I made the decision at the end of August that I would be taking part in a Sober September.  Actually, I didn’t know there was such as thing as Sober September until after I had already started.  Color me surprised.  Now I have a name for it.

Anyone that knows me knows I enjoy my adult beverages.  Turns out, I was drinking at home, “socially” next to my husband on the couch on weekends, as well.  Not saying that this is a particularly bad thing, but when push came to shove, I was overindulging in the beverages of the alcoholic sort more times than not.  I do/did have my “rules” about drinking, though.  I wouldn’t drink more than 2 drinks when Mini Me was either awake with me, or any drinks if I was home with her alone.  There was no way I could take the chance that she would need me and have to see me intoxicated.  As I thought more about it, I realized that I was self-medicating myself, trying to escape from problems I had.  While drinking provided that escape for me, it also wasn’t helping to make things better… Especially the day after.  And the health implications were huge – extra calories spent on “empty” beverages and reduced fat loss.  And the stupid decisions while drinking… We won’t go into detail there.

Embarking on this journey, even just 9 days into it, hasn’t been the easiest thing to do.  September has always been a busy month of celebrations – Labor Day, husband’s and mother-in-law’s birthdays (they share a birthday), best friend’s birthday, Mini Me’s birthday, and our Anniversary.  This will not be an easy feat for me, and has already required some major changes in how I think about my weekends now.  For instance, instead of going out Labor Day weekend (heat and working a wedding being a contributing factor), D and I got a 1000 piece puzzle.  Yep, totally was nerding it up this weekend.  And you know what??  Waking up not hung-over or sluggish was fantastic! Plus, Mini Me got to help a little bit… That is, until she started mixing the pieces together in the bowl like they were popcorn.

What do I expect from this experience?

1. There are things other than drinking that I can be doing on weekends. Come on now, I am a “grown-up” and need to start acting like one.
2. Waist line reductions. Granted, I have been working out and focusing my eating, but now without drinking to get in the way, I anticipate that I will have better successes with losing inches than I did over the past few months.
3. I will improve my relationship with alcohol. I need to start thinking about alcohol as something that is nice to have every once in a while, in limited amounts.  It is an addicting beverage, and should not be used to binge on, but enjoyed with a nice dinner, desert, or celebration.
4. Prove to myself that I can have just as much fun sans my favorite drinks as I can with. Alcohol has always improved my confidence and made me feel like I fit in better.  I am sure that many of you can relate.  What I need to do is occasionally just let go without the alcohol and have fun.  Prove to myself that I am the same person, just with a bit more control over my actions.

If I feel I didn’t accomplish my expectations, I will launch into a second month of no drinking, also known as Ocsober.  Getting my mind on the right path is the most important part of a healthy lifestyle, one I know I have struggled with for quite some time now. Some people may not agree with this, and I will challenged many times over the course of the month, possibly months, but I need to do this for me.

Would you consider a Sober September?  What about an Ocsober?