A "Rocky Road" to Extinction: Sinclair Method Success Story

We received permission by this individual to share his success story with The Sinclair Method. Thank you! 🙏

[See his full drink log below 👇]

I was a fast responder and dropped from averaging 50 units per week in the zigzag style to zero, with up/down-flat-up/down fluctuations. Over that period, discipline, opportunities, and rewards in my life accelerated.

At about the halfway point in my 100-week journey with TSM, my rocky marriage hit the rocks. I stayed compliant. Then, about 25 weeks ago, I was intermittently compliant. It's important to note that my numbers were in the teens at this stage. It was a mindset thing.

I adopted a devil-may-care attitude because I wanted to have some fun. I was winning and holding it together during some very aggressive situations. I was zen, so I decided to have some party time.

And no, I wasn't gonna take NAL every time and block those reward receptors in my brain when I did it. This was a reward.

I had fun and had my partying hissy fit.

But, and this is a huge "but," all my other life gains were still in play, but I could feel the alcohol. Even if I only had a couple of beers, I could feel a tinge. The smallest amount stayed in my system for days. I didn't like it. I didn't like the anxiety that snuck in around me. I didn't like second-guessing my decisions, wondering if my mistakes were not entirely my own and fueled by this vague presence in my brain and body.

During the backsliding period I would say I was at 60 - 65% compliant.

I returned to 100% compliance after a few weeks of bad behavior. TSM gains were slow, boringly slow. I was averaging 20 units for 20 weeks, 1/3 the quantity of where I started 100 weeks ago.

I was getting impatient with the decreases.

Then, snap! No desire for alcohol. Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I want a drink, but I don't want to jeopardize my sleep hygiene, workout intensity, or confidence with my kids. There's always a million things I want more than the price alcohol will extract from my body or mind.

Because my brain has been rewired, alcohol is not a reward; it's just a thing.

Sure, if I have a few drinks, I'll have a laugh, a buzz, stay up late, eat more, and hang out with friends. But I could do all that without introducing a poison to my system.

Will I drink again? Yep.

I will have two expensive drinks in ten days from now, at the end of a business trip. Not because it's a reward, but because it's a good move for a set of business relationships that align with my life goals. More importantly, I'll have a secret motivation: using the occasion for an extinction session of two standard drinks and an assurance policy against the alcohol deprivation effect.

Now that's a reward my brain will love, and the feel-good feeling will last for weeks.