Still stopped in 2020; a thread for anyone abstaining from alcohol.

[Drybird2020]

Dry January is over and the next phase has begun! Wherever you are on your sobriety journey, you're welcome here for encouragement, advice and support.

We love hearing from people who have been dry for a long time, so if you've swung by to have a look, please post to inspire us!

Equally, if you've woken up hungover, regretful and ashamed, determined that it's the last time, we've all been there and we're here for you now.

Lurky-lurkers, we know you're there! I observed the alcohol support threads for years before I felt ready to take the plunge, I hope these threads help others; if and when you feel ready to post, you'll get a warm welcome.

Might I respectfully ask that if your aim is moderation, you join the long running moderation thread in this topic. I find moderation chat difficult; it weakens my resolve, and many others feel the same.

I'm Drybird, 31 days sober. In that time I have saved 183 units, £192, and 12600 calories! I intend to be sober for the rest of my life, and I use this thread to keep me accountable.

It would be great to know how everyone is getting on, so if you'd like to check in below, please do! No need to share stats unless you want to, just give us a wave.

Here's tae us!

Happy Birthday @thisusernameismine .

It is a shit time in lots of ways. I find it most useful to think that drinking is one of the things I can control in these difficult times. If we look after ourselves, we are better placed to support the ones we love.

And 78 days is awesome!

Happy birthday thisusernameismine and well done for not drinking.

@thisusernameismine happy birthday 🎂, welcome to the wonderful world of 40, and congratulations on making it a sober one! Birthdays are linked with booze in my mind, and I wonder if your urge to drink yesterday was to do with the same association. You've made me think about how to handle mine when it comes around, thank you for that.

3 weeks no wine for me

Excellent, @jess3817. Still going here. 😊

Well done, Jess.

I'm feeling more than ever that I quit booze at exactly the right time. I'd be a total mess now if I was still drinking. Right now I am secretly a mess but it doesn't show, and that's what the kids need from me.

Looks like I'm going to have to continue working - no calls from employer telling me to stay home. Fantastic

Still sober, hit the 3 month mark.

Thoughts to all.

Thanks everyone. Well done to you all too. My thinking is at least I'm not wasting my I don't have to spare on booze. I added up what I would have normally spent and it's a weekly shop for the 6 of us, so I'm pleased with that.
HowlsMovingBungalow can I ask what it is you do? I'm confused as to weather I used be working or not. I have a few cancel on me but not heard from the others yet ( I'm a cleaner )

God sorry for all the spelling mistakes there. Hopefully you know what I mean 😁

Jess you really shouldn't be going to clean in people's houses, sorry. I know it must be really hard.

I've called them all and put them all hold hold until further notice. ( I wouldn't have gone by the way, jusy incase people are wondering. )

I work in Agricultural retail so animal feeds and farming/equine equipment/meds.
I wouldn't be cleaning @jess3817.

Well done - you have to stay safe!

Thanks. You all stay safe too.

Hello everyone, I haven't been on for a while but really been struggling so thought I'd come along.

Is anyone else really struggling with the joking about alcohol at the moment? My antenatal group are all sharing pics of their evening glass of wine, loads of joking about how if you drink you're disinfecting yourself from the inside etc etc etc. Just finding this really tough as after a day of trying to homeschool my 7 year old and looking after my baby I would love morning more than a glass of wine.

I've only drink on two occasions this year, and I'd be so upset to break that streak : (

Hi @rosieposies, welcome back.

What resources have you been using to help you? There are lots of recommendations on here. My favourite is the Annie Grace 30 day alcohol experiment, online and free. It helps you alter your mindset about drinking, works through the reasons why and gives you coping strategies.

You will get to a point where alcohol does not bother you at all. Day 154 here and life is so much better, regardless of all the world's problems, I feel so much better mentally. A glass of wine solves nothing.

@rosieposies this would be a good time to do the Alcohol Experiment. I like Annie Grace and have been rereading her book, dipping in and out. Might be an idea to snooze a few people on Facebook at the same time so you're not swamped with posts about booze.

@Drybird2020 @ElsaCragg @aprilfoolsbaby aw thanks for your messages!! Like others have said, I'd be a mess right now if I'd not given up drinking. From reading Annie Grace and others, my mindset around drinking shifted literally overnight at the start of the year. I'm only struggling now with everything going on in the world. I know I won't be much use to my 18 month old even if just having one or two drinks a night!!

I did end up having a splash of beer with lemonade on Monday night but it was a non-event so not going to berate myself.

Love to all xx stay strong!

@rosieposies I'm with you girl!! This is the first time in 80 days I've mentally struggled to abstain, although thankfully the pull to have a glass isn't very strong. I keep telling myself a couple of wines is not going to make COVID go away.

I see the gov is allowing Off Licenses to open. I'm glad I don't need to use these anymore. 3 months ago I would be in an absolute panic over my supply of booze.

Stay strong.

Me too, @HowlsMovingBungalow. AF has become so standard for me now that I even forgot to fill in my DrinkLess app, which has been a very satisfying little moment every day.

Just have to hold on to the fact that we are much healthier in mind and body now and that is such a positive achievement in this worrying time.
Could bang on about the sheer feckwittery of the general public and what they deem to be 'essential' purchases ... it has made me bloody despair over the last two days, utter madness!!

I'm also not as obsessed with my lack of drink counter, I still like it racking up mind!

Hope you and your families are all well.

Morning all.

I still use my drink tracker, it's a mood tracker app called Daylio. Best part, it's free. You can add one or more entries every day (I just do it once) to track mood, goals, activities and make notes.

What I have done is personalise all the icons (easier than it sounds), so that I can see at a glance that I'm maintaining good habits. I also add notes at the end of the day. And being a bit of a geek, I can look at the stats and see how many times in the month I've done certain activities. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but I find it a very positive thing to do.

Another unbelievably vivid dream about drinking! I was so happy to wake up. I'm having quite a few anxiety type dreams at the moment so it was all muddled up with other things but gosh, what a reminder.

Hope everyone is OK. I agree the continued opening of off licences says so much about our culture.

@ElsaCragg that sounds very organised, my Trydry app keeps locking me out 😕 but when I can get in, I like to see how much money and how many calories I have saved.

@Drybird2020, I've been having strange panic dreams, so relieved to wake up and everything is so normal (relatively speaking ).

I started the year putting a small amount of cash away every week, the amount I would have spent on alcohol, to save towards a future holiday. It's less than £150, but I've now mentally allocated it as an emergency fund. I know I'm lucky to be able to afford to do that, but times are so uncertain, it helps me to know it's there.