Booze Busters Week of 6/30 Absolutely Fabulous Hangover Free 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.

Frequesnt 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: 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 star * for every AF day out of due respect for my inner child. At 30 days, collect your (thank you Liv for the bling bling word!) Grab a shiny gold 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
Celebrating 40 Absolutely Fabulous Hangover Free Days!

[Aunty Mame]

Hi all!

I’m cheating and writing this in advance of DG posting a new thread! But it is end of Monday here, and I want to post on a new weeks thread rather than last weeks! So it is written and hopefully DG will post before i go to bed so I can get this up! (Thanks DG!!)

Hannah – so glad the wedding went well!

So thankful – hope you’re done wearing the suit for now!

Teardrop – I laughed at the story of the race that you almost joined in on. I found myself in a similar situation a couple of years ago where I inadvertently found myself in a race off against 2 cars of boy racers at a stop light on a Friday night, having picked up my 17 year old foster daughter and her friends from town. The funny thing was that I was feeling a bit wicked and dragged them off in my very underpowered Mazda 121 – the look on their faces was a sight to behold!!

Kaddy – thanks for recipes! I like getting new suggestions – particularly for vego ones as I have to disguise vegies in order to get uncle mame to eat them. As for broccoli and blue cheese soup recipe:
• Fry up some bacon and onions (bacon optional for vegos)
• Add broccoli (if it is just us I throw in any leftovers at this stage – get rid of what is left over in the fridge!)
• Add broth (I make my own) and simmer until tender
• Do the food processor thing (mine is broken so I just mashed it up yesterday)
• Make a fairly liquid cheese source, but use blue cheese instead of cheddar
• Add to the broccoli mush and – hey presto! Soup!

And actually yesterday I added some leaves off the top of the baby beetroot, which was quite nice!

Louise – the only thing I can say about your email is that you will only do it once!! I did something similar a few years ago – sent what was meant to be a private email to an international list of about 4,000 people!! I wanted to bury myself for quite some time!

I’ve been meaning to talk about the hypno. Have to say that I have been pretty under-whelmed. It all seemed a bit generic and couldn’t see that it did much more than a general relaxing meditation. On the other hand, I have been incredibly calm and relaxed over the last week, in the face of continued major stress! And the reality is that I haven’t felt as frequently tempted to drink – but is that the hypno or the fact that I’m just getting a bit more used to this AF life? So am very interested to hear other people’s experiences!! Have another session booked for tomorrow, and I will attend, but quite frankly if I don’t feel a bit more positive at the end of that then I’ll save my money and go for a massage instead!

I’ve been interested in it as a process though – and certainly not negative! And after a suggestion from someone on another thread, I actually went out and bought a CD entitled “Overcoming Addiction”. Just loaded it onto my i-pod today, and plan on listening to it tonight. Will keep you all posted!

So July tomorrow ....... July 200307 – do you get to be the headmistress (or patron saint!) for the month?!

I’ve been feeling like counting days is doing my head in (what is this day 5 like compared to my first one? Have I made it past day 7 yet? etc etc) I’ve been reading a bit on other threads about other people’s thoughts on it as well. Anyway, I decided that for July I would stop counting days and just focus on the AF/HF month. And as it is shaping up to be a particularly busy one in a number of respects, I think I’ll need all my wits about me anyway!

DG - just been reading your bio-identical hormones thread while i was waiting!! Great thread thanks and will pay more attention to it over the next couple of days.

mame

[Pamina]

Happy Monday everybody!

Hope your week is off to a good start. Well, in the case of Sothankful, how many more hours do you need to spend in that dirty green polyester suit (YUKKK)? The main thing is that you jumped back in here. Try to figure out what you can do differently next weekend. Gelgit, I can't imagine how horrid it must be not to have clean air. Are things any better, or can you go spend time with friends or relatives? It sounds like Hannah and Teardrop, you had fun, eventful weekends. Louise, yikes, I've been at the receiving end of what Mame is describing. Has your BIL responded in any way? Kaddy, I'm so happy for you about the test results. I second Teardrop, it's amazing that you're coming onto the end of 4 months AF given everything you have to contend with.


Kaddy & Mame - thanks for the recipes!! My cooking spree is still going strong. I love the farmers markets in London and went to get some veggies and spicy sausage on Saturday. As I have flatmates to consider, I can't always hog the kitchen for hours during normal meal times. Today I'm working from home so can leave the casserole to simmer. DG, I love to try out new recipes but often just improvise on the basis of what's in the house. As for quinoa, I HIGHLY recommend it! It's a complete protein, contains high levels of iron, magnesium and tryptophan, and fills you up for hours/settles your stomach/leaves you feeling calm. There's a thread on it -'miracle food'- in the holistic healing section. Go check it out!

DG, you're keeping us in suspense! What happened in the trial yesterday?!
And Mame, I don't really have experience with hypno but maybe you can discuss your expectations with the therapist. Feeling relaxed sounds like a good benefit in itself but one you might also obtain with the CD.

Lets end this month on a high!

[Doggygirl]

Hello Booze Busters!!! Finally getting caught up here this morning!

Teardrop - we were posting at about the same time yesterday, and I took off for the dog trial before I saw your post!! Probably a good thing as it wouldn't be very nice to spend the day thinking about Jon Bon Jovi while being at Mr. Doggy's trial now would it!! The youtube picture is just fine!! Glad you and your daughter had fun...I take it your son likes different kinds of music? Good thing you didn't end up in the middle of that car race!

kaddy, thanks for the recipe ideas. I love stuffed peppers, and I've been looking for new avacado ideas. I printed out your post but I know I will have questions!! Sounds delicious. If you get tired of cooking for your friends there, you can come to my house!!

louise, congrats on 30 days!!!!! I totally feel your pain about that e-mail. Like Mame said, I think we've all done something similar to that at one time or another - at least I have along with you and Mame.

spedteach - are you still out there?? Is this your 60 day anni???

sothankful, I'm really proud of you for coming RIGHT back and getting on the AF wagon again. I think we've all done Day 1 lots more times than once to finally get it right. (or get tired of doing it over and wearing the fugly green suit!)

Hannah, I'm glad the wedding was fun! What do you have in store for this week? Make sure you consult us here first if hair dye is involved.

Mame, whether it's the hypno or something else in the universe, I'm so glad that you feel calm and are not as tempted to drink. It sure is nice during times when we don't think about it much, isn't it. I haven't been real good lately about listening to the Clearing and Hypno MWO CD's, but I DO use the Sleep Learning CD every night, and the subliminal one often during the day. They sure aren't hurting anything. Hey - I could go for a massage too as a ways to relax if hypno doesn't work!! Thanks for the soup recipe!!

Mame on the counting thing, it seems that different approaches work for different people. I think each person has to figure out what works for them in this mind game of getting free of AL. Here's to an AF July for ALL of us no matter how we get there!!

Pamina, what time will your caserole be done - I'm coming over!! I need some good recipe ideas for sausage if you have some. And I will check out the quinoa thread. I have to really think about that right now as I'm watching the carbs.

MR. DOGGY AND FERGUSON PASSED!!! And they did it in style to. They really looked great on the field. My favorite part of the judges critique was when he said "I don't know who was having more fun out there - you or Ferguson." They have stuff to work on and improve, but they made no major errors and the "work needed" things are not unusual at the BH level, which is entry level for the dogs (and in this case, for the handler!!)

I felt a slight pull from AL after the event was over. Not so much because the beers came out, but because there was something to celebrate. "Celebrating" is just another thing I have to learn to do through practice without AL!! It wasn't too bad, and we didn't stick around very long. Once we left it was OK. So all is good in AFHF land at Day 40!!!! WHEE!!! Hope everyone is having a great day, and planning for an AFHF July!

DG
+ **********

[Hannah]

Good morning, all. Sounds like everyone had a good weekend!

DG, so glad Mr. Doggy and Ferguson passed! What an exciting day for you all - and I can relate with you on the pull of Al when there is something to celebrate. My other major trigger is when I am really really frustrated about something. I do remember that even after years of being AF that pull was still there, but it gets easier to ignore. These days I plan, and have AF beer or wine around. We even took a bottle of AF wine to the wedding with us, but never cracked it. Most people were just drinking soft drinks, so that was easy.

As to the wedding - it was a second time around for both, so they chose a very, very simple ceremony. No church, no big procession, nothing fancy at all - in fact, it was “held” at a ranch of some kind, and we just walked out to this little meadow, and there was a wedding commissioner who did the ceremony. No music, just a few simple flowers. The bride wore a simple short white dress, and the groom a suit, but the tie and jacket disappeared pretty fast. Then we sat under a big tent to eat a BBQ supper, and a small program, and that was it. Not that I am planning a second time around, still quite happy with my first time around - but if I ever did, would be something like that, for sure.

Mame - Yummm!!!! I’ll be trying that soup - sounds delish!! Kaddy, I’ll be trying some of yours too. Simple cooking is my forte, I am one of these people who don’t know what supper is until just before I start to cook. My sister amazes me, she has it all planned out the night before. Not me.

Re the hypno - I think that’s pretty normal that you were “under whelmed” by it, but it appears to be working. Along the same line as those people who get up on stage and make fools of themselves, and then have absolutely no recollection - it’s the subconscious mind the hypnotist influences, not your conscious mind. Glad it’s helping!

I am also not counting days per se, but being as I started at the beginning of a month, it’s sorta easy to still figure it out, since most months are ~ 30 days. Whatever works, works!

Pamina - Share the cassarole recipe! Then maybe I’ll know what I am having for supper tonight!

Well, I am up early for a change, although it was a major struggle to force myself out of bed. I am going to go to Curves, DG, and try working out in the a.m. I have a major crick in my back, from spending hours sitting in the truck traveling this weekend. So I am hoping to work that out, and at the same time book my “torture training” on the computerized machines. Yikes! Help meeeeeeeeeee……….!!!!!!!

Then we (hubby and I) are off golfing - he is taking this week off as holidays - yipppeeeeeee!!!!! (As you can see, in a good mood this a.m., crick in back and all!)

So, all to come, and any I missed - have an absolutely stellar Monday, okay?

[Sheepish]

Good Morning All BB'ers
I have been jumping in and out of this thread- mainly it seems so I can put that damn suit on- and today is no exception. After all of your helpful suggestions and encouragement I ended up drinking at my party on Sunday. I just went on auto pilot. I am not making an excuse, I was in full control of all of my faculties. I just did it anyway. What the hell is wrong with me. I didn't do anything stupid- had 5 beers over 6 hours or so but that is too much for me and still gives me the guilties. And lets face it- I didnt have fun because I was too busy beating myself up over it. It is very hard to come back and say this to you all AGAIN. Maybe I don;t want this as much as I say I do? But I DO. I know my life is better when I don't drink because then I don't have to worry about it. Period. I just need to do it but how??? The answer is JUST DO IT isnt it? I am sorry for the Monday morning downer.

Please know that I read all of your posts and your stories and kindness are what allows me to put this kind of (crappy, sorry) post down here instead of running away and hiding in the closet.

Thank you for letting me vent

Doggy Girl- good for Mr D and Ferguson. What happens next? ANother level?

Mame- I am interested in the hypno as well but have always been so skeptical... keep posting about it if you will...

Hannah - Have fun golfing with Hubby- holidays are great.

Happy AF day to all- and if you see me, I am the one in the fugly green suit. :(

- A stupid, stupid Sheep

[Marshy]

Hi all!

I've been away visiting my parents, surrounded by booze, and have had lots of practice saying "no thanks" about 10 times a day!

I haven't actually told my parents that I'm trying to give up drinking because I have a problem, I've just been a bit vague about wanting to be healthier so it's not surprising that they kept offering me alcohol I suppose, and they're both big drinkers so it's a natural part of their daily routine.

On the first evening I was there we were all standing around in the kitchen while mum was cooking dinner, and dad was asking me yet again why I wasn't having any wine - "because you always used to drink a lot"!!!!! - and amazingly mum said there was a bottle of non-alcoholic wine in the fridge left over from some party they'd had where there were a few non-drinkers. So I had some of that in wine glass and as soon as I had a wine glass in my hand, my dad seemed to relax about the whole drinking issue and didn't mention it again that evening.

Anyway, the rest of the time it was fine. The drinking thing was mentioned a few times, but I DID used to drink a lot so it is a big change for people to get used to - especially when I haven't been upfront and said I've stopped because it's a problem. I just don't want it to be an "issue", and have people feeling they can't drink around me, or feel they have to watch their step in what they offer me to drink etc. I want it to be my choice to say "no thanks".

Hope everyone's having a great BOOZEBUSTING Monday!

[gelgit]

Hi Marshy, You're right, non drinking former drinkers are so "threatening" to ongoing drinkers... very funny. I've tried holding a wineglass and kept having to explain what's in it. Oh well, this weekend it was wine... had to drink it really slowly because of the residual antabuse! Geez, I am an idiot. But, it did what I knew it would which was ease the pain of 7/24 in the company of DH, the searing discomfort of trying to breath and the boredom of being so physically inactive. The smoke is still terrible.
I know there's not much news about the No Cal fires as there isn't even much information about it here!! The fires are simply burning on. At least the winds are dead, but that's why the smoke is so bad. All resources are concentrated in the populated areas. We have only our own volunteer fire department and whoever comes by to help. No helicopters, fire fighting equipment or manpower. I am so depressed because this could go on for weeks. People are beginning to get sick from the smoke. Even the chickens are hunkered down and quiet. My summer job may be canceled if this keeps on. $$$ bad news for me!! Thanks for your posts...love you guys! xxx g.

[sothankful]

Hi All, thank god I finally got the fugly green suit off. it was really hot and itchy.
Well, I feel a lot better today. Went to the gym and did 50 min on treadmill. I actually have more energy since taking amino's and vitamins. I have been on them for a month and it felt like they just kick in. I was wondering about the Hypno therapy Cd's?? Anyone please let me know if they work?? I been drinking in such a pattern for so many years it's like I just ended up doing it. it's like I need to change my pattern of doing this. dose that make sense?? OK day 2 and thanks for the wonderful support. Also I need to get some new friends none drinkers

[Aunty Mame]

I tried a hypno CD last night (not the one off this site) ...... about 5 mins into it my cat came and jumped on the bed and started pawing my stomach! 5 minutes after that the neighbour's smoke alarm went off .... gave it up as a bad job and will try again tonight!!