SOBRIETY

[Sleazy]

Congrats @EdLawndale!

I just broke 2 months and gonna keep going for 3.

Expand Quote

i'm 6 weeks in and really enjoying it. lot's of energy, feel great and so pumped everyday. my weight is at a 8ish year low, been working out consistently (never been a problem for me).

main negative is i get bored eating out which is a problem sometimes because i do a lot of business networking. i have a happy hour tonight. the challenge isn't not wanting to drink, i'm fine with a soda water or NA beer. challenge is wanting to be social and outgoing which my business needs me to be. i did a business dinner at this really fancy place last week, food was amazing but i was bored out of my mind and counting the minutes and i'm sure some people noticed. and oh my god when the conversation of sports came up i thought i was going to die.

very small price to pay for feeling so revitalized.

[close]

Having to go through that kind of social interaction without some sort of “lubricant” is always hard. Props  for making it through such encounters.

thanks @yghartsyrt

[JoseCansnake0]

Just passed 3 months no alcohol here.

Has anyone found any interesting non-drinking uses for the beer and other alcohol left over in your home from before you quit?

I had garage beers for well over a year that got slowly consumed by two buddies. I also used it in my smoker instead of water when smoking ribs.

[Coastal Fever]

I have about 200 homebrews sitting in my basement closet that I bottled in March/April before going sober.  I have no intention or desire to drink them, but also can’t bring myself to dump or give them away.  Part of me thinks “I need to save these so that I can try them in 10-20 years and see how well/poorly they’ve aged”.  Then I think about what I want to look and feel like in 10-20 years and booze isn’t part of that equation.

[Idk]

67 days sober. But I do miss my ex and her corgi.

[hmmoookay]

year and a half today pals, much love to all y'all doin' it, or tryin' it! life can definitely get better if we let it.

[Sleazy]

year and a half today pals, much love to all y'all doin' it, or tryin' it! life can definitely get better if we let it.

congratulations! i'm definitely enjoying it so far. 74 days in for me.

[hmmoookay]

Expand Quote

year and a half today pals, much love to all y'all doin' it, or tryin' it! life can definitely get better if we let it.

[close]

congratulations! i'm definitely enjoying it so far. 74 days in for me.

appreciate that; congrats on 74 days! glad to hear you're enjoying it and wishing you continued success!

[Democratic Republic Of Mongo]

307 days no alcohol. It’s quite a relief.

[Jim and Dan]

Fuck yes, love seeing these kind of numbers and the enthusiasm, congratulations everyone!

Seeing these numbers got we wondering, as I've never been a "___ days sober" kind of guy, but plugging the numbers into Excel renders 1963 days since my last rendezvous with a this drug I heard The Gipper refer to as "crack" and 2428 days since heroin, reluctantly at the time, exited my life . It's incredible that there were times I couldn't go even hours without getting "fixed" up and now I can't even remember what it was like... But I never fool myself into believing I can take any of these pastimes back up, or even worse, pick up a new one like alcohol, it took me a long time to realize there is no such thing as moderation in my life for things like this. 

"Stay clean, stay focus, have fun with your friends Frankenstein".
- Sonny Koufax

[Easy Slider]

Not an excel guy either but I just realised it has now been four years as I am of the sauce since Sep. 2019.

[Coastal Fever]

Huge congrats dudes!  Hope you both still regularly feel the benefits of your choices.

My 37th bday just passed, so did 150 days/5 months.  Always had 6 months in my head as the first big milestone, and it still is, but looking forward to a full year now.

Started taking an SSRI right when my last run of getting faded regularly began.  It didn’t do shit until I went sober, and has been good since.  I’ve even read that SSRIs can make quitting drinking/drugs easier.  This week I decided to see if I could scale back from 30mg to 20mg, gonna try it out for a bit then maybe try to get off them completely.

I don’t want to rush or do anything self-sabotaging.. but I’m really curious if I actually do need it, or if sobriety was the answer to my mental instability throughout my whole adulthood.  If I do find that I struggle without and they help me significantly, I’d happily get back on them.

Would love to hear any of your experiences with that type of medication in conjunction with your sobriety.

[Sleazy]

i'm guessing it's been mentioned but regarding "excel guy" angle. i use this app called I Am Sober that my wife turned me onto. the only thing I use it for is tracking days. You put your start date and then it shows how many days whenever you open it.



not drinking hasn't been a struggle for me as i genuinely feel better and really it's just me prioritizing my days over my nights. so nights are little more boring but days and mornings are way better. the app is mainly helpful when my kids, wife or friends ask me or if i'm in this thread. outside of that i never really look at it and haven't had the "one more day" vibe at all this time. i'm also loosely using it for goals. current goal is 90 days but i'm not eggar to get back to drinking.

my first dry 30 also used the checkin feature which is kind of cool. you check in weekly or whenever and it will ask you to fill out this survey about how you've been feeling. i found that reflection useful at that time but not anymore because now i know what the difference is.

[Blind Fisherman]

Coming up on a year and eight months of no alcohol. Feeling mentally present and not dreading every moment I wasn't able to drink has been the biggest upside for me. I still struggle with depression, but it's way more manageable now than when I was downing 4-6 9% IPAs a night.
On top of that, getting to fall in love with skateboarding, nature, and arts again has been a blessing.
Wish all of y'all well on your sobriety; whether it be temporary or for good.

[hmmoookay]

Huge congrats dudes!  Hope you both still regularly feel the benefits of your choices.

My 37th bday just passed, so did 150 days/5 months.  Always had 6 months in my head as the first big milestone, and it still is, but looking forward to a full year now.

Started taking an SSRI right when my last run of getting faded regularly began.  It didn’t do shit until I went sober, and has been good since.  I’ve even read that SSRIs can make quitting drinking/drugs easier.  This week I decided to see if I could scale back from 30mg to 20mg, gonna try it out for a bit then maybe try to get off them completely.

I don’t want to rush or do anything self-sabotaging.. but I’m really curious if I actually do need it, or if sobriety was the answer to my mental instability throughout my whole adulthood.  If I do find that I struggle without and they help me significantly, I’d happily get back on them.

Would love to hear any of your experiences with that type of medication in conjunction with your sobriety.

While I've never been on medication I do think that this point is something I was also kind of hoping to "figure out" at some point in my continued sobriety. In my case, I think it is a lot of things; definitely sobriety, but trying to stay physically fit (got really into running in my case), eating well, (attempting) to get better sleep, have all additionally helped my mental well being tremendously. I 1000% still have my rough patches, currently kind of going through one right now, but I do know for damn sure that a drink isn't going to do me any good. So at the very least it's easier these days to think and act rationally much more quickly, rather than drinking about it and ruining any rational thought or taking days sometimes to come to the logical conclusion about x y or z.

I definitely used to think that one thing would solve all my problems or give me relief, I think that's why a lot of us turned to heavy drinking or other drug use in the first place. But these days I'd like to think it's the confluence of a few little things or habits that can kind of help us correct or stay on course. I still have a hard time being comfortable with myself for sure, just in life in general, but I do think all the previously mentioned things are what have kept me stable on the whole, unlike the previous 5 years or so.

[Democratic Republic Of Mongo]

Yep im using that I Am Sober app as well. It also has milestones and you can read other people’s comments on what’s improving. But as they say, don’t count the days, make the days count.

It’s been easy for me to turn down alcohol when that situation comes along, but keeping myself busy outside of work can be an uphill battle sometimes. Get mad exercise.

[slaab900turbo]

I am 30 days alcohol free. There wasn't any cataclysmic event or rock bottom, it was just time to give it up. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. I cannot put into words how much better I feel.

[Sleazy]

props to everyone posting up. keep it up!

i'm 91 days in. i started with a dry 30, went for 60 then 90 and now i'm just enjoying being sober and the energy. i might be done. probably getting too old for drinking.

[EdLawndale]

Congrats!

I passed my 4 month mark last night. Had a weird hankering for a Mickey's grenade earlier today (I used to let them sit in the fridge with habanero peppers in them) but the urge went by without indulgence.

Stay strong, pals!

[Idk]

Had a bad day. Job didn’t do my direct deposit (they’re gonna give me a check tomorrow thankfully) and my std/uti symptoms flared up after almost a week of no symptoms. I have some Percocet in my house stored after my last flare up that sent me to the ER and I was really close to using today. Just wanted to get high tonight. But I’m 94 days sober.

[Easy Slider]

Stay strong homes.

[slaab900turbo]

props to everyone posting up. keep it up!

i'm 91 days in. i started with a dry 30, went for 60 then 90 and now i'm just enjoying being sober and the energy. i might be done. probably getting too old for drinking.

I’m with you on being too old. The recovery from an evening moderate drinking isn’t worth it and I’m positive the booze and a slowing metabolism are to blame for the extra weight I’m carrying around.

[Sleazy]

Expand Quote

props to everyone posting up. keep it up!

i'm 91 days in. i started with a dry 30, went for 60 then 90 and now i'm just enjoying being sober and the energy. i might be done. probably getting too old for drinking.

[close]

I’m with you on being too old. The recovery from an evening moderate drinking isn’t worth it and I’m positive the booze and a slowing metabolism are to blame for the extra weight I’m carrying around.

My diet has always been not bad and since I’ve stopped drinking I’ve started eating more candy. I eat chocolate most nights (bark thins) and my exercise has been way down from what I was doing before and I’ve lost a solid 10lbs. That doesn’t sound like much but I’m also way less blaoted. I’ve had a lot of people mention to me that “you been working out hard, looking good” type comments which is absolutely not the case.

[EdLawndale]

Yeah, it took about 4 months of alcohol for my metabolism to adjust maybe, but I am losing crazy weight rn with minimal exercise and diet chages. Around a pound a week. Gonna have to poke a new hole in my belt soon.

[hmmoookay]

Yeah, it took about 4 months of alcohol for my metabolism to adjust maybe, but I am losing crazy weight rn with minimal exercise and diet chages. Around a pound a week. Gonna have to poke a new hole in my belt soon.

Yeah I had a similar experience but I did hit a bit of a plateau after a while, which was actually a bit of a relief (thought something was wrong there for a bit). I also have some digestive issues that I think impacted my weight loss a little bit but that initial drop in the beginning was huge motivation to keep going early on.

Now, I definitely am "normal" when it comes to maintaining or losing weight, which is nice. And when I see that scale go up or down depending on my level of activity or what I've been eating (or the combination of the two of course) I am reminded of how much alcohol was actually affecting my weight and overall health / wellbeing. THAT, is a huge motivation to never look back for me at least.

Keep it up pals, love seeing everything trending in a positive direction in here. If anyone ever needs to chat or something like that PM's are open.

[EdLawndale]

Keep it up pals, love seeing everything trending in a positive direction in here.

username checks out

[Sleazy]

Now, I definitely am "normal" when it comes to maintaining or losing weight, which is nice. And when I see that scale go up or down depending on my level of activity or what I've been eating (or the combination of the two of course) I am reminded of how much alcohol was actually affecting my weight and overall health / wellbeing. THAT, is a huge motivation to never look back for me at least.

feeling the same about it. so many things get so much easier with one little change.

[FUBAR]

Four years alcohol free today. Probably one of the best descions I’ve made in my life. If you are doubting if you can quit drinking, just know…if I did it, you can too. I’m here for anyone that wants to chat, send me a message if you want.

[Coastal Fever]

That’s amazing man congrats!  So awesome to hear about someone who’s got so much time under their belt and still feels thankful for it. 

I just passed 6 months, feeling great still.  Though I can’t say I’m not dreading the cold, dark winter months that led to my last downward spiral.  Really motivated to make it a full year so I’ll have to find other outlets for my energy/restlessness/obsessive tendencies.

[FUBAR]

6 months is awesome! I found that keeping busy made it much easier. And yeah for sure when there was down time my mind would go into drink mode since thats what I did when I was bored for so long. Skateboarding helped with that, kinda like “want to stop thinking about having 25+ beers tonight? How about landing your first clean kickflip?”. Keep on going! I make myself a basement spot to skate all winter to stay on the good path.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Celebrated 32 last week, don’t have an official start date but a little over 7 months sober (9 months since the last time I got “drunk”).

Feeling awesome, was a great move for me and not something I’m planning on changing for the foreseeable future. Has really helped with my anxiety as well.

Wish I could say I lost weight because of it - I’ve actually gained 15 pounds this year, but I’ll chalk that up to new fatherhood and cutting way back on running and biking.

Wishing everyone the best at every stage in their journey.