Hi there Blackstone (and all the other people who have posted here with similar stories),
I can also really really relate to your story and your current problem. I won't go into all the gory details but, suffice to say, I am also one of those people who seem to have a problem with addiction (gave up smoking after 22 years of trying in Dec 2001 and haven't looked back for a minute). My particular poison has always been beer, which does NOT go well with the LC WOE
at all, as I have found out again and again and again...
But, even though my current stats don't tell such a good story, I finally feel that
I am beating the beer monster!!!
I am 46 and have been living in Germany for 22 years and they have VERY GOOD BEER in this country, which, worst luck, is also very cheap, too!!!
At any rate, my story is that I started with LCing three years ago and have constantly battled with beer which has sabotaged my weight-loss efforts again and again.
But, I feel that I have finally turned a corner. I am now not so much counting the days I stay off beer as such, because it then always seems like you're such a failure when you
do have a drink, even if it has been the exception rather than the rule. What I am trying to do now is to stay away from the beer for weight-loss and general health purposes.
And, so far this year, since Jan 12th 2010, I have been 80% beer-free!!!
I have drunk beer on occasions, but I keep a food and general diet diary (handwritten), and note in there what I have eaten and drunk - or not drunk - as the case may be. This has really helped me stay accountable to my plans because I can see in black and white how the scale numbers rocket upwards as soon as I have a few days in a row with beer on the menu.
I make note (OK, it's not maybe 100% accurate always, but it's good enough) of how many carbs I have had and then I can see what effect the carb numbers have on my weight.
Do you do anything like this???
I have also been working hard to identify the typical triggers - hard day, kids annoying me, DH annoying me, life annoying me, need a 'reward', you know the usual excuses - and then saying to myself in the evening: "Look, all you have to do is get through another hour: if you do this without alcohol, you will have a good night's sleep, you won't wake up at 4am and not be able to get back to sleep again, you won't be grumpy and irritable all day long and snap at the kids for no reason - you will feel rested and refreshed and you won't feel achey and tired."
These little discussions with myself - or actually - I do something a bit loony and try to address the "beer monster" as if it is something outside myself which wants to derail me and sabotage my efforts - do help me to shut up the beer monster and not succumb.
Now, I am at the stage where I am finally managing to get the weight off again (done this twice before on LC; I'll do it again!!!) and at the moment that by itself is a good enough reason not to drink.
The other thing I have experienced is that it is paramount to get started, to have an alcohol-free night and to really focus the next day on how much better you feel and really remember how good you felt the whole day long. Then use this memory to argue against the alcohol monster the next time it pops along.
I am finding the longer I stick at this no-beer thing, the easier it is getting. Beer is the only thing that I get hooked on: other drinks I can have small quantities of and then leave it, but, beer, it just hooks me and, most times, I end up drinking far more than I mean to.
I am working on other areas of my health - I have cut down my coffee intake by 66% (I drink a mix which is 33% caffeinated to 66% decaf at the moment) and this has also made great improvements in my ability to cope with stress. I now feel a lot calmer so that life doesn't freak me out so much as it used to. I have really learnt a lot from these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Adrenal-Fatig...howViewpoints=1
Simply working on stress reduction and basically rethinking how I deal with life has meant that I no longer feel that I need to have the beer to "cope" or "wind down" - because I no longer get so wound up in the first place!!!
This is my other favourite, which I read before I read the Dr Wilson book:
http://www.amazon.com/Schwarzbein-P...howViewpoints=1
I have posted the links to the review pages so you can get a picture of these books.
At any rate, if you are drinking because you are stressed, then looking at dealing with stress may help you to get on a route to recovery.
Using supplements which are known to help you with stress are also really helpful, with magnesium, a B-50 complex and, maybe a few ayurvedic things, too (I use ashwagandha and I swear it helps me sleep better), being top of the list. Vitamin D3 also helped me to feel more positive about life: it is a real mood booster (of course, the real sun is even better).
I have learnt so much via this forum over the last three years and really feel that I have made huge leaps forward in my general health and happiness, but it is always an ongoing learning process. I might not be lighter - on the scales - than I was when I started but I am so much more lighter in spirit!!!
I am convinced that I will never get into drinking the way I used to ever again.
If you want to read more about my particular journey with LCing and battling the beer monster, feel free to browse in my journal. It's all there!!!
At the moment I have been beer-free for the last 11 days (I think). The scale numbers are again heading downwards and I am hoping to keep it that way!!!
Finally, I sincerely hope that having started this thread will also mark the beginning of a new journey to a new healthier, less stressed you!!!
All the best,
a fellow sufferer, amanda
And I cheated again. But I am still going to look at this as progress. I was drinking a lot more than that on a daily basis and I know I can slowly transition into better habits. Love the cooking Idea!! And Excercise and going to sleep. What concepts! LOL! Thanks again folks. This really has been great! 
Linear Mode
