Day #42 - The Next Big Step

I mentioned yesterday that I think I'm ready to take the next big step in my 360 day commitment.  As of today I'm giving up alcohol... completely.  When I started this journey I set out my goals to lose 100 pounds, give up smoking, and give up drinking.  To be honest, when I made those goals I really didn't intend to give up drinking completely, but rather cut back on my weekend drinking with Mrs. Fogdog.  I also thought it would more or less just happen as I focused on losing weight, but after these first 41 days I think it will be best if I commit to abstaining completely and I think I should begin now.

To explain this decision to change the order of my plan you first have to understand my drinking style...

As far as social drinking goes with friends, I am completely normal.  I can go out and have a few beers or when the in-laws come my father-in-law and I can enjoy some wine.  I never have too much, I never have to worry about driving home, and you can count the number of times I do this over a year on one hand (I don't have much of a social life with 3 kids).

However, Mrs. Fogdog and I have a "ritual" that typically involves drinking on the weekends.  We get a bottle of rum, a couple bags of chips, and some dip.  After we put the kids to bed, we throw in a movie, eat junk, and drink Captain Morgan Rum and Coke's until we get good and buzzed.  This has become our "habit" and we've been doing it for as long as I can remember; even before we moved here last year.

Depending on how stressful the week goes, there have been weekends when we do this both on Friday and Saturday nights and of course there have been some weekends when we didn't do it at all.  However, I would say the number of times we do it both weekend nights outnumbers the weekends where we don't do it at all.

Now mind you, we're not talking about falling over, passing out drunk like you might have done in college (I know I did), but definitely enough to drink that I wouldn't think about getting in a car and driving anywhere.  Neither of us displays any of the major signs of alcohol dependence, as I said it right just feels more like a habit.

Now the reason why I've decided to give up alcohol completely has to do with these last 41 days.  Mrs. FogDog and I have noticed that over these last 41 days we've started to drinking more than we have in the past.  I believe it's starting to become a replacement for my not smoking; my way of dealing with stress.  Essentially I'm trying to be proactive; quit drinking now BEFORE it becomes a real problem.

So here we go, into Day #43.  My first real test of this new commitment will happen next weekend.  I have to admit, it feels really good to be making these changes; for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm on the right track and making real progress toward overall improvement of my health.

-Stay Strong!