I agree with halfaglass--great progress and your reports help keep we new TSM'rs positive. I think your numbers and your comments show great progress. AF would be a stretch for me right now and I look forward to the day when it's natural.

Good progress Tambo, the fact that you are testing the waters with control is a good sign imho. As TSM continues to work you may find those extra innings drinks when you get home are not necessary. I understand what you are going through with your break-up and I feel for you. Getting Uncle AL under control is the first step in this and you seem on your way. Once you have that under control your ex or someone else will be getting a better version of you.

Week 15 ended with 21 units and 4 AF days. I really, really wanted to go AF last night but just could not muster up the willpower and now I feel upset with myself. I know I'm getting better, but sometimes the process just seems so slow.

For week 16, my goal is to stay under 24 units so that my total units for this 4-week period does not break 100. I'm confident I can do this. I'm so impatient to be "cured", but I know that slow and steady wins the race.

Excellent job of setting goals, and documenting progress-it's like you're training for a competition! You're doing fantastic

Just finished my 16th week with 18 units and 5 AF days. My AF days were absolutely effortless. Just a few passing thoughts about drinking that were easily brushed away. I've been going to the gym a lot at night and I think that is really helping.

Unfortunately, on the nights that I do drink I still over do it. My goal is to drink, on average, less than 23.5 units a week so that my total for weeks 17-20 is less than 94 (which is my latest total). I'm confident I can achieve this goal.

The longer I do TSM, the more convinced I am that this is real and will work for me. It's difficult for me to say that I obsess over alcohol anymore, because the vast majority of the time, I just don't think about it. I'm dreading the day that the alcohol deprivation effect will kick in and the cravings start again. But I'm just going to take it one day at a time a see what happens. So far, I am extremely happy with my progress.

Tambo - Absolutely amazing progress. I am at the end of week 7 and can see that your numbers were pretty similar to mine at the point. Right now I can't even imagine getting to 18 units for a week. Wish you luck in keeping your goal of under 23.5 units per week.

Thanks for posting your progress.

HG

congratulations, Tambo on the continued reduction in units and AF days. Great progress. Sometimes the high unit days after many AF days is the alcohol deprivation effect at work but that can be extinguished too. The important thing is you are reducing your overall intake and enjoying multiple AF days each week, just be safe and practice harm reduction when you do drink and I'll bet your drinks/drinking day will reduce over time.

I agree with St V-I think the alcohol deprivation effect can be extinguished too. You are doing fantastic. Have you noticed a difference in how it feels to go to the gym (do your sensors feel extra sensory?). Regardless, the results are what really matter!

Hey StJude, I do think I enjoy exercise more than I used to (especially cardio) and I think this may have something to do with my endorphin receptors being extra sensitive, but it's a very subtle difference. For the most part, exercise is still a chore (but strangely I do sometimes find myself obsessing over it the way I used to obsess over alcohol, so who knows).

So I had a major breakthrough last night. I went out with a friend, had a couple beers and when I came back home, I did NOT continue drinking!!! If you've been following my progress, you know I've been struggling with this. I finally did it and I'm so happy. I woke up this morning with no hangover whatsoever and I feel so grateful.

I have to admit it wasn't easy last night. I had a major internal debate with myself. My normie side saw the bottle of booze and it looked absolutely disgusting. My alkie side was trying to convince my normie side that after I had a couple shots, it wouldn't taste so bad and I would have a nice buzz and that it was Friday night, so why not? Hopefully, with time these internal debates will get easier and eventually, it won't even be a question. I'll just come home from a night out and not even consider drinking.

Everyday gets better!

That's fantastic Tambo, what an accomplishment. These little steps add up to the journey. I was reading through some old threads last night and it seemed to be a common occurence to see a rise in drinks per day when adding AF days at first but then the numbers would go down again. Great stuff.