Still going strong! Well, more like maintaining lol. But I will gladly take maintenance over chaos! I have had some speed bumps over the past week or so. I haven't been to the gym for about the same time, but I am looking forward to getting back in the gym soon! My bike chain broke, so I need to try and fix that, which sucks because I can't bike now.Good morning and welcome!! Sounds like you have good motivation and a clear direction of what you want to do. Have you been thinking about how you will give yourself the best chance of successful recovery? Like maybe doing outpatient treatment, going to AA, and getting supportive friends and family members involved. Please continue to post in here; I believe it is very helpful to check in and write out your thoughts and feelings, like a journal. And, if you do that here, you get the bonus of getting support and accountability from us who are also walking the path of recovery. I feel that trying to go it alone makes sobriety and recovery WAY more difficult.

Edit: I forgot to ask, what is your clean date? I wasn't able to determine (and I don't want to assume) whether or not you had already started on with sobriety and have some clean days.

Three weeks since I last smoked weed

Bout ten years since I took a like of coke

A year since lsd

Month or so since beer.

2 week free of caffeine.

Congrats, looks like you have been clean from a lot of stuff for a while. How has your recovery been? Do you find it relatively easy to stay away from consuming those substances? Do you have any suggestions or advice to people to help them in their recovery journey?

What’s the saying?

“One day at a time”

For me it’s a day by day program.

Still haven’t really worked with a sponsor and done the steps properly, but I am working on that.

I think the key is to, help others and have others help you.

This program is about “We”

When We make it about We it gets better

No one can do this alone.

About one month done. Doing pretty good. Down 10 solid pounds. Mindset is a lot more stable and positive, life is improving, moneymaxxing and familymaxxing are some long term goals I can get going on now one day at a time.

Hell yeah, that's the plan!
I agree, I like taking it a day at a time. It's much easier and less stressful to think about not drinking or using for today versus a lifetime!Congrats on almost one month! Super awesome to be hitting that 30 day milestone. And that's fantastic about the weight loss and having a more stable and positive mindset.

I might have mentioned this before, but I remember reading years ago that your subconscious responds better to positive vs negative, or doing instead of not doing. It might be BS, but it seems to help me.

Therefore I like to think in terms of "I will stay sober" instead of "I will not drink."

I believe the idea is something like your subconscious gets attached to the main verbs and will constantly be bouncing the verb around to fight or process. Something like "I will not be lazy" vs "I will work" can make the difference between convincing your subconscious that you are inherently lazy vs a hard worker.

Like I said, it could be BS but it does seem to help me and maybe it will help someone else.

I don't think it is BS, thanks for sharing that idea! I have also heard this in my treatment groups and I feel like it makes a lot of sense. When you bring something in that is negative, it has a negative effect even stating that you will not do that negative thing. However, you can flip it like you said and bring in positivity and focus on that. That mindset certainly helps me!

Hey Joey, thanks for the reply.

And yea I know honestly with myself, it’s all or nothing. Gradually cutting down doesn’t work so I got rid of everything in the house and just not buying anymore. Doubled up with using the gym as my distraction and therapy.

Clean date was the 1st of this month and nearly a week in doing well and feeling a lot better - apart from the DOMS (they suck ass haha).

I use to be in good shape when I was younger, put on a lot weight during covid, so getting back to my old body shape using that as a goal to work towards.

I have to say the gym definitely has been great for myself but the pool afterwards I feel the most relaxed I can remember. Usually just do 10-20 lengths depending how I feel and take my sweet ass time doing them. While I’m swimming I try to think of positive choices going to make for the next day which seems to help a lot.

37 days complete, that’s 10% of a year. Feelzgood

Not BS. It's just that the mind can't really process a "negative" in that sense. The very act of reminding yourself "not" to think about something, inherently makes you think about that very thing. Like in golf. You can't say to yourself, "whatever you do, don't think about the water on the right". Because you're now immediately thinking about the water on the right, and your body will follow. Instead, you'd want to say, "focus on the plenty of bailout area of rough to the left of the fairway".

So, seems like a phenomenal way to approach the mindset tbh.

Congrats on the week of sobriety now! How is your sobriety/recovery quest going? That's great that you are starting to workout again! I think it is incredibly important to make more changes than just not using/drinking, otherwise it is likely to return to using. And exercise is especially fantastic because it makes you feel better mentally and physically. I agree with you on the pool. I love swimming, it is such great exercise. Cardio and a full body workout in which you stay cool constantly from the water lol. I commend you for wanting to make more positive choices, hopefully you can find a new hobby and/or some new friends who will support your recovery.**** yeah, congrats! That is super awesome and hopefully you are feeling that recovery is positively effecting your life!That's a really good way of explaining it, I agree 100%. Thank you for your explanation!



As far as how I am doing, overall pretty well. I'm still really frustrated about my bus pass and my bike chain breaking because it has hindered my ability to get around as well as getting exercise. I am hoping that the bus pass comes today. Unfortunately, my attempts to repair my bike chain have been futile. I am glad to have a bit over 16 months of sobriety as well as living in a sober living house because I can handle these frustrations much better without drinking or using.

“ I am glad to have a bit over 16 months of sobriety as well as living in a sober living house because I can handle these frustrations much better without drinking or using.”

Ain’t that the truth Joey. I think work would give me a heart attack if I kept drinking. My manager just told me today he knows 5 supervisors who have had heart attacks since he started here like 8 years ago. I was getting panic attacks and couldn’t deal with stress well. That’s getting much better now.

One month of no alcohol in the books this week. Over the pandemic I had found myself drinking out of boredom, and it got excessive. It was beginning to affect my mood and was easily irritated. I stopped drinking after a Fourth of July party where I fell up the stairs and messed up my wrist. I've been sleeping so well!

Congratulations on hitting that one month mark! Besides sleeping well, have you noticed other positive changes in your life?

Definitely mental clarity, and better energy throughout the day. Not to mention more money in the bank account. Didn't realize how quickly drinking everyday added up. I feel good for sure.

Box jumps with 70lbs, 35 in each hand. Fun!

Hell yea! Definitely a lot of good things coming from recovery. That mental clarity and better energy is so awesome and having more money is always nice lol.

Damn dude, getting hella strong! I was wondering about you since I haven’t seen you post in a bit. How are you doing? I hope you’re doing well!

Doing good, 9.5 months sober.



Did 7 sets of 6 reps DB snatch with 100lbs. This is coming along pretty well. Goal is to be able to do insane amounts of reps without stopping to take a break.

Have to say it’s my favorite exercise! What’s not to like? Works your grip, works your legs and back, works your shoulders, and great for conditioning.

Today is 30 days away from the devils lettuce.

It looks like a good exercise! You seem to be regaining your fitness super quickly!Congratulations on 30 (well, more now as of me posting) days! I know some people will say that addiction and physical dependence is impossible from marijuana, but I disagree completely. It can be very difficult to quit and stay sober.




I hope y'all have been doing well! I apologize for not posting this past week. I've been doing okay, just laying low. Things have picked up this week and I am excited to have my own room now. Also, I'm super stoked to have a desk (well kind of lol, as you can see in my video). I am excited for the desk because now I can sit in a chair and not sit cross legged on the floor, which has been hurting my legs and knees. Additionally, I can play PC games much easier because the keyboard and mouse are in a more comfortable position on the desk.

I got my bus pass figured out and worked at Monday and yesterday. I will be going to the gym in about an hour or so. It feels nice to be back in the gym. I plan on lifting light weight this whole week so I can reintroduce my muscles to working out and hopefully prevent injury.

I’m happy for you!! It’s amazing how you can appreciate simple things in life when you may not have had them previously. Some things like being able to sleep or eat, or not having to worry about getting drunk or high, but also things like transportation is a game changer, or a place to put your stuff. I know how good that can make you feel bro.

You had taken a while off from the gym right? Sometimes it’s good to take a break to prevent injury and break through plateaus.

Will watch your vid later

Yeah, exactly! The simple things we took for granted during our addiction are very rewarding to get in recovery. And yes, it's been a few weeks, which is unfortunate lol. Don't feel obligated to watch the vid haha!


How have you been doing this week?

Glad you’re getting back to the gym mate

I’m ok just truckin along

Getting better on bench press, after having not touched a barbell in 9 years I’ve made some progress in the last month of going back to a gym



Also still hitting the pull-ups:




By my calculations I am 10 months sober if it was mid November of last year that I stopped drinking. Unreal how time flies

[QUOTE=Ausaric post_id=1688652273]Getting better on bench press, after having not touched a barbell in 9 years I’ve made some progress in the last month of going back to a gym

[youtube]L1qEZMkSzdY[youtube]

Also still hitting the pull-ups:

[youtube]Fz9xTLUknrI[youtube]


By my calculations I am 10 months sober if it was mid November of last year that I stopped drinking. Unreal how time flies[/QUOTE]Nice lifts! And congratulations on 10 months sober! It does go quickly lol.

GJDM on 10 months Ausaric!

Thx guise! I think exercise is like the #1 thing that could help most people feel better. Myself included.

Unreal how drugs/alcohol steal stuff away from us that we enjoy or that are good for us. Can’t ever get that time back.

But I guess the past is behind us.


Still trying to do some cardio here and there, suck at running big time but for me this isn’t bad:



Gotta get dopamine from something, brothers

Nice boyo. For cardio, over the years I’ve learned slower is good…. Certain physiological adaptations only take place at lower intensities. Here is a good video on it, and there are some others with inigo San Millan and Peter Attia. The vast majority of your training should be a very easy going pace. Pace Improves slowly as you get fitter.

Also, alcohol inhibits fat oxidation and mitochondrial function, which prevents endurance adaptations… just another reason to stay sober!

Tomorrow morning is 50 days down. Slow and steady. I’ve read it can take the brain and neurotransmitters 18-24 months to restore to normal function (fix anhedonia, depression, lack of forward drive, anxiety, baseline happiness, etc)