JOIN ME ON THE WAGON! - Health + Injury

Laurac

09/02/2006 at 10:20

Am so fed up of drinking - I know everything in moderation but I am all or nothing...so am giving up drinking (I know I'm a month late to detox!!) indefinitely...(well until easter is my first goal)

Havent had a drink since Sunday-I know that doesn't seem that long but I usually have a glass of wine every night!

Who wants to join me and help me stay on the wagon?

Ms Toria

09/02/2006 at 10:39

Spoilsport.

Am definitely not on the wagon. Got rugby, curry night & socials coming up.

But good luck anyway.

Laurac

09/02/2006 at 10:46

thanks toria-i have been drinking so much lately i really do think im getting addicted- i drink by myself nearly every night....plus i want to lose some weight and i sont think wine is conduicive to losing weight! but i'll still have the curry!

~ Sass~

09/02/2006 at 10:52

Hi Laurac. Please come and join us in 'Beginners', on the 'Giving up the booze' thread.

Laurac

09/02/2006 at 10:53

will do thanks!! Shouldve looked before really as not surprised theres a thread already but just got all excited!

Jammie Dodger

09/02/2006 at 11:02

I jumped on the wagon at new year!

When I was training for the FLM I didn't drink a drop for four months and felt fantastic but was soon tempted by the evils of drink .

I haven't missed it this year but friends view me with suspicion - The hardest part is at two in the morning when you are sober and the conversation has moved into an alien language and the sh*t club you're in appears to be the best in the world to your other half and mates.

Anyway good luck - I told myself I was only giving up for Jan but feb seems like a short month.

Bunbury

09/02/2006 at 12:14

Laurac

I gave up the booze just over a year ago. Necessity prompted the decision, I was an addict and it's the hardest thing I've ever done, but it is undoubtedly worth it.

I wish you all the luck and strength in the world.

Peace,

Bunbury.

Hee Jung

09/02/2006 at 12:18

i'm not a big drinker anymore so i don't think i'll join the fun (?) but just wanted to wish luck as i know it can be a challenge!

for some encouragement though, my best mate gave up drinking for a year a few years ago and - the weight just 'fell' off her when she quit.

good luck!

Laurac

09/02/2006 at 12:30

no sugar, no drink-do you think i can do it hee jung? i am following your lead on the no sugar front!

Thanks bunbury. i think it will be worth it.

cheers jammie dodger (wish id had that name!) it does beg the question of whether you should be in such a place if its that crap you need to be paraletic...but then you can always avoid some social situations or else you risk havign no friends...when i stopped clubbing and doing several other "substances" (years ago now) i realised that my "friends" werent really people i liked, just people to get off my head with and tehy seemed so much nicer. but then most people drink so you cant avoid some places unlike avoiding places where people do other stuff...im waffling now...

ZEDED

09/02/2006 at 12:35

I cannot join you coz not got that issue now nor for 20 odd years. However, wherever you are regarding the booze, i fel that you will succeed in finding resolution. Only tip is be honest with yourself, at least, about where you are with it and do recognise that the drink will still try to talk to you. Best of luck and all courage to you:O)

Bunbury

09/02/2006 at 12:43

I know what you mean. Shortly after I stopped drinking, I moved away from the place I'd been living and spent eight months moving around the country because of my job. Having now returned, I find that some of my old haunts are intolerable without a skinful. That can be quite hard, as it often requires a fairly fundamental change in your behaviour. I'm lucky, because my favourite pub is just as nice when sober, so I can still enjoy the social experience.

I have experience of the 'other stuff' too, and it is easier to avoid the places where that sort of thing happens. I've found that I'm better avoiding the places in order to avoid the substances (at the moment at least), which is sad in a way, but it comes down to doing whatever you need to do to make things work.

Peace,

Bunbury.

Hee Jung

09/02/2006 at 12:45

Laurac - absolutely you can do it! and hopefully the 2 will compliment each other - in that when i even have a couple of drinks i find that's when i REALLY make poor food choices, or get lazy and skip a run. so remind yourself as you drink less, you'll start to feel better all round, motivation will increase, increasing your fitness which in turn will motivate continued good nutrition...

and you know, i find i really don't need a glass of wine to 'un-wind' at the end of a hard day, i actually prefer to have oj and soda water instead of pints on a friday work pub lunch and the best one that coincides with jammie dodger...is waking up on a sat or sun morning, knowing exactly what you did, with whom you did it and a wallet full enough to go to the shops and buy some sugar free porridge!!! ahhh!!! more bl**dy porridge!

Jammie Dodger

09/02/2006 at 13:15

Laurec - The hardest bit is deciding how long you are going to stop for and whether your going to start again. I was the same as you and enjoyed a glass of wine in the evening but had the all or nothing gene you mentioned.

Having avoided booze for months before a part of me does not want to drink again (small part) but can not imagine never having a glass of wine again. The reason I'm not drinking in feb is that I hadn't worked out in my own mind what rules to set myself.

The booze just on Saturday approach seems like the slippy slope. Have you set yourself any target or is that it? - No more grog!

Dina Mo

09/02/2006 at 13:17

Hmmmm, not sure I can do it Laurac. I really want to and probably need to but I only gave up smoking end of Sept despite a hubby that smokes 30 day and not sure I'm ready to give up pop as he is an alchy who drinks more than 2 bottles wine per night and beer!!! I work three nights a week but the other four I can drink 1/2 - a bottle of wine!!! Yikes! Perhaps I should.

OK I'm in. I'll start tonight and see how it goes.

God this forum is too bloo*y healthy!!

Bunbury

09/02/2006 at 13:25

Fat Fyes - you CAN do it! It may not be easy, but believe me, once you decide you're going to, nothing can stop you. The important thing is to make the decision - right, that's it, I'm not drinking. There will be times when it's very hard, but you have to keep reminding yourself why you stopped. Also, try imagining how pissed off with yourself you'll feel next day if you slip, and how good you'll feel if you don't.

This all sounds a bit cliched, I suppose, but it does come from experience.

Keep at it - remember that you've got all of us lot behind you as well!

Peace,

Bunbury.

Jammie Dodger

09/02/2006 at 13:39

Bunbury - you obviously told yourself it was time to stop - did you dabble with stopping before becoming Tee Total or was it a 'this is it' moment and what made you stop?

I think anyone you gives up for even a couple of weeks has a little voice questioning whether they are an addict.

Gaz.

09/02/2006 at 13:42

Hi just popped over from "Giving up the Booze" thread....
I would love to join you on the wagon Laurac, only trouble is I keep falling off.

I hate drinking and I am finding it very hard to stop, I have been drinking 32 years and at the moment I am drinking about 100 units a week, my liver is taking a right hammering, I have stopped a few times on orders from the doc because my liver is damaged but yet I keep doing it, how stupid is that....

I don't go out, I drink in the house on my own, I don't have the problem of people saying, go on have a drink, but I have a demon on my shoulder saying the same thing, and he is so powerfull, I have a big problem.

carol moir

09/02/2006 at 13:48

I think it is very sad not to enjoy a nice glass of wine. I'm also all or nothing so I pick one night a week for a drink and really enjoy it.

Gaz.

09/02/2006 at 13:54

Thats great if you can do that Carol, some people, like me, can't, I gave up for 6 months then had one drink, in no time I was back on 7 nights a week drinking, thats me, all or nothing, trouble is it's usually all...

Dina Mo

09/02/2006 at 14:04

Latest government guidelines may class that as 'binge drinking' Carol! :)

Thanks Bunbury. I'm sure you're right. It's got to be similar to giving up smoking. Think I may have a mild drink problem i.e. one that if it wasn't checked could become more serious.

Gaz, you sound like my hubby. I love him dearly (must do to still be with him), but when he drinks that much and starts to slur etc., I find him really unattractive and when he gets to the point of swaying I find him totally repulsive. The other point is the financial side of things. He will make everyone go without before his bottle gets left off the shopping list (four children + one from his past in our family). I'd do anything for him to stop but know it has to be his decision.

Maybe if I give up completely it may encourage him to at least cut down. BTW How do you know your liver is damaged, because I'm sure his must be too.

Carol, I was joking :)