been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

[bear73]

hi there - have had few spells of being abstinent - 3 months recently and up to a month.
I have been moderating for about 3 weeks but not had time to post - today i have had 2 beers - on thursday i had 4 glasses of wine - too much for me and more than I'd planned.
for me i want to be an occasional drinker - and not a weekly one.

I can't imagine my whole life alcohol free but i no longer want it to be a big part of my life/social life. I want to get fitter and slimmer and stop smoking.
Giving up alcohol seems like too much at the same time.

Basically i want to be pretty much abstinent but drink maybe monthly and no more than 2 in a session(3 and it gets hard to control)

anyone who does this tips welcome, nice chilled night in on my own tonight with tv and cats - bliss

[Doggygirl]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

Hi Bear. As I'm sure you have figured out, moderation is not really possible for very many of us. I'm not sure if you have seen some of the threads and regular posters in the Long Term Moderation section of the forum. Posters like Eve and Sunbeam and some others will likely have very good advice! Just wanted to make sure you have seen that section as that is where your best tips are likely to come from!

Mean time, I would still like to hear about your adventures with roller derby, the tattoo plans, and all of that!

DG

[Sunbeam]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

Hye Bear,
Welcome to the mods section! Please do read as much as you can in this section, there's lots of good advice on the threads. Start posting your questions and we will be happy to answer them. No admission charge, no ritual to prove yourself. Fee free to post directly under the Mod Squad.

I do remember you from the monthly abstinence group. Did you every try out the nasal irrigation? I avoided two sinus infections in February through use of my neti pot. I have lots of tips to share if you are still interested.

[Doggygirl]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

OOPS!! Geez what a dork I am!! I see Bear that your post IS in the long term moderators section!! I was using the quick links and thought it was in Monthly Abs!

At any rate, you sound good and I wish you all the best!

DG

[bear73]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

thanks all

DG - I am great thanks love my tattoo - took seven and a half hours, gypsy girl with flowers and a hourglass timer. Derby is going great - team choosing for next bout is on 13 March - fingers crossed!Good to see you, if this path doesn't work for me I have promised myself that I will be straight back to ab land - no fooling myself.Thank you for all your support - you're awesome - hope all is good with you.

Thanks Sunbeam no I didn't try netti pot - have done myself with a cup but not too easy!
I will post some questions,good to know - I am off out today (af as driving)
ood day y'all

[BELIEVE]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

My experience is that its best to focus first on going completley af for an extended period of time. If you think of modding in terms of when you can have your next drink, you're really stacking the odds against yourself. Quit first. Then you can worry about modding.

Speaking of quitting, if you want to mod you may as well get used to quitting drinking. I say this because everytime you drink and it comes time to quit its like, well, quitting all over again. And over again, and over again everytime. I find it gets easier over time but that dosen't neccessarily make it easy.

So like I said jump through the hoops neccessary to quit then decide how often you want to jump through them and whether modding is worth it.

Hope this helps.

[Tabbers (a.k.a. KTAB)]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

Good post Believe, simply explained and I totally agree that if we get to a certain point in our relationship with AL, and lets face it who here hasnt, then it will be like constantly quitting.

[Sunbeam]

been lurking - plan to drink infrequently

The key for me has been to keep my frequency to weekly or less. When I had a couple of drinks multiple days during the week, it did feel like I was quitting over and over again. But now it is just the matter of resisting that urge on the weekend, which for me is a different thing. I continue to work on more AF weekends, just having something to drink on the occasions we go out, or when I have friends over. Drinking at home is a problem for me, it is too easy to keep drinking, too easy to have a drink just to relax.