Chrissie,
Outstanding to read your recent successes. Way to go!!! Seems like that 8 day AF run made a huge difference and I'm impressed that you've decided not to drink 2(?) days in a row and have kept to it. Such inner strength

Thanks for posting and I look forward to your enlightening "one year anniversary" reflection coming up!!

All the best.

Good work, C! Keep it up!

Chrissie,

Great news and progress. I know what you are saying regarding moderation versus AF, I seem to be able to do a couple of days AF without much problem. However when I do drink I am usually in Binge mode.

I like your idea of going a week AF, I need to try do one of those very soon. I know how great I feel after 3 days AF and can only imagine how great it would feel to go a full week.

Nal-ON,
Diver

Chrissie,

Great news and progress. I know what you are saying regarding moderation versus AF, I seem to be able to do a couple of days AF without much problem. However when I do drink I am usually in Binge mode.

I like your idea of going a week AF, I need to try do one of those very soon. I know how great I feel after 3 days AF and can only imagine how great it would feel to go a full week.

Nal-ON,
Diver

Hi Chrissie,

Just checking in and wanted to congratulate you on your AF days and getting into gear with the weight loss. I know how you feel. Its a vicious cycle. Feeling lost at night and coming to the cocktail hour and saying "Oh what the hell, have a glass or two" Its very seductive. So you've overcome that little voice at 5:00! Congrats to you and keep up the good work.

Best wishes

Hey, Chrissie, what a delight to read your last post!

Well done, you! And you even went an extra day!

Clocking up days like that really does wonders for our confidence and it really made me realise to what extent my nightly drinking was habit too. And as you say, it becomes a vicious cycle, having 'a' drink leads to 'oh, what the hell, I've started, I might as well finish' (the bottle, the 2nd bottle etc...) then hunger strikes, we eat any kind of crap we can get your hands on. We fall asleep way too late and have a bad night's sleep. Then the next day, we're tired and hung-over, so we comfort eat and comfort drink.

Being tired (even without alcohol) means that we have to eat more to create energy to function, we tend to eat high-energy foods like breads, cakes, pastas etc... which drive blood sugar levels up for a while and then they plummet, so we're hungry again, so we crave more food and alcohol again and round and round it goes...

Breaking that cycle was a huge step for me! I discovered that I couldn't have willpower without adequate rest and proper food, it just couldn't happen.

On a psychological level, AF days gave me a great sense of pride, it's amazing how pride can put a pep in your step and give you a sense of self-respect. I discovered that once I'd found self-respect I just didn't want to let go of it, it is too precious. And that too becomes a cycle; you have respect for yourself, so others tend to follow suit, so they do and say less things that make you feel bad and make you want to drink. It's all good!

Nal-On!

Curi X

Well said, Curi!

Between you, Chrissie and Gott lately, I've been very inspired to push ahead my own AF days. I think the key here is to go as far as we can go AF, but then not beat ourselves up if we pick-up again....as long as we are taking the Nal beforehand. So, even what in our pre-Nal days we would consider a defeat, can still have a successful and positive outcome because each Nal + drink furthers the extinction process, getting us closer and closer to total freedom!

Good show folks! Keep it up!

Thanks, everyone! It's nice to share some success, so much of which I owe this Forum

Dab, yes the AF week seemed to be a good thing, moving me off dead center. I've been kind of "stuck" in my progress w/ TSM and that week was actually...peaceful for me, and not very hard at this point.
Yes, that's very important! You have the right idea: appreciate what you can achieve and don't set the bar too impossibly high...

Hey Chrissie

Such good news to hear. It sounds like that train is slowing down enough for you to jump off soon. I'm glad you had a peaceful week. Keep up the good work.

Best,

I've now completed 52 weeks on TSM, and my life is in a pretty happy place. Though I would not rush to say that I'm "cured", I realize the past 4 weeks or so I've acted as if I WERE (cured according to my own goals), save one "learning experience" evening.

Last week I met a friend for dinner and it turned into a food and alcohol free-for-all, probably 7 units and plenty of food to match, completely immoderate on all levels. The next day I did the usual penance most of the day, chastising myself, accusing myself of being back to "square one", etc. Then I remembered that prior to the bad evening, the previous 4 "drinking days" had been moderate: 2's & 3's! At this point I analyzed the binge night and saw that I'd had NO plan other than "this is a Drinking Night", and then when presented w/ a series of triggers, grabbed every one, and just ran w/ them: favorite restaurant, favorite (8% alcohol) brews, a "comped" dessert, etc., etc.,. Any one of these things I could have mentally rehearsed for and had a different outcome, but I think the success of the 4 moderate drinking nights before made me feel so confident that I didn't bother. As I posted recently, I don't think that for me "cured" is going to be a "flipped switch": there will always be temptations and triggers and years of old habits to buck, including a tendency to self-sabotage. TSM has given me some tools and knocked the affect of alcohol down to be manageable, but I'm capable of barreling through to drunkenness if I'm inclined.

After the bad binge evening, I was AF 3 days and since then have logged a few moderate days and more AFs.

Another significant thing is the Motivation Factor. A goal of gaining control over alcohol has been to be able to follow a healthy diet and lose some middle-aged weight which has felt absolutely impossible for several years (due to alcohol). Recently a number of factors came together such that I was able to start a diet and actually follow it! This now FEELS much more important than drinking, and the results are reinforcing. I think in addition to some will power, "Motivation" is a huge aid to TSM. I remember Nalwayout and Ketchikan really moved forward when they had some high motivation factors: for Nalwayout, it was also a diet, and for Ketch, the good job opportunity she was excited about, and didn't want to mess up. Is this diet my "Prudhoe Bay"??? Stay tuned…