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

[Marshy]

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

Originally Posted by louise

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]

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!! 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
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[cmhguy3]

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

Guy
Day 16 AF

[Doggygirl]

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]

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!!

[Doggygirl]

Oh My!!! I need to dig up the recipe for pizza crust out of cauliflower and post it ASAP for perroni pizza emergencies. (No kidding. Cauliflower. And Mr. Doggy ate more than his fair share of the pizza. He wouldn't eat PLAIN cauliflower if it was a choice between that or dog poop.)

Pamina, I hope your visit goes OK. I don't have the energy to start a thread myself today....but I will tomorrow if nobody else does in the mean time.

DG

[louise]

Are you serious? Cauliflower pizza crust? I have has cauliflower "mashed potatoes" but I never imagined pizza crust! Pamina, what self control to eat strawberries instead of pizza. It is odd how sometimes food cravings come from nowhere. Mine are often for things I hardly ever eat, like meatloaf or mashed potatoes. comfort food I guess.
Hey Guy, congrats on 16 days!
Mame I'm not feeling as motivated either, but sometimes just do it anyway is enough I think. Sometimes motivation follows actions rather than precedes them.
I think what your counselor said Marshy about having a relationship with AL and thinking about any, even negative relationship explains a lot about the early days of not drinking.
Well, to bed and then on to day 3!

[Doggygirl]

Good Day Booze Busters!!! I hope everyone is rackin' up the AFHF days in whatever 30 day stretch you are on. Special support goes out to those who are in the early days which can be a challenge. WE CAN DO THIS. We CAN get sober as Booze Busters before us like July have shown. So let's be KICKIN' AL'S ASS today, K?

louise, yes indeed - cauliflower pizza crust. And in a Booze Buster exclusive, here is the recipe:

1 cup cooked "riced" cauliflower**
1 egg
1 cup mozarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon parsley

pizza or alfredo sauce (I use tomato sauce and put italian spices in it)
toppings of your choice
more mozzarella cheese, or italian cheese mix with parmesan, etc.

**riced cauliflower is just cauliflower than has spent time (when raw) in your blender or food processor with S blade until it resembers the shape and size of rice. I cook this in the microwave. It needs to be cooked through but NOT too mushy. This might take a couple tries and as you work with it, you get a feel for it. "Riced cauliflower" has some other good uses for low carbers too where you would otherwise use rice. i.e. in things like stuffed green peppers. But I digress. Let the riced cauliflower cool before you make the pizza crust.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. (I line the cookie sheet with foil and then spray it for easier/faster clean up)

In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, egg and mozarella. Press this mix evenly on the pan. Make it THIN - there will be spots that look like they are barely covered. This makes a pretty small crust - i.e. for 2 people. You can double the recipe for a bigger one. Sprinkle this "crust" with fennel, oregano and parsley. Bake the crust at 450 for 12 - 15 minutes - longer if you double the recipe for bigger pizza. The crust should be pretty darn brown before you stop cooking it. If you don't let it get brown enough the crust will be too mushy.

Add sauce and toppings, then cheese to the crust and broil until cheese is melted.

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Of all the low carb pizza crusts I've tried, that are also gluten free, this one you can get closest to a firmer crust that you can actually eat with your hands like a REAL pizza rather than having to use a fork. The key is making the crust really thin and letting it get brown enough. Of course Dominos won't be switching to this any time soon, but it's a nice way to get a pizza fix if you don't eat bread or flour things.

OK - time for me to go to Curves and get weighed and measured!! Oh - and also work out. KICK AL'S ASS TODAY!!!!

DG
Day 84 AFHF
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[A Work in Progress]

Hey I love that cauliflower crust recipe!!! Must try, must try...

Good morning all, I have not been a regular on this thread, but would like to be. Today is I think day 23, anyway I am working my way up to having 4 weeks AF (this time around!). Feels great. I have been on all these threads, and different areas in MWO, and like an old colleague once used to say to me, when we were working in the midst of various felony cases:

"I've seen two world fairs and a goat-roping... But I've never seen NOTHING like this!"

It's amazing, what goes on around here. This morning there's a guy asking about FLIGHT SCHOOLS!!! And a person asking for help in a crisis, who was advised by one member to just get drunk!

I want to get away from some of the Wild West aspect of the life of recovery (spent far too much time in my Wild Wests of my own making, and involved also, all my adult working life, in the crises and disasters of other people) and focus on the threads that are all about getting alcohol out of our lives. So that's my plan for getting the most out of MWO and avoiding getting sucked into too much of the other stuff.

DG (and others here), the elderly parent situation is one I am also involved deeply in, an 88-yr old mother who was very difficult to start with now has Alzheimer's and it has pretty much dominated my life for the last 2 months... before that, her presence in my life was toxic but not all-consuming... It was one of my "reasons" for getting drunk, which of course did not help. I am doing much better about all that without the alcohol... but it is still very, very challenging, in a number of ways...

best wishes all,

wip

[Doggygirl]

wip, we would LOVE to have you as a regular Booze Buster. Congratulations on your 23 days AF. For those Booze Busters who haven't had a chance to read many of wip's posts, she brings a LOT of wisdom to MWO as a person who achieved sobriety for many years with the help of AA. wip would also remind us that we must be ever vigilent about AL lurking around us. YEAH!!!

wip I can also relate to your desire to stay focused on the MWO program and achieving sobriety as the #1 goal and reason for being here. The "just for fun" topics have to come 2nd, and any topics that get my fantasies of drinking started up have to be avoided. MWO is wonderful because it offers a diverse program to a very diverse audience. There is plenty of room for everyone - I think the key to maximizing the benefits of the forum is to be very clear on your goals, and what helps or doesn't in term of achieving them.

If you are "lurking" and reading this thread, and want to join in with a goal of reaching 30 Days Alcohol Free, Hangover Free, jump on in and post!!

DG
Day 84 AFHF