There was a slight tick down across all health measurements this morning. My longest alcohol free stretch definitely is having a positive impact on my weight. I’m still waiting for the ‘big pee’, though. I expect that to happen once my body has burned through the last of my glycogen reserves later today or tomorrow. I’m surprised the ‘big pee’ is taking so long. I’m adding 16:8 intermittent fasting into the mix to help things along.
Zero+ ; Octet ; M: 83 ; C: 46 ; P/U: 50 ; W : 5 miles
Health R.O.S.
- Weight: 217.0 pounds
- BMI: 29.4
- Fat %: 22.6
Going Alcohol & Pot Free
I managed an ‘Octet’ yesterday. I can’t remember the last time I went eight days without alcohol or pot. In other words, I can’t remember the last time I was sober this long. In the past, if I went without pot, I drank more alcohol. If I cut back on the alcohol, I smoked more pot.
Put another way, I could be pot free for a few days with an assist from alcohol or have an alcohol free stretch with an assist from pot. But rarely could I do both simultaneously for more than a couple of days.
Alcoholic Obsession
Through daily meditation and study, I’ve come to discover that alcohol use disorder (or whatever we choose to call it) is the inevitable outcome of an unhealthy and compulsive desire – an obsession with alcohol. This compulsion to drink all the time is an entrenched habit on autopilot. You continue to seek the reward long after it has vanished. The high is a mirage. You drink just to feel normal.
I know now that satiating obsession does not bring happiness or even, after a long time drinking, its oft mistaken sibling – pleasure. I’ve learned during this alcohol free stretch that career drinkers don’t drink to feel better (that ship has sailed), they drink simply to get from -10 back to 0. How is that a victory?
The absence of unhappiness does not equal happiness. You just go from negative to neutral (if you’re lucky) and back again. It’s the alcoholic pendulum. Your goal should be to swing past zero and all the way to +10. And stay there! Only sobriety does that.
I’m going to make today a Niner+. Let’s keep this winning streak going!
The trap here is the fact that desire, and its ally pleasure… are extremely seductive. But when the silken threads of desire, which seem so light at first, soon tighten, the soft garment they have woven becomes a straight-jacket. The more you struggle, the tighter it becomes.
Matthieu Ricard – Happiness
