Just want to share.

[Lesley]

I'm now at 144 days and up till about 2 or 3 weeks ago I didnt real feel any benefit from not drinking as I was recovering from Glanfular Fever and suffering from a great lethargy that decended upon me when I stopped poisoning my body with alcohol. HOWEVER.........NOW I am going to weight watchers ....climbing 30 flights of stairs every week day....walking between 6 and 9 km per day....lost 8 kilos.....and I feel brand new. At first I said I felt 10 years younger but 10 years ago I felt crap. When i am out walking along the beach I feel so damn good I just want to run up to people and shake them and tell them I am high as a kite but common sense prevails because they might not understand and call the men in the white coats.

This feeling I have is tangible - I cant believe I can feel this way without it being caused by ingesting some chemical substance. Took a while but then I realised what it is...I AM HAPPY!!!.....It has been so long since I was free to feel this way that I forgot this state existed. It's a get out of jail free card. This must be how I felt as a kid a million years ago before I started taking my daily dose of poison. I dont feel 10 years younger - I feel 40 years younger and if I could wrap this and sell it on Ebay I would be a million dollars richer to go with the million dollar feeling.


If any of you have doubts and are struggling or feeling tired ...please please hang on.....this is so worth the wait and its so do-able.


Lesley XX

[Lesley]

thank you Jos and HH - and congratulations on 111 days - remember the days when we thought we couldn't last 24 hours wahahahaha - we laugh in your face demon alcohol!!

Just as an aside to any peole reading this thread - at work and by family & friends I was voted the least likely to give up booze....those people who voted are still in the grip of the grape and I am free......and I know they are envious

Well better go and crack a coldie.........relax relax.....diet ginger beer

[byron]

Hi Lesley

You rock - not drinking really is a get out of jail free card. Great to have control over EAF instead of the other way around.

Brilliant post Lesley - lifted me up no end

Julie
xx

[Sally Cinnamon]

All I can say is congratulations, you're an inspiration

[Lesley]

[Jan]

Hi Lesley,
GREAT post. Thank you. I'm seven weeks down the line and already I am gets tons of compliments. My new figure suits me and apparantly I am "glowing". It's a great feeling.

I used to avoid the mirror and the camera like the plague, but now I can't help taking a glance when I pass a mirror and would love some professional photographs taken. I haven't felt or looked this good for years.

Fiendykins, be inspired. It really does work. Remember many months ago when we both weighed 11 stone 2 lbs and we are both the same height. After that I put on even more weight... But now I am 10 stone 7lbs.

Love Auntie Jan

[mermaid44]

Lesley......I absolutely love, love, love your post! So glad for you and I am looking forward to being able to say the same someday! Thank you for being such an inspiration! Hugs to you......and if I were that other person that you came running up to, to shake because of how proud you feel....I would smile largely and give you a big pat on the back and say good for you!!! Keep it up buttercup!
I'd like to cheers a glass of water to you!

[hamster]

That was so uplifting to read K98 So Glad you had the day you had.

[Lush]

Woohooooooooooo k98!

Susie
xx

[Lesley]

Hey K98 - that is so goooood and thats what it is all about. Build on that feeling and look for it every day and you will soon find it all round you and in the most unlikely places, some days i dont look for it and it sneeks up and bites me on the ass - good feeling happy stuff!!

Dropped in today as my (new) computer has been on the blink for months and Toshiba have been wonderful and given me a brand new one (with all the super bells and whistles - specially for gaming - World of Warcraft rocks hehehe). The last one was Tortoiseshell case and matt grey keys - this one is bright red with shiny black keys and 5 speakers - the first one was very "accountant" and this one is very "Moulin Rouge"


Anyway - 258 days today - survived Christmas and New Year's pressures and woke with a clear head New Years Day - first time in about 40 odd years. Very pleasant way to enter 2009

Hope you all have a very safe and happy 2009 and that this journey we are all on doesn't have too many potholes

[hamster]

Hi Lesley

Really good to hear from you again. You are rocking

[Momma Kitty]

K98...WOW!! What a wonderful experience you have shared...this is my 1st time on this particular Forum - each day-night I find another wonderful place to be and enjoy and share in. I am SO HAPPY for YOU k98 and that u pampered YOU for a change....I remember those days of being a young mom and how demanding they are and also how special I too would feel after even the slightest bit of pampering or break from home etc. It sounds like you have a wonderful husband as well, I tell u not many men would come out with such an astoundingly huge compliment!!!! That is so awesome...Most men would end with the "o you look nice" or "it's nice"...duh!!! Those are the words EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO HEAR!!! Hee hee...What a great way to come home at the end of a great day k98. All the best to you!!! Lunatic Lorraine =^..^=

[Ed]

i work in a job that i quite like sometimes and dont like at other times, i get paid quite well but im not on the mega bucks, i look for meaning in life but often forget to be, i like a bit of physical exercise and try to keep fit but im not crazy for it, i walk to work mostly, i live alone in a two bedroom victorian terraced house that i have renovated to a good standard with the help of my father who is a furniture maker. My mortgage is average and i cover it easily. I have a medium size overdraft, a car loan and i repay my student loan in full in march. Im careful with money and eat healthily if a little too much. i have a few friends and a brother - who im not close with. I find my parents difficult sometimes and i find myself very difficult at other times. I have above average intelligence in some areas although my achievements and life wouldnt necessarily suggest that. Ive a BA hons in french and a post graduate diploma in IT. I play the guitar quite well and learnt it to a good standard within a couple of years by the time i was 15. I was very passionate about it and it defined me for a few years. I went to a public school from 11 to 16 and didnt like it very much although it got better. I grew up in a very small village and didnt have many friends to choose from. Im not very easy with people now and often distrust their motives. I am my own worst enemy. I am funny. I am dry. I suffer from sleep apnoea and have to wear a mask at night to sleep. I am a little over weight and 6'2" tall. I have had some very difficult relationships with women. i like to watch comedy especially father ted and family guy and anything with leonard rossiter in. i cook well, sometimes i cant be bothered and eat things like veggie burgers with rice. i like to keep my house tidy. sometimes i think im a mental hypochondriac.

I havent had a drink now for over 9 months. sometimes im bored.

[chrissie]

Hi Eddy

We've spoken before, but nice to get to know you a bit more. You say you're bored sometimes. Can you think of something you'd like to do? You've done really well knocking the drink on the head for so long. It sounds to me like you need a new focus in your life. Don't know what your bag is - maybe the guitar or something music related, maybe join an amateur theatre to help backstage ,maybe do some sort of vounteer work? Only suggestions. Being bored is not good, we only get one go at life!

Chrissie xx

[Bela]

I was thinking along the volunteer line, too, EddyP . .
So many needs; no reason to be bored.
Seems to me an slight change of focus from inward to outward might be in order.

[Lesley]

308 days and lost 15 kg - feeling great and gets better every day

[Bela]

That is fantastic, Lesley!

[Lesley]

thanks Bela!!

[chrissie]

Well done Lesley, nice to speak to you again, just saw your other post re the tiredness thread. I have been up and down with my drinking so am back to square one with the tiredness but hoping to sort myself out once and for all. Back to day 1 today!

Chrissie xx

[Lesley]

be good to yourself , Chrissie I had a lot of false starts before I "got it".

Google all the horrible things alcohol can do to your body and brain and heart and keep reading it over and over again. Actually ...there are so many of them you'll probably not read the same thing twice!

.....and I promise you...it does get easier........and you KNOW you can do it......the fact that you're trying brings you closer and closer to the day that you'll "get it" too so you are on your way.


Sending you good thoughts


Lesley XX