After 4 months I can honestly say I feel the healthiest I have felt in 20 years. 20 years of drinking certainly can cause a bit of damage to your liver. I would not say I was a heavy drinker but towards to end I was certainly [...]

I hadone real ‘test’ this week but although I had expected things to be very tricky they ended up being quite manageable. We had our first bookclub meeting for the year. My bookclub is not a scary intellectual gat [...]

Almost one month in to my HSM and I’m starting to feel more energetic. I’ve gone back to working 7 days a week which is not ideal, but I’m starting to get ahead again, which is great. I’ve found that n [...]

I almost did – I spent an hour going back & forth in my head – do I? don’t I? (After all, 12mths is a really long time, perhaps I can have 1 drinking day per month? that would be pretty fair wouldn’t i [...]

Cravings – check. Liver screaming – check. Head going insane – check. End of the week – check. TIred – check. Bored – check This was all happening this afternoon until about 6.15pm tonight. [...]

7 weeks ago I moved from Brisbane Australia, to Beijing China. AndI’ve drunk more in the last 7 weeks here in Beijing than in the last 12 months in Brisbane. I’m not a big drinker. I thought I’d grown out o [...]

Nearly 4 weeks down, 8 more to go and I feel pretty damn amazing. I’ve been feeling clearer mentally/emotionally as well as having more energy. The kids started back at school this week, and my baby started prep and wit [...]

So told my coworkers and boss that I’m not keen to drink anymore. The two that I work closely with, laughed at me and gave me shit about it. Then I told them how I thought that NZ (and Aus) have a huge drinking culture [...]

Ok, so today is day 3. Australia day was easy to survive as I didn’t go anywhere but tonight it is one of my best friend’s birthdays and she has no idea I’m doing this. So will will how this goes….

An update on my sobriety travels would simply sound like: “I am still sober.” This is both terrifying and anticlimactic. I’m finding it very easy to avoid the sweet nectar of gin and beer (not together, but [...]

That title leaves me gobsmacked. At the end of last year of did not think I had a hope of stopping drinking again. But it did happen. I think my recovery began when I told my son he could not live in my home anymore. I had do [...]

Then life changed… My father died and my mother feel into ill health through her loss. I was trying to support my husband in further studies. My husband was retrenched and had to take a contract job interstate, so I was [...]

I completed my first HSM last year (2011). I loved it. Once I got past the initial fortnight, wow I felt AMAZING. Totally amazing. And as alcohol and slowly but surely crept back into my life over the last 6 months, I’v [...]

Australia Day is a mystery to me. In my house it means that we get the day off to sit around in the pool and congratulate ourselves on another year here. Yesterday it struck me that I’ve been here for coming up to 6 yea [...]

Just thinking about the drug issue/non-issue of the world. Thinking already I know and only 6 days into not drinking.Is everyone that weak that they need to take drugs every day? Is everyone that scared of reality? I know eve [...]

I had just written a very lengthy post but deleted it before publishing my mistake. Woops. I apologise if the following seems a bit rushed. 27 days into HSM, and 11 days without a cigarette. The withdrawls from both drugs ha [...]

Hi All, Oz day saw me hit the 7 month mark. It was my first dry OZ day since the 1970’s. I spent it with old friends, one of whom I’ve known since I was 8 and the rest about 30 years. The grog was flowing all arou [...]

Hello fellow HSMers Well after a couple of posts bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t get past Day 2 (starting Day 6 today), not only have I done it but I could not be happier. Never-the-less, I am well aware that I coul [...]

Last week I was talking to David Sedaris about sobriety. I’d love to say it was over dinner and we’d just discussed world politics, the importance of travel and, if we had a choice, which animal we would like to b [...]

Ugh. I drank both Wednesday and Thursday night. Ugh. I did it at home, alone, stressed about my Dad. I didn’t even enjoy it. So now what?

7.5 hours into my 12 week HSM not drinking plan (5.5 of them I was fast asleep), only 2008.5 to go. If I sleep 8 hrs a day that 672 hours covered, work a conservative 50hrs a week, I am down to a mere 744 hrs. How easy will t [...]

I messed up on my birthday, which was Tuesday. I had managed over 3 weeks quite well, but the last few days I was wondering whether I would actually be able to do it for the whole three months. I took the day off on my birthd [...]

This is my first weekend as an HSMer and I think deep down I’m quite worried about it. I usually only drink on weekends, Friday night after work beers, Saturday afternoon beers and most weekends, Sunday afternoon as wel [...]

Congratulations man and well deserved, need I say more. http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/?m=chris-raine-2012

Life is interesting…sometimes you think about where you are and wonder how you got there. This time last year I was wasted at an Aus Day party with my only worry my impending flight to Brisbane to start a new job and my [...]

48 hours ‘dry’. My routine is to have a binge, get a hangover the next day, recuperate then drink the next day … so cannot really deny I have a drinking problem. Every 2nd day is a drinking session. My last [...]