Laying it out there

I've looked up "alcoholic" and "alcohol abuser" lately. Clearly I'm concerned about how much I drink. But nothing I've found so far really addresses what I'm feeling. "Have you missed work becuase of drinking?" Well no, but I have had days where I'm not all there because I had a few beers the night before. "Have you lost friends and aliented loved ones with your drinking habits??" Actually quite the opposite- the majority of my social network revolves around drinking- sometimes there is a premise for the drinking sometimes not. But at the end of the day it's drinking events. I suppose I could just not drink at those events, but why?

I don't have the signs of a problem drinker, much less an alcoholic. But it holds me back. It keeps me from being the best "me" I can be. I want to excel in my career, I want to be able to do amazing things with my body, and I want to be able to do both of those things for a long, long time. And drinking doesn't stop me from that, but it is currently holding me back from doing my best at it. And so here I am, betting money on losing weight becuase that is the biggest negative symptom of my drinking that I have- I am borderline overweight because I drink too much. Without the amount of calories from booze I consume I would likely drop weight like it's going out of style. And so, I'm here to try. In my attempt to shift my mindset from "why not drink??" to "why drink??" I have laid the money on the line and want to see what I can do.

Cheers!

- Let's share a trail run instead of a drink :)

Jackie

06/30/2015 4:40AM

Wow, laying it out there, no kidding. Very brace of you. And sometimes putting it out there makes it more present in your mind, which helps. Have you thought about WHY you drink? Is it just because everyone else is? Is it to ease social anxiety? Is it because you are unhappy or trying to forget about something? Addressing the cause MAY be more effective than addressing a symptom, but either way, kudos to acknowledging it.Good luck and feel free to reach out for support and encouragement.

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WeeLeigh

Hey Jackie! You are absolutely right. I've given it some thought, but haven't quite gotten to the bottom of it yet! I have no problems going for extended times without drinking, but I always come back to it eventually. In the long run I need to figure out why that is in order to have long term success. It's definitely something I'll be working to figure out, but in the meantime might as well try to address the behavior/ symptom :)

Ruth

06/29/2015 11:29PM

Brave and great post! Thank you for sharing and for your courage--I have been in a very similar position. I'm here with you for this DietBet, also alcohol-free! Feels good to put it in writing! Thanks, WeeLeigh!

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