Friday September 29th

[YoungAtHeart]

Friday September 29th

Thanks for starting the post today Macks. I'll take my turn as Mayor again after I have a week or two of ABS under my belt okay? On the topic, I find managing weekends the hardest of all. My biggest enemy is unstructured time and the second biggest enemy is too much to do and not ENOUGH time! At any rate, Fridays are always hard for me, and most of my slips have occurred on Friday (except last week...) Obviously, I don't have any great pointers on this. I did find it strangely reassuring that Neil and Mike both said they can still have cravings on Fridays. Or Gabby saying that she might suddenly long for a beer. Not that I look forward to this, but it reinforces that this really IS an ongoing process, and not something you just GET OVER. Knowing that people far ahead of me in this journey still struggle sometimes gives me more courage to get back on track.

Speaking of which, I am getting back on the ABS Wagon on Tues., Oct 3rd. I've had a 2-3 glasses of wine/day as I'm titrating back up on the topa, and I'll go back up to 200mg on Sunday. Tuesday is always a good day for me to start because I don't get home from work until 8pm, so even if I'm craving, I don't have TOO LONG to suffer before I can hit the sack! And then I have a few days under my belt before the DREADED WEEKEND.:H

Anyway, congrats on Day 2, NoMore. Keep hanging in there. Have you gotten your house in Absville all aired out yet??

Nancy, I am thinking of you this weekend and hope you just have the most wonderful time. And Belle too! Will Belle be there to catch the bouquet???

Happy birthday and anniversary Brigid!!:happy:

Lisa, you must be heading home by now, definitely a little wiser than the beginning of the week. You're right, that Category 5 sounds pretty disgusting. I still have a souvenir "Hurricane" glass in my collection, but truth be told, I never liked them much either! Good luck on Sunday for your Yom Kippur dinner.

I must say, I was lucky with the recycling this week, because mingled with the wine bottles (although not as many as in the "olden days") there were plenty of beer cans from my BIL, so I am just regally assuming that it was assumed that I had a great party this past weekend. (Now, of course, assuming that the waste management professionals even give a flip about what is in my recycling is the true paranoia of an alcoholic, dontcha think???)
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Hey Mike, it sounds like you have a great Friday night plan for your AA meeting. I'm glad you have some company for the weekend too. And although I don't advocate workaholism in general, I do believe that once in a while, taking an extra day to get your office in order does benefit your mental health greatly, so I am giving you my Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on taking some time this weekend to do that! And you can say FABULOUS until the cows come home in my book!

Neil, you make me smile! It's interesting that you have your BS in Aerospace Engineering. My dad was an engineer. He designed powerplants for aircraft for Grumman and was a fighter/bomber pilot in WWII, stationed in Italy. Did you go on to get another degree and in what field? I think you may have said already, so forgive me if I'm making you repeat yourself! I'll be joining you soon in exercise, but not quite yet. Once I get my garage cleaned out, I plan on making part of it into an exercise room. I want to get an ellipical trainer, and I can also do step aerobics and my weight training in there. I'm looking forward to it!

Susan, I hope you have a great time in Vermont! Blow a big kiss to the mountains and the beautiful trees for me!

So spacie, why aren't you coming to live here?? Why just coming for visits?? You can have any house you want and any career you want, and a group of friends that will welcome you with open arms! Hey, it's the good life here!

Hey, Lush, you are reaching some wonderful insights and I can tell that you are on your way to making more changes in your life that will make things even better for you! I'm glad that you are posting here more and more. Soon you'll be more regular than irregular. But don't let me scare you off!

I would imagine that people have posted while I've been writing this book, so if I've missed you, I'm sorry!

Love to you all!
Kathy:l

[Lou]

Friday September 29th

Hello Guys

Everyone sounds well this evening, i certainly hope thats the case x

Been keeping myself busy today to ward off the evil cravings!! Have done a mountain of washing and ironing.. 2 hours in the gym, then i came home and the little nagging gremlin was still there so i took myself off to an AA meeting..was a nice meeting tonight, somebodys 1 year AF birthday and she told a very moving story.
So im sat here now armed with sweeties and fizzy pop (if i cant eat normal food at least i can eat sweets for the sugar cravings!!)...Not a drop of alcohol in site

Oh and Nancy GOOD LUCK for tomorrow..i hope you have a beautiful day

Loves to all

Lou-Lou x x x x

P.S..Sorry i never address everyone personaly... It would take me forever..but you know that i love and think of you all x x

[Guest]

Friday September 29th

Hi everyone,
thanks for your bday wishes. I had the greatest day. Went to the beach in the morning and my son and husband caught the same wave surfing (son is only 8) and it gave me a real high (could you all hear my whoopie). Had lunch out.. quiet afternoon and then dinner dress up style (bit of lippie and candles) and tonic water. I'm actually a twin and my husband put a cake together with 90 candles on it (yip, I'm now 45!!!) - cos my twin came over and we nearly had a fire, it was so funny. Not many people can say they have had a birthday cake with 90 candles on now can they!!!!!

Just to clarify cos I've had a lot of pms about my birthday. It was at my birthday last year that I first found this site and started to 'lurk'. I dont count myself sober until 1 November... it was actually a few days before then, but thats my counter date.

On more serious issues... (you know me!!)
Keeping up with the supporting strategies to our sobriety is a real ongoing issue. I find sometimes I think - oh, i'm ok now... I can just miss my meditation for a bit.. or I wont walk today.. but each time that happens its like it cuts a chink out of me. I am not religious at all, but I have decided that I have to adopt a religious like approach to my strategies until they are just such a way of life for me that its not in question at all. I'm moving towards that.. but I need to keep it in my mind always. So whatever your strategies are (hypno or AA or whatever) thats my thoughts on this.

Kathy, you hang in there and I look forward to tuesday for you....
and my wish for you all is an old zulu one

'whatever life throws at you may it not break your spirit'
Brigid

[xtexan]

Friday September 29th

Hello again abs-forum-nators:

I can hardly type this, as I blasted my upper body to maximum. Can barely lift my arms to type.

It was a real battle today. Of all the exercise types I do, lifting the free weights is the most difficult to get myself into a mind set to begin on. However, no other type of exercise has the shear magnitude to discharge nervous anxieties and excess animal energies as does the weight lifting. Also, the end self-image boost when the muscle groups are pumped with blood and fluid is a real psychological rush.

I mowed the lawns, and did a multitude of household chores trying to avoid the first lift. At about 4:30 the supplement dosing began. I usually take 5 grams of glutamine and 5 grams of creatine before a lifting session. Glutamine is very valuable as both an anti-alcohol craving supplement, as well as a muscle cell fuel. The creatine is basically only a muscle cell building block, and fluid retainer.

Warm-up stretchs began at 5:30, and a few crunches and leg-lfits for the abs. (That abdominals in this context!)

A trick I use, is to wait until the Simpsons comes on the TV at 6PM, and I begin my session at that time. The humor and jokes always help me over the hump.

First set 10 reps. Rested 10 minutes and gatorade. Second set 15 reps. Gatorade and done.
The discharge of nervous energy through the muscles when doing free weights until exhaustion of all the muscle groups, works fantastic to stop the cravings. Flooding the body with a sports fluid replacement drink, finishes off any urge to pickle the brain with something less hydrating. I will not wake up tomorrow dehydrated from peeing out twice as much fluid as I took in, as was the case with my favorite poison beverages.

So we are good for now.

Gabby: Hmmm. I don't know if lifting the boxes counts as beneficial exercise. I'll let you have a mulligan on that one.

Kathy: Thats quite alright. I don't have another degree, but I have a Certified Quality Engineers certification. I did consider going to medical school at the time of my graduation, but quickly took off into the work world instead. As far as your exercise goes, it great to have a special place to set aside. I have a spare bedroom converted to the home gym. Weight bench, exer-cycle, weights, all the gear. It also has a TV mounted on the wall, which is important for me.

spacie: Did you get that treadmill fired up? Good for you!

Susan: Its great to just take the stairs to start! Nothing is feeble when you start out! You should have seen me last December, I couldn't climb one flight of stairs without my heart going nuts. Now, I can run up several flights, and still have goody left over. I park far away from the doors at work, and while shopping on purpose... to get more walking distance each day.

Macks: Thank you for the title and honors. I shall endeavour to fulfill my duties with grace and wisdom (tough for a hard-headed dude like myself!)

nomorewine: I know why I felt bad about the mass quantities of empties I had. I used to keep them all in a spot on the kitchen counter, so they would be in my face the next day for counting, and recording on the calendar. I felt very ashamed so many times. I sue don't miss dealing with empties!!

Mike: I am currently working with a software program that generates hypnosis sessions. I got it free off the net, but its buggy, and has a lot of flaws. Good luck on the sessions with the pro.

Brigid: I will be remembering your November 1 date. Mine is December 15th. Happy Birthday.

Lisa: Absolute worst hangover I ever had in my life was in New Orleans in July 1992 I think. That is a whole story in itself. Glad you got out of there in better shape than I did back then. Also, I hope you get a good trainer who knows the motivation methods for you as an individual and your needs.

Lou: 2 hours gym time. Alright! Right there with you!

lush: First, foremost... be nice to youself when choosing your weekend activites. You were so nice to me when I first came here, and you deserve it.

Everyone else: Hang in there, and be well.

Yep, these Fridays are killer for me still. I am going to hit the brain wave machine for a while before bed tonight, and max out on the relaxation supplements. Can't let the guard down during these weekends.

Tomorrow, I'm making the long drive to Memphis to buy a few specialty items not available out here in the sticks. Probably spend the night, and come back home on Sunday.

See you all next week!

Neil

[Lou]

Friday September 29th

Neil,
I have to say..you egg me on, i love working out and just getting lost in it...today you were my extra inspiration

Lou-Lou x x

[mikeupnorth]

Friday September 29th

What a great day of posts, all --

Just a quick report. Today I only had a passing thought of alcohol as I left work. It was easily shrugged off with the knowledge that it wasn't an option. By the time I got home I was quite comfortable with my choice to stay AF....

Maybe it's the topa (titrated up to 200 mg this week) or maybe it's the fact that I have a house guest this week (more accountability) -- but whatever it is, I'm happy to not have to white-knuckle it tonight. And looking forward to the meeting in a little while.

Also looking forward to getting the office cleaned out tomorrow.

Have a great weekendl!

Mike