Be Proud of your first days alcohol-free. Prepare, stay focused, and celebrate your success.
It is a good life, this life without alcohol. It is nothing like I imagined it would be. It’s better. It’s fuller. It’s brighter. It certainly isn’t perfect, but I love it anyway. I saw a quote on /r/stopdrinking the other night that hit the nail smack on the head:
“Recovery didn’t open the gates of heaven and let me in. Recovery opened the gates of hell and let me out.”
It’s nice out here. Won’t you join me?
Standing strong on your day 1 is all about mindset.
Opening the six links listed below can help you get ready to get started. Remembering these things helps me keep my eyes wide open to everything that I hate about what alcohol does to me.
Begin by reading this short post
Grab some tips and tools here
How to NOT open a Bottle at Wine o’Clock
and here
Ten Ways to Overcome My Drinking Problem
Then continue reading below
Each of those early days are Sober Milestones. Prepare, stay focused, and Celebrate your success at staying alcohol-free.
Day 1
“Don’t defeat yourself. Maybe someday you can meet friends at the club and drink club soda, but if now is not that time, don’t push it. Don’t put a six-pack in the fridge to prove how strong your will-power is, ‘cus it ain’t – at least not yet. Give yourself space to succeed.“
Day 1 Sober – Opening my Eyes to the Reality of Alcohol
Day 2
“Log in and post here frequently, every day is good. Maybe you don’t have anything particularly post-worthy, but the folks here are more than willing to cheer your little victories and commiserate in your little defeats. If you have nothing to say, write a few encouraging comments for the rest of us. Write a “welcome to BOOM” comment for the newbies. Remember how much you appreciated the first folks that reached out to you?“
Day 2 Sober – Fighting the Wine Witch and Winning
Day 3
“Day 1 sober, and even day 2, can feel pretty easy but when I was on day 3, the only way I was getting through it was by establishing a daily routine. Triggers to drink are going to happen daily, sometimes many times a day, and likely at certain times. If you look carefully, you’ll find the pattern.
In the early days, I had to be inside my home by 3 pm if I wasn’t working. If was working, I had to make sure I had a plan to get home which usually included not being hungry while driving there.”
Beating the Booze Bully with Cupcakes and Coffee – Day 3 Sober
Day 4
“Fix it. Change it. Direct it.
When we take hold of the reigns we generate a sense of power – a sense of control – and that in and of itself is a catalyst for change.
Be the change you want in your life.“
If something’s not working for you, fix it, change it, direct it.
Day 5
“Living without alcohol in our lives is very hard for many of us, but it is doable. We just have to be sure to fill that time with life.
A lot of time goes into planning to drink, thinking about drinking, waiting until you can drink, drinking to oblivion, and then recovering from that. Now that you’ve chosen to get and be AF for an entire day, week, month (maybe more), time actually is on your side.
You have a ton of time now so use it! Fill it with new things, old things, the things you love, and the things that actually do take care of you“
Walk With Me Into Lasting Change
Day 6
Mrs P. and 100 new things in the next 100 days!!
“I remember coming home from work my first week sober, sitting down at the kitchen table, looking at my kids, and thinking “help… I need my wine”, not because there was anything challenging going on, but simply because entering that invulnerability zone the minute I walked in the door at the end of the day, was my routine.
Wine had become my buffer against a world that actually meant me no harm.“
Performing Butt Naked – Vulnerability and Surviving Early Sobriety
Day 7
Understanding Wolfie and the Wine Witch or Beating the Mythical Booze Brain Beasts
“Stress has always been the worst trigger, and it is now the only time I notice the fluttering “I could drink” thought in my subconscious. For this, I learned a simple, but for me, effective trick. When I am feeling overwhelmed, and “on the verge,” I stop and ask myself, “What is one thing I could do RIGHT NOW to make myself feel a tiny bit better?”
When I am sick and tired of work spreadsheets, but have to make a deadline: could I play some relaxing music while I work? When I am fed up with my teenage daughter’s attitude: could I go for a quick walk around the block to get a break? When I see the piles of laundry and dirty dishes stacking up: could I go downstairs to do 10 minutes of yoga before starting? When the juggling of three kids and co-parents and family expectations makes me want to scream: could I ask my partner for a hug?
These quick-relief actions give me a sense of control over my environment and give me an alternative to: could I open a beer? I encourage you to brainstorm 5-10 things that you could do at any time in any place that might help you clear your head and bring you some relief.“
Early Sobriety Survival Skills
Day 8
Understanding the Importance of Sober Treats
“My need for music took me by surprise when I stopped drinking. Without my world revolving around alcohol I was a fish out of water as to how to live life. Living sober? How?
Drinking had been an activity that filled my days even when I wasn’t drinking. I was so used to the stress of recovering from drinking the night before, the push and pull that started in the early afternoon of planning to drink even though I’d promised that morning to never drink again, and then the activity of actually drinking which was all-consuming once it started, that when all that activity was taken away I was at a loss as to how to move through my day.
Having the music playing throughout my day as I went from activity to activity was like walking meditation. It took me out of my head while I was doing all of that fussy stuff we all have to do during the day, stuff that I used to look forward to drinking during or after. It was a long time before I fully got over the lure of drinking as a reward for surviving the mundane and monotonous bits of life but music exalted the mundane for me so that I didn’t feel the NEED for a reward.“
How Sober Life Became Jubilant for Me
Day 9
“Draw a Tic Tac Toe board. Put one reason why you want to Quit in each box. Relax, take a break, drink some water. … Now draw another Tic Tac Toe board.
Put YOU in the center square. Now surround yourself with 8 ways to Protect You. What groups do you belong to that you can rely on for support? This page can be one square… but what else? Who else? Any podcasts? Any other online groups? Your church? Your BFF? Your significant other? Your parents? Your kids? It’s okay if they aren’t all filled out yet….
Now, that is the team that will support you… some may be knowingly, like your BFF, and others unknowingly, like younger kids.You can do this. There will be triggers, so be ready. In the late afternoon, early evening, your body will crave sugar (it’s what alcohol did)… so have some small treats ready, i.e. ice cream, chocolate chips.
Drink plenty of water. Look at your Tic Tac Toe boards and remember why you quit.
You are worth it.“
The Best Reason to Stop Drinking is You!
Day 10
Faith in the Wisdom of those further down the road (further into sobriety).
“You do not have to climb Mt. Everest this afternoon. You do not have to clear 7ft on the high jump, or discover a practical method of cold fusion. In fact, you don’t have to do anything at all. You just have to NOT do something – not lift a glass with booze to your lips. And the only time you have to NOT do that is right now. The only drink you have to not drink is the next one. So chill out. Don’t let that Little Voice, or anyone else, make a mountain out of our molehill. Just don’t drink right now.“
How do you Handle the Stages of Grief
“L-Glutamine This is an amino acid that helps with cravings. If you get the capsule you can break it open and put the powder straight under your tongue for faster absorption. I have read that it is the only amino that doesn’t taste bad, so don’t go doing this with all of them….. But I found that it did help to have it on hand. Maybe it just gives me something to do and hold on to and distract myself, but either way, I do think it helped. L Glut is not expensive and I still keep a little packet in my car and in my purse just in case. I recently gave some to a friend who is trying to do a 30-day sober thing and she thought they helped too. A good thing to have in your sober toolbox is anything that works and the key is to be willing to try just about anything so give it a try!!“
more reading on L-Glutamine and how people have used it to help with alcohol cravings
Alcohol Cravings and Hypoglycaemia
Alcohol sugar cravings (managing them) and the whole Gut-Brain health connection thing.
“I told three friends and my husband I quit. The embarrassment and shame I felt speaking it out loud was brutal. I was a private, secret, bottle-a-day or more drinker.
I slowly told my sons. And, oh wow, did I whine my way through those first days. I found a sober counter app. And, then, I found the Boom community and a whole bunch of people just like me!
I thought I was alone on this boat! I thought no one drank like me…how can I do all the right things all day long and then drink all night? Is that an alcoholic? Don’t alcoholics just drink all day? Don’t they end up in ditches with DUI’s? Alcoholics don’t seem to be so secretive about their drinking like me.
My brain spun with thoughts and more thoughts, stinkin’ thinkin’, and moment-to-moment thoughts about how I can’t drink.”
“Did you know that gardeners use alcohol to stunt the growth of plants so they don’t grow too tall? Alcohol stunted everything good in me! To think of going back to what stole my soul, my creativity…makes me cringe! Today I choose to grow! To flourish! I hope you will too.
Don’t let that little voice trick you into thinking the weekend is the right time to drink! Drink as a reward? You never deserve a reward or treat that causes headaches, illnesses, and sadness! You deserve happiness and fulfilling your dreams!”
Find our Pocket Guide to Everything you ever wanted to know about living sober HERE