For years – decades – I thought of myself as a ‘normal drinker’.
The way I drank didn’t really worry me.
Sure, every now and then I would overdo it and regret drinking too much.
But it always seemed under control … until it wasn’t.
I felt that my drinking had crept up on me.
I started to worry that I could tolerate more – where once I would have been physically sick after drinking a certain amount, now I could regularly drink that … and more.
I was increasingly thinking about the way I was drinking and worried about the impact it was having on my health.
And I was finding more excuses to drink, i.e. stressful day, celebration, commiseration, ‘everyone else is doing it’, any day that ends in ‘y’!
The gradual creep
As my tolerance increased so did the side effects of drinking.
I would wake in the middle of the night unable to get back to sleep and worrying about everything (including how much I was drinking).
My energy levels and mood were affected.
My food choices were poor when I was drinking and stodgy food was the best ‘cure’ for a hangover.
I could go on but you get the picture.
I knew it wasn’t good for me but when I tried to cut back I realised it was harder than I thought it would be.
How I finally took back control
Finally, after years of trying to cut back, I took back control of the way I drank.
It didn’t happen overnight and I needed to take a different approach (spoiler alert: using willpower doesn’t work) but I did it.
And, it’s a GREAT feeling.
Looking for support?
If you want support to help you gain back control you can:
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