Hello everyone. Today I have decided to cut another thing out my life. Yesterday, I deleted all social media. Yesterday I took my last drink of any type of alcohol which included a 12 oz Miller lite and 2 diluted Captain Morgan shots. Today I am going to try my hardest and quit cold turkey and eliminate another habit. Does anyone have any advice to help get through the process and doesn’t add to weight gain? Which is another thing i want to get down on. I’ve decided to take these steps because i feel like social media and drinking beer on a daily is ruining my life and taking time away from my kids.
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Congrats amigo. Good call. I quit cold turkey Thanksgiving Day (no pun), and it’s been a 47 day journey with no relapse. I’m 40, and I’m an alcoholic. First few weeks were rough emotionally, physically and socially. But now, has I’m in my new routine. You’ve come to the right place. Remain steadfast and best of luck.
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What did you do to occupy your self and keep your mind off of putting a drop of alcohol to your tongue
Sounds cliche, but just DONT DRINK. Need to change your routine and habits, and also red flags and triggers. I have been a hermit the first 30 days, not even doing meetings or anything, my 1st meeting was my 30 days. Now I’m getting out of my shell. Arnold Palmers and coffee are my drinks now, lol.
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It’s an entire psychological and physical state you were transition to. The right group AA meeting will be good, I have been to a lot of bad ones in the past, just need to go where you fit in and feel comfortable, that’s my opinion. I live in So Cal, so I have a great meeting in Fullerton (Orange County), cool dudes, great guys.
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One of my biggest issues where I would have beer back to back is when I fired up the grill or smoker. How often are your urges and what are the withdrawal symptoms
I quite Ativan then drink a month later cold turkey went to plenty of meetings still sober today ,get a good sober network round you and there will be plenty to do with other sober people keep the boredom at bay wish you well
Congrats on quitting! Whether you’re an alcoholic, problem drinker or a casual drinker, quitting alcohol is one of the healthiest things you can do!
One thing I did that really helped change my point of view, and effectively, my relationship with alcohol was educating my self. In my early days of sobriety I watched a lot of youtube videos about quitting. There are countless videos of people who’ve quit for a year and they talk about the changes (positive and negative), they talk about struggles and how they overcame; very helpful There are also documentaries about alcohol, both on YouTube and Netflix; one in particular is called “The Truth About Alcohol”.
Armed with information, I was able to mentally prepare, but that wasn’t enough. I really dissected the reasons why I drank; escapism. I drank to escape the unpleasant realities of life; or even the mundane… I lacked the skills to cope with life. So I started finding other methods to center myself when I was stressed, angry, bored, happy, etc.
I also hung out here, in this forum, A LOT! I soaked up everything I could, then applied it.
Early on, it was paramount for me to occupy my mind, with anything, with everything. Whatever it is that you want out of life is right there in front of you, you just need to grab it! I wanted to learn to cook, so I learned! That helped get me through the first few months.
You can do it, you just need to decide to make it happen!
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Congrats @JDillard1994 on doing this! (And congrats to @LEEJR on 47 days!) 
As others have said, quitting is physical, emotional & psychological. A good video many recommend here on quitting is Road to Recovery. It walks through the changes you’ll face over the first 6 months.
A key thing to remember is that quitting drinking doesn’t fix anything, the reasons you had for drinking still will be there. That is why so many have recommended support meetings, changing your habits & routine, and doing self-reflection. As the saying goes, “The same person drinks again.” You need to go through a process of change: changing your thinking, changing your behaviors, changing your attitudes, changing your beliefs. Meetings (and this forum!) will help with that!
Regarding occupying your mind, you just need to do things for yourself that are healthy. Sleep, exercise,clean the house,go for walks, listen to music, relax while your body heals so you have the strength to work on healing your mind & spirit. Recovery isn’t a destination, it is the journey of the rest of your life!
For reading & advice,there are lots of good threads here you can search. One I like is https://talkingsober.com/t/advice-for-the-newcomer-and-constant-relapser/11064
Wishing you all the best!!! And congrats on doing this!!! 
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Good job on your decision to quit. I’ve got 62 days under my belt and ngl it hasn’t been a cake walk. Like the others said ‘just dont drink’. Easier said than done, but once done for a while it gets easier. Change things up. For me this app was enough for the first few weeks. Being able to connect with people from all over the world going thru exactly the same thing. I’d read all day long some days. But recently I noticed I needed something more. Something different in my every day life. Today was the first time I tried a meeting and I’m very happy I did. I liked it so much I’m going to another one tomorrow. And I should also try na meetings as well bc I’m struggling more with drug cravings than alcohol at this point. Anyways, get out of your comfort zone and try something new/different. Just dont drink, lol.
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“It seems difficult at first, because everything is difficult at first”
Musashi
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Welcome. Today is my 14th day without alcohol. I’ve lost 5 pounds already just from eliminating it from my intake. My best suggestion is to make a plan to fill your time. My evenings used to be filled with drinking and staring at the TV. I’ve tried to schedule my evenings now so that I am occupied and productive (30 minutes reading, 20 minutes playing with my cats, 1 hour doing household chores, etc).
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I could’ve written that! 14 days, drinking and watching tv, and I have a cat!
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What has worked for me so far was not looking past today, and when people ask about not drinking my response has been I can drink as much as I want when I want but I choose not to. For me this takes the " forever " out of the equation. At this point I’m 46 days completely alcohol free. Also, as everyone has said I have had to find new ways of staying busy
Hang in there, you’re definitely not alone
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Welcome Jerald. There’s lots of wonderful people on here with lots of great information. Here’s a link with tons of help New for 2020? Start here!
In the beginning, after leaving treatment, I started stepping outside and doing a brisk 5 min walk every time I had a craving. At 828 days now and no weight gain and do feel a helluva lot better. One day at a time my friend.
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