Today marks the the 7th day without any booze and I start feeling better. First days were rough, but last night I actually had some good sleep and woke up feeling rested. Felt great actually, enjoying coffee without a hangover. I want to keep this up.So the physical withdrawl is gone, but the thought of alcohol is still there. What now?I need to keep busy. My house is a mess, so I've started cleaning up. But when that's done... no plans yet.Anons who came off the booze, what do you do to keep sober and the thought of alcohol out of your mind?
>>34051271>what do you do to keep sober and the thought of alcohol out of your mind?Not alcohol, but I struggle with binge eating and food addiction. I just try to distract myself as much as possible.
>>34051271I'm not 100% sober but compared to being drunk for months on end I might as well be. I don't know anon, alcohol just kind of sucks after a while. It's a waste of time, money, health and energy. Whenever I fall off the wagon I inevitably realize how retarded it was to start drinking again and sober up again. I actually enjoy waking up early and not feeling like shit. I get up at 4:30am once a week to go hiking. That's what my revolves around. I don't know what kind of drinker you are but it's pretty much the main way I learned to socialize so I personally get terribly lonely sometimes. If women were banned from bars I wouldn't ever go to them. idk where I'm going with this. My life is a mess and it's been ruined primarily by alcoholism, not just me but also family as well. My mom was literally drinking herself to death it was giving her life-threatening seizures and I had to yell at a whole mess of people to get her to stop. For people who can manage 1-3 drinks it's not a big deal, but a lot of people can't.I'm just focused on self improvement. You need to take pride in small accomplishments while you work towards bigger goals. I passed Calc 1 a few days ago which is a class that I thought I was far too retarded to wrap my head around.
>>34051290>Whenever I fall off the wagon I inevitably realize how retarded it was to start drinking again and sober up again.This sounds familiar. This time I've made a list of reasons why I quit. It's hanging on the wall right above my monitor, so I can always quickly check it. It would be a shame to start again.>sweating>trembling hands>panic attacks>hangovers>memory loss>diarrhea >bloated face (ugh, I hope it goes away soon)Until a week ago I drank at least two bottles wine a day and a few beers. Damn, I already feel ashamed looking back>I actually enjoy waking up early and not feeling like shit.I know right? Woke up and really wanted to get up and start my day. It's great :)
Keep going! Congrats dude it's not easy to start but only gets easier as each day passes. I hit two years a few months agoOne thing I did was reward myself when I had alcohol cravings but chose to ignore them. One night if I wanted to drink I'd say "If I hold off drinking today, I'll buy myself some really good ice cream tomorrow" or something like thatTrust me it gets much easier as more time passes. Just push through!
>>34051271Good for you, OP. Keep it up
>>34051280Distract from what?
>>34051271At first I started eating a lot more, then I got fat, then I had to diet..it's hell but I'm at almost a year sober.
>>34051750>Distract from what?From food. Sometimes it's hard to think about anything but what I'm going to eat next, because of the taste and the feel good chemical reaction associated with it.
>>34051271I just replaced it with something else. Whatever that wasn't physical addictive. Kava, Special K, shrooms etc. After a while I could reduce the urge to numb my mind, and could reduce those too. The hardest part was getting to stop using substances as part of my go to distraction. It's always different for everyone though. The usual advice didn't work for me, because it just ended up as something I was supposed to do for others.
exercise, cooking complex healthy shit
>>34051920How did you manage in the end?
Over 3 years of no alcohol here. Waking up not feeling like crap certainly helps with not drinking. Not gaining weight and being healthier helps. Saving money DEFINITELY helps with staying dry. Not injuring myself or making an ass out of myself helps also.When I stopped I lost 30 pounds. Work and playing video games helps out with keeping busy and not drinking. Whenever I hit a milestone such as another year or 1000 days of no alcohol I make myself a big surf n turf meal to celebrate. The support of family and friends helps out a lot also.During the holidays or when I'm with friends I be the designated driver whenever I go out. This may be harder if you're younger (I'm 36 so my friends and I don't party like we use to in our 20s anymore).But yeah you can look into other hobbies and interests now seeing that you are not spending a good chunk of your money on alcohol. Could look into traveling.Oh and not getting in trouble with the law is also a good motivator to stay dry. Almost got a DUI once, took a breathalyzer and thankfully passed. Was scary stuff. Only time in my life that I almost got on the wrong side of the law.Also looking back before I stopped I was just drinking out of boredom and wasn't really having fun anymore. Drinking is not really as fun in your 30s like it was in your 20s. Was just one of those old alcoholics at the bar who would just drink and talk about a whole lot of nothing.
>>34051271Practice random things every single day at least a certain amount
>>34058017>Was just one of those old alcoholics at the bar who would just drink and talk about a whole lot of nothing.I couldnt ever reach that level.
>>34059640It's not worth it. I still go to the bar to just eat and chill (I get soft drinks for free because I'm a regular) and they tell me to not drink again and are impressed that I've been able to stop. Use to drink with them almost every day.
