AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

[shueaddict]

Good morning, Fabulous Abbers,

I got up with Lav?s chickens to do my cardio ? by 7 AM it is too hot already so I had to go at 6 AM . Feeling great now but I need more coffee.

The French roast is brewing nicely, surreptitiously I put out a decaf for Sugar and I hope Pap comes in later to get her tea. No sweets, pancakes or pastries this time; we need to get in swim suit shape.

Work is crazy but at least I am not travelling for the next 2 weeks. I intend to focus on eating light and exercising.

I?ll try to rummage some pics of Transylvania from my dad?s camera, it was so hot there as well that we were all too lazy to take pics.

Have a super fab day, sweeties, I have a day full of meetings.

[ThreeDogNight]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Good morning, Shue and all to come!
Don't know how you keep up the pace, Shue! Makes me tired just reading about your schedule:H
Looks like another perfect weather day here! It is very cool in the morning and at night, and then warms up, but with little humidity. Going for a walk soon and it will be like yesterday--great walking weather! Went to pick raspberries but they aren't ripe enough yet, so picked blueberries. I will get lots this year and freeze them. And the farm where I pick--this a.m. with a neighbor--is peaceful and lovely.
Store was much calmer yesterday, which was also nice--and hope it continues again today! I have to work from 12-7, but don't mind that.
Glad to be on Day 6 and grateful for the MWO support!
Hope everyone has a wonderful AF day!
TDN

[greeneyes]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Yo Fabbies!

Hi shue & TDN

Thankfully we got some rain last night, hot as it's been everything is parched. Off to go stand under the fig tree for brekkie. Hoping to go to a new(ish) burger place downtown today - it got a nod in southern living magazine so I'm wanting to check it out. Tough to find a REALLY good burger, or maybe I'm just picky. I bet IJM makes a mean burger. Hope he's well.

One thing's for sure!

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Good morning Abbers!

Awaiting the arrival of two very energetic little boys. It's going to be a long day but I'm ready for them

Shue, I want to see some pics from your trip!

TDN, enjoy the cooler weather - it's not all that great here yet.

Greenie, have you tried black bean burgers? My daughter & I are experimenting with different recipes ~ pretty good.

OK, have to go. Wishing everyone a terrific AF Tuesday!
Lav

[greeneyes]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Lavande;1348282 wrote: Greenie, have you tried black bean burgers? My daughter & I are experimenting with different recipes ~ pretty good.

I often eat the Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burgers. But, I recently began to wonder about the ingredients (haven't checked) since I got all funny about corn. I don't eat much meat at home. Please share the perfect recipe when you find it. Hopefully it will also be the easiest one.

Where's det?

[shueaddict]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

TND ? I realized that if I used the excuse ? I don?t have time to exercise? far too often. I am now ?making time? for it.

LillyE;1348149 wrote:
Day 9 here and feeling fine though I did wake up very sad about all the wasted time thanks to AL - the regrets, the missed opportunities, the 'is it all too late?' (I'm 37) type of thoughts, you all know the drill I'm sure...

Lilly ? I am 36 and have spent the last 12 months on MWO trying to kick the habit ? no room for looking back now, lesson learnt, move on. I am not saying you should forget it in a hurry, but don?t let it drag you down more than it already had. Some wise soul here said ?Only a fool trips over what is behind him?. I too remember all the stupid things I did while drunk ( and cringe at the numerous episodes of driving under the influence) ? but I don?t dwell on it ? I just know I will never do it again.

Mick ? great to see you here, how?s day 7 treating you?

Greenie ? tonight I am cooking a green dinner ? pasta with homemade pesto from my very own basil plants that I sprouted from seeds.

Lav ? way to go on getting two more chicks today!!! How?s Matilda?

Fly ? I think of your headaches sometimes, are they on or off?

Sausage the brave ? you are on a mission!!!! I just love how completely you immersed yourself back in AF-ness. Camping in UK? Hmmm ? that is rather brave.

[FlyAway]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Okay, so I didn't share the Sleep Fairy last night! I can't believe how long I slept and how late in the day! Went to bed at midnight and woke up at 11am! In my defense I will say that I work an overnight shift each work week and I guess this was my body's way of recovering from that. Holy cow.

I did manage to get some exercise in yesterday; did a kettlebell workout. I love them. Nice and short and effective. I'm going to do another one today.

Shue yes, my headaches are still off and on. I just saw my neurologist a week ago and got my shots and mentioned to him that I was going to seek out an acupuncturist. He told me that he does acupuncture! He wants to wait until my 6-week check up to schedule it. I'm not sure why, but okay. Weather is definitely a trigger for my headaches and I also work in an environment where there are a lot of electromagnetic fields and I frequently get headaches at work. I have a couple books on "energy medicine" and have been reading them over the last couple of days. I've found a few things to try when I feel a headache coming on.

Shue I envy all of your traveling; I'd love to see some of the places you've been. But it must get tiring for you sometimes. Are you frequently away from your family for work?

Lilly you are young, young, young! I've got 10 years on you and I feel so fortunate to have stopped the madness this early. Sure I wish I had stopped earlier or better yet never started, but looking at the past is just a waste of time. All we have is right now. This one day is all we're guaranteed.

TDN is there any secret to freezing berries? I've been buying frozen berries by the bag to make smoothies and was thinking that it would probably be cheaper to just buy berries and freeze them on my own. I was thinking that I'd just lay them flat on a cookie sheet with some wax paper underneath and put them in the freezer until they are solid. Them put them in a freezer bag. Is that what you do?

Greeneyes I stopped going to that chiropractor. The adjustments made me feel worse and I felt like he just wanted my money. He kept trying to get me to buy things from him. Tried to sell me fish oil, but I told him I already take fish oil. Wanted me to buy antioxidants from him that he said would help me heal. Sells "special" pillows, posture shirts, and liquid vitamins. Then he gave me a sheet of paper that listed all of his costs since my insurance only covers 12 chiropractic visits a year. If he did cervical traction for 10 minutes it was $40. Lumbar traction for 10 minutes was $40. Robotic muscular therapy=$35. All these in addition to the office visit. He usually did at least 2 of these treatments to me each time. It was odd, he spent a lot of time with me on the initial visit but after that acted like he couldn't get out of the room quick enough. I'd say he spent about 3 minutes with me each visit after my first visit. I don't know how you go about finding a "good" chiropractor.

Spicy black bean burgers sound great, but it can be scary reading an ingredients list in packaged goods!

Lav I'm sending you positive vibes for energy and endurance for your day. I think you'll need it! :H

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Try this one kids - we have had good success with this recipe
(I don't like all the weird ingredients on the frozen burgers out there)

Black Bean Burgers | Annie's Eats

[greeneyes]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Evening fabbies!

Shue, basil from seeds even! Cool!

Fly, good move on ditching that chiro. I'll PM you about trying to find a good one.
I freeze pineapple chunks the way you mentioned and it works well.

Thanks for the recipe Lav. Looks good!

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Ahhhhhh,
Freedom at last :H
The day was long but all went well, everyone survived

Several years ago I started a boatload of basil from seeds & it was the best!
This year I have one sickly looking plant that's not doing much at all, oh well.
I skipped picking my abundant raspberries this year (because of the PI problem) but freezing them in the past has worked out great. Fly, freeze your berries just the way you mentioned - easy

Waiting to hear from my daughter at some point tonight. I hope to be having the girls here for a few days of fun.

[LillyE]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

FlyAway;1348344 wrote: Lilly you are young, young, young! I've got 10 years on you and I feel so fortunate to have stopped the madness this early. Sure I wish I had stopped earlier or better yet never started, but looking at the past is just a waste of time. All we have is right now. This one day is all we're guaranteed.

Thanks for that FlyAway - and Shue for the words of wisdom. I think it is hard at this point as a lot of my friends are married with babies or young toddlers. I'm single, having divorced some years back, so feel that stage/possibility has slipped by me and that having spent the last few years wallowing in resentment over my divorce fueled by the booze hasn't helped. (My drinking was certainly not the reason for the end of our marriage - he had his own addictions - but it certainly made the end messier and the recovery harder. I started drinking harder then and it just escalated from there...)

But you're both right, onward and upward. I'm sure there are happy recovered peeps on here older than all of us moving forward.

Shue, I've also been here a year trying to get past this. I still have yet to go 30 days straight but I think/hope I've turned a corner lately and am feeling very committed. (And sometimes like I ought to be committed - boom boom.)

Sorry to hear about your headaches Fly. I hope the neurologist can help. That is so draining.

[LillyE]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

Also, just thought I'd X-post something I just posted in Newbies in case any of you long-termers have any words of wisdom. There's been some talk there about moderation lately...

I've been thinking a bit more about the 'moderation' issue today and realised that it's a non-debate for me in so far as, after the last year, I KNOW that I cannot moderate. I mean, I might manage to go out one or two nights and actually truly just have one to three drinks but it's usually more happenstance than anything and it never lasts more than one or two occasions in a row. Far, far more often and inevitably, I binge. It's weird - I don't get 'cravings' for alcohol the way some people describe when I am AF. It's once I START drinking that the cravings kick in (gimme MOREMOREMORE) and can be so fearsomely strong and never-ending.

So, the choice for me is not between moderation and AF - not even remotely. It's between continuing to drink heavily and fully committing to being AF. And yet, still, even with the current determination I am feeling it is so hard. At the moment I am constantly seeking out information about WHY it's important to quit (how alcoholism is progressive, the dangers etc) and WHAT is so good about being AF. My struggle is about convincing my addictive brain that this is the right choice.

And even knowing that, writing that, I have these moments where I start to think 'Oh I'm not so bad as some. Am I making too big a deal out of this all?'. So I read and read and read here and elsewhere to shore up strength. It's taking almost all my energy at the moment. I also just don't want to keep struggling with this round and round and round the on-off drinking hamster wheel. I'm so tired of that. I want to put that energy toward building a life in recovery.

What am I trying to say? I don't really know. Just thinking aloud.

And with that, I'm off to write in my journal a list of the times that alcohol has been really awful for me. I need more to look back on when those thoughts creep in. I recommend this to all, btw, some of the stuff I've written about my bad times with Al have really helped when I'm struggling to remember WHY.

[Turnagain]

AF Daily - Tuesday, July 10th

LillyE...You're making some crucial progress even though it is not always easy for you to see. This addiction is tough to break because it directly impacts the area of the brain that controls decision making. This is why it is so critical to seek out and absorb information about drinking AND get support and guidance from others. You are doing that. And you're doing that consistently and diligently. So now, you ask....how to go beyond this?

For me, the life changing moment came when I realized my body just cannot tolerate any amount of alcohol. Not a drop. I don't know if I was born this way or became this way. It doesn't matter because I AM this way now. Initially, I was afraid of acknowledging this and what it would mean. But interestingly enough, once I accepted this....I felt as if I had wings. I love being free. I have my life back again.

Healing takes time. You have started that process. And, as you look around this forum and at other support groups or programs, you'll notice that those who are truly successful and secure in their freedom from addiction are successful because they embrace sobriety. It is not a struggle....it is a joy to be free.

Beyond the high-concept talk...the concrete steps I took to final freedom came down to these basics:

* I acknowledged to myself and then (later) to others that I no longer drink.

* I surround myself with people who reinforce, support, and strengthen AF living.

* I help my body heal more every day. I eat whole, healthy foods. I supplement to help speed the biochemical repair that needs to take place. I exercise to help the brain get the dopamine and serotonin mix back into proper balance. And I retrain my brain by immersing myself in an attitude of gratitude. In those early days, sometimes the only thing I could feel sorta grateful for was that I was still breathing - even though I was so depressed and sometimes thought death would be the best thing for me.

I read something quite wise around here that went something like this:

We don't choose to become addicted to alcohol. But we can choose not to take the first drink.

And for those of us who have faced the hell of addiction, it is the ONLY choice. And a choice that is more than worth it. AF life is limitless.