Retread I'm on day 27 of my 30 days of abstinence, and I know I'm going to make it.......this time.

But it took several attempts (I refuse to use the word failures). Each time I got a little better at it and learned something about myself, and all the while I knew I had my nal on my kechain and if I felt I wasn't ready I didn't sweat it, just gave it more time.

My point here is your goal setting is really REALLY positive, when you actually reach that goal is secondary. I never attended an AA meeting in my life, but from everything I've ever heard it's pretty counterproductive for a lot of people, and what I'm saying there is probably anathema to them.

Nal on and stay positive!

4 days AF is amazing - I would be so thrilled to have that - I haven't been able to get 1 - good job! XX Ready

Even if you don't have an alcohol free day, minimizing the amount you drink to one or two, will get you in the right direction.

Nobody's going to die or going to withdraw, or go insane from drinking only one or two instead of the usual amount in a day.

Anyone serious about improving themselves with this method should understand that mindless drinking is totally counterproductive.

Decreased drinking is essential to the success of this or any other method to stop drinking.

Hi retread, yes I have tried just about everything under the sun except Re-Hab. I went to AA meetings years and years ago and hated them but tried them again just a few years back cause that's all I thought was out there to help me.
Funny, that I couldn't wait to get home from the meetings to drink as they drove me crazy. Sorry I am not religious and I know they say they are not but WTF with all the holding hands, praying and talking about a higher power. It was so depressing to hear person after person night after night going through how powerless and hopeless they were and all the horrible stories that each person seemed to top. I know it has helped many and I am happy for them but it was TOTALLY not for me and Thank God I have found TSM!!!
Nal On!!!!

Hey Badger, on the surface I agree that 50% AF sounds good. The problem is that on the drinking days I'm binging like I always did. 4 AF days with a 40 unit total over 3 drinking days is not a stellar performance. If you look at my join date, it's back in 2010. I just quit TSM, because when my ex wanted a divorce after 27 years and my biz tanked I just didn't care. Now I do. I restarted in earnest in mid Oct, so I have 5 1/2 months. Not really that long for an Italian Irish 40 year accomplished drinker! When I look at my log though, there HAS been progress. My task now is to try harder to drop my units on the drinking days. The main thing is I'm in it to win it! Best wishes to all.

I hear you retread. It is the mindless drinking on the days when I just seem to let loose that I need to take control of myself. The nal has reduced the rest but I am the one who is going to have to take control of those days. We CAN do this. Hugs from newline

So now you do care.

Is the dilemma wanting to slow down on the drinking days, or quitting full stop?

I kind of had a few of those mindless days shortly before I decided to stop, but I considered myself cured 22 months previously.

Can you slow down, have a soft drink, just stop and think do I need and want this?

Could you force yourself to go to bed and not have any more alcohol?make the bedroom an AF zone, or another place you go into?

Obvious but not always obvious!

I can always count on UKB to cause me to think. I THINK my ultimate goal is AF but I'm not quite there yet. Uk, did you get the response I sent to your PM? I had never received a PM before and was not certain I answered in the correct manner.

I'm like you Retread...I tend to binge on the days I drink. I've been doing pretty good the last couple months going AF during the week and only drinking on the weekends. I was drinking everyday so after two and a half months on NAL going AF during the week was a huge step for me. I drank a fifth of whiskey yesterday afternoon/evening and I'm asking myself today why the heck I did that. Probably because I only had a couple beers Saturday night. I don't know. I hate it. I don't know what the heck I'm doing sometimes. I've been away from my wife and kids since January and it gets depressing being alone on the weekends.

I'm going to set a goal for myself and try to get through a weekend without drinking. Maybe the next step is like ALL41 and going 30 days. I'd like to get where UK is and be totally alcohol free someday!

Retread

Yes I did get your message reply, I didn't know if you wanted to continue or not. I was feeling a bit strange at the time, and wasn't sure if I'd jumped to 'helpful' conclusions which were not true.

It is all very interesting isn't it.

My experiences are different but also similar in lots of ways.