BOOZE BUSTERS-Week of 8/18 30 Day (A)bsolutely (F)abulous (H)angover (F)ree Challenge

[july232007]

DG,

90 Days AF: congratulations. You have accomplished this through much hard work and we all applaud you. Wonderful!

July

[kriger]

Doggy,
I have been waiting for this day to come for you! You sound wonderful...and SO sober....90 days!!!!!!
Congratulations and hope to you for many more to come. I am on day 15 and feelin' pretty darn good. I hope you have something special planned for yourself on this special day? You are truly an inspiration to us newbies! Thanks for all your support...you have been a big help to me, personally. kriger

[Resolute]

How many "day 1's" can there be? I'm starting all over again...as of today. I've been going for a week or so AF -- when I'm at home with my fiancee. She doesn't let me drink at all and I owe her so much for her patience. She also went to a couple of AA meetings with me; which, by the way, I intend on getting back in to. I need to stop this insane 'back-and-forth.' It's really beginning to impact my work as well...in ways that are quite frightening. When I'm not at home, it's the same 'ole routine.

So, I'm in. I will be checking in daily and am looking forward to the great support you all provide.

[Doggygirl]

Hello Booze Busters!!

Awe July - thank you so much for your "fly by" message for me!! You have no idea how much you have inspired me. I think of your example often especially when walking the rutty parts of this ol' path. Keep leading the way my friend - I will be following.

kriger, you are just a treasure here. I love your upbeat posts. You have really jumped in with a great attitude and high energy and I'M PROUD OF YOU for your 15 AF Days!! You are half way to 30, and well on your way to whatever goals you have for yourself down the road. Well, I did "something" today...not so sure about "special" LOL!!! I canned 12 quarts of tomatos. I will say this - I didn't can any last year and ran out of the previous stock mid winter. I was not too happy about that!! So if I don't sound like it was "special" today.......believe me, it will be "special" in the winter time when I am making Clean The Refrigerator Soup and other delightful dishes using my home canned 'maters.

Resolute, I'm glad you are here. I believe you DO want to stop the madness otherwise you wouldn't be here. A couple observations and maybe some food for thought. To you, what does "Trying" mean? (I'm not trying to be a smart ass!!) Is there anything you are changing up in your routine to get a differnt outcome with respect to AL? What parts of the My Way Out program are you using? What strategies do you have in place, especially when you are away from home, to NOT drink?

If you need any help as you work through your battle plan, please come here and ask. There are successful Booze Busters who can at least give you ideas about what worked for them. Personally, I take the supplements as recommended in the MWO program. I don't do the hypnosis CD's as religiously as I once did, but for the first 30 days and even beyond that, I used those CD's almost daily. I also follow the recommended diet plan avoiding sugar and things that turn to sugar right away in our systems - bread, potatoes, etc. EXERCISE is something I did NOT do regularly in my previous failed attempts at sobriety. It's a 6 day a week thing for me now, and it is really making a difference.

I hope you will really sit down with a pen and notepad and work on some goals and strategies. Another exercise I found useful way back in the very beginning - and I'm updating it this week - is writing lists of the following:

Benefits of Drinking

Problems with Drinking

Benefits of NOT Drinking

Problems with NOT Drinking.

Be honest. The only benefits / problems that matter in this exercise are the ones that YOU perceive. Nobody else's opinion about it matters. So yes...there ARE things that will probably go in each of the four categories if you are honest. This is an exercise worth re-visiting from time to time because you will think of additional things, and as you achieve sobriety your ideas about some things will change.

I'm not sure if any of this stuff will be helpful for you, but I hope somewhere in here is at least the seed of an idea to help you get a PLAN in place - not just a "hope" as WIP would say!!! (read some of WIP's posts - they are awesome. Also read some of Caysea's posts about making a total lifestyle change. Read what the long term abbers like AAthlete and July and all the others have to say. Go find the 100 day (200, 300, 400) posts by XTexan. These people all speak the truth about getting sober.

OK - off soapbox!! I wish all of you the very best!! Have a great rest of the day!!

DG
3X

[Doggygirl]

Happy Wednesday (or Thursday Mame!) BOOZE BUSTERS!!!

I hope you are all revving up your engines for a great AF day.

I had an interesting experience yesterday which I'd like to share. I might have mentioned along the way that I bought a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes and canned them yesterday afternoon. Some drinking thoughts caught me off guard when I started thinking "geez this is taking longer than I remember!" (it's been a few years). Then I put two and two together and recalled that I was always in some state of drunk (of course) when doing this in previous years. Well, no wonder the experience felt different.

I realized that I need to STAY on my guard each and every day, even though I am reaching a point where thankfully, booze is not on my mind 24X7. I need to be aware that every time I do something for the first time sober, I will probably have some drinking thoughts and I need to have a good plan.

Yesterday was pretty safe - even though I was not prepared for the thoughts - because I was at home where there is no alcohol that I would consider drinking. However there will be situations like this where I am not at home, and where alcohol of preference for me IS available, I'm sure. I realize I am still in need of a PLAN - thought out in advance - for every sober day.

I am happy to be here on Day 91 AFHF!! Have a great Booze Bustin' Day everyone.

DG

[caysea]

Hi All
DG Congrat [a day late sorry ] on your 90 day AF.Not only have you succeeded in winning the never ending fight against al but you have helped so many people along the way.I look at your lifestyle change and it is an inspiration to all. It is what is required to win this fight.Not just stooping drinking but then going on to live a sober life. Again congrats and enjoy the new you.
By the way thanks for my visual present.Next time check with the guys on this site not the ladies in regards to the cheerleaders. Kidding
Stay Healthy and Keep Fighting

[louise]

DG, so happy that in the past you did not hurt yourself canning or give yourself boltulism! I can't imagine drinking and canning (but then I haven't canned anything since I was a kid helping mom.) Anyway, interesting how such small frustrations can lead to thoughts of drinking.
Resolute, you can have as many day 1's as you need, just keep trying. There are some very successful people on this site who in the beginning were getting on daily and saying how hard it was for them.
Hi everyone! Hope everyone is doing ok.
Pamina, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. A big hug to you.

[Doggygirl]

Caysea - LOL givin' you a big ol' and I'll try to find you some guy approved cheerleaders for your next milestone, OK??

Hello Louise!! My canning expertise, which really cannot possibly be classified as expertise, extends ONLY to tomatos. It's hard to mess them up due to the acidity in tomatos. I think I will need at least a couple of sober years under my belt before I graduate to something like...let's see here....green beans or anything.

DG

[Marshy]

Hi all (welcome Resolute!)

Yup, doing things for the first time sober can be a big challenge. (I still remember my first sober Friday night! That was huge!) First sober holiday was a biggie for me and I've seen other people posting that too. Also, for me, the first time returning from holiday was almost more difficult than the holiday itself. I always used to pick up booze on the way home whatever time it was (I've often bought a few bottles coming back through Heathrow duty free at 6am while trying to not look like a big ole drunk), and then started drinking as soon as I got back home while unpacking and checking messages, opening the post etc. It was part of the ritual of returning for me.

I think if it's something we don't do very often, such as holidays or canning tomatoes or whatever, it's bound to remind us of drinking days the first time or first few times, but then, hopefully, doing it sober becomes the norm.

[AMELIA]

BELATED CONGRATS FROM ME....
LIKE I SAID IN MY PM WAS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON YOUR PROGRESS...THEN WHAMMY,...I HAD MISSED IT.
90 DAYS. AWESOME.X