I drink too much....
 

I drink too much....
I just don't know how to stop.
I have recently realized that I drink too much and need to quit using alcohol as a crutch.
what is it going to take for me to quit using/abusing alcolhol???????
bizi

First you have to realize the problem.
Accomplished.

So next take a step to slow down.
Maybe a chart and goal.

Donna

Try to drink less and less every day...

Maybe it is the exotic sippers....
If you could find non alcoholic versions of what you like in the summer may help. If it is a good lager, gee I don't know. except for special occasions and buy a smooty type make and non alcol receipes?
Hugs :hug:

Dear Bizi,
You have been able to handle and solve so many things during your life. You can solve this one. Get some help and get a team in place to help you. Start with your tdoc or pdoc.

M.

i agree get some help. Don't be proud. Try to figure out when you feel like drinking and what you need it for. Is it to fight off depression. I think my father was bipolar and he was an alcoholic to fight off the depression. You have such a full life. You have so many interests. I am afraid you have been running away from a lot of painful feelings....just a feeling but maybe going to a therapist and discussing the painful feelings will solve a lot
hugs
bobby

I drink when ever I am going to a social gathering, to ward off my anxiety of dealing with people.
then I drink when I "go off" my diet and am not driving....
I go out to drink to cheer up a friend
I drink when I want to have a good time and am not dieting. It seems the only time I have a handle on my drinking is when I am dieting these days, counting calories.
But last night I decided to change my dieting to counting carbs so last night I went out for dinner and drinks had half priced and too many rum and diet cokes and a small grilled chicken breast= no carbs. I think I should go back to counting calories and not have the freedom to drink as much straight alcohol...that was a bad idea. I can count calories and still watch my carbs.
Going to the gym tonight, need to get back to my routine.
Vacations are fun, especially when I am drinking.
we are going to the beach next weekend, (not this weekend) last year I got bush wacked....they were so good, like a frozen chocolatey rum drink!
hoping that doesn't happen again this year.
sigh
bizi ( who really likes to drink.....:o)

Dear Bizi

the reason for counting carbs, and especially for limiting ready-carbs, is because they get converted to fat quicker than fat or protein, if not used right away.

** edited ** inaccurate - read this instead: http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/...ch/alcohol.htm

alcohol is 7 calories a gram, that you have to burn off.

no matter what your method of dieting, alcohol intake is a dietary/weight-loss consideration.

~ waves ~

i am confused Bizi
do you want to cut down on your drinking? isn't it dangerous also since you take medication?
how long have you been drinking a lot?
bobby

It is confusing.....
I love drinking.
It makes me more social, uninhibited, impulsive.
Some of my friends drink so drinking is a big part of my social life.
Since I have been dieting that sort of changed.
until I started binge eating and drinking....."fell off my diet"
a couple of months ago I posted that I was binge eating...I was also binge drinking.
Not good.
It is also the time period that I felt like I was hypomanic...which could be the case here too.
Switching to carb counting played into my desire to drink as much as I wanted, we were at a bar chatting with the regular bartender, she is pouring my 2 for one drinks and they are in small glasses so they go down in just a few sips, lots of ice. I had 7 of them in a short amount of time, I got trashed....and it was only 7:30 when we got home!
I was ok by morning. Made it to work just fine.
any way.
I am back to counting calories and back on my diet allowing myself room to have a beer or two at the end of the day...
I am reclaiming some sanity.
I just have to be careful!!!!!!!!
bizi

Dear Bizi

a beer or two at the end of the day is fine.

i might also suggest to target 2 days a week off, where you don't drink, or at least intend not to. you need to know if you miss it. it is a way of keeping in touch with where you are with it.

since it affects how calories are burned, you'd be taking better advantage of your gym work-outs if you chose gym days - or some of them - as non-drinking days.

if you can, avoid using alcohol as a reward. using it that way promotes psychological dependence. an indulgence is different from a reward. an indulgence that you earn or allow yourself because you have been "good" about something else - that is a reward.

do you keep charts for anything? mood, meds, anything? can you add alcohol in there... i think Donna's idea of keeping track is a good one. when you quantify it and have a record of it, it is easy to notice if there are trends over a period of time.

~ waves ~

thank you for your advice..it is good!
I have been using it as a reward! and allow my self to drink an extra beer if I have worked out.
But this is not good.
Earlier this evening I bought some beer and I also bought some diet tonic water. I love the way it tastes by itself.
I think that I can psych myself out of a beer tonight...just came home from the gym.... by having a diet tonic water instead.
Yes I will do this!
bizi

I don't understand why you continue to diet...you look fabulous! :)

thank you alffe!
that is very sweet of you!
I think I will be dieting for the rest of my life

p.s. I have a lot of jiggle left so that is not good.:eek:

aren't you afraid of drinking with the medication you are taking?
bobby concerned

I am not really concerned about these meds with alcohol...I have been taking the same ones and drinking regularily for years.
thank you bobby for your concern.
I think that I have been "up" for a while now and that contributes to my increased drinking pattern.
The diet tonic water is very satisfying!:)
bizi

Bizi,
Are you using the drinking to kind of "come down?"

Are you continuing to eat meals with the Geodon?
Have you noticed that you seem to be getting better effects from the med now?

M.

This thread has been closed at Bizi's request.