BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

[Doggygirl]

Happy Monday all you Booze Busters out there!!




(and Happy Tuesday to our New Zealand Booze Busters and anyone else in the way out time zones!)


On-going Booze Busters, go to the next post! For anyone new, here's what us Booze Busters are all about.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q: What the sam hill is a Booze Buster?
A: Anyone who has a serious goal of staying Hangover Free (HF) (=Alcohol Free (AF)) for 30 days in a row, no matter what.

Q: Do I have to join at the start of the month?
A: NO!! Your "Day 1" can be at any time. And if you are already into your first month or your hundredth month AF, you can join at any time. All who desire to be AF for at least 30more CONSECUTIVE days are welcome.

Q: Why are you being such a hard a$$ about 30 consecutive days AF?
A: Because that's how tough I have to be on myself to succeed, and this challenge is meant to be "tough love" when it comes to the goal.

Q: What if I fall off the wagon - do I get kicked out?
A: NO!! We do hope you will let us help you dust off the seat of your pants, and drag you right back onto the Booze Busters wagon. You will get your butt kicked, but you won't get kicked out. Oh - and we have a Fugly Green Suit you have to wear for a day during your butt kickin'. That polyester green suit with high water pants is worse than the butt kickin'. Give back your stars and bling and start over at Day 1 (for purposes of this challenge).

Q: What if I am tempted to drink - really really badly tempted?
A: Come here for a kick in the seat of the pants! Read inspirational threads from start to finish, and if the desire to drink still exists, scream for help in the "Need Help Now" Section and yell for someone to join you in chat. (I wish I had done all that before the falls!!)

Q: What does the Booze Beast look like?
A: :alf:Is one ugly SOB.

Q: How does the group keep track of what day people are on?
A: We count on YOU to shout out your stats loud and proud every day in whatever way suits you. For me, I'm collecting a gold star * for every AF day out of due respect for my inner child. At 30 days, collect your :bling (thank you Liv for the bling bling word!) Grab a shiny gold :award: for every consecutive 30 days. SHOUT OUT YOUR OWN MILESTONES so we can help you celebrate!

Speak up if you have other questions!! We are here to prove that WE CAN DO THIS! And that we can have a little fun while we're doing it! Let us know if you have suggestions as to how we can improve the BOOZE BUSTERS 30 Day Perpetual Challenge.

DG
Day 82 AFHF
:award: + :award: + **********************

[Doggygirl]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Welcome to the new Booze Bustin' week everyone. WE CAN DO THIS!!!! Getting AFHF 30 days (or one day) at a time!!

DG

[greeneyes]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

8 weeks today!!! I like weeks better than days because 8 weeks comes sooner than 60 days. Then again, I bet to boast twice! I'm going to have ice cream today as my special treat. Peppermint ice cream. In a waffle cone.

[louise]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Mmmmmmmmm, peppermint was my favorite as a kid! Way to go Greenie. Well I'm in the stupid fugly suit again. I did so great in June and the first half of July and have just not had the same attitude since I allowed my family crisis to be an excuse. I seem to be back to "Oh well, just for today it is ok." Last night we had guests for dinner. There was wine, I drank it. Less than I often used to but more than I should have and more than anyone else at the table. I think I was feeling sorry for myself because I spent much of the day yesterday trying to help my sister with financial stuff via email and phone and felt stressed. Sothankful and Mame, I sympathize. But Mame really, isn't 2 weeks AF then a slip better than everyday with too much AL?
Anyway, it is a new week. I'm recommitting. Back to exercise, healthy eating and kicking AL out the door.
Day 1.

[sothankful]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

All three of us in that suit ha ha . It makes me realize this is hard for everyone.
Mame- I know what you mean I also have a lot of no excuses. I feel like Louise. I am ready to re commit
kick ass. I also need to do more toward sobriety.

get myself to the gym.
get off the couch.
eat better.
think more positive, I am the type worries about everything. it's very stressful to be this way.

DG- will look at that thread I do have hormone issue I go to a Doctor in Calif. for these issue think I need to find another doc in Nevada. I really don't have much trust in main stream med.

Let's have a great AF DAY. WE CAN DO THIS

[Marshy]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Hi all,

Glad everyone's sounding positive and determined to get out of the green suit. I actually own a green suit and it always makes me think of that. The trousers no longer fit because of booze flab, and I'm hoping that if I can shift my excess weight I might get back into my green suit one day :H (oh, but it's lovely not fugly).

I had a session with my alcohol counsellor today. Monday is counselling day. It's still early days and I'm not sure what if anything it's achieving yet but I always feel very positive afterwards and I'm interested to see how the process unfolds over the next six months (and it's free coz we have free healthcare so I've got nothing to lose).

Hope everyone's having a great BOOZE BUSTING day!

[Doggygirl]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge


:cheering:Eight Weeks AFHF for Greenie!!:cheering:


I like your style girl - days AND weeks and more CELEBRATING!!! (and I'm mighty jealous of that peppermint ice cream cone!!)

louise, 2 weeks AF and a slip is miles better than daily drinking - especially if the daily quantities we're talking about here are even half or less of what I used to put away daily. Keep working it! One day we will be able to fully retire that Fugly Green Suit.

sothankful, I definitely have an easier time of it when I keep busy. Exercise has REALLY helped and I can't even believe I've come to like it - I've spent much of my adult life in anti-exercise mode. Keeping busy helps too. At least for me - I get WAY more drinking thoughts going on if I'm idle than if I keep moving. I think you are onto something good there with your list!! YOU ARE RIGHT WE CAN DO THIS!! Oh...and I'm not sure exactly what type of doc you are looking for. A person who has helped me a lot finding my way with my own hormone issues keeps a list of docs all over the world that people say they had good experiences with. So if you have trouble finding what you're looking for and want to know if she's got any on her list, just PM me.

Marshy - I will forever smile and think of you when I see ANY green suits of any kind, anywhere. Counseling sounds good Marshy - even if for now you just feel positive when you do it not really knowing why. And hey - if that resource were in front of me and no extra cost, I'd be THERE. (well, at least to try it out!)

Boy this family crapola sure brings on the AL thoughts. I fought back this afternoon with some Retail Therapy. Well, the on-line kind anyway. I DID buy those funny looking boots and the hat too. And a rain coat and another jacket and a bunch of other stuff. And a pair of "test jeans" in a size 14. (I'm wearing 16's now but don't have a pair of 14 jeans for closet shopping. Time for a new pair.) And yes, I feel MUCH better now and ready to just cook dinner without AL crowding my brain with stupid thoughts.

I hope everyone is having a GREAT day BUSTIN' IT!!!

DG

[Pamina]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

OK. All right. Lets have a look at this. I soooo do sympathise with all you green fuglies, since stress/grief/worry/anxiety etc. is my favourite AL playground. And then he brings along his pals - despondency, lack of confidence and the 'sod it' attitude.

Loss and impending loss **IS** a BIG DEAL. It puts you on thin ice right away.

I agree with Louise. Even if modding were theoretically possible, for some people under certain circumstances, you don't want to start trying it when life throws a rough spot your way. 2 weeks AF is far better than 2 weeks slipping into a black hole.

I hear you, Mame, about having given so much of yourself. Indeed you have, good point. Time to start rebalancing that energy equation. The starting point is to accept that you deserve 'wellness'. YOU DO!! Then look at how you can give yourself wellness.Top of the list is AF, which will get stronger and more do-able if protected by sandbags. There are lots of those, from meds and supplements to support to protecting your boundaries to fun to healthy bits and pieces etc. By doing all of that we are stronger in the end when having to skate on thin ice. So pull out those stars and start planning!

Sothankful, well done on the 20 days. As you can read all over these boards, recovery brings its own challenges. All kinds of feelings can surface from the AL fog. Good on you for hopping back on and pulling out the tryptophan.

Louise, do feel sorry for yourself, it must be stressful. Eat ice cream if you must. That's what I wanted when my ex kept calling, til I turned the bloody phone off. Fancied a whole tub of it. Not peppermint, though, but Belgian Chocolate. Luckily I didn't have any in the house. I did have a low-fat vanilla stick and had to settle for that. Thank goodness for preparation, once again.

Which brings me to your comment, DG, though I can't remember exactly what it was now. :H But the idea being that your family upset didn't lead to an AL but a food craving. When I read that, it was like reading my own thoughts, again (I love it when that happens on the boards, and it happens a lot!!) It took me a while to realise, since at first I was annoyed to be craving sweets. Until I woke up to the fact that my first response had NOT been to think of a bottle. YAY!! And the ex is an ex after all, and with good reason. Your brother, 'the Pope', is he the eldest? Family patterns can be very annoying, but hopefully you were able to get it out of your system and shake it off.

Marshy, thanks for the positive Monday vibes!

And Greenie, good going on the 8 weeks. Count them every which way, I'm doing the same.

Today is DAY 90!! In a few days, it'll be the official 3 months from start date. Then next week 100 days... Who would have thought it!

[louise]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Congratulations on 90 days Pamina!!!
DG, glad you were able to distract yourself with shopping and that shows real confidence that you are going to keep this up by buying too small clothes!
Marshy, I'm glad the slcohol counselor is positive. What exactly does an alcohol counselor do? (MY experience with one was totally AA oriented and did not quite do it for me).
Sothankful, happy you jumped back on here. Were you able to exercise today?
My job is only 80% time. I have usually worked 4 days and had 1 off for errands, etc. This year, I have decided to take 2 mornings off a week so I can keep going to my water aerobics class. So I did that this morning and then went to work.
early to bed for me tonight, I'm tired! But AF.

[Miss Behaving]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Anyone else had difficulties getting onto the site today???

I have really appreciated the comments that people have made and taken them in the spirit intended! :thanks:

There was a comment I was going to make a couple of days ago about focus .... but that was before I went off the rails. I know I need to put as much energy/thought/focus (and quite frankly money!) into not drinking as I did into planning drinking/buying alcohol/ drinking.

I was doing okay there for a while and I need to get that (my focus) back. I dont feel at all motivated but I'm going to try to make myself do it anyway. Pamina's comments about sandbags are very apt! I have supps (enough to line the window ledge! so no excuse for making use of those!), a very supportive and loving partner, a gym membership, and a business and professional reputation to protect. I also have my hypno tapes ... except they are lost in the confusion that has been created in the home office. Am a bit ambivalent about counselling and meds ..... but getting closer to going down that route.

No wine tonight .........:goodjob:

And its great to keep hearing about people's success!

[Marshy]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Congrats Greenie & Pamina for notching up all those AF days. Between us all we must have, ooh, LOADS of AF time.

louise;380794 wrote: What exactly does an alcohol counselor do?

I'm not sure yet! Haha. It was only my second session yesterday. So far I've explained my drinking history and patterns etc so the counsellor knows what he's dealing with I suppose. And we talked about my feelings around drinking etc. Yesterday I told him I was sometimes frustrated about the 'process' of giving up drinking - ie, not so much that I want to drink but that I still think about it after four months sober. And so we talked about that for a while. One thing he said that I thought was interesting was that when you have a 'relationship' with something or someone for so long - even if it is or became an abusive relationship - and then it ends, there will be a period of adjustment and of course I will still think about that 'relationship' even if it was bad for me and leaving it is a positive step. For me it's NOT a period of 'mourning' for a 'friend' because I never thought of alcohol that way, but it was in my life for a long time and I guess it will take me a while to get used to it not being there.

I feel the first two sessions have been about me getting comfortable talking to him so that I can raise other, more personal, issues that I want to address which might be a contributory factor to my drinking. And I imagine (although I've never had counselling before) that he's slowly leading me towards talking about that stuff but at a pace that I feel comfortable with.

Have a happy day everyone!

[Doggygirl]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Good Day Booze Busters!!! Wow - there seems to be some really great energy in this thread and really all over the forum the last couple of days. Lots of really insightful posts that I find very helpful in just framing my thoughts for a successful AF day, week, month, year, life. And that is my goal - AF for life. If you are a subscriber, I encourage you to check out a thread in the subscriber section about long term AF. Several long term AFers here have offered up some terrific wisdom already - and the thread is only a couple of days old!!

Pamina, CONGRATS AGAIN ON 90 DAYS!! :cheering: with 3 months and then 100 days right around the corner. I LOVE the sandbags analogy - we gotta keep that one alive here! Actually I am the oldest of 3 - I have two brothers. The Pope is the middle brother. I keep telling myself I'm 50 years old which is WAY too old to be demonstrating the complete lack of maturity I keep demonstrating when it comes to him.

louise, good for you going to bed AF!! Happy Hangover Free Tuesday!! That's great you could work out your work schedule so you can keep going to water aerobics. After getting through the death in your family, I suspect getting back to a more "routine" way of going through the days / weeks must feel a bit comforting?? On the smaller clothes....if I was REALLY confident, I would give away the too large ones. But instead I'm storing them away in plastic storage boxes. I will also be leaving the tags on the new "test jeans" until I'm sure they fit. So I would give my confidence level a 5 - not a 10!!

Mame - You strike me as a person who is very good at handling chaos. I can relate because as much as I don't really WANT chaos in my life, there is a part of me that thrives on it. The more pressure I have, the more I can get done. The more pressure I'm under, the more I can focus. The down side of being that way....and what makes me wonder if we share that trait....is that when the waters finally calm, it's almost too dull. I can't get as excited about things when the pressure isn't on as I can when the pressure IS on. Does that make any sense? Maybe that is part of the reason for a bit of an apathetic feeling right now? (move is over, life is more settled, etc. etc.??) Just speculating, and I know that doesn't suggest any solutions. Pile up the sandbags is the best advice from others!!

Marshy, that is good food for thought - what your therapist said about long term relationships. You are right - even if they were negative and destructive like all of ours with AL, it's not easy to just forget that bad relationship over night. Reminds me of an ex I call "Con Man" (because the shoes fit). What a terrible person he was and wreaked complete havoc in my life. But there is lots I still haven't forgotten - and some of that memory is very good (a warning!). AL compares.

I'm so happy to be here on Day 83 AFHF. This is not an easy path, but its' worth it to just do whatever it takes to not drink. We CAN DO THIS. We can ALL get AF eventually. We gotta keep workin' the plan and never give up. Gather up your sandbags and let's have a Booze Bustin' AF day!!

DG
:award: + :award: + ***********************

[cmhguy3]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

WOW! Some great milestones to celebrate, thanks all you give me strength and courage to continue!

Guy
Day 16 AF

[Doggygirl]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Guy - congratulations on 16 Absolutely Fabulous Hangover Free Days!!! Hope you will stick around and help us kick Al's ass.

DG
Day 83 AFHF

[Pamina]

BOOZE BUSTERS Week of 8/11 (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree 30 Day Challenge

Good going on the 16 days, Guy. Yes, stick around, we could use some testosterone on this thread to kick AL further out into left field.

Mame, keep thinking about the meds and counselling. The more tools, the better. I'm still wondering if you might not be feeling too drained to find that proactive head space. In the short term you may consider adding a few more bottles to your window ledge, like L-tryptophan or St. Johns Wort.

DG, I think a thread on elderly parents is a great idea! I finally bought my ticket today to fly out on Friday to visit my dad again. The last time I went I'd only been AF for about a week. What a challenge that was!! I don't know if this is related to feeling apprehensive, but I've craved the craziest foods recently. Had a Chinese takeaway for the first time in months yesterday, and today I actually thought about a pepperoni pizza. Big one. Oh dear. Am having strawberries instead...

Thanks for your congrats, guys, it's so nice to be travelling together!!