24 hours in! Last night was first NAL night, I drank 2 bottles of wine instead of 3. Normally if I have the 3rd bottle in the house I don't even think about drinking it. Last night it was a struggle to finish the second bottle. I felt a little strange going to bed (I took a full 50 mg instead of 25 because thanks to wine I weigh more than 100 pounds than I did 5 years ago and I was nervous about 25 mg being too little for my body weight). Woke up feeling pretty cruddy, strange sort of hangover. Plan for tonight is only one bottle. I'm at my boyfriend's and that's all I have, and he hates it when I drink. Not even sure I feel like having the whole bottle but it's a light French Pinot Noir so it's going down pretty easy. I know we usually post progress in terms of units per week but I'm so excited to be on TSM and this is the least I've drank in months--had to share with someone

Hey jude (couldn't resist that),

Thats awesome and welcome to a wonderful corner of the internet. Post as much or as little as you like. Everyone here is super kind. My BEst, Jim

StJude,

Good for you! I remember the exact same feeling. Elation. "Only" a bottle a day for a straight week! (That was my second TSM week). It was really hard to believe how easy it was. I also lost quite a bit of weight while on TSM. Not sure if the reason was less wine or the fact that I decided to radically cut sugars, or both but the weight loss ended up being completely natural. (No special diet; just no sugar in coffee, no sodas, no sweet snacks and minimum fruit juices - fresh fruits instead). Not sure how general this is but it worked for me.

thanks both jim and nutella! Last night I'd planned to polish off a bottle of wine but struggled to finish off the second glass and put the rest away-holy guacamole that hasn't happened in YEARS. it just didn't have the same taste.
i'm sitting here now day 3 sipping my first glass (yes, sipping) of a syrah from columbia valley--been working on it in the amount of time it'd normally take me to finish one bottle and start working on the second. unopened wine bottles are starting to accumulate in my wine rack which is another new phenom. i'm well aware i'm on my honeymoon with NAL and it takes time to work, but i don't care--i will take the positive experiences as they come day by day because before sunday life had been daily **** steeped in alcohol for so many years .

St Jude,

Enjoy your honeymoon - not palm trees and beaches - but even more beautiful. I remember feeling that in my early weeks and wondering "Who is this? This is not me!!" Things may get tougher but it is important to note that your responding to the Nal and, hopefully, that will carry you through when things get tough. This is a great beginning and I look forward to hearing about your progress. BTDT

StJude,

Sorry for nitpicking but it will be both more accurate and more convenient if you start counting a bottle of wine as 6 US units. Here is the math:

- Official definition of US units from CDC is 13.7 g ( http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#standDrink ).
- Ethanol density is 0.8 g/ml.
- Most wines these days are 13-14% alcohol by volume.

Which means that an average 750 ml of wine is 5.9 units (750*0.135*0.8/13.7).

St. Jude,

Congrats, I hope when my Nal arrives I can say the same.

Rob

st jude,
your thread made me chuckle out loud, (the more reserved version of lol) . anyway, i love that you changed your signature to reflect the correct units, and your exclamation at an af evening. welcome to the roller coaster, hopefully your ride will be less bumpy than many.
all the best to you!
path

Day 5: ~15 units.
I drank more than I probably would have if I'd been alone, but one of my hard core wine drinking buddies came over for the first time and weeks and the wine bottles kept rolling out (I had a bunch in my rack from not drinking yesterday). Even though I drank a lot, it was less than my typical pre-TSM consumption and a couple of great things happened:
1. I have wine glasses the size of schooners (they easily fit a half bottle when they're half full). I gave her a wine glass and used a much smaller juice glass for myself. I noticed I was drinking far more slowly than usual (sipping) and she significantly outpaced me (that's why I'm not sure how much I drank but I'm giving a generous estimate of my intake because the two of us went through 4 1/2 bottles throughout the evening)
2. When she left (her husband came to pick her up) at around 10pm, there was a half open bottle of wine on the counter. Pre-TSM I would have finished drinking it without a thought. The night was relatively young and I didn't feel all that drunk. I corked the bottle and put it back in the cabinet. I'm amazed that I did that but it was also no big deal at the time. To me, that' very encouraging.
I have a stressful work weekend coming up so it will be interesting to see how things go. One day at a time....

That's great news, Jude! I am glad to see TSM making a difference for you already. BTW - I've been counting 1 bottle of wine as 5 glasses (5 oz glasses), so my units would be much higher by your measurements. Oh well, I am comparing my old to my new, so its all relative.

Oh yeah, and I also have these giant wine goblets I got at Costco. I always counted one of those as a glass in the past. In reality, one of those goblets is more like 3 4oz glasses. I could never understand how people could sip those tiny little glasses forever (when I was gulping from a goblet!), but I am getting there.