I'm now coming up to 6 weeks/42 days AF and though it was time to post my plan - I'd never really written it down before but here it is. I've been using it since day 1 when things were really bad and it was very difficult at first to do some of the things - but now it's second nature.
What was/is my plan?
1. Be AL free ODAT, 1 minute at a time if need be
2. Take each day as it comes
3. Do everything I can to give myself the space I need so;
Work less
Say "No" a lot
Stay in a safe place if I need to no matter what
Spend time posting and reading on MYO
Do whatever I need to to not have a drink even if it isn't what others want me to do
Talk to someone completely independent to me but whom I can trust on a daily basis - for me that was a counsellor I was lucky enough to have found.
4. Eat well avoiding simple sugars whereever possible
5. Use camomile tea, L-Glut to help with relaxation and cravings
6. Allow myself a bedtime treat of a lo-cal hot chocolate or hot milk
7. Believe in myself and remember my mantra "It will all work out as long as I don't have a drink" whenever problems come up.
Some of the things like "Work less" didn't make sense at first, especially because that meant a drop in income. Actually it didn't since I was no longer spending money on AL, junk food plus taxis everywhere and I stopped having sick days/weeks off (I don't get paid when I have time off).
A year or two ago I'd have thought an AF plan would have to include lots of 'doing' things, such as filling my time. The truth is it's more of a change of mind plan and I actually spend huge swathes of time just chilling out, mooching around. Running around like an idiot, cramming activities into my days used to drive me back to drink to escape all the action.
My goal?not to drink ODAT. One other thing I've done is stop projecting to day XYZ number. Don't give a stuff about day 43 as long as I'm ok this minute in time. Of course 90 days is going to be the next landmark for me as they say it takes 3 months to make, or break a habit.
What was/is my plan?
1. Be AL free ODAT, 1 minute at a time if need be
2. Take each day as it comes
3. Do everything I can to give myself the space I need so;
Work less
Say "No" a lot
Stay in a safe place if I need to no matter what
Spend time posting and reading on MYO
Do whatever I need to to not have a drink even if it isn't what others want me to do
Talk to someone completely independent to me but whom I can trust on a daily basis - for me that was a counsellor I was lucky enough to have found.
4. Eat well avoiding simple sugars whereever possible
5. Use camomile tea, L-Glut to help with relaxation and cravings
6. Allow myself a bedtime treat of a lo-cal hot chocolate or hot milk
7. Believe in myself and remember my mantra "It will all work out as long as I don't have a drink" whenever problems come up.
Some of the things like "Work less" didn't make sense at first, especially because that meant a drop in income. Actually it didn't since I was no longer spending money on AL, junk food plus taxis everywhere and I stopped having sick days/weeks off (I don't get paid when I have time off).
A year or two ago I'd have thought an AF plan would have to include lots of 'doing' things, such as filling my time. The truth is it's more of a change of mind plan and I actually spend huge swathes of time just chilling out, mooching around. Running around like an idiot, cramming activities into my days used to drive me back to drink to escape all the action.
My goal?not to drink ODAT. One other thing I've done is stop projecting to day XYZ number. Don't give a stuff about day 43 as long as I'm ok this minute in time. Of course 90 days is going to be the next landmark for me as they say it takes 3 months to make, or break a habit.
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