I think it eventually gets there. Give it time. I was at a moderate drinking plateau for about 10 months before I slid into abstinence; no AL desire anymore and I didn't even try.

Bob

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beautiful! God I want to be there, getting closer...I think. thanks for posting DOMD. You've been an inspiration

Those days get more common. Yes, the progress gets slower because as an exponential decay curve approaches zero it slows and never quite gets to zero. But as it gets into "fractional drinks", in reality some do eventually wind up quitting entirely. I had maybe a couple of AF weeks, but definitely one AF week, where I hadn't updated my TSM spreadsheet for the whole week. In fact, I haven't updated it this week yet. All zeros in case you didn't guess.

Enjoy the next year as the desire continues to fade.

Bob

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I think the older you get the more you'll realize that being able to moderate is really the positive masculine trait. Especially given our circumstances, where we have to choose between the two. We simply can't drink like that and go about our lives normally. Also, drinking like that will catch up with anyone sooner or later. At least we don't have to be tee-totallers

[quote="DOMD"]This weekend I also found myself missing "the good old" drinking days for the first time - in reality I think I was just feeling a bit excluded. I think there's also an element of shame because all my life I've been brought up to see the ability to drink heaps of booze as a positive and masculine attribute.quote]

Hey DOMD, I know what you mean - I am still reasonably new to TSM - but being a fellow antipodean I know all about the Ozzie and Kiwi drinking culture. It's kind of expected that people get drunk every week...and it's normal and accepted behaviour. Maybe we will serve as a role models for our big-drinking friends?

It's great to see your long term progress. Very inspirational for the rest of us. Thanks.

Kiwi.

I just learned a new word "Anitpodean" -coming from or referring to Australia or New Zealand. I must dazzle my Aussie acquaintances with that one. DOMD I have heard about many "mourning" the loss of alcohol once it is no longer all important. I guess the hard part for all of us will be trying to fill the time we spent drinking with more useful things like sports, hobbies, relationships, career advancement, volunteering. Your progress has been amazing. I wish I had known about this when I was younger.

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DOMD,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I know I can't wait to get where your at but it also helps to know the challenges when I get there. Certainly sounds like time to look for some new friends. Any friends that only want to hang out with you if you're putting yourself in harm's way don't sound like real friends anyways. The good ones will stick around regardless and the bad ones will fade away. This is good but probably not easy. From a female perspective, I've never been impressed by guys who consistently go overboard!!!

Good luck and please keep posting!! BTDT