quit drinking for 6 months

I need to test my resolve on this… my tolerance keeps going up and it is just so hard to stop at one or two. If i open a bottle…even if it is on a monday night, i will end up finishing the bottle. Also i find that i am gagging for a drink usually on the 3rd day (and i usually dont resist). I often think of alcoholics, it (alcoholism) does not happen over night, so why didnt they just try to control teh problem while it was early enough to fix. So i guess i am at that point now (just in case i am an alco in the making) – i figure it will only get harder as time goes on. I am realistically quitting for 6 months, but ideally i would like to just quit. That sounds too scary though, so for now, 6 months is a good achievable (hopefully)goal. i am going to start when i get back from my xmas hols – 6 Jan 2010.

So I’m feeling good today, after 7 days of not drinking but I am also wearily aware that:

a) It’s Thursday and the weekend is coming up.
b) I have been so busy with work that I haven’t been going out.
c) As soon as I do re-enter the minefield (socially speaking), things will not be so easy in terms of staying sober.

So:
I’ve been trying to embarrass myself into sticking with my commitment by forcing myself to remember the things through the black and “brown outs”, and all of the many, many times that I woke up the next day, frightened and feeling like a fool after a long night out with people that I didn’t necessarily even want to see me get ugly drunk (i.e. work-related folks, family members, etc). Long, sloppy conversations (sometimes more) with people I don’t necessarily like or even know, etc.

(ouch)

Ah yes. There it is again. The motivation.

Already the wine glass is singing its siren song. I don’t know how well I’ll be able to do this. Maybe I can switch to “no binge drinking”? Maybe it’s possible to quit if I just try to CONCENTRATE while I’m actually in the act, rather than swill it down? Ugh… I hate this.

I’m a pretty big drinker and I know it’s getting in the way of everything that’s important to me. I’ve tried to kick this in the past but it’s SO hard. Especially when so much of my social and professional life is wrapped up in it.
I’d like to try to:
1) cut out alcohol completely for 90 days.
2) replace it with exercise, diet to stay motivated.
3) come up with a list of things to do in the city besides drink, and get my friends to do them with me.

Just celebrated 6 months on 8/22. Woohoo!

I’m doing this for an assortment of reasons, non of which include addiction. I’m doing this to test myself, since I find drinking to be such a social networking thing for me. I’m doing this to be healthier. I’m doing this to not socially smoke. I’m doing this to train for a half marathon. So far, so good… But I only started on 2/8, so we shall see! I’m a sucker for a good whiskey or glass of wine.