Benefits After Quitting

[Diamond]

Please post the benefits you've seen after not drinking for some time. I need a boost other than the dangers of drinking to keep me on the right path. I think others could find this useful too.

[Mai]

-Free evenings
-Clear head
-Clear mornings
-No more diarrhea
-Not having to wonder what I may have said, did, or promised the night before
-Not hiding bottles
-My skin is 'fresher' looking
-lost 40 lbs
-Restored relationship with my hubby

I could go on......


Good luck Diamond.

Hugs
M

[CitizenDrunk]

I'd love to read some more too! These are the threads that motivate me.

I'm just on day 16, but so far:

Restful sleep, I actually dream now!
Going to bed at a reasonable time, and because I feel tired, not because I blacked out at some point and fell onto my bed.
Regular bathroom movements *ahem*
Slowly regaining my self respect.
A feeling of doing one of the most important positive things I have ever done.
Noticing more money in my pocket.

[Mai]

must add...

-no more daily morning dose of advil and or gravol.
-sober sex :)
-not doing things out of guilt
-and even being bitchy and not feeling guilty about it.

[CitizenDrunk]

-sober sex :)


I have yet to experience that.:( The booze made me an extreme loner.

A big motivator for me is that when I finally reach a place where I can function in a social setting again, I may actually meet someone.

[Diamond]

These are all great motivators. After I wrote the post here I thought about how goofy it is that "knowing the dangers of alcohol" wouldn't just keep me on the right path in the first place. Reminds me of the teens you see slowly strutting in front of a moving car to get the basketball in the middle of the street. They always have that invincible look on their face like "oh yeah, you can't hurt me with your big vehicle, I'm a teenager!"

I guess that's the mentality I have with drinking. Like I said goofy. Luckily I'm old enough, and mature enough to realize that I'm not invincible.

I hope to add some benefits here in the near future.

[Twiggy]

Peace
Freedom
Confidence
Happiness
Satisfaction
Security
My best buddy back (me)
empowerment
Hope

...to name a few!

:)

[CitizenDrunk]

I can look people in the eye now with confidence. I would usualy hate to look people in the eye because I thought they would be thinking how ruddy my face looked, or glazed my eye were.

I don't worry that people can smell stale beer on my breath at 12 noon.

[Kristina]

- better sleep

- no mid-day stomach aches that I mistook for hunger, but where actually a part of my hangover

- not having to take advil with my vitamins

- not worrying when parents showed up at my house in early a.m., that the empties were hidden and that I seemed "normal." (I am 40 for God's sake)

- not feeling wrung out all day every day

- being much more organized mentally. I didn't realize how much of an airhead I had become. Truly.

- looking around at unfinished work in the house and knowing that, now that I'm sober, it will get done

- reading so many books, many of which require actual thought

- not ashamed of who I am.

- no incidents of embarrassing myself by overdrinking and/or saying something stupid

- being able to relax and enjoy my friends and family, and not constantly be focused on how much I'm drinking and how buzzed I am

- no longer have that deep knowledge that I am killing myself and missing out on life. I was especially worried about the link between alcohol and breast cancer, but it also really messes with the heart and brain. (BTW, talk about stupid, lol. I used to tell myself that the beer killed germs and kept me from getting sick. OMG!)

- filled with hope and a sense of wonder about my future

- feeling like God's working a miracle in my life

- being a good example for my kids

- being a much more patient parent

- learning how to deal with emotions and life issues in a much more real and productive manner

Oh, my. I could go one. :) Thanks for the question, it's nice to remind myself of this stuff.

[CitizenDrunk]

Excellent list Kristina!

I have one more:

I actually started looking around at the sty my place was, and spend time everyday doing some hard scrubbing and cleaning, not lying on my bed glazed eyed watching re-runs on TV with a beer resting on my gut:rolleyes:

[Charlie]

You know what? I tried to think of one thing in my life that hadn't improved since I quit drinking, and I couldn't do it. Getting sober is really what you make of it. It's not easy at first, but I wouldn't trade my hardest days sober for my best days drunk. Because my even my best of days while drinking were followed by a long list of consequences which I just don't have to worry about anymore. Now I can have fun, without having to worry about some horrible aftermath.

[CitizenDrunk]

So true. I like just being there, in the moment, being clear, coherent. No blank or fuzzy spots in memory, not fumbling through the days in a haze is so freeing.

[Topaz]

There are so many, where do you start.... feeling fresh and ready for each day after a proper sleep instead of waking up (sometimes on the sofa..) feeling as though you haven't slept after drinking two bottles of wine the night before. Enjoying your day/evening and spending it productively instead of watching the clock to see how soon you can justify starting drinking. Feeling happier, more confident about your future, not having to bypass your local store because you bought two bottles of wine there the night before and you don't want to go in the next day in case they think you drink that much every night (which you usually do).

Once I start thinking of a list I could go on for pages...

I recommend reading Allen Carr's book Easy Way To Control Alcohol (title was slightly different in USA) in which he says that there are no benefits to drinking alcohol and many benefits to not drinking it. That takes a while to accept though, I have read it several times before understanding his viewpoint.

T

[phinfan]

Reduced chance of stroke
Reduced chance of heart attack
Reduced chance of driving drunk and getting a DUI (or killing someone)

[dsc2]

1.) I am making good progress on my PT business. I want this to be my FT vocation one day, but with a FT job already, I didn't have a hope in hell to do so when I drank.

2.) Blood pressure normalizing

3.) Lost a touch of weight (even though I need to lose more)

4.) No more beer bloat

5.) More emotionally stable

6.) I can drive at any time of the day and not fear an impaired charge

7.) I naturally make better food choices. Makes sense as all discretion goes out the window when I drank before.

8.) When I arrived home from work I needed to rest for 2 hours before I even felt like doing anything remotely ambitious. A 15-20 min break suffices now.

Probably lots more, but all I can think of at the moment. Maybe I'll add to this post if I can think of anything else.

[supergirl]

Small children want to hang out with me now :). It's like I'm "one of them".

[Kristina]

When my kids come to me at night, I am alert and present to either help them, comfort them, snuggle with them, listen to the nightmare, whatever. That was NOT the case before, and a few of those incidents helped wake me up to the disaster alcohol created in my life. Anyway, it's wonderful!

[bagpuss]

Remembering Christmas and sharing hot chocolate with marshmallows with my daughter whilst talking and not slurring. Waking up refreshed and not smelling of stale wine. Being able to drive my car and KNOW I'm safe :) and thats just after 1 week of not drinking

[lemon fizz]

What is better when you are sober? Everything.

[bluestocking]

My fiddle-playing is more accurate. This is just as well as I play a lot of gigs.

I am already dealing better with stress over sick kids, troubled relatives and an imminent house move. And too much to do, in general.

I saw the New Year in shagging my husband (sorry if TMI!) not reflexively sucking down indifferent methode champenoise. Much more fun!

I still feel lousy in the mornings but I can - almost - enjoy being rubbish at mornings and refusing to talk until coffee. Because I know it's just me, not the booze. And I know that after coffee and a shower I'll be refreshed and ready to go ... not still cycling through favourite hangover remedies mid-afternoon.

[bbk]

The list is endless BUT,

GREAT sleep. As a drinker I passed out until two or three and then tossed and turned, perspiring like crazy, for the rest of the night. My mornings would be a foggy haze with no focus or concentration.

These days I am asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I wake up earlier these days completely rested and refreshed. BIG blessing.

Good luck! bbk

[Dimitri]

I have to agree with BBK, the list is endless..........
but for me the benefits have been.......
Its been a long time now since I had a blackout.
Its been a long time since I puked bile.
Its been a long time since I lied about my drinking because as a drinker, I was a liar - I'd lie to others about my memory, I'd lie about how much I had drank (or really didnt remember), Id lie about what time I got home (if I remembered), Id lie about what I did (if I even remembered), Id lie about how much I spent, Id lie about how drunk I really was.......the lies were endless.
Feels SO great not to lie about it anymore.

[lemon fizz]

Yes it is great to not have to lie anymore. To yourself and others.