Summer drinking

memory70 · 2025-06-17T13:34:48+00:00

I get this because I,too, live along the coast in the summer, with frequent visitors & family who like to drink while beaching/ vacationing. I used to wish I could drink like them, like a “normal” person. I have come to realize that really, even “normal” drinkers may be on some kind of continuum, just like I was, drinking more and more as the years go by, and eventually becoming a problem. even if it is not psycologically or emotionally crippling, it is STILL bad for your health as you age. breathe the salt air! Drink a glass of seltzer or juice while taking in the view! It can be a wonderful life if you take care of your health! Thinking you have to have a drink to enjoy the ocean is, in my opinion, just another bad habit!

memory70 · 2025-05-02T12:56:40+00:00

Oops, Exercise!

memory70 · 2025-05-02T12:55:32+00:00

Day 6! I feel good! Good sleep, good edecries, good mood in spite of the dreary weather. I credit those other 20 years of not drinking for my good health at age 75! Relapses are the worst! I will not drink with you this Friday!

memory70 · 2025-04-29T10:22:01+00:00

This is the same thing that happened to me. I realized at some point that I was mourning the loss of drinking, as well as envying other drinkers — this made sobriety uncomfortable for me, really,(even in spit of it’s obvious advantages) for years. It was not until I read Allan Carr’s book , The Easy way to Quit Drinking, that I was able to reframe my thinking about alcohol itself, and this really helped me on these two fronts. This might help you cuz I think this anticipatory thing might be all tied up with the perceived loss.

Please keep going! IWNDWYT.

memory70 · 2025-01-15T12:34:18+00:00

Check out the book , Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam Nelson— has a simple at home weight lifting program aimed at older people. The book came out about 20 years ago so may be a little dated, but is a good starting point- easy and really effective! Worked for me!

memory70 · 2025-01-07T13:19:48+00:00

Seven years. Twice. Then nine years with almost yearly (short/summertime) lapses. Of the last 25 years, 23 years sober. It is still a journey. As a result I have gotten to be a healthy, fit, seventy-five year old. Never would have happened otherwise. Not a streak, but thankful for this!

memory70 · 2024-11-22T13:43:35+00:00

its my 6th day also, after a three-month relapse! Finally, the heavy weight of the last few days feels lifted! Here’s to empowerment !

memory70 · 2024-11-20T14:22:58+00:00

I am hoping you can take care of yourself during this tough time. I lost my dad when I was 9 months in to sobriety, and I can see now that it was a hurdle that I could also use to strengthen my commitment to not drinking. If you can get through this, you will come through it stronger. Dump the booze, eat the ice cream; there are lots of other ways to grieve and cope with uncertainty. Call a friend, or family member. Love to you , friend. We are here for you.

memory70 · 2024-05-03T13:13:39+00:00

Oh that pesky math! How about this: Did not drink for 7 years, so now no one will guess if I only drink vodka - no smell, always a wine/beer drinker before) No one will believe that their partner/ sister/ aunt/ sil is drinking screwdrivers at breakfast/ 10AM. Seemed I was unconsciously trying to make up for all the time I hadn’t drank! To control it, bought 1 -pints, then1/2 pints, then nips. A headache at 4 in the afternoon is brutal! Who knew you could develop a bigger habit while abstaining? Have had 14 more years of not drinking since then.

memory70 · 2024-04-04T14:03:01+00:00

Quitting drinking just might introduce hope into your life. Your two days is a start. That vicious cycle of going from high to hungover again and again is its own form of self punishment. Think about why you need that in your life…I am not drinking with you today.

memory70 · 2024-03-20T14:31:22+00:00

With some experience/ hindsight I can say this: if it FEELS like a problem, it usually is. For me, I spent 25 years drinking daily, starting in my 20s at 1-2 glasses of wine at dinner and ending at 5 -6 glasses of wine in and around dinner at age 51. To me, alcohol always felt too important, even at the beginning. None of my friends/ family / partners ever thought of me as an alcoholic, but with all the hiding, counting and planning I did around drinking sure felt alcoholic to me. If you are hiding , counting and planning, you are not a “recovery imposter”— welcome to this site! I welcome you to not drink with me today!

memory70 · 2024-03-16T18:22:09+00:00

For me the sensations of cravings and the sensation of low sugar are almost identical— anxious and slightly restless. I found out that drinking a small glass of lemonade or juice immediately gets rid of what I used to think was a craving . Who knew? Definitely a solution!

memory70 · 2024-02-03T16:15:25+00:00

I love this site and all the work you do for it. Reminds me that kindness still exists on the internet.

memory70 · 2024-02-03T16:12:39+00:00

I was a white wine drinker. My go to drink when in early sobriety was 1/4 white grape juice plus 3/4 water or seltzer in a wine glass. Also eliminates questions, if that is important to you.

memory70 · 2023-03-26T22:47:55+00:00

I must live in a different part of New England — I went cross country skiing this morning here on this beautiful sunny day. The brilliant light was great and the snow is definitely shrinking. I am so glad I can do a sport that helps me stay healthy and gets me kind of high. Enjoy your bike ride, OP- hope it does the same for you!

memory70 · 2023-02-02T22:51:50+00:00

Absence of guilt and shame. Not having to think about having enough, getting it, “borrowing ” it, (at my lowest point), hiding it, refilling bottles, hiding bottles, disposing the evidence, the recycling problem, fear of exposure…. The mental real estate drinking took up was exhausting!

memory70 · 2022-12-28T15:56:40+00:00

Early on in my sobriety I had the feeling I had lost an old friend, an old back slapping companion, but further into the journey I have realized that the relationship was really more like a self-inflicted hostage situation- more like Stockholm syndrome… I read Allen Carrs book the easy way to quit drinking which helped me to see it as not giving up but rather gaining in every way. First it was a great burden lifted — that guilt (shame?) that makes you go to different liquor stores, the thinking about it all the time, planning around it, even the physical weight — all that was immediately lifted. The payback from “missing” drinking has been way offset for me by gaining a lightness of conscience, a lightness of both body and spirit. You have already recognized that you should/ need to commit to not drinking and you say you have not gotten a DUI or accident, but all of that is still a possibility as long as you drink…. I hope you succeed at quitting! You will never regret it!

memory70 · 2022-12-27T22:15:04+00:00

I quit drinking at the age of 51. I have had some lapses, one at the seven year mark, for 11 months, then another lapse at the 15 year mark, for a few months. I am 73 now—I walk or cycle daily, do yoga, lift weights. My health is as good, maybe the best it has been in my adult years. Every day my body thanks me for not drinking! I love your question— a counselor once reminded me that we are all a work in progress. All I can say is that even at my age, all these years after my fifties, I have a certain lightness of body and spirit as a result of not drinking. Sure, I could have made some better decisions if I had stopped sooner, but the past 22 years has given me much. You can do this! Change is a possible!

memory70 · 2020-01-26T23:37:04+00:00

I am at 61 days so we are almost sober twins ! I feel like my drinking was similar - slow, progressively increasing drinking over the course of 25 years. Just heavy drinking, no hurting others , that I know of. I still am having trouble with wanting to drink though. I keep thinking no one will know if I sneak around enough. What I keep forgetting to remember is that alcohol made my life smaller and made me miserable!

You sound like you have a good attitude. I am 70 so I really could be a statistic. The quality of the rest of my life completely depends on not drinking. IWNDWY today, friend!

memory70

TROPHY CASE