So, as a binge drinker I know that I made a lot of rules for myself when it came to drinking after I relapsed in an attempt to control my drinking. For me, my rules were:
No drinking while at my boyfriend’s gigs which lasted anywhere between 3 and 4 hours (which I got around by drinking at dinner or at home or after his gigs).
When it came to shots, only one!! (which 9 times out of 10 put me over the edge into the blackout zone since the shots came after several drinks).
No drinking if I had to work day shift the next morning (I’m a waitress and work day shift Friday and Sunday morning).
No drinking ciders, only wine or mixed drinks in order to limit calorie/carb consumption.
Only drink if I wasn’t going to drive (which was always because either my boyfriend or my mom drove or we would walk wherever we were going).
Only drink after the kids go to bed; only have two; only have one glass of wine a night; have two drinks in the beginning of whatever event and then stop drinking; only drink heavy on my Saturday and lightly on my Sunday etc etc etc etc none of them ever worked
What’s upsetting is that we trick ourselves to believe our rules actually work! Until, before you know it, you’re back at square one realizing they never worked in the first place and that people who don’t have a problem with alcohol don’t need rules.
That was one of mine too. Wait until the kids went to bed, then it was just one with dinner, then one before I got home and onw with dinner, and down the rabbit hole i went.
Not drinking mon-thur, but if i had leftover beer from sunday id finish those, but id have to get more on the way home, since 1 or 2 wasnt enough. Then it just carried over through the whole week.
Visine in the morning so nobody could see how bloodshot my eyes were in the mornings.
Oh man the rules…I got so “creative” thinking of ways to keep booze in my life.
Only drink REAL heavily on the start of my weekends…which ended in me going on 3 day binges
If I drink on a work night, stop with enough time to get a decent night sleep…which ended in me drinking half a bottle and blacking out at 8pm
Only buying half a bottle to limit the amount I drank…I wound up making a second trip to the liquor store
And plenty more…
In the end, none of them worked. I can’t help but chuckle a little at the misguided attempts to control my drinking.
But thankfully I am here today and sober. And all that energy that went to keeping alcohol in my life has been transferred to way more positive and productive things.
I wouldn’t use soda as a mixer bc I thought it gave me hangovers. I just could not fathom that drinking a fifth of Evan Williams was the cause of my hangover
My rules:
Don’t eat first
Don’t drink two nights in a row
Don’t drink when work meetings scheduled the next day
Don’t start without having more than you could possibly drink in the house
Don’t start before 7pm
Stay soberish until after bedtime stories
Only drink alone
Whatever I start the night drinking on, is what I stay with.
If I’m playing a show, then I’m allowed a drink per number of bands before mine. (Which never worked, because we always played last.)
If doing shots, sip them. (Yeah, right.)
Try not to drink too much during the week, so as to not miss work.
Playing out of town? No rules.
Not driving? No rules.
Try not to drink at the bars where friends work, since they always pour heavy, and give free shots
…and so many more that “seemed to work”, and when you felt they did, you start cutting yourself some slack, and then you’re right back where ya started.