Sober October - Plan Ahead

[notroundthebend]

I managed dry January, even did Feb! Then the virus hit and I went backwards with the wine drinking and it's really got to stop. So sober October it is (and beyond)..! So, Thursday will day one 🙌 join me if you wish.

Thanks for the supportive messages. It’s good to see you are all still going strong. After watching Boris last night, DH opened a bottle of wine and I thought - stuff it. Had 2 large glasses then went to bed. Pleased to report that I wasn’t at all tempted tonight. Happy with my water and a decaf tea in bed

A little blip, well done for getting straight back to sober

How's everyone? Just checking in, drinking my cordial, feeling good. Hope people are doing OK

All good here! I'm still booze free and currently sipping a Matcha Green Tea which I'm getting quite a taste for.

I slept really well last night and have been feeling pretty chilled out and relaxed all day. Even did a bit of sewing and repaired a couple of pairs of my favourite trousers I've been meaning to do for months but just never got around to.

Keeping with it! I’m not a midweek drinker anyway so it’s easy during the week. It’s just the weekends that lead me into temptation!

All good here too (we won’t mention Monday’s hiccup ) Coffee in the morning, water in the afternoon and tea in the evening. It’s been a super stressy day but I’ve no desire to turn to alcohol. Hope everyone is doing Ok.

Well done Vik1ng! All good here too. I am eating so much sugar though, especially of an evening, can't stay away from the biscuits, which I guess are now my treat instead of alcohol. Hopefully the exercise will offset it. Also realised that sex is so much better without my half bottle of wine. This alone should be a good reason to keep this up!!

The weekend is approaching! What’s everyone up to?

Nothing special to be honest.

Tonight's the girlie Friday night in with my daughter when we would usually have wine, but not tonight. This will be our third 'dry' Friday and we honestly haven't missed it. It just shows how easy it is to get into the habit. Wine every Friday and now no wine every Friday and it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the evening at all.

I've also treated myself to a couple of vintage bits of eBay with the money I've saved on wine this month!

No big plans this weekend, dc's friends are coming round. I'm having a horrible day at work and already my resolve is weakening, help me find it again

I’ve had a busy week so am going to spend the weekend pretty quietly sewing and decluttering. Don’t want to do anything too demanding!

@ChaToilLeam My birthday this weekend which will be my first sober one this millennium

Going for a takeaway with friends tonight and I've got some 'alcohol removed' Rose from Waitrose to try. I imagine it'll be foul so I've a couple of 0% beers on hand too!

Just a heads up for fans of the Belvoir cordials etc, they're all 1/3 off in Waitrose at the moment! (Assume the same offers apply nationwide?).

Thanks for the heads up on the Belvoir drinks, I do like them, I'm cold this evening so am drinking decaff Earl Grey, day at work didn't get any better, but I know I'll regret it if I crack and hit the bottle. Happy birthday for the weekend!!

Tried an AF beer tonight. Yuk. I’d rather drink tap water all night.

@Vik1ng Which beer did you try? I've experimented with a few this month and Heineken 0.0 is top of the leaderboard so far, with Brew Dog Punk AF in second place.

Happy to report that the de-alcoholised rose I bought today is in fact very drinkable and the best substitute for real booze I've found so far! It was from Waitrose and about £6 so much the same as I'd usually pay for wine but saved me the usual taxi fare home, not to mention the hangover tomorrow

I also tried the co-op alcohol free 'G&T' which with ice and lime in a big gin glass was also a good swap.

Feeling pretty off colour today. If I'd been drinking last night I'd presume it's a hangover, but I really didn't deserve the headache I woke up with. Glad I'm having a quiet weekend. I trued to get that delicious cawstons rhubarb fizzy drink today, but none in supermarket. Will try and find it tomorrow, I really fancy it, may try and get lilt too. I have a hankering for lilt

Nothing exciting to report here.

I started back up with my exercise regime today. I normally exercise every day, but I developed a sore hip with some sort of sciatic implications (I was getting nerve tingles down one leg) so I decided to lay off the exercise for a week and a half and allow it to settle down.

Today was the first day of back doing my complete routine and it was really hard. Just shows how easy it is to get out of practise just by missing a few days.

Despite having a lovely night's sleep I ended up napping earlier this evening. Just felt myself getting sleepy looking at the computer so laid down on the bed and woke up three hours later.

Well that's it for me. Day 22 tomorrow and I really like the sound of that fizzy Rhubarb drink! Might try and get some of that.

I’ve given up on trying to find a nice alcohol-free beer. They’re all too sugary and watery. Yuck! Think I’ll go back to my fake gin and dry tonic.

On the plus side, it was a beautiful autumn day today so DP and I did a 7 mile walk along our local river.

Lovely, we had a good walk this morning too. I slept well and feel good today, has been the easiest evening so far yet, didn't feel I was missing wine at all. Hopefully turning a corner

Greetings fellow Sober Octoberers!

It's day 23 for me (I can hardly believe it) and feeling good. Sleeping for England mind - what's that all about?!

The sleep is incredible isn't it Fanny? It's become my new treat to try and be asleep by 10pm!! I really hope this feeling of positivity and motivation lasts, I really feel like I could carry on past October, it has crossed my mind that maybe I could become teetotal, only fleetingly. I can see all the negatives of drinking now : money, health, sleep, self esteem, anxiety, eating crap, having less great sex, being short with the dc, rushing bedtime, worrying of the bad example I am setting. Am sure there's more too. What are the pros to drinking? I can only think one, I liked it. But I'm wondering why?? Still haven't found my Cawstons rhubarb yet, will try supermarket number 3 tomorrow

I’m reading your posts about sleep with envy! Unfortunately that’s a benefit I am not yet enjoying. Menopausal hot flushes wake me every night. You have reminded me that I have some melatonin in the cupboard though, I’ll try that tonight and see if I sleep through.

Satin pillowcases Cha!

They are brilliant for night hot flashes.

You wake up all sweaty, just turn the pillow over and the underside of the satin is icy cold and cools you right down instantly.

A friend gave me this tip and it works a treat.

Hi, just checking in for the evening. Doing OK, have decided to view sobriety as something I've achieved, something im actively doing for myself rather than a deprivation. Good for a positive mindset. Woke at 3am and struggled to get back to sleep but I knew I'd still feel OK this morning regardless as no wine. Feeling very proud of this

Thanks for that tip @FannyFernackerpan, I might have one somewhere I bought for my hair.

Went to gym tonight with DP. Should be proper tired out for bedtime! He had a beer after, I didn’t even sniff it. :-)

Big challenge coming up this weekend: we will be having a spooky movie evening with a friend and her husband (meeting up still allowed where we live). They LOVE to drink and will be most miffed at my abstention. Strategies required!