I think eating dinner each night will help me with that.....even if it's just a little salad.

[TranqWilly]

Newbies Nest

Hi Everyone.

This has been a crazy, busy week for me. It is great to see everyone doing so well. I just got through about 10 pages of great posts from the past two days. Some great stuff going on - keep it up!

BPleasant - "Today, while I was driving I realized, I somehow all but stop beating myself up when I came to this site. "

I found an interesting article about guilt on this website. I don't know anything about the site or the lady who wrote this - but a lot of it made sense to me. It seemed there was a little talk about feeling guilty here yesterday.

canadiangirl - "GABA (fast acting relief for nervousness and acute stress, it says) and 5-hydroxytryptophan"

LCC - "Also, what's the deal with GABA? Haven't bought any yet but if it helps my stress/mood I'm all over it."

-- CG, LCC, I take Gaba twice a day. It is fast acting, but, just bit of a warning - I get a bit of a body-rush and feel like I'm short of breath for about a minute when it kicks-in. It freaked me out at first - but now I recognize that it's also melting the tension out of my shoulders and the rest of my body at the same time. 5-HTP is also a bit of a wonder-drug for me. I felt great after taking it just a few days - I guess I was low on serotonin. I now take Amoryn instead, at Lav's suggestion, which has 5-htp as one of its main ingredients. I take L-Glut too. Hope this helps.

MamaB - "Spuddleuck...
u quack and waddle right past that bar!!" Funny! And good advice!

I totally agree about how hunger thirst become al triggers. Stay well fed and hydrated. Don't worry about a few pounds -- they won't hurt you -- al will!

Chooks - glad on ya! Hope the chicklin' is ok.

Lav, Sunni - big hugs as always! The Chicago newspaper called your storm a Snow-icane today. We've been lucky this year -- but have had our share of bad years in the past.

Take care everyone!!!
tw

[overittoday]

Newbies Nest

Glad to hear everyone is goind well. Its Friday in Sydney. I have a course to go to tonight and am really looking forward to it.
Have a great, AF weekend everyone!
Love and strength from me.

[KatieB]

Newbies Nest

Hi everyone,
Another successful AF day (2nd in a row).. my son had to have a hospital procedure this morning.. all went well thankfully.. I am working tonight and tomorrow night so I will have no temptations at all to drink AL.. I am feeling much more confident in myself.. in part due to finding this wonderful site; with all the support, encouragement and advice,
I'm wishing everyone a happy and fun weekend (without AL!) - I am getting the knack of finding things to do that are fun, without AL!! it's a great new habit to keep! :h
K xx

[marriedgirl29]

Newbies Nest

A bit worried about social event tomm could use advice

Hello everyone-

I have an afterwork going away party for a girl at my bank who's transferring and I know most people will be drinking and since they know me as a big drinker they are going to ask why I'm not drinking. My husband is coming to support me but any great excuses would be awesome. I have been thinking what about saying I have an upset stomach? I have Tums I could take one. Or just saying I don't feel like drinking have to work tomm-true...And not staying too long as I learned last weekend being around booze no good for me I feel fine as long as I'm not around it and taking my meds like I should and using this site and lately I have been trying to pray and be gratetful for things.

I had a great day today got so much accomplished....a far cry from my usual day off in the week when husband's at work- getting a double bottle on wine at the liquor store at 1 and drinking all day and feeling guilty for not getting anything done and being more broke. And annoyingly drunk to him when he gets home.

Congrats Lav on your anniversary that's wonderful! How does it feel?

MG 29

[KatieB]

Newbies Nest

Hi MG,

I would just say that I am on a health-kick, or say you have to get up early tomorrow/go to the gym first in the morning.. Do you drive? - you could say you are driving home so you cannot drink.. make sure you order tasty AL-free drinks.. you can get some nice combinations now.. I love lemon/lime and soda.. just think how great it will feel knowing everything you are saying to ppl! so many times the next day I have cringed and been so embarrassed about the things I have said/the fool I have made of myself.. good luck
K

[NoraC]

Newbies Nest

MarriedGirl - that is one of my problems too.....going out with friends and not drinking. If you can't use the "I'm driving so I'm not drinking" line, then I was thinking of just saying that I took some medicine earlier that doesn't mix with alcohol. I have thought about that and thought that is what I would say next time. Not going to go into detail just say that I wasn't feeling well earlier & took a pill.
I know that just saying thank you but I'm not drinking today would be better. But, I also know that people would keep questioning me. If I say that I can't because of the med, they would accept it and move on.
Sorry that I'm not more help. Anybody else have some good ideas?

[Jolie]

Newbies Nest

Good morning everyone!

Snowing and blowing here in the north-eastern part of Maryland. Getting ready to make my very slow and cautious way into work (a little late).

Tranq - I find the longer and more consistent I am with staying away from AL, the better I feel about myself - guilt was a major player for me. Waking up at 3:30 almost every morning with huge feelings of guilt and self-disgust. Feel really peaceful waking up these mornings and it's a feeling I'd like to keep.

Hey MG - you could always say you have a slight headache and know that AL would only make it worse. I've used this one before (it's actually true as I tend to get migraine-like headaches from time to time). Or the old "I'm taking an antibiotic that you shouldn't mix with AL" is worth a try. Be strong - sounds like you have a plan and hubby will be there for support - you will do fine!

Grateful - How are you fairing in the storm? Was afraid we would lose electric but so far so good.

Lav - 11 months is truly awesome. You must be so proud of yourself. Does it seem like it's been that long or are you surprised that you are almost at the 1 year mark? You are an inspiration to us all.

Spam - like you, I am willing to gain a few if it means giving up the AL. In reality, I have lost some since I gave up the nightly wine ritual - just empty, useless calories in all that wine.

Overit, Kbrown, NoraC, Hippy, and anyone else who drops in - hope you all have a wonderful, productive Friday!

Jolie