A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

[Chillgirl]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Mazzie well done on day 7!

Im just waking up here to day 10.... cant believe it! I was a white wine drinker too and if there was none in the house i also wouldnt normally turn to other alcohol, however, this time im taking no chances and have emptied the whole house of everything. The sweet cravings are normal as we are used to getting our sugar fix from the wine. Im taking L-glutamine suplement which is suposed to help with that and so far I havent "pigged" out to much.

Waking up in the morning is becoming my favorite time of day!!

Keep up the good work everyone..... we are all doing great!

[Kimberley]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Hey all and Happy Sunday!

Cuckoo haha no chance of eating ice cream in this weather! I ended up staying in bed all day as there was a blizzard outside and so we had to cancel our plans! But today it has stopped snowing so I am going to travel down south to meet a friend for lunch who was been living in Oz. I did do a bit of studying yesterday though and cleared out my old emails so it wasn't a total loss! Hope you've been managing the weekend alright

Jolie if you've done it before, you can do it again. Yes this is a very supportive place and I'm very glad I found it too

Hya Com, crackers?? Not you, your craving! That's unusual, I've not heard that one before but I guess its the carbs - they seem to comfort, and this weather probably adds to that. I always crave the sweet stuff but if I eliminate it totally it really helps in the long term, so I'll be planning to do that.

Horsegirl great to see you checkig in and hearing how things have started improving for you. You are on the same day as me- Day 10 here

Hi Mazzie, you're doing great and I confidently predict that you will get a lovely energy buzz arriving very soon. I don't know why you only drink Chardonnay. Maybe someone can shed light on that. I have been known to drink anything and everything if there is nothing I would usually drink left. Even my ex's miniature bottle of some foreign spirits that he had kept as a souvenir for 5 years (yikes)! He didn't like me much that day...

Yeah the food thing is definitely also 'something to do' to replace the habit - bit like when you give up smoking and need to occupy your hands I guess. Wouldn't know, cos I'm a committed smoker but I hear this happens.

Hi Chill, congrats on day 10! Emptying the house aof all al, did you have a 'pouring away' ceremony? I've done that a few times and boy that's hard. I have thought about taking L-glutamine. Maybe I should if I don't want to end up 5 stone heavier by February!

Anyway hope everyone has a great Sunday! Be back later I imagine.

[com1]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Good morning all,

Finally a break from the deep freeze today. Maybe a bit of fishing and then football for this day.

Kim, don't know why crackers either but you're probably right about the carbs. Whatever it takes, it takes.

Later,

Com

[cuckoosnest83]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Good morning Kim. It is freezing here too but doesn't diminish my desire for some buttered almond ice cream. The way I see it, the almonds are healthy so I consider it a health food.

Kim, your drinking habits sound a lot like mine. My preference was G&Ts but if that wasn't available (which didn't occur often because I always made sure I had plenty in the house) than it was whatever else was in the house.

[wine lover]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Failed yet again

At a get together yesterday evening, could not resist the glass of wine, which went from one to far too many, feeling terrible today, hungover, guilt, you name it.
Must must try much harder from today on.
Feel I have let myself down very badly, how are you all doing ? :sorry:

[Tippylou]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Back to day one

Hello y'all. I'm new here. I have been lurking for a week. I made it two days, then failed. I now have to go through this again. Will I ever see the other side? How have the physical effects been for all of you? :new:

[wine lover]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Tippylou;788489 wrote: Hello y'all. I'm new here. I have been lurking for a week. I made it two days, then failed. I now have to go through this again. Will I ever see the other side? How have the physical effects been for all of you? :new:

Welcome Tip, I too have to start again, physical effects not too bad til today, boy have I paid for my sins I feel and look shattered.

[stirly-girly]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Hi to all.
Wine Lover you have a Private Message.
Stirly

[tawnywitch]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

winelover I too had a bit too much last night and feel awful today, but I do think I have a bug as well, so I will start over AGAIN today, good luck to everyone else starting again and well done all those actually managing it, love an hugs Tawnywitch

[wine lover]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

tawnywitch;788505 wrote: winelover I too had a bit too much last night and feel awful today, but I do think I have a bug as well, so I will start over AGAIN today, good luck to everyone else starting again and well done all those actually managing it, love an hugs Tawnywitch

Thanks Tawny, yes we will start afresh, thanks for posting.

[stirly-girly]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Hi Tippy and :welcome: to MWO. I have a couple of questions but first I want to say that you have come to a safe and supportive place where the members are all in this rooting for each other. We are all in the same place whether AF, moderating or still drinking. As one member has stated, we are all only one drink away from being at Day One yet another time. No one judges here, no one criticizes. We are just a group of people trying to face our problem with alcohol and find our way to a healthier life. Lots of hands to help you along the way, even more to pick you up if you stumble and fall.
You said you've been a couple of days AF and you ask how have the physical effects been for you? I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Whether we have had withdrawal symptoms or how better we feel when AF? I don't know how much you drink. I personally can put away about 2/3 bottle of liquor - 40% alcohol - in one to 1-1/2 hours. I have quit several times, cold turkey and have never had any withdrawal symptoms. However, some people drink much less than that - a bottle of wine a night for example and do have withdrawal symptoms. How were you over the last couple of days? I'm asking because some people have violent withdrawal symptoms and need to be medicated. I'm not saying that to scare you, just so you know. I didn't. Again, welcome to MWO. You can beat AL. He's just a powerless liquid in a bottle or can that can't do a damn thing to you if you just leave him there. Won't always be easy, sometimes really tough. But so right if you can manage it.
Stirly

[jill]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

My first day!!!

:goodjob:I am so happy I have learned about this program...reading all of the stories makes me feel much less ashamed of what I have become. I am really horrible with computer stuff, and have never been involved in any sort of computer communication aside from e-mail, so if i mess this up or am out of the loop on lingo, help me! I am commited to calling my dr. tomorrow and picking up the book. I want out of this mess so badly, and am really hopeful this time...I have quit so many times before.

[stirly-girly]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Hi Jill and :welcome: to MWO. You have come to a good place. Lots of support from all the members. Good that you are going to see your doc. That is a good step as is joining MWO. This is a very supportive place. Nobody judges here, nobody criticizes. Just a group of people trying to face their problem with alcohol the best way they can. Why don't you tell us a little about yourself. Read as much as you can. Ask whatever you want. We are all in this together.
Stirly

[Tippylou]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

stirly-girly;788520 wrote: Hi Tippy and :welcome: to MWO. I have a couple of questions but first I want to say that you have come to a safe and supportive place where the members are all in this rooting for each other. We are all in the same place whether AF, moderating or still drinking. As one member has stated, we are all only one drink away from being at Day One yet another time. No one judges here, no one criticizes. We are just a group of people trying to face our problem with alcohol and find our way to a healthier life. Lots of hands to help you along the way, even more to pick you up if you stumble and fall.
You said you've been a couple of days AF and you ask how have the physical effects been for you? I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Whether we have had withdrawal symptoms or how better we feel when AF? I don't know how much you drink. I personally can put away about 2/3 bottle of liquor - 40% alcohol - in one to 1-1/2 hours. I have quit several times, cold turkey and have never had any withdrawal symptoms. However, some people drink much less than that - a bottle of wine a night for example and do have withdrawal symptoms. How were you over the last couple of days? I'm asking because some people have violent withdrawal symptoms and need to be medicated. I'm not saying that to scare you, just so you know. I didn't. Again, welcome to MWO. You can beat AL. He's just a powerless liquid in a bottle or can that can't do a damn thing to you if you just leave him there. Won't always be easy, sometimes really tough. But so right if you can manage it.
Stirly

Sorry, Stirly and all. I was asking (not too clearly) for a kind of a rough timeline of symptoms of withdrawl, what days do most people have the worst time. I have read more threads simce I posted and many people said day 3 was particularly hard. That's when I relapsed.

A little about myself: I am female, 48, live alone and have been drinking just about every night for 10 years. I have managed to work myself up to drinking a 1.5L bottle of wine every night. I also smoke when I drink. They are tied together so I have to quit both at the same time. I smoke one in the morning none at work and then I can't wait until I get home to have that smoke and glass of wine. I drink at home as a hobby. Thankfully I never drink and drive. I am going to die if I keep this up.

[stirly-girly]

A new start for 2010 - who's in and what's your plan?

Hi again. I read something very interesting today. Your comment that "I smoke one in the morning none at work and then I can't wait until I get home to have that smoke and glass of wine" is what got me thinking about it again. This was posted by "A Work in Progress" in the Tool Box. I found it most enlightening and something all of us should take into consideration...

Do You "Deserve" a Drink, Today?

I can't count the number of times I have seen someone come here and write a post in which s/he says that s/he has relapsed, or "slipped," because s/he had been doing well for a while, and decided that s/he "deserved" a drink.

And our alcoholic thinking does this to us. It totally bypasses the memory of the devastation, humiliation, and destruction that alcohol has brought into our lives, and it presents alcohol as a GOOD thing, a prize, a reward, something we want to give ourselves for a job well done.

I wrote a post a few days ago, about this way of thinking, but it was kind of buried in another thread. And I saw people talking about "deserving a drink," again today. What I wrote about was about changing our way of thinking from this self-destructive "Deprivation Mode" to a winning, successful, positive "Gratitude Mode." Here it is:

I don't think we can begin to truly grow into a successful, lifetime, AF plan until we have managed to make the shift in our thinking from the "Deprivation Mode" to the "Gratitude Mode."

In Deprivation Mode, we think alcohol is a good thing that we are being deprived of. We are sad, and grieve the loss of what had felt like a friend to us. We consider it a treat that we never get to give ourselves again. We are envious of others who "get to drink."

In Gratitude Mode, we recognize that alcohol is (for us, because of our brain structure, genetics, physiology, etc.) a toxin, a poison, something that nearly destroyed us. Mentally, physically, and spiritually. We recognize that we have the most amazing opportunity to rid ourselves of something that makes us very sick in all those ways. We recognize the craziness of voluntarily damaging our brains, minds, bodies, families, jobs, futures. We are really, really grateful for that opportunity, and we guard it and cultivate it carefully.

Most of us start a recovery program in deprivation mode. Some people stay there forever. Those people tend not to be able to create a consistently successful program, or life, of freedom from alcohol and its devastation. Some of us transition into gratitude mode.

For most of us, Gratitude Mode does not just happen all by itself. We have to make it happen. If we want to shift into gratitude mode, we learn to cultivate it. We cultivate it by being careful about our thoughts, and about what we notice. If we find ourselves thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a drink, we deliberately shift attention away from this train of thought, and we deliberately choose to think about how good it is to know we will never humiliate ourselves with alcohol again, never again have another horrible hangover, never disappoint our children again with the way we are when we get drunk. We notice alcohol advertising, pay attention to how it makes us feel, and detach from the message by noticing how distorted the message is.

That kind of thing is crucial. We literally can BUILD a new way of thinking and feeling about things. And I think that's something to be grateful for, in itself!

I think we should all print off a copy of this and stick it on the door of our "booze cupboard". A constant reminder that we need to change our thinking to get AL in the right perspective...
Hope this helps,
Stirly