Sober (AF) September Challenge

[OverIt2007]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Yay Anon! You kick that marathons butt!! We will be rooting for you!!

[anon]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Broke my ribs just over three weeks ago and also other cuts and bruises. I feel very lucky that the awful pain subsided very quickly--well after about 18 days. I have broken my ribs twice before and this is the fastest I have recovered. I must admit the ribs do still feel a bit tender and it hurts to cough and sneeze. Still better than a hangover any day.

[neart]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Chill and Sidney, I hope you are both doing okay, sounds like a few are having tough days. Well, we are all here for each other, so as Dewdrop said, lean away :l

Coco, fair play to you - not on the coveting other people's empty boxes but on holding strong and riding the wave - proud of you x

Anon, that's great about the running - I tried getting in to running last year, but my knee did not like it one bit, so I stopped. Still searching for something to get hooked on exercise-wise.

I hear ye about the wine - I remember having dinner at home once and my father forgot to refil my glass when he was refilling everyone elses, and I was so mad cause it was the end of the bottle and it's not the kind of house where people open a 2nd bottle. It was really hard to cover my frustration (looking back, I probably didn't manage to cover it at all...)

[Tippylou]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Hi All!
Glad to hear everyone doing so well. Keep knocking those urges back. I am surprisingly free from them but I will be vigilant. It can happen at any time and I will not forget that. I have been keeping my commitment to boot camp and this will be the third day I go this week. I am so sore, but I will not miss. This is a commitment I have made and I will keep it. It gives me some of my power back that AL had stolen from me. AL is a sneaky thief that drains you of your power little by little. My goal is to take it back. I will not be at its mercy any more.

[Spinning J]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Hiya everyone!! Well said Tippylou! We are half way there girls (don't think there are any boys on this thread?)! Day 24 for me & Sidney& Choice . Anon I love swimming and running too. I only run 5km at a time tho but like to do weights and rowing etc at the gym. It's got an indoor track which is better than the treadmill ! Hiya Tired and :welcome: great to have you onboard .
:l

[mollyka]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Holy moley folks, you all sound so fit, I feel a bit of a slug! Got an exercise bike and am gradually working up, can only ever fit in about 20 mins tho I can't find enough hours in the day (maybe if I didn't come on here......ok washing my mouth out:H). I identify with your story bout your Dad with the bottle of wine Neart - wherever I was I would watch like a hawk and make sure that I had at least as much if not more than everyone else!
Coco, well done! If I examine my conscience here I have to admit to only having 2 OVERWHELMING cravings (lots of little ones) in the last year and I folded both times, so good on you - I still have to pass that test!
Sid and Chill, I hope the hassles you are having aren't too bad - I haven't any big bad happenings at the moment but woke up very glum this morning, took me half the day to lift the cloud, grand now tho
Finally, 2 glasses of wine would be not only 'freaking torture' Overit, but for me - impossible!
Good night to all, hey Tippylou, SJ, Tired, Anon, Dewdrop and anyone else I've missed out on, see you tomorrow
Molly

[Sunbeam]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Tired of this addiction,
Welcome! I am glad you felt comfortable hopping onto this thread. It is a great group.

I guess there are no guys at the moment, though Paguy did sign up. I saw that he just completed 60 days so that's great! When people stop posting it doesn't always mean they have gone off the deep end.

Co-coNut, I've been "inspired" to have a drink by looking at an empty bottle in my recycle bin. Doesn't take much, does it? Sometimes it feels like the world is against us, but it is really us not them. Well, mostly. Sometimes the ads encourage alcohol abuse. In a catalog I looked at yesterday, they were selling a glass that would hold 5 cans of beer! So you wouldn't have to get up during the game, they said. But normal drinkers don't drink five cans of beer. And you would have to get up anyway sometime to go to the bathroom. So what's the point???

Anon and ChillGirl, too much alcohol does impair bone mending. Long-term alcoholics sometimes develop a condition called osteonecrosis, where the bone dies from the inside. Not pretty.

Are we on an exercise theme today? Mine includes swimming or biking 2 days/week, back strengthing and stretching (physical therapy home program) 2-3x/week, 1/2 mile walks probably 4 days a week, riding my bike while running the dog probably a mile several times/week, and as much digging in the garden as I can fit in. I have a wide path without cars near my home where I can run the dog without being in traffic. I run her leash through a ziptie on the frame of my bike so if she pulls, she doesn't pull the handlebars and make me topple. I'm going to do this right now!

Take care, all.

[choice]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Day 24 AF

Hi Everyone. :welcome: Tired this thread is so supportive I'm glad you've joined us :l

Well there must be something in the air!!! Hi Molly, It's always great to see the smile avatar and how your doing. Chili and Sydney.. best of luck getting though what's being thrown at you. Coco- I had a craving when I brought out some plastic to the recycling and saw a bunch of sticky smelly bottles in our flats' communal bin. Over-it I agree two glasses of wine is torture!! Neart and Chilli... I have been in both of those situations where I was staring at my empty glass in physical duress trying to contain my overwhelming thirst. I have mentally restrained myself with great difficulty trying not to push people out of the way at gallery openings chatting to slow by the wine table. Ignored what people are saying to me until my glass was topped up... etc. Sunbeam it sounds like your discovering more and more what you want for yourself on your path. It feels good to know what you need and work toward it. Witchy, I remember the two glass of wine nights with candles and solitude... it's a shame the wine turned on me in the end.

I've been trying to seriously moderate for about 2 years myself and I think it does show a person many things about their relationship to AL. I wish I'd found MWO then because modding by myself was awkward. When I found MWO I kept looking at those links and kept crying knowing that I just wouldn't be able to do it... I was so sad because I wished very much to be a part of the mod squad. I think my addiction to AL has just progressed to far and my will power is only possible if I abstain. I drank a bottle of wine a week, and was a social drinker 2 times a month. In the social part I was only allowed 4 drinks a session. Only problem was the one bottle a week I tried to spread out over a few days... or even an evening... but at the end... I probably drank it in under an hour and was in physical and mental pain for the rest of the night craving more. The two nights a month when I went out ... I thought I only drank 4 but come to find out I black out after 3-4 so lost count and probably had more like 8- 12 or more? not sure.

Last night I hit a wall that ended in tears. My boyfriend called during the day to see if I was able to go out on Friday with 2 other couples for drinks after work. He said he wouldn't drink either and we could leave early. I thought well... here is my big chance to put into practice everything I'm learning about how to handle people drinking in front of me at a bar. I have been obsessed with this concept since the day I became AF. When my boyfriend came home I was making dinner and in a junkie, icky, bitchy mood. My stress was through the roof. I felt so weak. The cravings were so intense that I was dizzy. I had to lay on the kitchen floor crying as if someone died. I finally told myself and him the truth. That I wanted to go on Friday night so that I could drink.

I was considering starting my 30 day AF challenge over bagging the September challenge for October all just for this one night. I was going to throw in the towel. I was so embarrassed. Needless to say... I decided to be humble and respectful of my limits and just can't go Friday. I can't be around people drinking right now because I want a drink! I don't feel sorry for myself... just really aware of my addiction. ODAT. Whew! I feel better this morning tons better!! Sober is so peaceful. :h :h to everyone!!

[neart]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Hi everyone - wow ye are impressive with all the exercise! I was at another soccer workshop this evening, so I did a bit, although not too much

Choice, I think you are fantastic. You could have gone along with the plans for Friday but instead you actually faced up to what was going on inside, and you accepted the truth about how you feel - I think that is amazing, I really do. And I don't think you were so far from the truth when you said that you lay on the floor crying as if someone had died - I know for me, this process of stopping drinking is like leaving an old life and an old me behind - it's like a little death, if you will, of how we used to be. Letting go of a whole, big part of ourselves and our lives that was hugely important - AL came before friends and family for me on many occasions, so to lose that was a huge deal and took a lot of readjustment. I don't know if it was you I was telling before that when I was first advised to quit AL, I thought to myself that it would be easier to have a leg amputated. How crazy, and what a hold AL had over my mind at that time (less than a year ago). So you are right not to underestimate AL.

I'm so happy for you that you feel better today :l:l

Hi to everyone else, hope you are all having a good day

[Chillgirl]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

I love this thread! It really has a soul to it...

Choice - :l I really feel for you and admire you so much for being able to be honest. I spend a few years trying to mod in my head but when I look back it was already way too late and too difficult.

I used to agree with my boyfriend say on a monday that we wouldn't drink till thursday but by Monday afternoon I'd be craving a drink and would make up some excuse to stop for a drink on the way home and having then not abstained it made it ok to open another bottle when I got home. It was all mind games and all that scheming was actually exhausting! It's far less stressful to just not drink.

You are right not to go on Friday, when you really feel strong enough to go out and not drink then fine, but until then there is no point in putting yourself through that. As you say being sober is peaceful so enjoy that feeling.....

[Doggygirl]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Chillgirl;959809 wrote: Sid & Overit - I keep getting thoughts about how nice it is to share a bottle of wine, ......

SHARE a bottle of wine???? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!! I would have driven you away from my bottle of wine with a baseball bat!!!!!!! Nope. No sharing for me. Mine mine mine mine mine.

Can you see why AF is the only way for me?

Coco, I'm not very classy either. I used to finish other people's drinks after parties at my house. No problem about other people's germs because AL kills all that anyway. Right? :egad:

Today when I get a random thought, it's usually something related to a "this situation is different and nobody would know.." sort of thing. "If I went on a cruise to Alaska I could drink and nobody would know..." Well, first off, I would know. Second off, it only took one drink to set in motion an 8 month relapse from hell for me. So unless I plan to stay in Alaska for at least 8 months......

Congratulations to everyone on your AFness. Especially everyone going through some *shit* and keeping your AFness anyway. That's awesome!

DG

[neart]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Doggygirl;960226 wrote: SHARE a bottle of wine???? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!! I would have driven you away from my bottle of wine with a baseball bat!!!!!!! Nope. No sharing for me. Mine mine mine mine mine. DG

lol DG :H:H:H oh, I really laughed out loud at that one :H:H

[mollyka]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Choice, I think you may have had your 'Eureka' moment! Well bloody done 'fessing up in your head what Friday would have been about. And yes, like Neart, I understand the 'lying on the kitchen floor as if someone had died'. A different way of life has died, of course you will feel sadness for that lifestyle initially. We are all inclined to remember the 2 glasses of wine with candlelight. It is imperative that we remember the rows, the blackouts, the hangovers, the falls, the shame, that's what will keep us on this path.
Well done you again!!
I always HATED going out with a particular couple of friends cos when we went out to dinner the 2 men shared a bottle of red and my friend and I shared the white. I used to be glued to it to make sure my share was (more than) fair - how sad is that!!
And I agree with Chill, there is a lovely energy to this thread
Molly

[anon]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Well done Choice not sure I could be as strong. Molly I used to watch the bottle I was having to share and ALWAYS got more than my share. Husband wanted to open a bottle of good wine last night GOD I was so tempted. He didn't open it and I feel great today. I am going to sign up for the Liverpool 10k today which is on 3rd October--Even though I can only barely run 3 miles (5k) today and I am sure that will keep me focused. Slept 11 hours last night and woke up to 11 days AF a record for me. Thank you Sunbeam for this thread and all the great posts you all submit.

[Anjicia]

Sober (AF) September Challenge

Morning everyone this tread is busy so ts hard to remember everyone's success and struggles but well done and keep it up. :jumpwow: Some of you have some great exercise plans in motion i'm dong little only some walking and then not enough. Nust get a plan together for power walking and some exercises i can do at home. Its day 21 for me and its been months since i got this far. I didn't sleep so good last night i woke at 3.15 and took ages to get back asleep so i feel a bit groggy. Just havng a strong coffee now and reading the posts. Have a good thursday. :ranger:::cupajoe: