My weight continues to be range bound. I’ve been stuck here for something like a month. There’s no sense in losing sight of how much progress I’ve made to date. Afterall, I’ve lost around 26 pounds and 2 pants sizes. And I’ve worked my way up to 105 pushups. Plus I’m pot sober and ain’t been thinking about drinking much these days (more on that later).
Zero+ ; 11teen ; M: 184 ; C: 142 ; P/U: Rest ; W: 2 mi
Health R.O.S.
- Weight: 204.5
- BMI: 27.7
- Fat %: 21.0
- Water %: 57.6
Despite how frustrating it is to be stuck at my 205 setpoint, I know my body is just getting settled in to the new weight. Plus, it’s been quite a challenge staying in The Plant Paradox through the holiday season, though I’ve been really quite good overall. I’m convinced if I had cheated less, I’d be at my goal by now. I’ve decided to stop weighing in until after New Years. I’ll stay on course best I can because I don’t want to erase the gains (or more appropriately, losses) I’ve enjoyed so far. But I also don’t see the need to put a damper on the holidays when I’ve managed my drinking so well.
More importantly, I’m willing to take some of the weight loss pressure off so I can better focus on the alcohol piece.
Drinkie Ain’t Thinking About Drinking
I wanted to spend a little bit of time today reflecting on Drinkie. You see, Drinkie is constantly thinking about drinking. But since my last drinking episode following Thanksgiving, Drinkie and the urges he creates have largely been absent from my mind.
For example, on my commute home from work last night, I passed the two liquor stores I normally do. But unlike similar commutes over the past year, there was no Drinkie thinking about drinking, encouraging me to stop and pick up a twelve pack.
There was no craving, urge, desire, or temptation. Nothing.
I simply acknowledged each liquor store as I drove past it and noticed Drinkie’s absence. I was like, “Hmmm, this is interesting. He’s just not here today.”
You’re not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master today. Then keep doing that everyday.
– Unknown
And as I thought about it, I realized that he hadn’t really bugged me much over the past several days either. In fact, I simply haven’t been thinking about drinking much at all lately. Sure, there’s a fleeting thought here or there, but these thoughts lack two critical components:
- Stickiness – they aren’t able to grab my attention
- Emotion – they do not invoke craving or desire
I’m not going to say that Drinkie has gone the way of Smokie. It’s far too early for that. But it does feel like that a little bit. I rarely, if ever, think about smoking pot anymore, but when I do, there’s no desire to go any further than the thought itself. Is drinking getting to a similar place?
To Think or Not To Think
Of course, the best case scenario would be never to think about drinking or smoking again, but that’s impossible. We are drowning in beer and alcohol ads. And where I live in California, there are billboards for legal marijuana products, dispensaries, and delivery services just about everywhere.
Having a thought is one thing. Acting on it is an entirely different matter. My challenge six months ago was that I was acting habitually, without thinking. When I was at the store, I’d buy beer. It was something I did almost every time I went to the supermarket. I bought beer even if I already had a fridge full of it! I’d be like:
“Gee, I don’t have any of that (insert craft brewery) IPA. And that (different craft brewery) Double IPA looks interesting. I better get them both!”
So I would. And I would soon drink them both.
While getting pot was generally a little more complicated and required either driving 30 minutes to the nearest dispensary or making a delivery arrangement, I solved this problem by buying it in bulk. As a result, I always had a 3-6 month supply on hand and restocked quarterly.
Now I have none. And I think if I suddenly had some, I wouldn’t do it. Getting high isn’t something that I want to do anymore. So, sure, I think about it, but I never act on the impulse. Not even when I’m offered a hit, as I often am.
I’m still struggling with alcohol in this regard, so the whole not thinking about drinking thing is really working out for me. At least for now.
I know I share this book a lot, but it’s really quite good.