Don't fall on your pitard! Sounds good & continued good luck!

Well done- great to see you making such good progress and being so positive.

well good news and bad news this week. My consumption was marginally up, but I managed 4 AF days this week just gone

I notice that I tend to drink a little more after some AF days, especially if I take 2 in a row. My tolerance is definitely decreasing, as is the pace at which I drink. Last night I kinda went with the flow, and felt I'd drunk a lot - going to bed at 3AM, having drunk solidly since 9. I felt pretty ropey this morning (well closer to afternoon ) but when I checked the bottle this morning, it turned out that last nights overindulgence was about what I would have had on an average night pre-TSM!!!

I may or may not go AF tonight. I took a Nal earlier, but I'll see how I feel in an hour or so.

If I project the current trends on my weekly chart I should be at 'safe' levels of drinking in about 3 months and at moderate levels in 4. I'll accept that, but I'm also going to try and push to arrive a little sooner

Slow, steady and patient wins the race! You are on your way.

well consumption up again last week, but this week has been good so far, and I reckon I'll have a new record low weekly consumption. The trend is definitely in the right direction!

Well I did set a new low (only marginally above the 'healthy drinking level' beloved by the medical profession!), but last weeks consumption was up. No particular reason - but ended up out twice in situations where I'd normally not have stayed long, but didn't have much choice this time, so I guess that is part of it.
Consumption will almost certainly be down again this week, so I'm happy in general with the way things are progressing - I'm drinking about 40% of what I used to and taking 3-4 days AF per week.

4 AF days this week and down to 42 units

Cravings are still there, but more like a mild desire - e.g. I'd love a biscuit with my coffee type of craving. Need to work now on cutting down a little on those days when I am drinking, and trying to shoot for every day of Sunday - Thursday being AF (currently doing 3 or 4). If I manage that consistently I'll be down at the 15-20 units per week goal - i.e. moderate drinking. Hopefully that happens in the next couple of months.

up again a little last week, despite having 4 AF days, as I had a dinner party (long night!) and a family engagement (another) last weekend. Will shoot for 4 AF days this week and a drop in consumption.

I just re-read my history and it went like this: honeymoon of two weeks with drastic reduction in drinking to safe levels. Then several months of escalated drinking but with control and clarity. Then a drop where I thought I was cured, started with moderate effort. Then a final spike of increased drinking before the cure. It's very easy to continue to drink out of habit instead of craving for months -- to want a biscuit with that coffee. Don't eat the biscuit! At about six months in and reduced cravings, I think it's important to start using a little effort to reduce, so long as it doesn't result in cravings. I think you'll find it's easier than you think and then you are well on your way to THE CURE.

Good luck!

Hi Nick

Thanks for the encouragement. Some of the detail of my consumption has been lost because of the need to shorten the length of my sig! I'm quite happy with my progression so far to be honest - and totally agree about using that 'little bit of effort' - that was in effect what gave me my 'second wind' a few months back and really helped me make progress. I'm sure I'll have something similar soon where that little bit of effort makes another dramatic step change. What was impossible for me to do pre-TSM became difficult. What was difficult then became somewhat challenging. What was somewhat challenging became something that took just a little effort. What took a little effort became effortless.

Pre-TSM about the only thing that was effortless was not drinking early in the day. The 5-8pm window took just a little effort. 8-9 was a challenge. Anything after that was difficult. Multiple AF days were impossible.

Now I'm at the stage where 2 consecutive AF days takes a little effort. 3 is a challenge. An AF week would be difficult. I'm not sure anything to do with Al seems impossible anymore.

I guess the next stage is to get to where 3 or 4 consecutive AF days only takes a little effort.

Interestingly my levels now are only a little about what is regarded as the safe maximum levels for many mediterannean countries - although I guess my drinking pattern is now (given that I am AF 3 or 4 days per week) more 'bingey' than truly mediterranean