Untangled.

I don't miss the alcohol. I have been having herbal iced tea or a sweet fancy drink in my big 'ol wine glass each evening and that seems to be doing the trick.

I am much calmer. I've had a painful, burning knot in my breastbone for as long as I can remember. Anxiety, stress, something. I take Sertraline (Zoloft) daily to help with the knot and the anxiety. It helps a bit. But, since I've stopped drinking so much alcohol, it's gone. No shit. Truth. Gone. I still get stressed, but the knot is gone. Some tightness appears, but I can breathe it out. I feel like I can think clearly and get around the anxiety and stress which is causing that knot. This is huge and I will remember this the next time I think I could just have one drink with friends.

Here are a few things I've noticed, some I need to work on:
Sugar. Oh lordy, I've been drinking and eating more sugar. Because I can/I deserve it for quitting alcohol, etc. I've sort of become addicted to sweet drinks  now (ah, a fun pattern...addiction!). Starbucks peach green tea lemonade, Belvoir Elderflower Lemonade, 'natural' sodas. It's kind of defeating the purpose of getting rid of wine if I'm going to ingest just as much sugar. Yes, I'm not ingesting alcohol, but if I'm worried about my innards, ingesting a ton of sugar isn't a good idea. I'm working on that.