Tuesday 20th February

[betty boop]

Hi everyone, Holiday has finally arrived, we are off in an hour ....

Love you all very much, Take care & Be as good as you can .... see you in 2 weeks ...

Love & Hugs, Paula :h :l :h

[Ilex]

Tuesday 20th February

Morning All! Have just had a great time reading all the posts from yesterday - it's given me lots of ideas for my mod goals; and I think it's great that we all share them here. I will share mine - when I've made them!
I am still fondly imagining that I will be able to mod without any goals - but I suspect that this is not the case; but also that I will have to prove to myself that this is not the case first (if that makes any sense at all!) Given the fact that I ended up in the pub last night for a few night caps, maybe I should just set some goals now.....

Maybe I'll just go back to work and not think about it for a while.......... where did I leave that sand in which to bury my head.......

Have a great day!
Ix

[Hawk]

Tuesday 20th February

Hi everyone -

Hope everyone has a good day and P - have a super trip!

Made some headway on stuff I needed to do yesterday and I am grateful for that. Had a meeting with an old friend and while I didnt want to go, I felt I could not postpone (already did that 3 times) so I went and had 5 wines. That makes me really mad/sad/disappointed but nothing I can do now. So, today is a new day, I am trying to stay calm and remain AF till Friday. I hate this cycle I am in. I am grateful to guys though because you make it not as hard.

Have a good one muffins.

[Mighty Mouse II]

Tuesday 20th February

Good morning everybody!!! It's 40 degrees here and warming up -- yes!!!

Betty Boop, have a great holiday!!

Ilex, once you reach where you want to be, you will be able to mod without goals as it will be done through habit. But in order to get there, you have to set realistic but challenging goals so that you can create a behavioral modification program that works for you. Just sharing some thoughts that has worked for me.

Hawk, glad you are making headway. Maybe the five wines wasn't as bad as you think. You have been under a lot of stress; maybe it helped you to release some of that stress, particularly if you let it go. When I used to be in weight watchers, they said if you crave something, take a small amount because if you don't it will get worse and worse until you can't stand it and over-indulge. I have found this to be good advice. If you are having tension, maybe get one of those real tiny bottles of Sutter Home wine (6 oz), and yes, you can buy one bottle. At night before you go to bed have a drink. It might be less stressful than AF at a time when it sounds like you have a lot of stress going on.

Beth, I just read your post from yesterday. You give me too much credit! I have an incredible support system and I am an expert at delegation. I love what I do, and my husband, son, mother, and father, all are actively involved in helping me; that doesn't even include staff. I'm doing the environmental store really for my husband. He is a semi-retired scientist with a PhD who was interested in environmental issues long before me. Until recently, the only wildlife I was interested in were galas and parties. He lost both parents (at 92 and 100) recently, and he is preoccupied with his memories to the point where I didn't think it was healthy. His lab of twenty-some years is winding down and he needs a purpose. So, he was interested in this and it is peripheral to what I do and preliminary surveys show that we can make some money out of it. It will also enhance my exposure. So, it really isn't adding more work as consolidating our efforts. But thanks for the complement.

Today is my 7th day not to have wine at lunch. Yesterday went very well. I only had 2 1/2 glasses during cocktail and dinner and had four hours with no wine before bed. I was really happy since this is my ultimate goal. I'm going two for two today.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

MM

[Deniselb]

Tuesday 20th February

Have a great holiday Betty Boop!

Hope to eat healthier today, lots of cravings without the alchohol.
Abstain until the weekend.
As Ilex puts it, hope to mod without goals someday too... is it possible?

Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

[lushy]

Tuesday 20th February

Very quiet in mods land today. What is up with that? Paula, I wish I was going on vacation. Have a great time.

Not much to report in my corner of the world. Aiming for two AF days this week.........

Have a good Tuesday all!!

[Saint Jude]

Tuesday 20th February

Hey Betty, have a wonderful vacation! Hope ya can pop in & say "Hi", along the way...

Had a nice lazy day off yesterday, and drank a few more beers than I had planned... I didn't get drunk, but just kept on pouring it down...

Today I feel OK, but a bit slow. I'll have to work on my behaviour today. Day off or not, I still need to keep myself in check!
Wish spring would hurry up though! These grey days are startin to get to me!

At least I got a lot of exercise yesterday xx skiid the living room,stair master, & x bike.
Hope everyone has a great day.

:l Judie

[MKR]

Tuesday 20th February

Hey thanks, Judie, MM and Beth on the smoking thing. Beth, your story on that is so close to mine, I cringed over the note in the pack!

Mods without goals per se. Been doing this for months . . . still I came across a weekend where alcohol and cigarettes were on my radar big time. At that point, bring out the plan and look at it, see if I have forgotten some of it along the way or if I am staying dedicated to it.

B - have an excellent trip! Warmth AAAAAAAAAH!

Ilex, every mods program is different for each individual. I was flying by the seat of my pants for months. When mods truly started working for me, I made a plan and stuck to it intentionally for a month - then as MM says you have your good habits, kick in by then. If you are struggling to maintain this flying as I had, I think a plan is good. Even if that plan is between yourself and your piece of paper, write it down and commit to yourself that you will do it. Sometimes it only feels like baby steps . . but they get you there!

Hawk- you will get there! I am sure of it. Good for you AF until Friday.

Lush, you can do this!! AF, AF!!

[MKR]

Tuesday 20th February

Judie - It will be OK, at least you spread them out! Looking for some solid blue sky and sunshine over here too! Spring please, I have had enough of winter thank you very much!

Jen - thanks for being so honest yesterday. Hope the plans work for you I know they can!! How is the house thing coming?

Rachele - haven't seen you for a few days - hope you are well.

Mary Ann, you posted you are not doing well. I wish we could help more. Feel better.

Waves 2 - Hoping you are having a great week!

Beaches - hoping doors are staying on!

Love you all, gotta run,
Mary

PS: Denise Love your avatar too!

[InnerStrength]

Tuesday 20th February

Hi guys
I ordered a book today on Living Sober and I also found this online.
(This is kind of long but interesting). I have determined that I MIGHT be an Omega 6 type....there is a quiz here too...tell me what you guys think...
Love ya all
Jen


The Difference in Drinkers
Excerpts from 7 Weeks to Sobriety, by Joan Mathews Larson

Your body holds the key to understanding the effect alcohol has on you. If you have the ability to drink large amounts of alcohol, you have good reason to suspect that you might be predisposed to alcoholism. But, capacity is only part of the story. Alcohol affects brain and body processes in different ways in different people. In this chapter, you'll learn whether or not you are alcoholic and, if so, what kind of alcoholic you are. The following case histories drawn from the files or the Health Recovery Center illustrate three different body chemistries that underlie vulnerability to alcoholism (and one type that may lead to a mistaken diagnosis of alcoholism).


The first step will be to test yourself to determine whether or not you are an alcoholic and, if so, what kind you are. Once you know your chemical traits, you can choose the right course to restore your health. Establishing your underlying physical vulnerability has another major advantage. It takes all the shame out of being alcoholic. There is no reason to be embarrassed about the hand your genes have dealt you.

QUIZ

Establishing Your Biotype

The biotype survey below will help you identify your alcohol biotype. You may find that more than one statement applies. Print out this questionnaire and circle any that are true for you today.

Biotype Survey

A. Physiologic Response

1. Alcohol quickly makes me light-headed, spacey, and uncoordinated. It has always affected me this way.

2. Even a little alcohol makes me sick. This has always been true.

3. When drinking, I have lots of energy and perform better.

4. At first, alcohol exhilarates me; then I may lose control and drink until drunk.

5. In the past, alcohol always gave me a lift, now it just takes away my shakiness and makes me feel normal.

6. After only a few drinks, I usually feel sedated by alcohol.

7. I can overcome my depression by drinking alcohol, but afterward the depression seems worse.

8. (Women only) I need and use more alcohol premenstrually.

9. Usually, I can't feel the effect of my first one or two drinks.

10. Now alcohol lifts my depression temporarily. In my earlier drinking years, I did not suffer from depression.



B. First Experience

1. I remember the first time I drank alcohol; I liked the feeling it gave me.

2. My first drinking experience was not good; I reacted badly to alcohol.

3. I can't remember my first drinking experience.

4. From my first taste, alcohol has had no appeal for me.



C. Hangovers

1. All my drinking years I have usually felt miserable the morning after heavy alcohol use.

2. I rarely have hangovers.

3. I frequently suffer from depression after a night of heavy drinking.

4. 1 never got hangovers in my early years of heavy drinking, but now I do.

5. I don't get hangovers from my habitual light drinking.

6. I do get uncomfortable even with very little alcohol. This has always been true.



D. Patterns

1. I drink six or more eight-ounce glasses of beer a day or the equivalent in wine (six four-ounce glasses) or hard liquor (six drinks, each containing one and one-half ounces of alcohol) and do not get hangovers.

2. I usually can't predict or control how much alcohol I will drink at one time.

3. I may go for days, weeks, or months without alcohol, but when I drink I tend to binge for several days. This has been my usual pattern since I began drinking.

4. I rarely want more than two or three drinks at one time.

5. I do not drink because I dislike the way even a little alcohol affects me.

6. I often experience an urge to drink at the end of the workday following job-related exposure to fumes from gasoline, printer's ink, house paint, hydrocarbons, or formaldehyde.

7. 1 recognize that I can regularly drink a lot, need little sleep, have a strong sex drive, and tend to be a compulsive type-A personality.

8. (Women only) I drink quite moderately except before my period when my need for alcohol seems to increase.

9. I have never been a heavy drinker, but I notice if I haven't eaten, I can get drunk on one or two drinks.

10. I drink daily (or frequently) to avoid depression.



E. Heredity

1. No one on either side of my family has regularly consumed large amounts of alcohol.

2. I have a close maternal and/or paternal relative who drinks (or formerly drank) alcohol in large amounts.

3. I am of Scandinavian, Celtic, Welsh, or Scottish ancestry and have drinking relatives who suffer from depression.

4. I am adopted and do not know my biological parentage.

5. My family may or may not be teetotalers, but my biological origins are predominantly northern European or Native American.

6. My family is from a southern Mediterranean country.

7. A close relative is a heavy drinker, but even one or two drinks makes me spacey.

8. I am of Oriental descent. My relatives and I become flushed, dizzy and nauseated from very little alcohol.



F. Personality Effects

1. My personality and behavior often change markedly when I drink. This effect has been my response to alcohol since I began drinking.

2. My personality and behavior now change markedly when I drink. This was not true in my earlier years of drinking.

3. I mellow out and grow sleepy on a few drinks.

4. I feel revved up and can often party all night when I'm drinking with few or no signs of intoxication.

5. I sometimes get into fights when drinking a lot. This has been true almost from the time I began drinking.

6. I use alcohol to control anxiety whenever possible.

7. I can count on alcohol to lift my lifelong depression temporarily.

8. My behavior sometimes gets bizarre when I drink.

9. I dislike drinking alcohol because it physically upsets me; it does not alter my personality.

10. I feel a quick sense of well-being from my first drink or two but can't handle more than that without feeling spacey and light-headed.



G. Tolerance

1. I have always had a high tolerance for alcohol and can drink large amounts without problems.

2. I have been able to increase my tolerance for alcohol markedly over time, handling it super-normally with minimal hangovers.

3. I have no ability to handle a lot of alcohol.

4. My tolerance for alcohol has gone down recently. It was much higher for many years.

5. I am inconsistent in how much alcohol I can handle. Often I cannot predict or control how much I will drink.>


Your responses in four or five of the seven categories should be consistent within a particular alcohol biotype. If you are over forty and have been drinking heavily for several decades, you may have circled many allergic/addicted responses as well as II ADH/THIQ answers. This would indicate that your drinking has damaged your immune system, your body's defense against disease. However, you are predominantly a II ADH/THIQ alcoholic. In rare cases, a person will be a combination of biotypes if there are different kinds of alcoholics on each side of his or her family.

[dilayne]

Tuesday 20th February

Hi Muffins!
Goals? Well, not sure. I'm just abstaining..it seems to work best for me not to think about it, so I don't really have a goal around it, but I do have moderation goals..which is really the context I hold for being here. Moderation is the key to just about everything, and I guess that's why I like to hang around here :0)
sooo... given that...my goals right now are:

continue Abs..just because it's easier for me to not to have to think about it and I can work on moderation with:
food..continue eating healthy and getting moderate exercise-30 minutes of treadmill, 5xs a week-and yoga at least 3x or more.
spend less money
schedule less activities
Lent goal: for Lent, I'm going to give up writing in my journal and replace that time with more contemplative/meditation..with the hopes that when I return to my journal, i will do so with a deeper spirituality (sometimes my journaling can turn into list writing and cavetching! :0)

Hope everyone has a great day..I have to work, but it's going to be mild, weather wise, so hope to enjoy that!
ta, ta all!

[dilayne]

Tuesday 20th February

Whoa Jenneh, was posting while you were...second quiz I've taken this week. I'll come back later with my results. Thanks for sharing it!
d

[InnerStrength]

Tuesday 20th February

No problem - just trying to post the score system - having some issues but will keep trying

[lushy]

Tuesday 20th February

Hey Jen, do you remember CV? She used to post lots of research material like this, and she did post this a long time ago. My question though is once you figure out what "type" you are what do you do about it? Are there specific vitamins and minerals to take? Thanks for the info........

[InnerStrength]

Tuesday 20th February

Scoring for Quiz

OK here is the score thingy - so what you do is with the previous questions - you circile as many as the statements as apply to you. Then you look here and figure out which "type" you fall under most. (I don;t know if this is actually reputable or not, but I would be curious to see what others think. I happened to get most matches with the "Omega-6" category...)
Hugs
Jen


A. Physiologic response
Nonalcoholic chemistry A6
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry A2
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry A1, A8
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry A3, A5, A9, A10
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry A4
Omega-6 EFA deficient alcoholic chemistry A7

B. First Experience
Nonalcoholic chemistry B3
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry B2, B4
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry B3
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry B1
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry B2
Omega-6 EFA deficient alcoholic chemistry B1

C. Hangovers
Nonalcoholic chemistry C5
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry C6
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry C6
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry C2, C4
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry C1, C3
Omega-6 EFA deficient alcoholic chemistry C3

D. Patterns
Nonalcoholic chemistry D4
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry D5
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry D8, D9
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry D1, D7
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry D2, D3, D6
Omega-6 EFA deficient alcoholic chemistry D10

E. Heredity
Nonalcoholic chemistry E1, E6, E8
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry E8
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry E1, E7
Alcoholic chemistry (possible to probable) E2, E5
Omega 6 EFA deficient (possible to probable) E2, E3
Unidentifiable chemistry E4, E5

F. Personality Effects
Nonalcoholic chemistry F3
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry F3, F10
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry F2, F4, F6
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry F1, F5, F6, F8
Omega-6 EFA deficient alcoholic chemistry F7

G. Tolerance
Nonalcoholic chemistry G3
Nonalcoholic (alcohol-intolerant) chemistry G3
Nonalcoholic hypoglycemic chemistry G3
II ADH/THIQ alcoholic chemistry G1, G2, G4
Allergic/addicted alcoholic chemistry G5