Newbies Nest

[idefineme]

Way to go, Elvis, and thanks for sharing your story with us.

I'm at the end of day four, and they really are tough. For sure it helps tons to come here and read stories like Elvis' and everybody that's looking for a better way to live. It feels right. Me and my dog Juno had obedience class tonight, and traditionally I'd stop on the way home and grab a bottle or twelve of something and get home and get stoopid. I left the bank card at home, knowing that if i brought it to class it would cause me much desire and angst to stop on the way home and repeat my weekly post-dog-training ritual, and blow my 30-day challenge. It worked, and here I am saying good night on day 4 to the lovely folks on MWO.

[j-vo]

Thank you for sharing your story here, Elvis. Congratulations to you and thank you for reminding of so many important points. I know where I want to be next year. And I'm gonna fight like hell to get there. :welldone:

[All done drinking]

Holy spit, Elvis, you dont say much, but when you do.....remarkable!

Haha Byrdie,

I had to laugh with your statement here as I was thinking about Elvis tonight and how quiet he is (other than seeing him on the roll call). I had the same thought but just couldn't come up with the words to put it as eloquently as you did. What an inspiring post Elvis and such an unbelievably helpful post for others.

Addy~

[NoraC]

Elvis - wow......thank you. Can't see thru the tears in my eyes.

[Dutch1988]

Pretty epic Elvis, thank you for those words of wisdom!

[Mr Vervill]

Brilliant post Elvis! I've read it several times. Thank you

[daisy45]

Elvis, what an inspiration! Thank you

[LilBit]

Elvis, way to go. Long live the king!

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Thank you for sharing who you are with us. :love:

[Lavande]

Good Thursday morning Nesters ��

Had a not so hairy commute to my granddaughter's house this morning. What a difference a week & some extra daylight makes, ha ha!!! It's nice to actually see the deer before it darts out in front of you - geez!

Great job IDM, leaving the bank card home was good planning

Wishing everyone a good AF day.

Lav

[Byrdlady]

Good Morning, Nesters!
Hope everyone has an easy day! Do whatever it takes to get thru this day AF! I never woke up wishing I'd gotten drunk the night before! All I have with regards to AL is REGRET! No thanks! Upwards, onwards and forwards! (I'm not sure forwards is a word, but it should be) Byrdie

[ssd858]

Elvis - you are such an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing. Yesterday was day 5 for me and the hardest so far. Your post was just what I needed to read today.

Congratulations!

[Dutch1988]

Trying to keep up on here but there's a lot of action, hello to all the new folks, if I think I can chime in and help at all i definitely will. I think I am moving away from the newbie standpoint and starting to actually be able to give some advice.

Checking in here with 240 under my belt, I count it as 8 months, but I know Lilbit's got her "true" 8 months in. I kind of like celebrating the number bench marks because then I only have 4 days to look forward to another goal, then it's like man 250 sounds close and is an awesome number to tell folks. I have always been goal oriented, and keeping this thing goal oriented has really helped me on the bad days, as mentioned on here before, we all had amazing willpower while we drank. We just used it to get thru the day with our hangovers and drink more even though parts of our body said to stop.

Although I quit alcohol 8 months ago I had another evil that has caused me harm, and that is my addiction to sugar. I would always consume 120-200 grams of sugar a day, i think recommended these days is 35g or less, something ridiculous. I think this kept my body unhappy and unhealthy, and strongly recommend if your not feeling good during your quit you check your other habits. L-glutamine has done wonders for my sugar and alcohol cravings, and when I am just hangry it has made resisting temptation so much easier. On the flip side(and there always is one), I have noticed I feel really good, like happy and euphoric. My wife says I should just enjoy feeling good and thinks it's because I have changed my diet, but i am having a hard time believing her. If this is how you long term abbers feel all the time, you know, except when life and stress is around of course, I will NEVER drink again. If I crash, and I know I might, then I am going to go to a doctor, one that does not tell me that ups and downs come with life and you wont feel as much as you get older...LOL

I workout 2-3 hours a day, starting to see my six pack(and my vain ass is probably more happy about that then anything else on this list haha), getting promoted in December in grappling, financially stable and testing for my personal trainer certification on the 25th, give my kid more love and attention, better support for my friends and family, enjoy my down time more, relax and drink a cup of tea at the end of the day. What more do you want? Even if the addiction was something as non-deadly as alcohol, the amount of time and energy put into it would be considered destructive compared to what you get. Just saying, things are looking up.

I'm going to close with a story a friend showed me. There was once a great lion that ruled over the entire African plain. He was the literal king of the jungle, and everyone feared him for his power. One day, while he was walking with his young son, hunters came and shot the king dead. They took the son to the circus. And for years the alcohol, I mean master of the circus, made the lion subservient to him. The master would stick it's head inside the lion's mouth to show that he was beneath him. Finally, after 30 years, the lion remembered who he was. He remembered what the master had done to his father, what he was capable of becoming, a great king of the wild. That day when the master put it's head inside the lion, he CHOMPED the thing clean off, knowing he would die. He didn't care, he did it because he remembered who he was, what he was supposed to be, and all that anger and power gave him the power to overcome the abuse.

Just something to think about, are you in control of you, or is something else.

[KENSHO]

Hi Everyone! Checking in. Love your post Dutch! You sound strong, happy, healthy. I was just reading something about sugar... it is really bad for gut bacteria health, and it encourages yeast growth, which causes more cravings for sugar. Artificial sweeteners do the same thing, and are even worse for health. It doesn't surprise me that you feel so good with less!

I've been starting each morning feeling lazy, slow and tired. Then I get into my work groove and get really moving by noon or so - makes my days shorter. My perfect work day schedule would be noon-8 - but that doesn't happen with kiddos and dinner. Maybe someday!

Anyway - feeling ok otherwise and no cravings today. Oh - I did attend that event last night, and most people had wine. I had water in a wine glass. I do wish I could open up more easily. I am so introverted in social situations that I feel I must come across as awkward at times. Oh well - something to work on.

[j-vo]

Lav, on my way to town, I saw a bunch of turkeys on the side of the road. They were so cute. One started walking across as I approached, then stepped back, and they waited until I passed. Then I slowed down just to look in my rearview mirror at them and they started to walk across. I'm sure they held up traffic for awhile. Yep, have to be very careful in my neck of the woods for the deer. We get lots in our backyard, and my husband loves to feed them, so they always come back. Beautiful creatures.

Dutch, congratulations on your 240. You're post was really inspiring. Thank you. I'm so sure if you consumed that much sugar, it can wreak havoc on your system. I'm trying to cut back on sugars as much as i can, but don't always do so well. I like the l-glut idea and I have some, so I'll get that out of the cabinet and start taking. How much of that do you recommend to reduce sugar cravings?

Kensho, you sound great. I think in early sobriety, the events like you attended would make me feel a bit uneasy. I know it was for work, but you did great, even if it does feel a bit awkward. Are you naturally an introvert? I am, and I feel like I try too hard at times. As I get older, I almost feel like, if I wanna talk, I will, and if I don't, screw it. I can always listen and smile. In my line of work, I'm not forced to go to functions like that, but we do have get togethers once in awhile. I can easily get out of those if I need to and more than likely I will not attend anything for awhile.

[Eloise]

That sounds big, El. Where are you heading?

Staying in Netherlands, no idea where we will move to? Apartments/houses very cramped here- Annoying. Thank god I can keep my studio space.