Not dry january. But less booze in general. Anyone else?

[Frouby]

I am posting this thread because I really want to reduce the amount of alcohol I drink.

I was going to do dry January but think that is too much for me. And when I do drink again I will revert back to bad habits.

On a normal week I would have 1 or 2 g and ts mon to thurs. Bottle of wine on a friday. Then either a couple of beers or a couple of g and ts on a Saturday night. Nothing on sunday.

Over Christmas (which started for us mid December as we had a holiday) I have drank every day. Never been drunk drunk but 4 or 5 drinks every day.

I feel fat, bloated and lethargic. I want to cut my drinking down to a couple of nights a week. Friday and Saturday. Or thursday and friday. DP also drinks most days (more than me too) and we both need to address our relationship with alcohol.

I didn't drink last night and won't tonight either. And I feel 100% better already. We get married in May and I want to lose weight and improve my health.

Does anyone else want to join this thread for support? I know there is the dry January thread but I will be drinking (probably) 2 days a week so dont want to post on there and knock any penguins off the ice.

Currently drinking ginger ale with loads of ice and contemplating a shower and a cupp of tea later with the last of the Christmas cake (diet starts tomorrow) 😁

I'm exactly the same. I stopped off for a bottle Friday after pub, finished it. Saturday allowed myself one bottle in Tesco delivery..finished it.
I will know I've made good progress if I can ever leave wine overnight

Managed to be AF last night and aiming for tonight also, though I already fancy a fat glass of red! Aiming to stay dry until Friday, but have a few days off work - which will make it harder. I too would love to be able to leave a half bottle of wine for another day, but it rarely happens.

Woosey alcohol makes you more stressed not less, honestly!
But in order to test this theory you need a longish period of AF time (at least 4 nights 😂) in fact 2 months is recommended before then starting to moderate.
My bottle from the weekend is half empty and will stay that way until Friday, I don't even think about it and it isn't hidden away somewhere but next to the kettle.
As long as you are all aware of what you are drinking that's great! I'm sure you are all drinking less than you were which was the aim, not to go AF

Another AF night here. Once I get that 1st night out of the way I look forward to a few days AF.

Planning AF tomorrow at least and hopefully thursday too tho I will drink on at least one of them. Easter holidays are hard bloody work. Dd is not too bad. At 13 she is pretty self sufficient tho I may change my mind about that after bridesmaid dress shopping.

But ds who is 4 is a bloody handfull. He is enough to drive anyone to drink 😁

Anglaise - it’s great you find it easy with temptation in sight.

Frouby - well done on continued AF, that’s great. I know what you mean..once the first one is done it does tend to be easier. Also you believe in yourself a little more. Well done. Also I think the daughter v son stress could be a gender issue. My son has driven me to drink many a time (he’s 20 and now at uni). My daughter are a lot easier. (12 and 9)

Well I’ve managed to stop at half a bottle. For me that’s massive progress. I’m proud of myself. I’m really finding the AF thing tricky. I know alcohol isn’t supposed to help with stress but I really do feel it easing on the first glass. I enjoy the taste and the meditative effect it has for me. Sadly I do know how toxic it is too. Baby steps though I guess....

I think it's a gender thing too Woosey. Dd was an angel at that age. Never a minutes bother.

Ds is a 1 man wrecking crew with infinite energy. Took him to the park with his cousins on monday for 5 hours. Still like a Duracell bunny at bedtime. And we went trampolining yesterday for 2 hours. He literally bounced and ran for the entire 2 hours and still found the energy to bring all his outside toys inside while I tried to do an hours work.

He is going to nursery full time after Easter instead of 15 hours. 9am to 3pm. He is desperately ready for it so hoping a combination of that and the weather hopefully improving so we can be outside more improves things.

We have to go to the huge shopping centre on friday to get his and dps suit for the wedding and see if we can find dd a bridesmaid dress.

Friday definitely won't be dry. Am predicting floods 😂😂

Well after a crappy day yesterday I had a glass of wine to calm myself down. So I am feeling guilty this morning because the previous 2 weeks I managed no wine Mon to Thurs.
Unfortunately my anxiety is on the rise so I gave in last night but I was AF sun and Mon at least.

I have been too ashamed to post anything here. Monday was dry, relatively unproblematically. But last night was absolutely not. Combination of DP upsetting me, atrocious peri-menopausal period pain and arthritic knee pain meant I used gin as medicine. I know I shouldn't. I feel awful now in every possible way (tired, puffy, sick, paranoid, jittery). I hate this. I have to try to remember this in two days' time, when I feel tempted again...

Well done for posting Athena. Please don't feel embarrassed or ashamed; we are all in the same boat and life gets tough and we self medicate sometimes

Athena - I second pontious, well done in posting 💐. I’ve found it really hard to post too the last week as I feel terribly crap and that I’m a failure for my drinking. We are all here to support each other. Yes life does get in the way and push us to self medicate. I’ve been pressing my ‘f* it button’ way too much recently.
I’m so sorry you had such a crappy evening, it does sound tough. I can empathise as to why you hit the gin. I think most of us would’ve. But hey....Monday was dry!! You didn’t roll from one day to the next, so that’s a positive.
Sending big hugs to you

Thank you, Pontious and Woosey. I wouldn't judge anyone else, but I am definitely judging myself today.

I too self medicate when stressed and anxious and that's what I find hard to forgive myself for. I know I'm drinking for the wrong reasons but do it anyway. I'm going to find it hard this coming week as I'm off work till after the Easter break. Lots of socialising etc and im weak willed. Sainsbury's only have their wine offer on at the moment so, of course, I had to take advantage and stock up on the prosecco!!

The positive side to all this is that we are all aware of how much we are drinking and want to change so we are on the right track.

I've failed tonight too. My excuse being that it's almost Easter. Decided I would test myself to see if I can drink half a bottle (no chance)

Athena I hope you feel better tomorrow, Alcohol gives you a quick lift but only for the first glass or two, after that it is downhill. It sounds like you had a really bad day 🙁. I used to do the same and a year ago with the shit week I'm having I would have done the same! Now I just swear a lot, eat chocolate and go out for a run. I don't have to deal with being tired, hungover, binge eating and counting down the hours to the evening to have another drink to feel better.
Don't apologise for posting that is what a support thread is for 👍

Thanks, Anglaise. I really need the support at the moment. But AF tonight. Quite apart from anything else, I couldn't face the thought of alcohol. Going to bed now, and will at least not be waking up with the Beer Fear...

Wahoooo Athena, you conquered it!!
As for me....nope!! Just fml right now!! Totally shit!! Know it’s wrong but hey..had bottle of wine. Have really got the f* it button well and truly pressed

Well I didn't stick to 2 glasses, but there is some left in bottle. Guess that's progress

Anglaise I do the eating chocolate but don't do the running. I've got a dodgy knee but I'd love to just be able to go out for a run. Sound great just to get your kit on and run it all off. I can do the swearing though!
Its right what you say, alcohol does give you a lift to start with but then its so tempting to have just one more.
Keep up the good work everyone. I think we are all drinking less and that's good news.

Well done everyone - we keep climbing back on the wagon and, as others have said, we are all more aware of our drinking. I've managed 2 AF nights so far - but sleep has been awful again. I also seem to have lost my running mojo - I know I just need to lace up and get out. I'm attempting to loose a stone at the moment - bloody menopause has given me a Humpty Dumpty tummy that not even abstinence from the booze seems to shift -Grrrr!

Pinkcoat have you tried running or swimming instead? Both are great aerobic sports. I do them both but more as cross training for running (although I'd like to do a triathlon in the next year)*
Athena* sleep can take a while to settle down after going AF for some people. I know what you mean about weight, if I didn't run I don't think I'd be able to eat more than one meal a day without putting on weight. I stopped appearing cheese when I stopped my daily wine habit and I think that helped with losing a few kgs.
Just realised that the one bottle of 12.5% wine I allow myself every weekend is actually 10 units which isn't so much moderating as the recommended total weekly limit (in France) 🙁. I was kidding myself it was only 6 or 7 😳

Day 2 AF. Haven't much missed it, as I think I am also still on Day 2 of a hangover . Hope everyone is surviving...

Not surviving here. But am ok with it I think.

Had a pretty shitty day yesterday. Nothing major just dcs being dcs amd housework and chores and shit all day. So had 3 small glasses of wine.

Today I have been at the.local garden centre/petting farm/adventure playground area with my lovely dsis and the dcs. Dsis had thyroid cancer last year and had various treatments. She has found another lump in her neck. Could be something. Could be nothing. Am praying its nothing.

And then I went to my mams. It sounds so silly to be upset over this but I was. My nephews had been to a livestock auction with my knobhead BIL at the weekend. Nephew bought a tiny baby guinea pig. It's about 2 or 3 weeks old. His mum (my other dsis) has said ge can't keep it. So it's currently in a cat carrier in my mams spare room. It's absolutely fine where it is but obviously not a long term solution.

Ds was nursing it today. It kept jumping off his lap, running across the sofa and getting on me and snuggling up in my hoodie. It did it 5 times.

I really, really wanted to bring it home with me. But I have 2 boy piggies already and I wouldn't mix 3 boars. And if it's a she obviously that creates another set of problems.

But I was furious that someone can send a tiny baby animal to an auction, that my bil allowed the boys to buy it for £2.25 and that it is now my mams responsibility. And that it clearly wanted to come and live with me but I don't have the space for it.

So I drank the rest of the bottle from yesterday and another 2 glasses in protest to all that is shit in the world.

Read Pontius for Athena I haven't been drinking honestly just knackered!

4 glasses of wine last night. One at the theatre and the rest when we got home. The first was a choice and I'd have been happy if i could have left it at that. The rest was just habit and that damned elusive 'off' button. I'm going to drag my sorry butt out for a run now and start Day1 again!

Frouby, I am so sorry to hear about your shit day. I have everything crossed for your Dsis. I would have been upset about the piggie too, especially after everything else. I would also have turned to wine.

Pontious, yes, that blasted off button.

Hideous dream last night about a spider's nest. Last time I had more than one AF night, I had hideous dreams, too. I think William Porter mentions them, but I will check later.