Day 23 – My Sobriety Streak Hits a New High

I find it interesting how today’s readings are exactly the same as yesterday’s in spite of intermittent fasting. The ‘big pee’ is still delinquent, but should arrive soon. When I was younger, the ‘big pee’ would usually go down by the third day of any sugar free stretch, much less a sobriety streak of nine. Ugh…

Things are way different now that I’m over 50. You find it’s a lot more work to lose weight once you’ve hit ripe middle age. Still, I’m down around 13 pounds since I started this journey, so that’s something.

Zero+ ; Niner ; M: 84 ; C: 47 ; P/U: 50 ; W : 3 miles

Health R.O.S.

• Weight: 217.0 pounds
• BMI: 29.4
• Fat %: 22.6

My Sobriety Streak

Yesterday marked a new sobriety milestone. I got my first ‘Niner’ in the books. Right now, I intend to extend it out to my first ‘Dime’ and tack on another sugar free day to log four of those.

The additional sugar free days should add some real power to my current sobriety streak. I expect my beer cravings to continue to diminish as the sugar loving bacteria in my gut are starved out. I’m fairly certain that beer and sugar feed the same undesirable gut bugs that cause my alcohol cravings in the first place.

As it stands, I still think about buying beer every single day (you know how it can be). I am constantly confronting that urge and working to let it go (or make it let go of me). My sobriety is challenged daily by a little voice in the back of my head suggesting the “next time we’ll get drunk”. I continually remind myself that it’s only today that matters. The present moment. Nothing else.

The “next time” exists (or not, who knows) in some future that will arrive presently of its own accord, and in its own time, if at all. My goal is to ensure fewer and fewer of these “next times”. And so far, that is the way it’s working out.

Some ROS’s

My Wellbeing ROS is improving. My mood is good despite suffering from constant lower back pain. I’ve experienced a few near sleepless nights over the past week. Fortunately, meditation helps me feel more rested and alert so I’m not a total zombie. Recently, I’ve added a couple of new back and hip stretches to my morning Yoga routine. They appear to be taking the edge off. Fingers crossed.

My Knowledge ROS finds me completing rereads of Animal Farm and Of Mice & Men. I just started Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Hard to believe a 19 year old could write something so amazing, but she managed to do just that. I’m concurrently reading Happiness by Matthieu Ricard and quite enjoying it. I’m planning to add a book review of this book to the blog after I’ve finished it.

On the Philanthropic ROS front, I continue to be the sympathetic ear to friends and family who are confronting their own demons. I’m helping a mentally and emotionally frozen employee transition from her stale and oppressive role into an exciting new one. She’s really scared and struggling, but I’m gonna help get her there. I am proactively reaching out to both of my brothers to offer support and encouragement – one is having marital issues while the other is going through a job transition.

I see my Wisdom ROS providing exponential returns as I continue daily meditation practice(s). Everyday I gain new insights into my use disorder, how close I was/am to alcoholism, relationships, and the world at large. Daily meditation is changing my perspective to one that is more positive and optimistic. It’s the primary reason my sobriety streaks are getting longer and longer. Meditation not only gives me determination to get sober, it’s building my mental muscles to stay that way.

Today I’m going for another Zero+. If my weight doesn’t budge (and you probably know how frustrating that can be!) I may have to do a cheat day (eating poorly). In my experience, I might be able to ‘trick’ my body into letting some of this water go. I’m thinking that I may have inadvertently triggered my body’s starvation response through the combination of zero alcohol, zero sugar, and 16:8 intermittent fasting.

I’ll see tomorrow.