laurenwisswell82's Journal, 27 April 2014

Only problem is, you have no way to enforce the bet on his part. He could choose to keep drinking. It is an addiction and it will be very hard for him to just "decrease." I guess, though, since a pound a day is likely the most you'd lost, drinking one less drink will probably be doable for him. Good luck to both of you. 

He won't stop drinking, but good luck for you!  

I can speak as a 33 year dried out alcoholic and will tell you a fact of life. He may tell you he gave up a drink and he may sound convincing about it but I will tell you never ever believe an alcoholic they could not tell the truth if it was the end of the world, I know, I did it but dried out in 1981 and never ever touched a drop since but only because my life depended on it. You do your thing and stick to it please do not tie your journey to any other just do it because YOU want to do it leave him out the picture completely.  

his life is getting to the point where he has no choice but to quit...im not basing my decision to lose weight on him or this arrangement...even though we are exes we have always been each others driving forces when it comes to so many things. all this is, is an attempt to help each other and if it doesn't work then we will be no worse off than we are now. its a friendly wager that he came up with because he realizes he needs some kind of help that he has not been able to get through AA and things like that. If I can help or attempt to help him then I will do whatever he needs. I will continue to do what I need to do in order to lose my weight whether he succeeds or not, this is simply a way for him to attempt to better himself and if he thinks this will help then I am willing to try. I will add that his drinking has gotten extremely worse over the years that we have not been married and now he has the freedom from personal issues he was going through to do this and if he can find a way to do it completely then that's great...not all ways of doing things will succeed and not all things succeed for all people and i am not one to have the right to say "no don't do it that way" because lord knows I've tried (as i'm sure many of us have) different things over the years to get weight off and they have failed i.e. I/we have failed...but as unconventional as this whole idea is ya never know if it will work til ya try right? Its really no different than challenging someone on here to lose more weight than you or in a certain time frame...its still trying to get over an addiction its just not alcohol. we all need a support system and if that's what this challenge is to him or I then so be it...I never said either of us was normal or did things the way we've ever been expected to...but it works for us.  

Losing a pound a day is harder than cutting down a drink...he's got the better end of the bet... 

actually the way hes drinking now....im sure it will be a bigger struggle for him than me but its going to be rough on both ends. 

Best of luck to the both of you. You do your best for yourself. I know its hard to except what Bwy39 is saying I was once married to an alcoholic and the only way he got help was when he went to jail but once he got out it started all over again. I do honestly wish you both the best. 

That's too bad for him Lauren...I'm sorry to hear that. 

Vices come in different forms. Ours is the love of food, his is drinking. Moderation is the key. Personally I never liked drinking, but I love food. I eat my feelings versus drink them away. When we go to the doctor and he/she tells us "Hey, your cholesterol is really high..." then we have some more external motivation. Maybe a trip to the doctor for a liver enzymes check will help give him a little more motivation. I agree though, you don't really have a way to monitor his end of the deal. Maybe if he promises not to drink until he is home and he has to use an alcohol test strip before he has his first drink at home to ensure he is keeping his end of the deal during the day and allowing you to track his progress while at home for the evening. 

hoping it works for both of you