Best advice for newbies

Lots of info in the link previously. In the early days, I made sure to do sobriety activities each morning, i.e. readings, watching a video, a meeting, to set my intent for the day.

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Thank you for this advice. I am trying again but this time with help (this community). I know it has come to a point where I have to stop but I can’t go it alone. Reading the posts, the advice and the encouragement on here has been eye opening. I’m not alone.

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Hi Donna and also welcome to the forum!
No, you’re definitely not alone in your struggles and also don’t have to be alone in over coming those struggles. I love this forum because its world wide meaning there is pretty much always someone awake and active on here. You’re never alone :hibiscus:

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Hi and congrats on 6 days!!! My advice for the very early days (I’m just a baby myself, 116 days :heart:) is to mind yourself, be gentle with yourself, be forgiving if you can’t be the amazing person you want to be or if you need to rest or hide away or if you don’t have the energy or head space. You are healing both physically and mentally and it requires a lot of energy. Give yourself a break x

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Welcome! :blush:
This group is such a safe and supportive place to let out how your feeling, get support from a community who understands and supports you in your journey. I’ve learned a lot by seeing how others are handling their sobriety and the struggles they go through, and also being their to support them as well.

I would say a daily gratitude list. I at first didn’t think it could help, but I started doing it and it really does. I write 10 things in the morning about what I’m thankful for, whether it be life lessons or something simple as a coffee maker to get me going for the day.

We all have struggles but together we can help each-other keep going or just be there if things happen.

You got this!

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Hi and welcome. I’m just a few months out myself, but I have come to rely on a couple of strategies that have been very helpful.

  1. Read and learn a lot about the connection between alcohol and your brain.
  2. Take extra care of yourself. Eat well, go to bed at a healthy time. Treat yourself to other things you enjoy beside alcohol.
  3. Enjoy your mornings!
  4. “Play it forward” in your mind how miserable you will feel if you drink. This, in combination with 1,2,3 above has helped me keep to my decision to remain sober.

I wish you well!

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Best advice? Be active here. You get a craving, come here. Get angry, come here. Get sad, come here.

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I agree with @LAB :100:. Reading books on sobriety helped me tremendously in the beginning. ‘This Naked Mind’, in particular, was enlightening. And I kept a mental list of things I wanted to be free of by not drinking - free of hangovers, free of making drunken FB posts, free of starting drunken arguments, free of regret, free of guilt, etc. I allowed myself sugary treats, namely ice cream. A huge thing for me was recognizing all the excuses I made for drinking - celebrating, feeling down, good weather, bad weather, birthdays, New Years, football games, weekends, days that end in ‘y’ - and saying absolutely, no more, ZERO excuses.

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Hello Mate im coming up 6 days sober too.

Getting up early is working for me im up at 4am or 5am for the gym and by the time the night comes the only thing I want to do is sleep…

Drinking is the last thing I want to do.

Hopefully this helps take each day at a time.

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Congratulations on your 6 days.
And welcome. The lunch box has landed :joy:

Yep. @K.Slaughter Gratitude list. Every morning start my day right here for the last 2 plus years. Gratitude.

It works. I’ve trained my brain so that as soon as I wake up now I start thinking about things I’m grateful for without even trying.
:pray:t2::heart:

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The lunchbox has landed! Ha! Love it! Thank you for the input. I have a lot of great tools to use. It’ll be 7 days in a few hours!

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I actually have This Naked Mind so I will give that a read this upcoming week!

That’s great advice. I’m brand new to this app but I already see the value. It’s great to have a community of like minded folks. I work from home and don’t have any friends that are going through what I’m going through or could even understand why I want to stop drinking completely. I’ll be “seeing” folks here regularly. Today was the hardest of all the days but I’m a few hours I will have 7 days. That’s a nice milestone.

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Excellent suggestions! Thanks so much! I have to say I’ve never been a morning person but sober morning are wonderful. I can get used to this! One of the things that made me quit was being hungover last weekend. I’m too old for that type of foolishness. There are people that depend on me to be the best version of myself.

Thanks so much! I actually have a gratitude journal I never used. I will find it and put myself to work! I think it will be really helpful. Thanks again!

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That’s really great advice. I hear you loud and clear on the physical and mental healing. I am early in this process but I can already feel the physical benefits. I have a history of being hard on myself so I will need to focus on avoiding that through this process. Thanks!

Love this! Thanks so much. There is a lot of great stuff here. I have never considered meetings but I think I may look for support that way. This community is a great start though!

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Another one I used in the first few weeks…

I was the type who came home from work and had a few drinks before dinner. So getting home was a challenging time. I changed it up to

Come home and take a long hot shower. Then I would have a glass of sparkling water in the same chair I used to have the wine.

The sensory/relaxation of the hot shower and then actually quenching thirst did the trick.

I don’t take the showers anymore, although I definitely would if I were to have real cravings. Fortunately, I don’t have that urge anymore!

I highly recommend reading and listening to the materials of Annie Grace. She brings some clear brain science and good psychology to the process. I don’t drink now because I don’t want to. It is very very liberating and positive. Her book is called, “This Naked Mind”. She has a good podcast too.

I wish you the best. I’m up early on Sunday, day 115, ready to enjoy the day! No hangover, well rested, no headache.

-peace!

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Welcome and congrats on your 6 days of sobriety! :slightly_smiling_face: What others have suggested on here is all great advice, what helped me out the most in the early days was being kind and forgiving with myself, getting lots of rest, giving in to the sugar cravings and junk food cravings (those have eased up), drinking tons of water, and distracting myself in some way by either coming on here, reading or watching TV. Going for long walks is a great way for me to decompress, refocus, and get some exercise too! I’ll bring my phone and earbuds, and listen to music, podcasts, or audio books.
Best wishes on your journey! :peace_symbol::heart:

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I love reading about what works for everyone, as we are all so unique, and different strategies work for different people :raised_hands:t3:
Hope to contine seeing you on the forum and hear all about your exploration into sobriety :dizzy:
Wishing you all the best :slightly_smiling_face:

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