Hi All

After several months of following TSM and taking Nal almost daily, I feel ready to try a good long stint of AF days. I think I am drinking mostly from habit and boredom. I really only have strong cravings when I am hungry or tired and if I take care of those, my cravings go away. If Nal is doing what it should be doing, this transition should be relatively painless.
My plan is to stay AF until the New Year, this will be a good test with all the upcoming festivities. I don't worry too much about ADE, if my cravings get to the point of serious "white knuckling" I will take Nal and drink to continue the process rather than risk undoing all that has been done.
I really want to put my progress to the test to get a better picture of where I truly am at in my recovery.

Anyone else interested in joining me is welcome to hop on the AF train

What an exciting plan Katie! Good luck!

Congrats, Katie, that's a great plan. I hope to do that some day, but I'm not ready yet. Do keep us informed how it goes. We're rooting for you!

Thank El and Nipit! I will keep you updated, actually quite excited in thinking it just might fly!

Best of luck, Katie!

Well, at the end of day 3 and so far it's been easy. I even have alcoholic bevies in the fridge with no inclination to even look at them.
The habit is lingering around though so I do have fleeting thoughts about drinking, but not that I actually want a drink...if that makes sense. As time goes on it will be interesting to see if those thoughts increase and turn into cravings or softly fade away.

Sometimes if I have thoughts about drinking but am not sure if I really want to drink, I actually think about the specific taste of the alcohol I would be drinking. i very often am disgusted by this, and realize that I wanted drunkeness, but without the drinking It's easier to turn it down then.

Hey I missed this Katie, sounds very exciting indeed. Yes I do find myself really not strongly attracted to drink, but drinking just because it's expected say at social events. I can also identify with the feeling of wanting to be drunk, but no longer actually enjoying the taste of alcoholic drinks.

TSM in my opinion gives you the option of not drinking, rather than ruling it out all together - so you can empower yourself, and make your own choices.

Good idea Katie.

I too am aiming for AF until January 1st at least. I'm not doing TSM at the moment, but hoping I can still post in this thread! Feeling a bit out of step with everyone on these boards and popped over to My Way Out, only to find it not half as inspiring or useful for some reason (just my perception). So I think I'll keep hanging out here with you likeminded people

Any ideas how you are going to handle the onslaught of festive activity? Do your friends, colleagues and family know you are not drinking or is it a non-issue? I have a couple of close friends who drink pretty damn near alcoholically and was actually pretending my ginger ale was bourbon the other day to avoid the inevitable confrontation! Hoping to get to a place of being a bit braver and stronger about it.

Do you still go to bars and parties etc? Will be interested to hear how you go with the cravings, if any. Best of luck.

(Sorry to interrupt Gwyneth, but I would just like to comment on EL's quote above - Thank you, EL, that this is REALLY helpful and very applicable to me. If I actually STOP to think about the taste of alcohol, it is enough to say, WAIT, I want the buzz, but not the drinking! This is only starting to happen with nal. Before nal, and even now before I start a drinking session, I think I like the taste, but what I really like and am after is the drunkeness (Lord keep me away from pills that would give me a drunken-like buzz without taking a drink...). So, I will put this thought into action as I proceed down the nal path. If I think about the specific taste of the alcohol, it will be easier to slow it down and eventually turn it down. Thank you!)

Now, I, too, am looking forward to KT's response to Gwyneth's inquiries.