It's not only about the alcohol - 30 days of positive change

Of course there are many factors in my life and right now - and especially here - I am focussing on my drinking.  I know this is the biggest factor in my life right now but I also hope to write a bit more about other aspects of my life.  I think I have a pretty good life over all and I like who I am... I have lots of different interests and thoughts on different things.  I do hope to spend some time talking about those.  A part of me feels that if I always talk about the alcohol, I'll always focus on the alcohol.  I didn't want it to be a central part of my life when I was drinking, and I certainly don't want it to be the focal point when I'm not!!

So today I'm talking about something else.  I've been feeling like crap lately.  I know the drinking has been a huge part of that but also a huge part of me not taking care of myself.  I am tired of feeling so horrible/ lethargic/ bloated/ overweight etc etc etc.  No this is not a public flogging, this is just saying where I'm at.  I am now almost back to the weight I was when my second son was born (boo hoo!).

BUT I'm making a change.  My usual method is to say 'Ok no more drinking AND I'm going to cut out sugar, junk food, fizzies, full-fat dairy etc AND I'm going to only eat natural, whole foods'.  Which lasts about a day and then I go insane and I"m guzzling wine all night, have a big binge of food to soak up all that booze and then I'm at Burger King the next day getting a greasy/ sugar fix to make me feel better.

So I'm not going to do that.  But I do want to feel better.  I'm very aware that taking on too much right now is not good for me in my plight against alcohol.  I am also very aware that I have never been this healthy in my life.

I've decided that instead of elimintaing things and making myself feel deprived, I am going to add healthy things to my diet instead.  Thus I've started 30 Days of Positive Change.  I'm on day four and here's how it's looking:

Day 1:  Swap white bread for whole grain bread
Day 2:  Chose low-fat dairy
Day 3:  Drink 4 large glasses of water (measured mine and it works out to 1.2 litres)
Day 4:  Take a multi-vitamin


These things are cumulative - so once I've added it to the list, no going back.  The idea is that it takes 21 days to form a habit so hopefully by the end of these 30 days I'll be well on my way to having made at least some of these things a regular habit that I no longer think about.  I'm going to put this list as a page here to keep me honest (last night I almost caved and almost had white bread with dinner but this will help keep me straight!). 

After the 30 days I will then plan to start cutting out the 'bad' stuff.  But right now, I want to focus on treating myself well and giving myself more - so this mindset is going to help that - and help me not feel deprived.

It's working.  Today I feel really good about myself.  It's my 4th day of not drinking and I am over the withdrawl symptoms I had.. and I'm feeling really good mentally and better a bit physically.  And I'm a bit proud of myself :)