AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

[stargirl]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Good Morning my abber friends,
I slept in this morning..something I have not done since I have been af. It was kinda nice. Welcome OO. You are going to find this thread as an amazing support system. I'm on day 12, and I guarenee I coudn't have done it without this wonderful community of people. Keep coming back to let us know how you are. Work in progress, that is wonderful advice about how to address the don't drink vs. I don't drink. Two very different ways of looking at that. Thanks for pointing that out!
So I have a funny question, like I said I am just starting out, but since I began I have had this insane craving for sugar. I eat almost a box of nerds and like 5 blowpops every night! ahhh! heheh definitly better than al, but I found it odd. anyone else find themselves substituting something for the al? Just wondering. Good luck on your interview afm!
Everyone go out there and enjoy the beauty of a day in life as an abber!
t

[stargirl]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Oh, abp,
Way to get through the day. That's huge. Keep reminding yourself how you got through it. My day four was like that. I was planning on imersing myself in my work, only to get let off early that day. "Enjoy an afternoon off" they said. Normally I would have been so happy to get an early day with my best friend..my box of wine. But now I was lost. What to do besides drink? I ended up just driving around until I knew my boyfriend would be home which in turn would meen I would have to be accountable for drinking if I had. It made me realize that I need to have a list of "other" things I can do to keep myself occupied during the time I spent drinking. Cause you never know when one of those "perfect" times to drink will pop up. Tuff stuff. Good job though! You made it. One day at a time. It's been said a million times, but it's soo true.
Keep it up!

[A Work in Progress]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Good luck AFM!

Stargirl... yeah... many of us (me included) get huge sugar cravings when we quit drinking; alcohol is chemically a type of sugar, so it makes sense to our brains that if we aren't feeding it alcohol, then it wants some other kind of sugar. I'm working on cutting back on the chocolate I over-ate, over Christmas.... Doggygirl will have more to add about this topic when she drops by, I would guess...

[kitkatsue]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Good morning everyone !
I wish everyone the best in your resolve to be AF !
This is day 29 AF and as I read the posts with their all to familiar ring of the continued struggle we share in common I am glad to be here, sharing it with all you fine people.
Because at the end of the day what ever we have had to overcome we must remind ourselves we are worth it. ( I have low self-esteem issues )

Have a wonderful day!

kit

[LVT25]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

I'm waiting for hubby to get done with his stress test. Welcome to all our "newbies"! Fwiw; the supplements are very helpful especially l- glutamine for Al and sugar cravings.

[Determinator]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Top of the day ABerooooos!

Ocean, thanks for the great kickstart! your sounding wonderful.
big welcome also to ABP, hang in there!

ah yes, the sugar substitute situation...danger! it's an easy trap to get into for me as well. I now find that if I pig out on sugar is messes up my brain and I have dreams like I used to when I was drinking! creepy to say the least. LVT is quite right with the L-Glutamine supplements for sugar and al cravings both. it works for me.

well I'm sore from a great workout last night and busy with work (no complaints here) so I'm off to see the wizard.

be well friends

[retteacher]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Hi All: I'm back. I find that I eat more when I'm AF, especially in the beginning. I think I use food to fill the void. That said: I've been keeping to my goals for 2009:
-AF
-exercise
-bringing issues to closure

I've also been meditating. That seems to be helping tremendously w/any kind of craving which I haven't had so far. I go for hours & hours wo/thinking about drinking. That's very good for me.

I hope all is well w/everyone at MWO.

Mary

[retteacher]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

WIP: I have a question about meditation that you may or may not be able to answer. When I begin to relax & concentrate on my breathing, I find the need to take deep breaths. If I try normalize my breathing, I find it difficult. I'm probably trying to hard & over-thinking it, but if you have heard about this problem, I'd love to know if there's some sort of technique to just even out my breathing.

I hope you had a good & productive day. I know you were endeavoring to find new meaning for your day today. Also, I'm still thinking about the whole coping distress post that you wrote in tools.

Thank you, Mary

[SAUSAGE]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Hi everyone

First opportunity i've had to drop by - no news really, my kids were at school / nursery today, so a bit of time to myself. Been shopping, also swimming and to visit a friend who has a new baby, this afternoon. Not thought about alcohol all day - til now when I sit here, catching up on today's thread, sipping a completely AF beer and nibbling on cashew nuts!

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone

[A Work in Progress]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

retteacher;514012 wrote: WIP: I have a question about meditation that you may or may not be able to answer. When I begin to relax & concentrate on my breathing, I find the need to take deep breaths. If I try normalize my breathing, I find it difficult. I'm probably trying to hard & over-thinking it, but if you have heard about this problem, I'd love to know if there's some sort of technique to just even out my breathing.

Hey, Mary. Yes, people often get really concerned about their breathing when they sit meditation. In the type of meditation I teach, one foundation is that there is no need or desire to control one's breathing, to make it be any particular "right" way; it might be deep or shallow, or even, or irregular. The basic instruction is simply to observe the breathing sensations, however, they may appear. If we observe ourselves worrying about, or trying to control, our breathing... then we just step back and notice this, as well.

The overall idea is that we are learning to be compassionate observers of everything that arises in our bodies, our minds, our emotions... without trying to change or manipulate anything. That's an extremely useful thing for alcohol-dependent people to learn, because we tend to want to change all of our (especially uncomfortable) feelings, instantly, by applying alcohol to them! And this way, we can learn to compassionately and non-reactively observe our own cravings and impulses... without acting on them....

Does that make sense? The best intro book that I have found about all this is called "Mindfulness In Plain English," by Bhante Gunaratana. Excellent book.

[momof3]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Good Morning All,

Great to see some new names here. WELCOME. As you get more and more AF time behind you, you will find that it is your new routine...a routine that you will not want to disrupt.

Some very helpful suggestions on the thread here today...

On sugar craving...I found this to be very intense when I first quit but less so now. I try to avoid sugar as much as possible because it triggers craving for more sugar! I have found that the L-glut is helpful. For strong cravings, you can crack open a capsule and sprinkle it under your tongue.

On messages we tell ourselves.... For the longest time, I felt timid about saying to myself or others, "I don't drink." I will echo WIP's comments. It is extremely helpful. The sooner you can start telling yourself this, the better. It brings you beyond the struggle and starts forging new and healthier pathways in your brain.

I would also add that putting a new routine(s) in your life (or old one that you got out of) that replace Al is most helpful. For me, it has been exercise. It is a very old and dear friend to me that is essential to my sobriety and my sanity. I have also forced myself to get out and about in the world (my heavy drinking made me very reclusive). I have joined a church and become quite active in it, I'm going out with friends more, and just enjoying being out and about. I think the more you can break away from old patterns that you associate with drinking, the better. The goal is not to feel deprived from being AF, it is to feel fulfilled!

I'm entering a bit of a challenging time right now. I am self employed and as of next week, I will not have any work. I am working hard to stay positive...going to make a plan for networking/marketing and spend some time catching up on all of the house projects on my "to do" list. I am not worried about slipping back into drinking but I will keep my guard up.

Be Well All,
M3

[Pamina]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Compassionate observing... What a great notion.

I'm absolutely exhausted, but I wanted to tell you all I feel like I've done battle with a polar bear and won! My sister can't deal with her own finances, so I had to organise a meeting with all her caregivers to figure out benefit applications, re-imbursement procedures, disbursement of allowances etc. I meant to do it before Xmas but didn't feel up to it at the time. It's not that the stuff was insurmountably complicated, but it just seemed to take a lot of activation energy for me to think through what needed to be done, shuffle thru my dad's papers on it, call up all those people and TACKLE IT!! In the good old days I would have been sipping my way through a wine bottle to 'reward' myself for the effort. Instead, I'm going to hit the sack.

LVT - hope your hubby pulls thru with flying colours.

Be well everybody - sweet dreams!

[retteacher]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

WIPPY: Many thanks. I'm going to try that the next time I meditate. I've been using tapes that I found right here at home which I like very much. I will look for the book you recommended. Mary

[hulagirl]

AF Daily Jan 8th Thursday

Hey Everybody!
you all seem so busy with full days, (except Star with a half day off work...then what?) Like you Pamina I have got to buckle down with some paper work, the FAFSA (for those of you not in U.S. with kids in college it is a federal form for students and parents to get loans for college expenses). I always have started these chores--bill paying, checkbook balancing, grading student papers with pouring myself a glass of wine. Not this time. I just have to decide to give myself an hour and do it. BAck to your full days. I have waaay too much time on my hands right now. I went into my classroom today to putter about for about 5 hours and it felt great to get out of the house. In cleaning out my closet at home I came across a couple of year calendars that I have saved. They were full of my kids activities. We were so busy too. I have evidence. Now I have to "get a life" and find some activities for me. I don't think coming here is worthy of putting on the calendar. :H