FREE DOWNLOAD ALL WEEKEND

My 3rd book "How To Tell Them You Don't Drink" (And Deal With the Questions They Ask) is free to download all weekend by clicking HERE

If you are sufficiently enthused to leave a nice review on Amazon that would be very much appreciated.

In other news, I am off on a walking holiday on Monday with a couple of friends. We are walking the West Highland Way which is a 96 mile walk along the Highland boundary fault from Glasgow to Fort William and marks the geological division of the Highland geography and that of the lowlands. I'm looking forward to the fresh air, stunning scenery, eating lots and maybe even losing weight! Not looking forwards to 20 miles per day for 5 days straight in the Scottish Highlands quite so much! Of course I am not doing it the hard core way where you camp and carry you tent etc on your back. No, we have a little transfer team that moves our bags onto the next B&B or hotel each day so we only carry a day rucksack, which is bad enough!

My travelling companions know I stopped drinking last year. One asks a few questions from time to time and the other, never says a word. She never joins in that chat nor offers her opinion nor does anything to prolong it in any way. They've both been remarking how we will need 'a couple of glasses of wine' each night and what a good celebration we will have at the end in Fort William. A couple of glasses of wine is the last thing I will need each night. I will be exhausted and need my bed early. In previous years I would have drank lots of wine each and every night and suffered during the day even more, with a hangover as well as sore feet. I'm relieved I have no choice to make. I don't drink and that's it. End of.
For the evenings we are going armed with magazines and manicure accoutrements to have fun a la Grease-sleepover-party-style, that's if we arrive at the accommodation before night fall! Anyway, it will be great to have a week with the girls, free from domestic chores and responsibilities and, of course, work

I will have no wi-fi for a couple of days (aaaargh) but will let you know how I get on.

How To Tell Them You Don't Drink

(And Deal With The Questions They Ask)

BY RACHEL BLACK

FREE TO DOWNLOAD ALL WEEKEND.  ENJOY!

How To Tell Them You Don't Drink (and answer the questions that follow)

This little guide is the follow up to 'How to Party Sober' which so many told me they found incredibly useful.

How To Tell Them You Don't Drink looks at excuses, reasons, conversations you may have and gives options to avoid awkward moments at the bar. There is also a section to consider when and if you should tell people the truth.

Hopefully it will be as useful to those you want to stay sober for whatever reason and worry about getting a hard time from 'friends' for not drinking!!

Here is the link  click here  to Amazon where it is currently £1.97 or $3.20

If you would like to review the book or feature it on your blog, podcast or show, get in touch by clicking here  and I can send you a copy in advance.

Happy Sober Easter everyone
(how many more reasons do you need to eat chocolate?)

The Little Devil

You might think I am referring to alcohol as the little devil but you would be wrong. It is my friend Binki's new book, 'Staying Sober'. (Binki blogs at http://sobernoodles.co and is an inspiration to many). Her book will be published in May and is sure to be worth a read. When you see the cover you will understand what I mean! Follow the link to see the little devil for yourself! Remember, you heard it here first!

http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Contributor/18326/Binki-Laidler.html


Have a Happy (Sober) Easter. What better excuse can there be to eat chocolate? Rx

What to do when you relapse

The penultimate time I gave up drinking it lasted for 19 days. It was over the Christmas period but the source of my un-doing was unrelated to this.

It was a combination of happy good things that made me feel so happy that I wanted to feel even happier and joined in with the others whom I was pouring champagne for.

One led to a few which led to a few nights of drinking and a few more months before I addressed it again.

On the day in question our house guests had left, we were having good friends to our home for an afternoon and dinner and I completed the purchase of my new car. I drove it home feeling on top of the world. The familiar rush, the excitement, the not knowing what to do with myself, the celebration with something fizzy- oh, that was missing. To hell with it I thought. I am going to celebrate too.

I bring this up now, as yesterday I felt all those feelings return, again for a happy, high reason.

We had been to visit a house we thought we might want to buy. Inside, it was as good as we had hoped. We definitely wanted to buy it. The more we thought about it, the better we decided it was. The next day we hot-footed it to a solicitor, put in a formal offer and received a formal acceptance. We had bought this perfect house in such a perfect location.

The thrill was a combination of success, buying something very nice, and spending lots of money. When we got home, OH gave me a big hug and said "Time for a celebration I think?". He opened a bottle of beer from the fridge and took a swig. 

I paused. Flummoxed. What would I do? What could I do? How could I celebrate?

I would never, now, have a beer and I knew I wouldn't go out for wine. On a practical level I knew I wouldn't drink but on a psychological level, how I missed it. I had that same rush, the high feeling, the slight agitation of not knowing how to 'let go' almost. Very strange. I am definitely much more stable.

I spent a couple of hours drinking sparkling water, chatting with OH about our plans for the house and the things we had to do. It was exciting and I was pleased I had a clear head to think through the financial aspects and be able to plan the stages logically.

It was not lost on me that OH had his one beer then no more. That would have been worse than ever for me: finding out that we were not having a whole night of it. (Although OH's limited drinking has been a great help to me over the months as more often than not, he doesn't drink at all).

The time passed and soon it was time for supper and bed. My celebration was on-going and I was pleasantly exhausted from the excitement of it all. Today I woke up and my first thought was that THIS was my celebration: I had no hangover from a night of boozing, I felt as bright and excited today as I did yesterday not having dampened down my happiness with a depressant.

Another happy, clear headed day today. A true cause for celebration I think?

Advice

Several people have written to me recently asking for my advice about their drinking patterns, notably, whether I think they have a problem or not.

I am no expert on this and can only give my opinion which is largely based on my own experience.

Three incredibly astute things I heard, when I asked the same questions around 3 years ago, have remained with me:

1. If you think you may have a problem, you probably do.
2. Advice is what you ask for when you know the correct answer, but wish you didn't.
3. If you are still reading this site, you probably do have a problem.

There will always be exceptions who prove the rule. One way to find out is to try going alcohol free for a defined period. If the thought of this fills you with dread, you have your answer. If you lose count of the days since your last drink, you also have your answer.

Whatever your answer, it is your answer and it is up to you if you want to address it. Even if others are pushing you, you may not be ready, you may not yet have reached that stage. But when, and if, you decide to change things, remember you have to want to change for you, not for anyone else.

$0.99!!!! Sober is the New Black bargain 12.00 today

I don't know if it's the sun, the sea, the breeze or a combination of all three but for the last 2 days I have been bursting with happiness and content.
I love holidays in a way I never used to. They used to be sources of stress and anxiety. Stressed about the unknown venue, accommodation and facilities namely:

Where will I be able to buy wine as soon as we arrive?
Will there be a shop within walking distance?
It is Sunday, will it be open?
Can we go to a bar? or is it too late for the kids?
How many can I get away with having at the bar?
How can I ensure a daily supply without a shopping delivery?
How can I ensure there is opportunity to drink when the schedule is unplanned?

Funnily enough all those things are gone and my only decisions are

Chocolate or strawberry ice cream?
Pool or beach?
Book or magazine?

Why? Why? Why? did I think that alcohol made things better for so long?


Here is the link for the 0.99$ offer

http://www.amazon.com/Sober-New-Black-alcoholics-alcoholic-ebook/dp/B00HZIGNLU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1396864617&sr=1-1&keywords=sober+is+the+new+black

Sunny Sunny Sunny!

This describes where I am, how I feel and the weather! This IS a big deal when you live in Scotland.
So I am on holiday in the sun. My second time on a sober holiday and this time I have no doubt:

Wine does

make me irritable
make me sick
make me overeat
make me tired
make me grumpy
make me unpleasant
make me argumentative

I am so glad I'm not even tempted to drink this year because

Wine Does Not

make the sun sunnier
make the breeze more pleasant
make my sun tan deeper
make me more relaxed
make my conversations more interesting
make me happy!

I knew all this last year but now I truly believe it.