Damp Feb! For DJ survivors and Feb drink moderation fans!

[Fordian]

Hi Everyone who might be interested, a thread for anyone who wants an accountability check-in for their moderate Feb drinking!

So it's my normal evening out tonight and I stuck to small wines all evening. Feel good about it

I agree with others that it's really wine that is the attraction, not alcohol in general. If white wine didn't exist I suspect I wouldn't drink much at all.

Had a glass of sauvignon blanc earlier (not quite ready to open the red, which I find to be more intoxicating). Could have done without it, if I'm honest.

My boozy night out turned out not to be too boozy atall. I had a mocktail to start while all the other girls had a cocktail and then the 4 of us shared ONE bottle of wine. Then we had a cocktail and I had a real once this time. Then went home. I make that 4.9 units! 🙌

Appreciate the honesty and lack of judgement on this thread, its really refreshing.

I realised during DJ that I drink to get drunk, so I’m going to make myself a list of truths like you did @FUBAR77 and then they will be what I need to change. I feel both relieved but vulnerable to admit that.

Pre DC, I used to work hard & party hard and I drank a lot but it was always with people & socially related. Its only in the last few years that I have become a “lone” drinker i.e. drinking to self-medicate and having to hide that desire from friends & family. I was probably drinking about 30 units a week, but it was every day and I can see now that I was getting dependent on wine to get me through work stress.

I’m on day 40 now and I think I will try stay dry for a little longer until I feel more sure of myself around alcohol.

Wishing everyone else well on their dry or damp journey of self-discovery.

YY wine is also my nemesis and I get too drunk too quickly on it. When Dry Feb is over I may switch to drinking g&t. Advantages

• longer drink lasts longer
• fewer calories (or is it less? I can never remember
• It doesn’t get me so shitfaced.

well here’s a novelty. Saturday morning and no Hangover. I must admit I struggled last night with no drink. I was absolutely bone tired though so maybe I shouldn’t judge it - or myself - too harshly

Does anyone know the answer to this? If a bottle of wine has 10 units in (10.1), is it healthier to drink the whole bottle over one night or two, assuming that on the nights you don’t have wine you’re dry?

I may be wrong, but my assumption would be that it is 'better' for the body to spread the individual drinks out? To allow your body to process one drink before taking another?

Still haven't drank since new years eve but looking at drinking tonight. One massive incentive not to drink too much is that my 4 year old has taken to waking up at 5.30 am so looking at drinking 2 to 3 medium glasses of wine

Definitely not one night, I think the sweet spot would be over 3 or even four nights and leaving the other days dry and the dry days being consecutive.

Hats off to anyone who can spread a bottle of wine over 4 nights!

I was thinking about this thread in the shower! And agree am loving the honesty and lack of judgement. I thought about this post I made this morning and though it would have been more insightful if I’d posted more about how the whole night felt.

I was first to the restaurant and was a good 10 mins early. Had decided I wanted to start with an AF drink so decided to order it whilst I was still alone - to avoid having to “explain” why I was having an AF drink to the others. Sure enough they arrived and when it came to ordering a drink for them they said - oh what have you got - I told them it was a mocktail and got a shocked “are you not drinking tonight!?”. “Are you pregnant??” I quickly said “yes I am drinking, definitely not pregnant, I’ll get in on the wine, I did dry Jan so still easing back in” - convo then went on to talk about one of the girls brothers who also did DJ.

We looked at wine list and we agreed on the wine to order. The waitress came and took our food order. No one ordered the wine. The girls were still only just really getting started with the cocktails so I just thought - it’s too soon, it will come before their drinks are finished. I had finished my mocktail by the. because of course I could drink it like a lemonade. The starters came, I was on the tap water. When the bottle of water was finished, I asked the waitress for more water and, seeing that the cocktails were at dregs casually said “girls have we ordered the wine yet?” (knowing full well we HAD NOT!). So i ordered the wine. It came just with the main course. We were mid funny story and I didn’t actually drink my wine straight away (didn’t even notice who poured it), was hungry so ate a bit of food first and then just sipped it and the water. Someone else then topped everyone up with the rest of the bottle and the wine lasted until the end of the food. I was aware that I hadn’t been studying everyone’s wine glasses and who had more/ less. Wine then finishes and they clear the empty plates. By this time it was only about 9:45pm and no one was ready to go home, no one wanted a desert - it was obvious everyone wanted more booze. I didn’t really want to see another bottle of wine ordered so I suggested a cocktail and we had another round. This time I had one with Prosecco in it and with that and the food I felt pretty gassy and full and a bit tipsy. Everyone was done and
left, I walked to bus stop and went home. Got home about 11:20pm and I was thinking as I was on bus. “if DP is up it would be nice to have a night cap with him”, I was even picturing the red wine in the wine fridge that I would open. I’ve not had red wine for about 6 weeks. When I got in he’d already gone upstairs so I thought “ok good, that takes the decision away” and I was thinking how nice it would be to log under 5 units for the night. I then felt quite smug and slept well. Woke up this morning feeling pretty’s normal.

So conclusion - it was fairly easy, but the booze “noise” was definitely there. And I seemed to be the one ordering and suggesting the drinks. And if the girls had been a bit more gung ho and guzzled the wine faster and ordered more, or my DP had staying up for 15mins more I could easily have drunk more, so I think the actions of others definitely had an influence.

I have never analyzed a night out like this before! Helps to write it down.

@AlertCat , yes, it's definitely better to spread units across the week, and to drink slowly during the course of an evening. What tends to happen though, is that tolerance levels creep up, so that after a while, you might get used to drinking a bottle in one evening and wake up reasonably OK and think that there is no difference between drinking units in one go or across the week, as long as your weekly total is the same. Then you might reach a point where one glass doesn't touch the sides. But 6 units is technically a 'binge'*, and tolerating alcohol is not the same as suffering no ill effects over time.

If you think about cultures where wine drinking is just a part of everyday life, but people are much healthier and don't really get drunk, it's because they tend to drink smaller amounts (often with food) and take their time with it.

The above is why I do DJ. I always want that one or two glasses to have an effect so I'm not tempted to overindulge. I haven't drunk a whole bottle of wine in about 10 years and would probably end up in the ICU if I did 😂!

*I'm not saying I agree - I think the health authorities have an anti-alcohol agenda, and overstate the dangers in order to scare people into drinking less. I understand why they do this, but sometimes I think it is counter-productive.

Didn't break into the red wine last night! Just didn't fancy it again or the pink Prosecco.

Think it may be partly that once I start, I'll go back to wanting it every night.

@Addictforanex in the past, to pace myself in a group, I've deliberately slowed my drinking to match that of someone who I think drinks -ahem- 'normally'. That can sometimes be an eye opener!

I think you did well, you were mindful of your consumption and didn't have a nightcap alone when you got home!

@Neptunium93 I agree that 'the authorities' anti-alcohol stance can be seen as counterproductive ; I mean, who is honest with their GP about their alcohol intake as there's so much judgement around it?

I had a bottle of wine over Thurs and Friday night but on both nights had huge glasses of water then went onto AF cider. I am actually quite happy about it and planning an AF night tonight.

It's interesting how other people can encourage drinking. I had friends when I was younger than drank far more than me and I did drink more with them. Now I will drive if I want to ensure I stay AF that night.

Totally agree the anti alcohol message the government are giving all the time really puts people off being honest about it. I don't actually drink much anymore but spoke still not tell a GP the truth because the Scottish governments policies make it almost shameful. The prices of alcohol are insane in Scotland and most of it is tax. It doesn't seem to deter heavy drinkers either.

Hi all- I know I'm going to sound so full of myself but I am so pleased- I bought a bottle of wine when Dry January ended and I haven't finished it yet..! I'd smash through a bottle in an evening before. I really hope I can keep going like this. I've got all the little cousins round tomorrow and all the adults will be drinking so I'll see how I get on.
Going to have the last glass out of this bottle once a couple of the kids are in bed! 🎉

I was tempted to drink today and didn't! I went for nosecco instead- it felt fancy because I put a strawberry in it!

I've had a one glass of wine tonight and two yesterday ( it's the weekend) but over both nights I've still got 1/3 of the bottle left and tbh I didn't enjoy that much. I mean it was alright and I did look forward to it Friday afternoon but I didn't enjoy the actual drinking of it as much as before DJ. And I definitely didn't enjoy waking up at 2am with a dry mouth and anxious thoughts. I don't think it's going to be hard to stay under 10 units a week. ( used to drink that in an evening.. ) I'm just not that bothered.
Tonight my hubbie lit the fire, turned on the rugby, asked if I wanted to join him with a beer or two before dinner ( and wine) So I politely declined and went to the gym. Feeling pretty smug about that tbh😀

Swapped round my schedule as it didn't feel right staying dry on a Saturday and then drinking on a Sunday (plus I need to get up earlier on Monday).

Opened the red... half a small glass had an immediate effect and I could feel it in my legs, which was bizarre (but not unpleasant 😊). The bottle had been in the wine rack for more than a year. I'm wondering if it's possible for wine to become stronger (ie end up with more units than indicated on the label), the longer you keep it - does anyone know? It tasted very nice anyway, so no regrets.

I’m really unclear on the best approach. I used to think that if you were under the recommended limit then you could just spread them out. Then o got the idea that you should have dry days, consecutively. That’s then planted the idea that the more dry days per week the better- which made me wonder if it’s better to have 6 dry days and 1 where you binge 😆 but of course, not bingeing at all is optimal. Oh I get so confused!

@AlertCat , I don't think there is any evidence that consecutive dry days are more beneficial, if you're spreading out units across the week. I think if you just drank 2 units per day, you probably wouldn't need any days off at all. I suppose some people will prefer to stay dry all week then 'binge' on 1-2 days, which is a lot better than bingeing every day. There was a TV programme a few years back where the twin TV doctors (whose names escape me after my small glass of red wine 😳!) experimented with one spreading out units and the other bingeing. If I remember rightly, the former worked out best health-wise.

Morning all

I haven't drank since last Monday, so another 6 days dry under my belt and planning another couple fitness days coming up so wont drink next week either :) annoyingly my apps crashed so I can't mark my dry days which is greatly upsetting me grr

Regarding the government guidelines - I was chatting the other day about this. I wonder if the guidelines mean how to drink with absolutely no effect or damage. So your body processes it as normal with everything else in your diet and can cope with a couple little glasses spaced out over hours. So this is the minimum you could drink without your body recognising it was harmful (just a guess I haven't read any studies)

I was also then wondering where the evidence comes from, what studies have been done to get these national guidelines and what it's based on. Sample used, etc. When it was done, what they drank, etc

I was also wondering, as a classified binge drinker myself how I could still be a binge drinker but as healthy as I possibly can be by doing it my way.

Could I live a long happy healthy life having a bottle of wine to myself on one evening every fortnight? Every month? I realise I'm trying to logically work out a pass here. I need some baseline rules ...still trying to figure it out

Well done @Sammy900 - that’s really good going! On the research point, I agree it’s a minefield isn’t it - especially as we know how women are historically missed in medical research - so who can really know for sure!

Any new studies now seem to say there is no safe amount of alcohol and I think I prefer thinking about it this way, none is safest but 14 units won’t kill you.

Doesn’t mean I will stick to that every week of course (last week 18 units this week 4.2 for example) but I need strict rules on myself otherwise I’ll be back up to 30 units a week…

@Neptunium93 oh, I thought the advice was absolutely not to drink more than 14 units but also to have several consecutive days AF each week. No citation but I have some memory of reading that somewhere. I assumed there would be research to back up that suggestion, otherwise why would they bother?

I know the twin doctors you mean, can’t think of their names either!!

Van Tulleken?

Ross and Hugo Turner?