So, it's been rolling around in my mind for a while....niggling, scratching, tickling..... but I haven't wanted to do anything about it. I like to drink. Surely, I can cut back, right?
It hit me on Sunday, hard. I wasn't looking for it. In fact, I was feeling a little smug because I could actually remember all of the party on Saturday night. Couldn't be that bad, right? I can dial it back when I need to...
Then I saw the review of Ann Dowsett Johnston's book "Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol," and the jig was up. Here as another woman, talking about "topping off" before a party, or wondering if anyone would notice if she refilled her glass first, or if she took the most. I saw myself in that description. The review went on to say that drinking more than three alcoholic beverages three times in a month constituted "binge drinking."
Whoa, I thought. Three drinks on three occasions in a month? How about in one week - with more on the weekends? I easily outdid that. I've always been an overachiever.
So I stopped. Just for that day. I didn't open the obligatory bottle of wine with dinner. Instead, I bought the book. Did you know that women who binge drink are four times more likely to have coronary disease - and that their risk of colorectal cancer is highly elevated? If you don't destroy your liver, or wrap your car around a tree - you have that to look forward to.
So here I am - Day Three - reading blogs, writing things down, trying to wrap my head around my decision to stop drinking. All I know is that it feels right. And that niggling, scratching, tickling has stopped.
Wish me luck.
So far, I have found inspiration on these two blogs:
http://tiredofthinkingaboutdrinking.wordpress.com
http://byebyebeer.wordpress.com
I'd love some more suggestions!
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