Hi Cindy/HG

You seem to be having those small shifts in your attitude to drinking which everyone talks about. Well done! Even if you have not drunk hard liquor before, I imagine that in the past if there was no more wine left you might have gone down the hard liquor track, but you haven't. Good for you!! In the past, years ago, i have drunk straight rum (which i hate) because I needed to drink and there was no other choice. It was hideous, but it made me drunk. How sad is that?
Take care of yourself!!

Sticky

Hi All - The end of week 12 and my units are down again, although a slight drop only. I am happy with my progress and notice each day a lessened interest in alcohol. I was out shopping on Sunday and even though it was the witching time (4:30) I wasn't ready to go home. If it hadn't been for my daughter's insistence, we would have stayed out quite late shopping.

Thanks for all of your support. Onward.

You are consuming about half of what you were 12 weeks ago! Awesome!

You are on your way to renewed control. And your comments on the board are great.

My best,

Nick

I believe that slow progress is REAL and quick is somewhat forced. I think of it like weight loss. If you lose fast, you are likely to gain it back. Keep the faith and let yourself fill in your former drunken times with some new sober activities. Distraction is helpful but it is also necessary to start building this new life for the sober YOU!!

Totally agree with 4abetter... As you fall out of love with alcohol, you will soon find that you have a lot of free time on your hands. All that time spent being buzzed will need to be re-filled with healthy activities. As you progress on TSM it's important to develop hobbies or renew old interests because idle time can be a trigger itself and it's easy to want to drink out of habit during these times.

Thanks 4B and Nick - Good words to live by as I find my interest in alcohol lessening with each day. What shall I do? Maybe I will clean some of those cob webs out of the corners that I've ignored during my 10 years of drinking.

half a glass- i am 2 months behind you. you give me hope.

yeah- it seems like lowering the drinking amount is only part of it. there is also the question of what to do INSTEAD of drinking. while i am still early in this process and my units are still pretty high (~50 per week) i can sense a lack of total obsession with drink. that leaves thoughts for other things, things like:
man, i sure have wasted alot of time and opportunity to drink;
what, in the end, do i really want from life?

i think it's called reality.

sorry if i hijacked your thread but my post does feel somewhat germaine (sp?) to the conversation.

Hi HG

Well done on lower units again this week and especially on your lessening interest in alcohol. I bet your daughter (& other kids - not sure how many you have?) are noticing changes in you and benefitting from them.
It will be important to find other interests if drinking occupied lots of your time and energy. It's not quite the same for me as i have spent so many years mostly not drinking. When I did slip up I missed out on some of my interests - gym, book club, lunch with parents or friends. I went to a few movies drunk but couldn't tell you much about what happened in them!
Have a great weekend.

Sticky

Hi Sticky and Ready - Yep, got to find other things to do besides work late. I get interested in something at work and don't get home until pretty late these days. That may be some of the reason for reduced units, but I still pound the wine once I get home. I was a bit discouraged this a.m. thinking how I haven't reduced my units that much and gosh darn, HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE! Then, I remembered that there have been no "episodes" with my family in weeks and although I'm still drinking our nights are fairly normal. I don't slur my words anymore and I remember everything that happened. That is some real progress for me. I know this takes time, so I just have to be patient, but I really want to be a non-drinker. I hope in the next six months I can say that I no longer drink except on occasion. That is my goal.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hi,

Great to see that steady and gradual reduction, you are doing really well. Its also sounds like you are doing a good job at staying patient and focusing on the behaviour changes. One of the first signs I had that the method was working for me was that I noticed I was staying at work later and not leaving early. All these small changes gradually add to the drop in units.

Keep up the good work!