This is How I Got Through the First Week of Not Drinking
And when I say the first week I mean my LAST first week. The week I finally said “uncle”. The week I gave up, picked a date, put a plan in place + finished my last bottle of wine. This isn't a guide or an instruction. This is just me sharing with you how I spent my (last) first week without alcohol. Here are three thoughts about my last first week ⬇
The kitchen's closed, spa retreat + homework
The Kitchen's closed
Preparing dinner was my party time. I'd put on my music or a show, pour a glass of wine, and get cooking. So, in a Pavlov's dog type of way, cooking = wine time for me. Which meant there was no cooking that first week. Either my husband cooked, we ordered in, or the kids ate cereal. That was it. Dinner happened EARLY and I went straight up to bed when it was over.
Spa retreat
If I made it to bed without drinking, I won the day. So that meant bedtime was 7 pm. There was no way I was falling asleep at 7 so I created a little spa experience. It started with an Epson salt and essential oil bath. I bought a bunch of fun face masks and fancy teas so, after the bath, I'd put on a spa face mask, pour a hot mug of tea, and watch a movie or a show. It was pretty nice - and reminded me of “way back when” I did more stuff like that before wine became a nightly habit.
Homework
Actually, between the mask at the TV watching there was “homework”. In preparation for my “quit date,” I joined Annie Grace's 30-Day Alcohol Experiment and started on day 1. Each day, for 30 days, there was a short reading, a video, and a journal prompt. I learned about what alcohol does to the brain and body and had access to an online community (although I was anonymous and using a fake name at this point). I saved this homework for the time I usually spent drinking. It was perfect and I'd highly recommend it as a starting off point. In between all of the above, I'd either cry or rage and ask myself “Why the f am I doing this?” and convince myself “I wasn't that bad” + that this whole charade was unnecessary. So it wasn't all spa treatments, movies + takeout 😂 But it WAS a time of trusting my intuition and holding firm to a commitment I made to myself. I'm tearing up as I write this thinking about all of the conflicting emotions and the single fact that I listened to that tiny whisper that said drinking wasn't serving me and life could be better without it.
