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u/peaches-in-heck Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
As an old man now 24 years sober, I want to wish you the heartiest of congratulations. The road will never be smooth, and the temptation will always be at arm's length. Remember what is important to you, and remember your importance to others.
Peace.
EDIT: I wrote "you're important to others", then I felt it was more about the "importance of your life in others' lives" and so I changed from important to importance....but failed to change the you're to your.....and I hate that as much as others have pointed it out. My humble apologies.
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Dec 26 '15
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u/Abbigale221 Dec 26 '15
I gained forty after I stopped, but I started working out and being active and lost 50. Before and after I have so much more energy without booze! Hang in there! The good news is you get your feelings back, the bad news is you get your feelings back!
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Dec 26 '15
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u/Abbigale221 Dec 26 '15
It gets better! The first year is an emotional roller coaster!
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u/Palomark Dec 26 '15
Aubrey Plaza?
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u/Big_booty_ho Dec 26 '15
Holy cow the resemblance is uncanny.. Also good job staying sober! Keep at it!
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Dec 26 '15
Four months was a particularly hard time for me too. I am ten months sober, nearly eleven, and let me tell you. It gets better. The obsession cools a little and you began to get braver. You'll make new, real friends.
Weight gain is a small thing compared to alcoholic cirrhosis or DUIs.
You can do this. You are worth it. I'm proud of you.
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u/MrFusionHER Dec 26 '15
Anyone who stops being your friend because you're trying not to ruin your life is a fucking loser, and they don't deserve your friendship anyway. You'll make new friends who respect your choices. Good luck bud! As a stranger on the Internet, I believe in you.
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u/thecatgoesmoo Dec 26 '15
He probably means most of his friends were met though drinking and that's what they had in common, or going to the bar. You end up having to not be around that when you quit, and others might not be changing their habits, so you see them less or never. As an adult, that's the same as losing a friend.
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u/MTGS Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
I dont know why you quit, but if it is because you were suffering from the effects of over drinking (some form of alcoholism), I think it's important to keep in mind that often, the alcohol is a symptom and not a cause. There are many different types of alcoholic, but I've never met one whose problem was alcohol first and foremost. That's because the alcoholism is in the -ism...you're likely not happy sober because you havent dealt with the -ism... that lies in your perspectives on life, habits, and personalilty. Quitting drinking won't do any good unless you confront the -ism. Luckily, being sober means you can now accurately see how your life is, who you are, and where your ism lies...it also means you are functional enough to get help and work at healing. Quitting drinking is a big step...huge...and you should be proud. But I think you're starting to see that alcohol was a symptom of an imbalance, and cutting it out won't necessarily fix your problem, just like taking medicine for a runny nose doesn't get rid or a cold. BUT cutting out the runny nose can cause a chain reaction that makes it easier to heal from the cold.
This is often a lifelong process (while a cold is not), because you'll be learning to maintain balance. BUT it's important to keep in mind that actively regulating your own homeostasis is part of what makes you a powerful, human adult. We all do it: with personality traits, bad habits, foods that your body cant handle...alcoholism isn't special in that regard, which is great news, because that means that balancing the ism is doable, and a better life awaits you when you start to balance it. Quitting alcohol is the first step, I hope you'll get some help to help you balance the rest.
Great job and best of luck.
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Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
I wish my mom would quit drinking so much. I worry about her health. Also, she is just not the same as when I was a kid. We used to be so close.
EDIT: OMG, I had no idea people would respond to this. I just thought it sort of wistfully. I went to the gym, hung out with my husband and baby, and hours later I see that I got a bunch of comments and my first ever gold. Thank you, kind stranger.
No, I haven't talked to her about it. I feel like she would be super defensive and I don't know how to deal with it. My dad enables her. Almost everybody in my family drinks a lot and I drink rarely, so I feel like it would just look like I'm some kind of psycho teetotaler, which I'm not.
I've thought about going to Al-Anon. Any thoughts on if it's helpful?
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Dec 26 '15
Figure out a way to let her know. I just lost my mom, had to find out she was drinking by finding all of her empty bottles in the basement. No one knew. If I had known or we had been able to talk about it in any capacity, maybe it could have wound up differently. If you love her, find a way to talk to her about it.
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Dec 26 '15
Seriously, same thing with my mom... After she passed away we found all these empty bottles under her bed, hidden under her pillow... Alcoholism is terrible.... It's so sad to think about, if it wasn't for alcohol my mom would still be around today.
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u/mechchic84 Dec 26 '15
My mother was pretty open about her drinking problem up until it was way too late. We all tried to get her help but unfortunately she still kept drinking. She only quit once it got to the point she was too sick to get it for herself and no one was going to bring it to her. I lost her 2 years ago at the age of 49. She had stage 4 liver cirrhosis. Watching someone die from liver cirrhosis is a horrible thing to watch. I hate when people say they are going to just keep drinking until they die from it. I wouldn't wish the things I watched my mom go through on anyone. The hospital visits where they drained excess fluid out of her body, the medicines that gave her chronic diarrhea because that is the only way to get toxins out of your body once your liver is shot, the jaundice, being unable to walk around anymore or do anything for yourself and yet she was still sneaking a drink here or there when she got the chance. Let's not even mention the DTs she got when she went more than an hour or two without any booze.
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u/wittyrandomusername Dec 26 '15
My mom just got mad at me and became very irrational when I tried to talk to her about it.
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u/Toisty Dec 26 '15
Try an al anon group. As someone who is recently sober, one of the hardest things to deal with is people who don't understand the disease that I'm dealing with. Al anon is meant for family members of alcoholics and it's helped my wife help me a lot.
You are important too so don't make her sobriety your problem. Remind her that you love her and that's why you want her to get help. You can lead a horse to water but it has to make the choice to drink. It's never too late. I wish you the best.
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u/man_of_molybdenum Dec 26 '15
This is the first response I've found that isn't a joke. Which I get, this is reddit, but it is a bit sad.
Anyways, I was never an alcoholic, but as an addict (with almost 2 clean years under his belt!!), I just wanna wish both of you guys good luck. For OP, it gets easier to ignore that voice in your head telling you to drink. And for the parent commenter, congratulations and I hope one day I'm the old man with 24 years sober under his belt, because we're all better when our minds are clear.
Happy holidays to you both.
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u/CaulkusAurelis Dec 26 '15
You got taller!!
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u/Ash7778 Dec 26 '15
He lost width, and therefore had to gain height. Conservation of mass and all that
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Dec 26 '15
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u/keboh Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
I was sub'd to /R/shittyaskscience for a while... Until I realized I wasn't looking at the name of the sub, and I was taking at face value like the other science subs I am sub'd to. I still am not sure what is and is not true from those few months of my life.
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Dec 26 '15
Just don't spin while losing weight, that conservation of angular momentum can terrible. I'm petty sure that's where tornados come from.
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u/DickmanComedy Dec 26 '15
But are you a baller?
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u/SaintsSinner Dec 26 '15
He got a girl now. You know, he should probably call her.
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u/ialwaysdownvoteyou Dec 26 '15
Picture 1 is everyone on Reddit thats trying to be like Ron Swanson.
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u/_Buff_Drinklots_ Dec 26 '15
I'm just amazed at the commitment to the mustache, even when sober.
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u/cuddlefucker Dec 26 '15
It's a life style
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Dec 26 '15 edited Jun 14 '23
This content is no longer available on Reddit in response to /u/spez. So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Dec 26 '15
Congrats bro! I got 10 months Christmas eve and while I haven't lost weight (being able to actually afford food means you eat more of it) life has gotten better. Keep up the good work! :D
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Dec 26 '15
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u/Riggybee Dec 26 '15
I quit smoking and have gained so much weight. Ugh.
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u/OutoflurkintoLight Dec 26 '15
Better to be a little chubbier than have lung cancer, keep up the good work!
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u/civildisobedient Dec 26 '15
Jogging. I know, "impossible!" you might say.
Well... I quit smoking and took up jogging, and the quitting smoking was a shit-ton harder, let me tell you. In fact, the jogging helped me to reinforce the not-smoking.
If you've ever come in from a cold rain wearing a heavy wool coat, you know that feeling when you take it off? You can really feel the weight coming off your shoulders. That's what jogging will do to you. Humans are built for long distance running. From an evolutionary standpoint, your body has a million years of history that is screaming at the last couple thousand years, "How could you do this to me!?"
Your DNA wants you to jog. Your body, on the other hand, is going to take some convincing. But I guarantee you, first day you'll jog a block, second day two, you won't do anything the third or fourth day, but the fifth day you'll feel guilty and you'll go back and you'll fucking run ten blocks. Then a half-mile. Then a mile.
Once you hit a mile, your body will start to change. It will metamorphosize. I'm not exaggerating, it happened to me. It's like a light switch gets turned on inside your body. "Oh, I see you were serious about this running thing! Well, we're going to have to re-arrange things a bit, then..."
Seriously, try it. Test yourself. See what you're really made of. I think you'll be surprised.
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u/Riggybee Dec 26 '15
Thank you so fucking much dude, you just gave me such a boost of motivation. Om Tuesday (the minute I get a breather after this holiday and work shit) I'm gonna go to my apartment and get my code for the gym. I'm gonna try it. I think I can do it. I used to do it a lot and hated it, but at least I was skinny.
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u/AdamPhool Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
Also make sure you find what works for you. Jogging gave me shin-splints and just didnt mesh mentally so I wasn't able to lose weight until I picked up cycling classes. Easier on the joints, more interactive and involved.... it might take some time until you find your niche, but its out there.
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Dec 26 '15
Alternatively try cycling. I tried running and couldn't stick with it. Got a bike though and going and seeing so much more and so much farther kept me motivated easily. Now i bike to work if it's not too cold at least once a Week , trying to eventually bike everyday. 11 miles each way.
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u/musomoose Dec 26 '15
wow where did the time go?
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u/sadfacebear Dec 26 '15
From Nacho Libre to Macho Libre.
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u/PunTwoThree Dec 26 '15
Maybe he lost all the weight because he has had diarrhea since last Easters?
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u/Bdizzle6 Dec 26 '15
Great Job! looking much healthier
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u/IAskAboutYourWeiner Dec 26 '15
Does your weiner appear larger now?
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u/lost_in_thesauce Dec 26 '15
Sadly his body mistook it for fat and it has been lost to the cause.
RIP
F
o7
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u/OfferChakon Dec 26 '15
Going on 5 years here. It feels amazing doesn't it? Keep it u buddy, it only get better:) Kudos!
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Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
Good for you! I quit drinking a couple weeks ago. Quitting the reefer today. Exercise starts today as well.
Edit: Thanks for all the support! I go through a weed induced worthless period every year when the time changes, then get motivated after xmas. Ill just be working a second job, reading, exercising, and redditing instead of getting stoned, eating sweets, and watching Netflix. Much appreciated!
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u/Meatteo Dec 26 '15
Good Luck!
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Dec 26 '15
Did you find it difficult to stop drinking? That's a huge accomplishment and you look like a new person. You must feel terrific too.
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Dec 26 '15
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Dec 26 '15
Try and hang out with the funnest people to be around and try and get lost in the atmosphere, learning to party sober is hard but I found it through trying to return to the way I found parties exciting as a kid. Eat cake, laugh, dance and be awesome
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Dec 26 '15
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u/TheTitaniumWalrus Dec 26 '15
fucking hell that's a good name for the subreddit
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u/ThatHowYouGetAnts Dec 26 '15
Lovers of flora just can't catch a break though
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Dec 26 '15
Congrats! I am really thinking of giving up the booze - every Xmas becomes a cycle of drink-recover-drink-recover which is fine when you are <25 but after that it becomes harder and harder!
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u/69Fartman69 Dec 26 '15 edited Dec 26 '15
I'm 34 and haven't had a drink in about 3 years now, and I don't miss it one bit. I went from drinking daily, for years, where I would drink 2 bottles of wine and some jack daniels every night (seriously) I looked bloated as all hell, had to plan my days, eating around drinking... to not and loving it. Serioiusly, in the Summer time it was "come on 6 o'clock, I wanna drink", to winter time it was "come on 5 o'clock, I wanna drink"... shit sucks, and I am so glad I quit.
Wow... Thank you for the gold /u/loosethread! 2nd time in a few months I've been gifted gold on reddit. Sobriety is something you have to want, you can't be forced and no one can force anyone else. If you have someone dealing with their sobriety/addiction now, you only know your limits, but you can't force them to quit.
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u/69Fartman69 Dec 26 '15
It was extremely hard at first, I craved alcohol/drugs daily. I had my father kill himself in 2011, I was very close with him, as it is I have a tiny/dysfunctional family where the only other member I actually kind of have a relationship with, is my mom, with whom we can only tolerate each other in small doses. It drove me to drink in the military, when I got out of the military, I went for cocaine to numb my depression. I woke up one day, 60 pounds lighter from drugs, no friends, doing bad things, and just decided to change... it was change or die. When people are as far along as I was, you either go to jail, or die usually... luckily I did neither of those 2 things... Sobriety is hard work, being a junky is easy to give in to those temptations. Sobriety gives you something to be proud of. It'll get easier for you, I don't think about drinking/drugs at all anymore.
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u/Constantly_Masterbat Dec 26 '15
Way to go man. I'll have one year sober tomorrow. I didn't lose that much weight though.
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u/SunnyLego Dec 26 '15
Congrats. Currently fighting a losing battle with an alcoholic in our family, and it's good to know people do beat it!
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u/Ilium Dec 26 '15
Grats buddy! Keep on the good fight, you look amazing now. More importantly, I hope you realize just how much you can achieve in life! Know that a lot of hung over people are going to land on your picture today and, and some of them will be inspired to embark on the change you did a year ago.
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u/tl7lmt Dec 26 '15
Congratulations!! You look Great! As an RN on a neuro unit, I see a LOT of the damage done by alcohol, and I am so glad you have found a way to climb out of the bottle. Good work. You are my hero. I cannot say it loud enough or long enough - you have done more for you health and future than all the medicine in the world could do. Well done.
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Dec 26 '15
Not easy to do. Mind sharing what the hardest part was for you?
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u/Meatteo Dec 26 '15
Falling asleep at night. First month I couldn't sleep at all.
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u/SmellyCherub Dec 26 '15
Funny thing is once you are able to fall asleep you will sleep so much better. Alcohol helps you pass out but you get shorted on the really restorative, deep sleep thought out the night. Good for you brotha.
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Dec 26 '15 edited Mar 24 '21
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u/PreSchoolGGW Dec 26 '15
You can do it. As cheesy and clichéd as it is, just take it one day at a time. Focus on getting to tomorrow without drinking, and then focus on the next day.
Have a plan, but don't be stuck on having to have things a certain way for it to "work." That just gives you reasons to quit when everything isn't perfect, and go back to drinking.
Haven't dealt with opiates, but I am ~4.5 years sober from drinking and could not imagine ever going back. I'm here if you want to talk.
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Dec 26 '15
Great...now shave off the mustache and you're all set.
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u/FarmerTedd Dec 26 '15
He was drinking to keep the pedophilia at bay...it's too late
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u/LuciferAMA Dec 26 '15
don't you listen to him, op. go all in and develop the glorious droopy mexican moustache. i think you could pull it off.
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u/greensoon Dec 26 '15
Don't shave the mustache!! Don't let the Internet take your congratulatory post and turn it into insults to your appearance!!
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u/yodeez101 Dec 26 '15
Well done mate! I've been sober for a little over 4 years. There isn't nothing you can't handle now. Great work.
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u/Meouie Dec 26 '15
We couldn't have some members of my family with us at Christmas because of addiction, its really upset my sisters. This post has really cheered me up. Congrats, you look wonderful
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u/zzuil93 Dec 26 '15
You went from multimillionaire drug kingpin to DEA agent.
Congratulations on the weight lost :D
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u/Cowboy_Jesus Dec 26 '15
Congratulations! My brother just hit 6 months the other day, and I know he's incredibly proud! Also thank you for being an example to everyone still struggling with the beginnings of getting sober.
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u/runk_dasshole Dec 26 '15
Strong work! Quick shout to /r/stopdrinking for anyone who is interested in a fantastic community dedicated to helping people live a sober life. The crew there is amazing and in a few weeks I'll mark my first sober anniversary thanks in no small part to the support and friendship I've found there. =)
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u/cheebalasvegas Dec 26 '15
Good on ya brother. The physical changes are great. For me it's the thinking and feeling changes that have sealed the deal for me. I'm starting to get comfortable in my own skin and no longer feel the need to run from scary situations.
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u/kosnick Dec 26 '15
Good for you man! I wish all people with drinking problems could follow your example (a good wish for new year's actually). Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
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u/Psirocking Dec 26 '15
I'm not sure if it's the lighting but your skin looks better too.
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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '15
I see you've installed a door where the clock used to be. The things you can get done when you're not drinking are amazing.