Today is a New Day! ….. Stretch and Flex Those Sober Muscles
If you have been struggling to stop drinking or stay sober, Today choose THE day you are going to take it on and win through.
Start with the right frame of mind :
Fall in love with the potential of sobriety, it may not be a steady upward curve when you stop drinking but generally the longer you go alcohol free in the early days the more you feel well body and mind, RUN WITH THAT.
Never forget how awful alcohol makes you feel by contrast…Let the good stuff snowball and leave the past behind. Believe in yourself!!
Many of us drink to Relive Stress – What can you do to help relax you?
Meditation, yoga, music, an Epsom salts bath?
Read- How to Stop Drinking Away the Pain-
Listen to – Healing Through Letting Go
Calming and Opening Tara Brach
EAT!
Take your supper as a packed lunch if you work late– like a picnic (a big one ha ha) and eat it before setting off home – afternoon hunger is the biggest trigger for most of us when we stop drinking
more reading :
Alcohol Cravings and Hypoglycaemia
Alcohol sugar cravings (managing them) and the whole Gut-Brain health connection thing.
If you are romanticizing drinking – Play it Forward :
So when you’re hit by the alcohol curse
Ask yourself
Do you really wanna feel worse?
Better to work through the cravings attack
And get your smile back 😊
more reading :
Play the Tape Forward – Protect Your Quit
List throughout this week how much alcohol has cost you
How much has alcohol cost you in time ?
worrying about it, drinking it. Being hungover, not doing stuff, being stroppy…
How much has alcohol cost you in money ?
days off work, poor performance, headache tablets, pissed purchases, carbs and pizza, booze, therapy – when I went out drinking I would come home penniless because I’d loose it all …
How much has alcohol cost you in the quality of your relationships
isolated drinking, not bothering with people, canceling…
How much has alcohol cost you emotionally
you drink because of a reason, stress – how did drink work to reduce stress?)
and so on.
related posts :
Is Alcohol Dissolving Your Relationships ?
How Does Alcohol Effect Your Relationships?
List the staying sober benefits as well –
What will you gain by going alcohol free ?
Add your thoughts to others in the community in the comments on this question inside BOOM
What are the top five benefits of going Alcohol-Free
Prepare yourself mentally and accept that you will get cravings but they will only have a life of 2 hours (they tend to bugger off after 2 hours or so).
Once home settle in for a very no house-work chill out evening.
TRY:
No shops this week after 2pm, food can be ordered online, or bought in advance – the aim is to keep you as safe as possible from the temptation of picking up a bottle while you out. If you do not have to stare it down at the grocery store you are less likely to buy it… if you don’t buy it you can’t drink it.
REWARD YOURSELF!
Flowers at the very least for getting through this.
related reading
Filling the Empty Space in Early Sobriety
A Poetic Homage to Kristi Coulter on Being Fine Without the Wine
EACH HURDLE BEATEN IS A BLEDDY MASSIVE SUCCESS and you are stretching those AF muscles perfectly.
Take it easy
No frantic cleaning, cooking etc.. just keep things on an even keel.
I saved so much money when I stopped drinking that I got a cleaner for 2 hours a week. Treat yourself to a REAL indulgence that truly makes your life easier rather than one that breaks you down.
Learning Self-Care in Early Sobriety
BEWARE! …
You may well find yourself thinking
‘oh you have done so well, have a night off and you can drink – I give you permission to drink’
Plan in exactly the same way to avoid this and you get a double success. In other words PLAN to feel good about NOT drinking.
related reading :
Study everything you can about the Science of Addiction and the voice that tells you to drink :
How to Stop Drinking and Stay Sober – Understanding Your Addicted Brain
Alcohol Explained by William Porter first 5 chapters free
Lying Minds by Dave Horry ( free to read online here )
And thoughts from one of our members on watching a podcast with Annie Grace of This Naked Mind on that science behind that voice saying “just this once”
That question is
How long does it take to really “start feeling better after I stop drinking?” Podcast by Annie Grace linked in the title
Of course, the answer is, “it varies” In the interview with Annie and Dr, Jaffe, the doctor explains how Alcohol impacts our brains, why we feel unsettled and anxious after we stop, and why it takes a while after we stop drinking to get back to feeling like we did before we started drinking or abusing alcohol.
I also noted that, when we stop drinking and we are going through that anxious period and we decide to give in, that rewiring of our brains gets reversed again and when we stop again, our brain rewiring has to start all over. While we never lose our sober days or the things we learn, we do set back that healing of our brains. The best analogy I can think of is when I was a child and would fall down and get a skinned knee. My knee would start healing and after a few days be scabbed over and feeling better. If I fell on that knee again, it would be skinned again and that healing would have to restart from the beginning.
Anyway, this gives me more to think about next time I am tempted to “just this once”.
Make it Non-negotiable today!
Decide to post in BOOM every day this week and include a question to get help from the community (e.g. what was it like for them, how did they feel, what did they do to make it do-able, what did they read or watch, think…).
If you are struggling to get going, on your chosen last day one, before the wine hour, eat and log on – it would be good if you could have a committee to check in with before and after the dodgy time. You can tag people here by typing @ and their name-
Related Posts from our Boozemusings Community Blog
4 Triggers That Slip People Up When They Stop Drinking – Understanding HALT
Books to Help you Stop Drinking and Fuel Your Sober Momentum
If you’re “sober curious” … If you are drinking too much too often and want to stop or take a break… Talk to Us.
We are an independent, anonymous and private community who share resources, support and talk it through every day. It helps to have a community behind you in a world where alcohol is the only addictive drug that people will question you for NOT using
Join us in Boom for 100 days of change or A Dry January, A Tuned in February, A Momentous March, An Alcohol-Free April, A Marvellous May, A Jubilant June, A Dry July, An Arid August, A Sober September, A Sober October, A NOvember and a December you CAN Remember … We are there together 24/7, 365 days a year.
