Hi HG,

Fantastic progress! I was the same way, going down little by little, then hitting a frustrating plateau for a few weeks, and then a bigger drop off. You are doing great, and yes, we need to plan an AF day so that we are accountable to each other. I think we can do it! I've been waiting until I get down to 14 units per week. Last week was 16.5, so I'm getting there. Slow and steady wins the race, at least I hope so!

HG, I love the look of your graph-Congrats on your steady progress!

Good to hear youv'e broken the deadlock HG. Your graph shows definite downwards progress. Good on you! Have a happy Easter

Hey HG, I'm excited about your progress too. I hope it just keeps getting easier for you.

Hi All - I had a really interesting experience that I have been meaning to share but keep forgetting. A few weeks ago I went out and had a margarita without Nal. It didn't really affect me that day but in retrospect I can see the effect dramatically. I don't drink margaritas but had one because I was at a Mexican restaurant (first time there) and it seemed like a fun thing to do. What happened after that is true testament to the control we can lose if we drink off of Nal. Since that one margarita a few weeks ago I have had cravings for margaritas. I don't drink them but I have found myself at that same Mexican restaurant every Friday night since. I have always taken my Nal before going and noticed this week for the first time that the appeal of the restaurant has finally waned. The food is good, but not that good.

So, I ended up having to extinguish a margarita trigger when I hadn't had a margarita in about 20 years before that night.

Hi HG

Well done you! Your graph is definitely trending in the right direction. Your observations about margeritas were interesting.
I might try and find some half strength wine too, or drink wine spritzers. Sometimes I'll have some of hubby's beer but I'm not so keen on that.
Keep up the good work.

Cheers
Sticky

Hi HG,
Just read up through all of your threat - your posts are really illuminating for me. It's amazing to me how different we drinkers can be and yet be so alike! What I mean- I'm a binge drinker, not a daily drinker. It's pretty easy for me to plan ahead AF days, 3-4 a week. However, the fact that you manage to stick to 4-5 drinks when you drink every day is super impressive to me!! In the past, I would either not drink at all or drink 10+ drinks
So I am rooting for you and think your progress looks really good! Slowly but surely you'll get those units off!

Yahhhhh Half A Glass! I am so pleased to see that you are making progress!
I have been MIA for some time -- for the last 2 weeks I've been in Peru (Machupicchu, etc) and then just really busy since I got back keeping the biz on track. BUT I am so thrilled that you feel that you are seeing real results from TSM. From one wine drinker to another, Wow. It gives me hope!
I was looking but didn't see an AF day yet, right? Still thinking about that?

Hi All - Out of town this week on business so posting late as week 21 ended last Wednesday for me. My unit numbers remain steady at around 35 but they don't tell the whole story. This was quite a week. On Sunday my Mom called and sprung a surprise trip on me. I had to pick her up at the airport at 5:00 on Monday. That meant no wine until around 6:30 when we walked in the door from the airport. So, I poured a glass of wine then. I took a couple of sips and we decided to go out to dinner. So, I left the wine and out we went. I had one glass of wine at dinner and finished the glass at home with one more before bed. So, that was three for the night. What is really amazing is that I could do any of that. I could never have curtailed my drinking like that pre TSM and accomodated the situation.

My husband and I left for Dallas, Texas on Wednesday to meet with a client. The plane got in to Texas right at witching hour for me. No anxiety and no irritability in having to wait until we got to the hotel so that I could have a glass of wine. I had one glass before dinner, one at dinner and then one and a half back in the room. The next day we flew back to Denver and I had one glass at dinner, one on the plane and couple more when I got home. All of that would have been impossible for me pre TSM. My wine addiction would have had me crazy and unable to cope with any of that. Instead, I was able to manage long delays between glasses of wine with no discomfort at all.

This all taught me a lot this week. The only place I seem to over drink is at home. Last night I had six glasses of wine at home. Anything over 3 glasses of wine and I am hungover. Ugh! Now I know that I do have the power to drink less than 4 glasses of wine a night as I only had 3 on Monday and it didn't bother me a bit. It felt great....no hangover.

I am still stuck on my weekly units of about 35 which is frustrating but there were many posts this week that have been inspirational and uplifting. Like Electralou's post about what is considered safe units in different countries. In France it is considered normal drinking to have 1 cocktail and 2 glasses of wine a night. Well, I'm nearly there. I want more reduction than that but having had one 3 unit night this week I felt good the next day....no hangover and happy. So, if I can get my drinking to 2 units per night I think I'd consider myself having regained control. What I have noticed on this forum is that often those who stay on Nal for a year or more end up going abstinent as they get frustrated that they can't bring their units down or get more AF days. I think Nal has something to do with that decision to go abstinent. The brain does get rewired and it becomes possible to go abstinent whereas pre TSM abstinence would be white knuckling it.

So, onward. Each week on TSM has become an adventure for me. Nal is rewiring my brain.....just not in the way that I thought it was going to do. The rewiring is subtle. Slowly alcohol just becomes another drink like a soda. I know from experience that you can get addicted to soda (of course, not like alcohol). When I was a teenager I was consuming about 11 Cokes a day until I got sick from doing that and had to quit. It was hard to quit...really hard, but I did it. I think Nal puts alcohol on that same plane....eventually alcohol becomes like soda....it is a habit that has to be broken in the end. I hope to get there soon.

Wow HG! I think you did excellent! And great insight into exactly how and where your overdrinking occurs- I've noticed very similar things in my life. Tomorrow will be the end of week one for me and I plan on posting my progress. It's been pretty uneventful (thankfully not too bad of side effects) and, like you said, waking up without a hangover feels so good! I've missed that feeling!
Keep up the great work!