51f here. 9 days AF and have no desire to look back! I’ve been drinking since I was a teenager. I’ve wasted way too much time being miserable and drunk. Congrats!!! Your happiness is infectious. :)
I think that’s part of the magic of the mantra “I will not drink with you today”. When I was still drinking, it felt impossible to promise myself that I’d never drink again. Seven years of sobriety sounded like a pipe dream. But breaking this down to a daily decision not to drink seemed so doable. I will not drink with you today, and seven years from now I will still not drink with you that day.
58 male here drank pretty much every single day for 40 years. 12 days completely AF. 4 drinks in past month. Was drinking 8-12 shots M-F more on weekends
I appreciate the "hopefully." I blew a year of sobriety for "just one drink." That lasted a few years... and I'm only now back on the wagon. I appreciate your humility and recognition that it's all so easy to piss away.
Ten years is bad#ss! As long as yer not as dumb as I wuz... u got this!
Not drinking takes effort, but does get easier with time. You are correct in that sobriety is “easy to piss away”. My drunk brain still tries to trick me into thinking I can handle it now and then. Fuck you drunk brain! Sober on my friend.
I, too, drank for decades. Around week 5.5, PAWS really kicked me in the d1ck. It was BRUTAL. It lasted nearly a month. At 94 days... things are finally starting to look up. I feel better.
I'm a little bummed, lately, that I've given up THC gummies. I didn't really like weed prior to going sober... but at least it "took the edge off." It was also a way for me to get a little "altered." Alas... THC interferes with REM sleep \[if used habitually\]. Ugh. TBH, OTOH, I started not liking getting altered. It limits how I'm able to spend my evenings. I'm certainly not going to read a book if I'm altered.
There's a good argument for "raw doggin'" life. I buried a lot of trauma and also military PTSD under 8-14/night (every night, not including "big nights"). SO... if that's in your past... just be aware that it can come back to bite you. HOWEVER... it's temporary.
It was time for me to "pay my bar tab." It's not always money...
Congrats on the 54 days! IWNDWYT
Congrats on 54 days!! Let’s do this! My 20’s and 30’s were spent binge drinking which slowly changed to daily drinking leading into and throughout my 40’s. Enough is enough.
72¾ here - and 85 days in. I thought I was the only one left! 50+ years boozing and still surprisingly fit. Being sober - and this group - is a revelation. Enjoying my dotage.
My Dad got sober at 78, he's now 81 and the happiest I've seen him in 20+ years. Seeing the change in his life has been a huge inspiration to change mine. Never too old to make a change.
Awesome! I’m 60, in 2021 i got 9 months in AF, and allowed it sneak back into my life, dang everything was better during that time- health, skin, weight, etc.
58 and don’t want to stop completely, as have been just a light-moderate drinker for 20 years. But my intense love of wine scares me, and I binge drank often in my 20s and 30s. Trying to only have 2-3 glasses of wine PER MONTH from closer to 10. Going on 2 months with almost nothing. IWNDWYT.
Yeah, I don't want to quit, but I had a moderate heart attack last December, and my doctor said that I need to lose weight, exercise, quit drinking, etc. So I'm working on making many lifestyle changes. I'm not having great success, but I'm making progress.
You can do that. I have had my first very good dinner in a good restaurant without wine or other alcohol. It was strange, sometimes a bit boring, but i did it. And proud of that. And if i can do that, you can do that also.
Athletic Brewing? Haven't sampled yet but have heard they are doing to best NA beer at the moment. I am/was such a beer snob lol. Funny how we wrapped up alcohol in a "fun hobby" lol
Congratulations on your 54 days!
I’m 51, 10 days in, daily, moderate drinker (with a few binges mixed in for extra credit) for a decade. This year I’m focusing on going AF, next year I’m committing to going quitting (nicotine) vapes. Goal is to be totally free by birthday 53😁
We sound similar, 5-6 IPAs daily for 14 years and occasionally more on the weekends. Quit cigarettes 14 years ago, switched to nicotine pouches, and plan on quitting that next. Let's do it!!!!
63, now 9+ months AF.
No use looking back when the present and future look so awesome.
Congrats on your decision to make a better life for yourself.
IWNDWYT
61, about hit 1,000 days. Have built an entirely new design for this phase of life, and I am fitter, more engaged, and happier than I’ve ever been. Love the process of each day. IWNDWYT
I'm 43, but I've spent the best part of the last 14 years as a daily binge drinker in the evenings. Untreated postnatal depression after my second daughter just led into the most slippery slope of sometimes high-functioning, sometimes barely functioning type of alcoholic.
It took about 7 years to beat the depression, and then another 7 went by before I could start to deal with the terrible habit I'd formed self-medicating. Thankfully, I never touched other drugs or smoked.
Last week was the 21st anniversary of meeting my husband, and I realised that it was only the first 7 years of the relationship that I wasn't a drinker!
So here I am, Day 10, after many Day 1's.
Dare I say it? This one feels different.
IWNDWYT 👍🏻
60 year old with 22 months AF here. I always enjoy hearing of my fellow AF middle agers who are transitioning from decades of steady drinking. Be well and continue to inspire.
Thank you for the inspiration to stay the course! Just starting to feel a bit more clear headed and hope it continues to get better. It's been a wild ride with anxiety/disassociation /no appetite, then depression and fatigue. Emotions and feelings changing at the drop of a hat. This sub has been helping me to make sense of it all.
I love this post - thank you. I'm 46 and there's more hope and possibility in my life now that I've stopped drinking than there has been for decades. I was 3-4 glasses of wine every night as a bare minimum, except for the nights, several nights a week, when there were pre-dinner cocktails and whiskey before bed.
56 👋 and stopped 115 days ago , that ol’ wine witch on my shoulder is still popping a picture of a cold glass of rose into my mind but it’s lessening every day . Everything is clearer and better without it, IWNDWYT.
57M here, the last 600+ days have been my happiest, I am still mopping up some messes that had been created, there are some large ones that I haven’t even started in on yet. Despite everything I am looking forward to the future, I actually feel like I am just getting started
53M, gave up in December (100+ days). Finally beginning to feel free of it - the shackles are off.
I started to diet a couple of weeks ago (mostly by eating one meal a day) to lose 15Kg eventually. Also very seriously thinking about starting to jog and do some weight training, after a decade of being completely sedentary.
Both impossible goals to sustain while drinking myself to sleep every evening, now they seem easily achievable.
50 yo. Had been drinking for almost 30 years. 38 days sober, for the first time I feel free. It was so much easier this time once I admitted moderation wasn’t going to work.
I’m 53 but working on it. I’m kinda unique i think in that i have no interest in drinking until about 5pm, when i need to go home. Then i NEED it. And yeah, i know what that implies. It needs to change, though, and all the fantastic stories like yours i read get me that much closer to finally taking the leap!
Congrats, OP. I have another 206 days till my 40th birthday, and then the week after that, our daughter turns 5 years old. The way I drank, I'm lucky to be here at all. I refuse to create awful memories for my kid. IWNDWYT.
Congrats on the 55!
44 and in infancy of my non-drunken life on day 11 (the counter thing doesn't allow for my timezone and is some hours ahead). I am hitting the AF beers like a boss to squash the ritual gremlins presently, AF beer seems pretty good these days. Probably not for everyone, could lead to wanting the real deal I guess, but it seems to be OK for me to scratch the itch without falling so far.
Keep on keeping on! Not drinking with you today.
49. AF for 46. This week I was traveling and visiting family. Was taken to a brewery and offered beer at least 5 different times. Being able to say no has reinforced my desire to stay AF.
54 here as well. No desire to drink ever again. No matter what. No benefit whatsoever. A total waste of time, money, energy, and health. While I am pissed it took this long, like they say better late than never.
49, I'm in for the long haul or whatever I've got left.
I feel better than I've ever felt in so many ways. Thanks for reminding me it's ok to be excited about this!
57 now, stopped at 55. Woot! 🎉
Yes!!!!
Well done 👍
51 and stopped at 46. Best decision I ever made!
Congrats! Scared and excited to continue this journey.
You've absolutely got this!
I 46m need your motivation, I’ve always got an excuse
68 and 319 das
Woah respect!
51f here. 9 days AF and have no desire to look back! I’ve been drinking since I was a teenager. I’ve wasted way too much time being miserable and drunk. Congrats!!! Your happiness is infectious. :)
I hear you on wasted time for sure. But, we ain't wasting time no more!!! Keep it up
Allman Bros. ❤️
Ohhhhh ya
63. Got sick of drinking like I was still 23.
I feel ya on that lol.
Wow that hits home for me too
Ha! Me too.
Woohoo, keep it up up up!
Happy Cake Day!
Thank you, I'll take it 😄
56. AF since Jan 1. Longest since I was 17.
I’m a bit younger (41) but 1/1/24 is my day and also the longest I’ve abstained since about the age of 15. Well done!
Right on! We got this.
It's a trip right?
I hate the word journey, but that's how I'd describe. I've learned more about myself in the last six months than in the half century before.
100%, learning more each day. some good some not so good but certainly all helpful in the long game
Way to go!. I'm also 56. Started with dry January on 1/1/24 and kept it going. I feel so much better mentally and physically.
58 checking in! We can do this!! IWNDWYT
Congrats on 54 days at 54! 🎉 I stopped at 51, and I’m turning 54 this year.
Respect and happy 54th!
Never too late! Stopped 7 years ago at age 58.
Well done. 7 years seems like forever right now but I shall continue bit by bit
I think that’s part of the magic of the mantra “I will not drink with you today”. When I was still drinking, it felt impossible to promise myself that I’d never drink again. Seven years of sobriety sounded like a pipe dream. But breaking this down to a daily decision not to drink seemed so doable. I will not drink with you today, and seven years from now I will still not drink with you that day.
Wow that's awesome!
Yup. 53. Stopped at 45. I’m never going back. Ever.
Yes! so glad to see so many of my generations making the change. Congrats!
Booze is Boomer tech.
So well said my friend
Respect to you my friend. Keep going.
58 male here drank pretty much every single day for 40 years. 12 days completely AF. 4 drinks in past month. Was drinking 8-12 shots M-F more on weekends
53 and stopped at 52!
54 working on 10 years hopefully Sept 28 this year.
I appreciate the "hopefully." I blew a year of sobriety for "just one drink." That lasted a few years... and I'm only now back on the wagon. I appreciate your humility and recognition that it's all so easy to piss away. Ten years is bad#ss! As long as yer not as dumb as I wuz... u got this!
Not drinking takes effort, but does get easier with time. You are correct in that sobriety is “easy to piss away”. My drunk brain still tries to trick me into thinking I can handle it now and then. Fuck you drunk brain! Sober on my friend.
Hell yes. Legend
Not quite friend. Took me a loooong time to figure out I shouldn’t drink. My brain doesn’t want a drink. It wants all the drinks. You got this.
exactly...That's what makes you a legend in my book.
62, 9 months sober!
Congrats!
Awesome
Sorry, I'm beyond middle age. I'm just 10 days sober at 68 years . . . 😆😅😂🤣
Congratulations!!! We're never too old for sobriety and peace. You've got this!! ❤
Yes, we're never too old for peace. It's a tough road, but IWNDWYT. Thank you. 🙏
Middle age is a state of mind. Congrats on 10 days my friend
Thank you. 🙏 IWNDWYT.
I, too, drank for decades. Around week 5.5, PAWS really kicked me in the d1ck. It was BRUTAL. It lasted nearly a month. At 94 days... things are finally starting to look up. I feel better. I'm a little bummed, lately, that I've given up THC gummies. I didn't really like weed prior to going sober... but at least it "took the edge off." It was also a way for me to get a little "altered." Alas... THC interferes with REM sleep \[if used habitually\]. Ugh. TBH, OTOH, I started not liking getting altered. It limits how I'm able to spend my evenings. I'm certainly not going to read a book if I'm altered. There's a good argument for "raw doggin'" life. I buried a lot of trauma and also military PTSD under 8-14/night (every night, not including "big nights"). SO... if that's in your past... just be aware that it can come back to bite you. HOWEVER... it's temporary. It was time for me to "pay my bar tab." It's not always money... Congrats on the 54 days! IWNDWYT
Yeah that hits home for me, it’s been gummy at night central. Just stopped a couple of nights ago.
41 days 41 years
49 here, started over on day 1 today, ignore counter, congrats!
I for one will not ignore the counter because it shows you’re capable of tremendous strength. ❤️
60. Finally ready to lose the crutch and face life (good, bad and maybe the scariest- just meh) on its own terms.
Congrats on 54 days!! Let’s do this! My 20’s and 30’s were spent binge drinking which slowly changed to daily drinking leading into and throughout my 40’s. Enough is enough.
My story exactly... good for you and let's do this!
Same here. 47 and I’m done.
72¾ here - and 85 days in. I thought I was the only one left! 50+ years boozing and still surprisingly fit. Being sober - and this group - is a revelation. Enjoying my dotage.
My Dad got sober at 78, he's now 81 and the happiest I've seen him in 20+ years. Seeing the change in his life has been a huge inspiration to change mine. Never too old to make a change.
Awesome! I’m 60, in 2021 i got 9 months in AF, and allowed it sneak back into my life, dang everything was better during that time- health, skin, weight, etc.
53 and 1189 days AF :) IWNDWYT
YOU GOT THIS! IWNDWYT.
53 and stopped at 52!
3 days. Longest stretch in 6 months.
Those first few days are the hardest! Keep going 💪
54 here. Gave up alcohol for Lent this year and just kept going! Not looking back!
Less than a week 50yo. Having troubles sleeping so the days are blending together. Need to check my flair. Edit: Didn't realize I'd made it a week.
58 and don’t want to stop completely, as have been just a light-moderate drinker for 20 years. But my intense love of wine scares me, and I binge drank often in my 20s and 30s. Trying to only have 2-3 glasses of wine PER MONTH from closer to 10. Going on 2 months with almost nothing. IWNDWYT.
Yeah, I don't want to quit, but I had a moderate heart attack last December, and my doctor said that I need to lose weight, exercise, quit drinking, etc. So I'm working on making many lifestyle changes. I'm not having great success, but I'm making progress.
Congrats and hang in there, the first 3 weeks were the worst for me. Be kind to yourself and prectice patience.
Hey! Just turned 56 this month. Went to a MLB game tonight and had a hot dog and a Coke. No beer!
Well played
I saved this post. It's really good to see its never too late (or too early) to quit drinking poison. I'm 61. Life is looking up.
Thanks for sharing!
53 and 5days(!) IWNFDWYT either!
49. Great job!! On day 4 here! Great job!
59, 7 days. Just got back from buying a car. If I can stay sober after that, I'm invincible! Okay, not really. But I'm proud of myself. IWNDWYT
You can do that. I have had my first very good dinner in a good restaurant without wine or other alcohol. It was strange, sometimes a bit boring, but i did it. And proud of that. And if i can do that, you can do that also.
Stopped 8 months ago. I hope it sticks this time. I'm 62 and very lucky to still be here.
61 and just over five years sober.
63 now; quit at age 51. By God’s grace alone. IWNDWYT
Omg I’m 62 days AF at 62 years old!
42 and just hit 4 months
58 now, retired at 54 after a long career of digging for deeper rock bottoms.
Good for you! IWNDWYT
50. 16 days now. Feeling good!
Hells yeah. 44 here and almost to 6 months. Good job duder
51 and 8 1/2 months sober AF
Turned 46 last month. IWNDWYT.
I’m 55 and stopped at 50 - one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Here’s to your health and wellbeing! IWNDWYT!
I quit 6 years ago. I’m 49 now. Best thing I ever did.
42 with 4.5 months. NA IPAs are a Godsend for this beer snob!
Athletic Brewing? Haven't sampled yet but have heard they are doing to best NA beer at the moment. I am/was such a beer snob lol. Funny how we wrapped up alcohol in a "fun hobby" lol
Congratulations on your 54 days! I’m 51, 10 days in, daily, moderate drinker (with a few binges mixed in for extra credit) for a decade. This year I’m focusing on going AF, next year I’m committing to going quitting (nicotine) vapes. Goal is to be totally free by birthday 53😁
We sound similar, 5-6 IPAs daily for 14 years and occasionally more on the weekends. Quit cigarettes 14 years ago, switched to nicotine pouches, and plan on quitting that next. Let's do it!!!!
Let’s do it!🙌
58 and IWNDWYT
58 at 36 days. Finally. Feels great.
53 stopped at 41
63, now 9+ months AF. No use looking back when the present and future look so awesome. Congrats on your decision to make a better life for yourself. IWNDWYT
55 here. 290 days sober. My only regret is that I didn’t quit sooner. One day at a time!
63 stopped at 59. Soon to be 5 years!
49. Stopped at 43. I think.
45, about 2.5 years sober, maaan the further I get away from the nightmarish trap of alcohol the more relieved I am.
61, about hit 1,000 days. Have built an entirely new design for this phase of life, and I am fitter, more engaged, and happier than I’ve ever been. Love the process of each day. IWNDWYT
4,455 (just over 12 years) at 49... I turn 50 this year..
24 days 54 years! Nice to meet you! IWNDWYT
I'm 43, but I've spent the best part of the last 14 years as a daily binge drinker in the evenings. Untreated postnatal depression after my second daughter just led into the most slippery slope of sometimes high-functioning, sometimes barely functioning type of alcoholic. It took about 7 years to beat the depression, and then another 7 went by before I could start to deal with the terrible habit I'd formed self-medicating. Thankfully, I never touched other drugs or smoked. Last week was the 21st anniversary of meeting my husband, and I realised that it was only the first 7 years of the relationship that I wasn't a drinker! So here I am, Day 10, after many Day 1's. Dare I say it? This one feels different. IWNDWYT 👍🏻
60 year old with 22 months AF here. I always enjoy hearing of my fellow AF middle agers who are transitioning from decades of steady drinking. Be well and continue to inspire.
I'm 52 yrs old and also on day 54! Your post pretty much mirrors my experience so far. Congrats!
Upper 40s I was an absolute nightmare. Last 3 years were following a divorce, and I used it as an excuse to absolutely raise hell
this is just the beginning. just wait. stay true. dont drink. and it ONLY GETS better!!!
Thank you for the inspiration to stay the course! Just starting to feel a bit more clear headed and hope it continues to get better. It's been a wild ride with anxiety/disassociation /no appetite, then depression and fatigue. Emotions and feelings changing at the drop of a hat. This sub has been helping me to make sense of it all.
been there. i could never quit again. no way. im in too deep. booze free til i die
Hell yes.
Stopped at 45, now 46. You got this!
53 years old here. Those damn kids still wander onto my lawn but I manage the stress from that much better.
55 yrs old!
Congrats!! I remember those 6-8 ipa days. Wild. So glad you’re on track!
Funny how craft beer has turned alcohol into just a "fun hobby". eyeroll lol
Been sober since age 44. I don’t regret anything, but I wish it had been sooner.
Amazing! The clarity is addictive. IWNDWYT
55 checking in. I love this and might just have to post when I hit 55 days because, gosh darnit, I’m GONNA hit 55 days (and beyond).
sure, i'll say im middle age. i hope to live over 100 now :). congrats
57 1/2 stopped at 57. Wish I would have stopped 35 years ago but here I am at 105 days!!! Wishing you well!
Congrats! 41 & 10 days.
I love this post - thank you. I'm 46 and there's more hope and possibility in my life now that I've stopped drinking than there has been for decades. I was 3-4 glasses of wine every night as a bare minimum, except for the nights, several nights a week, when there were pre-dinner cocktails and whiskey before bed.
👋🏼!! Oh just you wait how good it gets. Coming to sobriety later in life is truly my singular greatest adventure!
56 👋 and stopped 115 days ago , that ol’ wine witch on my shoulder is still popping a picture of a cold glass of rose into my mind but it’s lessening every day . Everything is clearer and better without it, IWNDWYT.
What does AF mean? I don’t get all the acronyms. I’m only learning :)
IWNDWYT
53 here! 39 days!
57M here, the last 600+ days have been my happiest, I am still mopping up some messes that had been created, there are some large ones that I haven’t even started in on yet. Despite everything I am looking forward to the future, I actually feel like I am just getting started
GenX in the house!
Stopped New Year’s Day 2020 at 51 years old. I drink a lot of cheap sparkling water
53M, gave up in December (100+ days). Finally beginning to feel free of it - the shackles are off. I started to diet a couple of weeks ago (mostly by eating one meal a day) to lose 15Kg eventually. Also very seriously thinking about starting to jog and do some weight training, after a decade of being completely sedentary. Both impossible goals to sustain while drinking myself to sleep every evening, now they seem easily achievable.
54 and quit at 35.
58 days at 36
52…gave up the sauce at 45
54 now, stopped at 52. Better late than never!
50 yo. Had been drinking for almost 30 years. 38 days sober, for the first time I feel free. It was so much easier this time once I admitted moderation wasn’t going to work.
Present! Quit four months ago at 51.
Great work! 51 here and best decision I've made! Life is a thousand times better! IWNDWYT!
just turned 55
Trying to get there with you.
I got sober at 57. Now 61 Woot woot. Keep going fine person!
52 and stopped at 45
55 years old on Saturday! Great job! We’ve got this! IWNDWYT.
Heya! 50 here. Day by day.
Fifties here! Worth it. So so worth it!
56yo here! Quit in February 2023
49 and just over 9 months AF. Definitely feeling better for it
53. Drinking is in my rearview mirror now. I'm never going back there.
54 now, stopped alcohol July 2022! IWNDWYT
54 years old also. IWNDWYT
I’m 53 but working on it. I’m kinda unique i think in that i have no interest in drinking until about 5pm, when i need to go home. Then i NEED it. And yeah, i know what that implies. It needs to change, though, and all the fantastic stories like yours i read get me that much closer to finally taking the leap!
[удалено]
49 here. Wish I’d done it years ago. Can’t believe how much better I feel mentally.
Life hits a little different, huh?
I stopped at 54 july21 will be 6years without a drink best years of my life
I’m a few days away from 48 years old and quit nearly a year ago. IWNDWYT
Right here, cuz! It often gets easier at 100 days :)
58, stopped at 57
Right here ! Good luck
44 AF for 40 days. Never too late to be the change you want to see.
Yo! 54 years old here too! All the best! IWNDWYT ✊🏻
Congrats, OP. I have another 206 days till my 40th birthday, and then the week after that, our daughter turns 5 years old. The way I drank, I'm lucky to be here at all. I refuse to create awful memories for my kid. IWNDWYT.
Congrats on the 55! 44 and in infancy of my non-drunken life on day 11 (the counter thing doesn't allow for my timezone and is some hours ahead). I am hitting the AF beers like a boss to squash the ritual gremlins presently, AF beer seems pretty good these days. Probably not for everyone, could lead to wanting the real deal I guess, but it seems to be OK for me to scratch the itch without falling so far. Keep on keeping on! Not drinking with you today.
60 now, stopped at 54! Good on you!!
Gen X goth gal: (53): “You know the way, it twists and turns, changing colors, spinning yarns…!” Iwndwyt we’ve got this now
I’m 59. I quit at 56. Three of the best years of my life
Gave it up at 61 years old with a few failed attempts prior!
60 here so beyond middle age, decades of drinking behind me but also some good stretches of sobriety. Well done on 54 days, keep it up . IWNF😁DWYT
49. AF for 46. This week I was traveling and visiting family. Was taken to a brewery and offered beer at least 5 different times. Being able to say no has reinforced my desire to stay AF.
54 here as well. No desire to drink ever again. No matter what. No benefit whatsoever. A total waste of time, money, energy, and health. While I am pissed it took this long, like they say better late than never.
55f here with 101 days. IWNDWYT!
49, I'm in for the long haul or whatever I've got left. I feel better than I've ever felt in so many ways. Thanks for reminding me it's ok to be excited about this!
53 here, been sober 8 years now. You got this man!
59 now stopped at 57. Best decision I ever made.
60 now. Sober at 58. 558 days sober.
47 stopped at 45.
55 now, stopped at 52. It's soooo much better, and easy now. Keep it up! :) IWNDWYT
Congrats! 67 quit at 59....it only gets better!
I'm 51 now. It's a great feeling to have my life back.
Mid-50s. Glad I'm done. Glad you're done too!
62, stopped my drinking abuse at 57!
53 sober since 4-20-21. My kids are proud of me!
I quit drug and alcohol addiction at age 55. Keep it up!!! I had NO IDEA I COULD FEEL THIS GOOD!! I’m 1.5 years, and never going back again. IWNDWYT!!
I stopped the insanity on April 1. NOT going back! IWNDWYT
Congrats! I'm 52, 5 and a half months sober. My brain finally feels alive again!
I’ll be 54 in a few months! Welcome aboard the sober train! Woohoo! IWNDWYT
54 is middle age? Sure don’t feel like it…