Anyone else stopping completely in 2020?

[Drybird2020]

I don't mean moderating or cutting down, I know that I can't control my drinking this way and I need to stop.

I have stopped for periods of time before and enjoyed the peace of not thinking about alcohol, or stressing about my consumption, or negotiating with myself about whether or not to get a bottle of wine on the way home on a Wednesday night.
There's no point in doing dry January, because I will just use it to justify a wet February.

There used to be a series of threads for total abstinence, think it was in Relationships but it seems to have tailed off. I could really do with a place to talk about this, but with an emphasis on being dry, not moderate. And if nobody else is keen I can use it as somewhere to witter away to myself.

Well I had a wonderful moment this morning when a colleague phoned me with a potentially tough technical question. Before I have found it hard to answer these kind is questions on the fly and would ask them to leave it with me to mull over and research. Well thanks to my very clear head, I was actually able to think it through and give a fairly reasonable answer on the phone. It felt so good!!!

Sounds like you are doing great SophocIestheFox. I have no idea what Colin the caterpillars are but guessing they involve sugar. Must try them! Day 11 here and it is nice getting up with a clear head and without the disappointment of having ‘caved in’ the night before. Have a good day all.

As I get closer to 50, every day of life seems more precious and I want to make the most of life

absolutely!

iamyourequal, they are sour fizzy sweets from M&S- i do t have a very sweet tooth, but these are delicious 😋

Hello all - just a quick wave and then a hectic work day. Hope everyone is ok. Also Day 20 for me.

Will check in a bit later, hello to new folks.

@SophocIestheFox if you like Colin the 🐛 you should involve yourself with a bag of randoms sours. Well done surviving the wobble!

@metoo2020dry a clear morning head and sharp thinking skills are a wonderful reward! I have been getting up very early, it's the only time I have to a) get ahead of the day unencumbered by children, and b) work on a creative writing project I've been wanting to get back to. But this morning I was, erm, distracted by DH, which is an equally valid use of an early start 😉

Delighted to hear from previous posters about about the fully functioning digestion; #smoothoperators.

Morning all.. well we are HALF WAY THROUGH January! Doesn't that feel amazing. I can honestly say I don't miss it and I'm buzzing from feeling so alive in the mornings. Been for a beach walk after the school run with the dog .. wind has died down but expected to return this evening!! @Drybird2020 couple of trees down here so far but the boys have been out on the tractors and moved them so the tracks are clear. Worst to come tonight .. we shall see.

@Spongeface as for the team building day .. I've decided I'm going to be honest as I don't want to gloss over things. My drinking has increased because I've been feeling trapped and hidden away, speaking the truth is the only way forward for me now. I'm very lucky to work with some amazing women who I'm confident will understand and respect my decision not to drink. I may suggest we make a mock tail as part of the cook off 😊

One last thing before I put my head in my laptop and do some work.. if you are on Instagram check out @soberdave amazing inspirational stuff there.

Have a wonderful day all xx

@dottydolly72 well done that sounds like a great plan of action! You raw sounding strong and brave. Maybe I should go a beach walk to up my resolve too. I will tomorrow

Reporting in. My thinking seems to have flipped So that I now know that a drink won’t help difficult situations, whereas before I would be reaching for something at times of stress. It’s a bit of an epiphany that!

Also dp is day 3 - he will probably drink tonight and certainly tomorrow but it feels nice.

@metoo2020dry my stats are day 14, £87, 12,000 calories! I’m pretty shocked at that!!

@Drybird2020 I’m very jealous of your morning ahem activity!

*are

Feeling bleak and down this evening. I have to do some boring cooking. I know a big glass of dry white would help in the moment even tho it would make everything worse after that. I won’t but it’s tempting.
I hope everyone else’s evening is OK.

@Ontheshingle I opened this thread to post something similar, although mine would be a bottle of red.

@TeachesOfPeaches and @Ontheshingle you're doing so well! Keep going. I find eating something helps, maybe nibble an oatcake or something... Or just cook quickly! I hope the moment passes rapidly. So looking forward to the sunlit uplands of sobriety where alcohol doesn't occupy any brain space... We're on the way there 😊

@TeachesOfPeaches sorry to hear you are struggling too. Shall we struggle and DEFINITELY NOT DRINK together?

No ladies just NO! As hard as it is push those feeling to the side and move on from that sh*t. I used to exactly the same and be half cut by the time dinner was actually cooked and the kids were running riot .. we most definitely don't want to go back there do we.

Stay strong 🤗

Show me your stats.. look how far you've come 🙌

16 days
78 units
£84 pounds saved
5,322 calories saved (I think I'm losing weight from my big toe) 😂

I've decided what I'm spending my money on ..

Thankyou @Drybird2020 and @dottydolly72
had a couple of digestives and chat with the children and feeling better x

Well done ontheshingle!!

I am doing okay this week. Still incredibly sleepy, but that might just be the time of year.

Evening all waves tiredly. I am exhausted, too testing

Sounds like people have had busy and productive days (some more than others) nudges DryBird.

Day 20 and ready for bed. I'm seeing the Dr tomorrow, something still not right with me having an eternal cold.

Will catch up properly tomorrow.

Been busy all week so not had time to post but I'm still AF since my slip on Saturday. Yesterday was tough as I think my car has died beyond economic repair and that would sent me straight for a drink but I made a big vat of cheesy pasta for comfort instead and today was a tough but productive day at work which I would have 'rewarded' myself with a drink but I bought myself some flowers instead.

@StillDumDeDumming you've emboldened me, thank you. I'm day 16, 12.6k calories and £200 saved. Ive list very little weight due to the aforementioned eating of ALL the food

you should involve yourself with a bag of randoms sours. Well done surviving the wobble!

If I can tear myself away from the Colin love, I will, drybird

Had them again tonight after another stressful day, I feel like they’re my secret weapon.

@Ontheshingle I've given up and gone to bed!!

Me too, teachesogpeaches!

I call it the Reverse Lie In

@SophocIestheFox I'm a single parent to a young child so haven't had a lie in YEARS. Love the idea of a reverse lie-in

I will be heading to bed soon too - I LOVE my sober early nights. Well done @TeachesOfPeaches