Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

[kuya]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Slaythefear;1374467 wrote: Kuya has some good advice on the food issues. Eating a good filling meal is satisfying and the fullness makes drinking or desert very unappealing. I do think I went for a drink often to fill a need for food my body was needing, but I wanted the alcohol. I need to change my diet more and it is on my list/plan. I always drank on an empty stomach. I think a lot of us do for various reasons. I'm still fighting the sugar cravings even while on L-Glutamine. It doesn't seem to help with that at all for me. So, in the final analysis, I'll have to put together some meal plans that work to address that. I'm adding in exercise today, and that should help as well because I tend to keep my diet on the low side as to not gain weight. Oh the vanity of women at any cost. Here's to being fed adequately and exercise to keep it all in check.

Slay I put a post on about this very issue of women body image and alcohol. Eat large meals full of vegetables , protein, and little carbs and you will reduce your cravings and LOSE weight ...... But eat or you will slip. The sugar cravings will stop if your stomach is FULL of REAL food. Use the glut amine as protection when your blood sugar is low and you start getting jittery, it is not instant but it does work. But most of all EAT

[Byrdlady]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Laga makes an excellent point....when I first came here I was a heavy vodka drinker. I knew I needed to quit, I was a mess. I thought I would switch to wine because I'd never had a problem with that. I could take it or leave it....until it was all I had. It didn't take long to start abusing that, too. AL is AL. Please don't switch over to beer thinking it is less toxic, there are plenty of folks on here that can tell you beer is a problem, too. Everyone is doing great, really good advice. I found (and still do find) that cookies helped me. I would set out to find a delicious cookie on a day when I had time to fill. Some days, I baked them and gave them to neighbors, this was a very gratifying practice. At business meetings, my associates would go down to the bar afterwards and drink for 6 hours, I set out to find some cookies. During the meeting I would break them out...everyone wondered where I found the time to get cookies??? Duh?!!! It is a change of habits...hard at first, but much easier with practice, as you know. Well done!! Byrdie

[Slaythefear]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

kuya;1374475 wrote: Slay I put a post on about this very issue of women body image and alcohol. Eat large meals full of vegetables , protein, and little carbs and you will reduce your cravings and LOSE weight ...... But eat or you will slip. The sugar cravings will stop if your stomach is FULL of REAL food. Use the glut amine as protection when your blood sugar is low and you start getting jittery, it is not instant but it does work. But most of all EAT

Sounds a bit like an Atkins diet...low carbohydrates. I do agree with you. Thanks for bringing that back into the forefront of my thinking. It's a change that will be made very soon. I have several food allergies and intolerances I have to work around which make it a bit more challenging, but doable.

The women and body image issue is so big. Starts in childhood and follows us into adulthood. The media doesn't help. I'm very aware of that now, but went through some bad times and health issues through my life because of it. A quick summary of one situation four years ago, I had come out of a divorce in an emotionally abusive relationship approximately a year earlier. I met an alcoholic and we became friends. I started drinking a lot and I didn't eat. Well, to skip all the details of the event, I wound up on the floor in my home in and out of consciousness. Had my daughter not come in, I would have died. I was incredibly hungover and bleeding internally. My stomach blew up like I was about to deliver a baby. I was 5 ft. 7 in. and 115 lbs. and was deficient in about every nutrient you can find. I had zero vitamin C, low potassium, vitamin K, iron, the list goes on. I had surgery and was hospitalized on IVs and blood transfusions for four days afterwards. Now reading that wouldn't you think that would be enough to put me on a better path? Nope, my life was stressed and after I healed, I went right back into the old mode. I have plenty of stories which is why I couldn't tell my story in the my story section. It would take a book. What I can say, is if all these things happened to me and I am quitting now and succeeding. I know it can be done and will root wholeheartedly for others!

I love you food posts. They are dead on and in my new way of life, I will apply them!

:l:thanks:

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

@Byrd and @Slay

Byrd, I agree 100% with you about switching over to another type of alcohol. It often didn’t matter what I would drink. If I ran out of been and had wine I would switch to that, seriously anything would do.

Slay, giving up alcohol should be equivalent to losing about 1-1.5 pounds depending on how much you drunk. So even if you increase your food intake you should see great results in a few weeks. However, if you are still 115lb you probably need to gain a bit of weight as you are pretty tall.
I got myself a smoothes maker/juicer from Argos and been experimenting with all kinds of fruits and veggies. Yum.

[spuddleduck]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

i totally agree on the non al drink stuff. its vile and yukky and whats the point. but for me personnally i now dont smoke as i had a non smoking smoking device which has totally got me away from the evil puffing. each to his own ... but well done on not drinking

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Spuddleduck, would you mind expending your post a little. I am in the situation where I have two cravings gaining up on me. When I overcome one the other hits me I knew the first week was going to be hard so I want to be prepaired. Can you tell me when you quit AL and Nicotine. I really need some advise on quiting both, at the same time. I dont want to use alternatives either (like patches or AF beer).

ALLAN K.

[spuddleduck]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

allankay;1374525 wrote: Spuddleduck, would you mind expending your post a little. I am in the situation where I have two cravings gaining up on me. When I overcome one the other hits me I knew the first week was going to be hard so I want to be prepaired. Can you tell me when you quit AL and Nicotine. I really need some advise on quiting both, at the same time. I dont want to use alternatives either (like patches or AF beer).

ALLAN K.

sorry, you may have misunderstud me. I have quit smoking using a vaporiser, (ive posted in the no buts thread) and feel really good about it. as far as drinking, i havent got rid of the beast. i had a 3 months sober time when i first came here but unfortunately i didnt sustain it..... though i now drink a lot less. and i wouldnt drink af beer/wine. sorry if this is not good info

[spuddleduck]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

i always feel i have to sort out the worst of my demons. for me this is alcohol which i havent been able to do. when i had 3 months sober i smoked loads...... but didnt care too much as i knew i would hit that beast later. for me the vapor smoking has worked. hope this helps

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Spuddleduck, congratulations on quitting smoking. It is one of the hardest things to give up, especially when you still drink. I reached for a cigarette every time I was drinking, just could not control myself under the influence of AL. I also had some success with this before, quitting both for 6 months but for me both addictions are tied together. So when I started drinking again I returned to the nicotine as well.

Some people can moderate, may be you can. I just learned time and time again that it was never an option for me. I could abstain from AL but if I had one drink I would have another 5,6,7 until I couldn't drink anymore. It is still early days, I am on day 6 now but I feel more determined than ever.

P.S. just been reading some of your recent posts and I agree AL is a far more scary adversary, as it doesnt just afffect your life but influences others around you. It really does help to post your thought and feelings on MWO. Right now its the only thing that is stopping me from going to my local shop and buying some booze. I used to love thirsty Thursdays (it indicates that the weekend is almost here) but today its my training excercise for the weekend to come.

ALLAN K.

[kuya]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

P.S. just been reading some of your recent posts and I agree AL is a far more scary adversary, as it doesnt just afffect your life but influences others around you. It really does help to post your thought and feelings on MWO. Right now its the only thing that is stopping me from going to my local shop and buying some booze. I used to love thirsty Thursdays (it indicates that the weekend is almost here) but today its my training excercise for the weekend to come.

ALLAN K.
Well done on day 6. I have woken up on day 7, it is a beautiful day Allan, everything is fine!

I notice in your thread that you are dreading the weekend. This dread will translate into literally holding your breath until it is over and will feel awful. A litte tip from me is to do a couple of things over the weekend that you COULD NOT do when you were disabled by alcohol. E.G. I will go for a drive at midnight into town and just cruise. It is exciting to be out and about when we used to be semi comatose with alcohol. You could spend that money you saved this week and splash out on a night in a hotel, say the grand in Brighton. Take a long walk along the prom and people watch. Just do something that confirms life. You haven't given anything up, you have quit harming yourself. Do something to celebrate,mate.
I will be driving to kariotahi beach tonight with my daughter to eat fish and chips while we watch the surf. She will think it is magic and I will be bigging myself up for finishing this, the worst,week.

Aren't we bloody awesome,mate!

[dixon]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

allankay;1374540 wrote: Spuddleduck, congratulations on quitting smoking. It is one of the hardest things to give up, especially when you still drink. I reached for a cigarette every time I was drinking, just could not control myself under the influence of AL. I also had some success with this before, quitting both for 6 months but for me both addictions are tied together. So when I started drinking again I returned to the nicotine as well.

Some people can moderate, may be you can. I just learned time and time again that it was never an option for me. I could abstain from AL but if I had one drink I would have another 5,6,7 until I couldn't drink anymore. It is still early days, I am on day 6 now but I feel more determined than ever.

P.S. just been reading some of your recent posts and I agree AL is a far more scary adversary, as it doesnt just afffect your life but influences others around you. It really does help to post your thought and feelings on MWO. Right now its the only thing that is stopping me from going to my local shop and buying some booze. I used to love thirsty Thursdays (it indicates that the weekend is almost here) but today its my training excercise for the weekend to come.

ALLAN K.

I also started smoking while I was drinking..I don't smoke openly other than drinking time so I will add up another by product again if I go back to drinking.
Not only smoking but gambling,expending money to offering free drink and dinner for other people,fighting,abusing so on..
Now everything has stopped alongwith AF time.
It is a leader of so many crappy stuffs.
Dix

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Kuya, you give me strength. Knowing that someone somewhere is going through the same experience is pretty powerful. I told everyone that I am having guest arriving from abroad and will be entertaining them all weekend. I know its a lie but it is something I got to do for the first few weeks. Got Top Gear reruns ready and a book by Napolion Hill so I am pretty much set.

Looked up the beach on google maps and its right outside of Auckland. Very nice. Enjoy family and friends is the only real thing we have in this life.

I mentioned in the previous post that at somepoint I really want to move to the suburbs there. May be one day you can tell me more about your move and may be give me some advice on the transition, Visas, work...

Just over 24 hours to go until the first milestone, i really am hoping its the first of many.

ALLAN

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Dixon, alcohol breeds a number of nasty habits. I also spent a tonne of money at the casinos not that I am a gambler or anything, never go there sober. But in the UK its the only place that is open 24/7 and serves alcohol until 5 am. So there were nights that I would end up there after bar closing time. My friends would go home but I just always felt like carrying on drinking and felt like I needed the good times roll.

ALLAN

[Slaythefear]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

allankay;1374500 wrote: @Byrd and @Slay

Byrd, I agree 100% with you about switching over to another type of alcohol. It often didn’t matter what I would drink. If I ran out of been and had wine I would switch to that, seriously anything would do.

Slay, giving up alcohol should be equivalent to losing about 1-1.5 pounds depending on how much you drunk. So even if you increase your food intake you should see great results in a few weeks. However, if you are still 115lb you probably need to gain a bit of weight as you are pretty tall.
I got myself a smoothes maker/juicer from Argos and been experimenting with all kinds of fruits and veggies. Yum.

I used to have a juicer. I'd rather have the veggies and fruits whole. Or I've seen some shows on TV where they just blend greens, fruits, etc. I may try that, but for me it's much easier to just eat them raw or cooked with a meal.

For most of my life I weighed in the underweight category, but right now I'm about 130 to 135...no scale here. That's the docs scale three months ago. I want to get back to 125. At one time I lost so much weight due to some previous health issues I weighted 108lbs. I wasn't trying to, I just couldn't eat anything. Now that was WAY too low. The 115 is as well, but I'm pretty happy around 125. The alcohol calories are gone, I just have to get disciplined on a better diet and exercise and leave the sugar alone. Regardless, I'm very happy to be off the alcohol for 15 days. Today my old brain did try to sneak in some thoughts while I was out. It seems that everyone and so many things revolve around it. It's really grinding me to hate it now. Our society has been brainwashed into thinking this is something we need in life. A few texts of people having a rough day saying they are getting drunk tonight for sure. All I can text back is, I worked to hard to get here and feel too good to go there. I think it tends to irritate them.

[allankay]

Day 5 almost lost control and as very close to having a drink...

Slay, people tend to get defensive for all kinds of reasons and because AL is wired so deeply into our society and woven into our personalities from a relatively early age we consider anyone rejecting AL as a personal attack on us. A good example is religion. In the UK this issue rarely comes up but in the states telling people you don’t really believe in a higher being is considered a taboo and you are perceived in the same light as a criminal...

Re: text msgs, I was sending the same kind of text msgs just last week. "Had a rough day, need a drink". Well today has been a good exercise for me as one person has really ticked me off. I am still furious but will deal with it in another way.

Regarding weight, I am with you on this. I have lost 1 pound this week and I am hoping to lose another 5-10 by the end of the year. Now I am 6'1" and 187 LB. Been eating really healthy this week, lots of lean meats, soups, nuts, fruits and veg. However, I have a side effect of either giving up alcohol or changing my diet. I got a few spots here and there, something that I haven't experienced in a while. hmmm

P.S. I believe this journey will see me lose a lot of friends and create tension with others. However, I am prepaired and know its comming, from my last experience. This is nothing to be sad about as there will be new friends and there will be new interests that are waiting for me down the road. When I am ready I will joing a few fitness, adventure groups on meetup.com and will have to reshuffle my lifestyle. Hopefully this will include more travelling, sports and other activities that I am not even aware of right now.

ALLAN