A joyful Christmas - Alcohol free

[Hotchocolatesforeveryone]

Hi everyone

I thought I would create a thread specifically for getting through the Christmas Period - alcohol free and really hoping some others join me!

I am currently on day 1 (for about the 10th time this year) but I did complete Dry January, and had a lot of long periods alcohol free after but sadly fell into bad habits again during 1st lockdown and all through summer. But I've been quite good recently, only drinking at weekends - but I've decided that I just want a joyful happy life and alcohol, even in smaller quantities, brings nothing valuable to my life and makes me nothing but miserable.

So anyway. I'm going to use this thread to keep myself in check, as I said specifically through the christmas period.

I'm hoping (if anyone joins) we can share delicious alcohol free drinks we've discovered. Tips to stay off the booze. Share things that doesn't involve alcohol but that brings us joy through the festivities.

I plan to get every type of hot chocolate/coffee i can get my hands on go for lots of winter walks, read lots of books (finally without having to close one eye to focus on the words after one too many glasses of wine) and I plan to learn to bake some Christmas treats with my kids. We plan to build a ginger bread house on Saturday night and I'm really looking forward to that!

Anyway hopefully some others decide to join no matter what day they are on! So day1 here we go!

I’m in! Thank you for starting this thread, it will help me stay on track without feeling deprived.

I’m on day 18, I stopped drinking as part of calorie counting to lose weight but really, had been unhappy with my relationship with alcohol for a while and am doing so much better without it. I’ve told my dh that I won’t be drinking over Christmas and New Year so all I have to do now is stick to it (my goodness that’s a sentence that’s easier to type than to do!)

Sorry, this is not really on topic, but as you both have just recently stopped drinking, I recommend you take a vitamin B supplement for a while. Alcohol depletes vitamin B from our systems and that is part of the reason why we can feel sad and stressed, turning drinking into a vicious circle.

@Blackberryblossom yay! Welcome aboard! Its crazy how many calories are in alcohol isnt it? Not to mention the crap I eat the day after when nursing a hangover.

I've also told my dh that I won't be drinking over christmas and he is very supportive, he's not much of a drinker himself anyway so he wasn't too bothered. It will definitely be a testing time as christmas seems to be centered around alcohol! I've told myself i can eat whatever I like as ill be saving so much calories from wine so I plan on buying alot of nice food & treats.

@coyoacan thank you for the tip! I will definitely look into that!

I'm in, day 95 here. This will be my first sober Christmas (excluding pregnancy) planning a nice walk on Xmas day which would never do if I was drinking and looking forward to boxing day without a hideous hangover (and inevitable hair of the dog!)
Also planning loads of sweet treats and have read about AF mulled wine so looking forward to trying that.

@hazelnutmochi wow 95 days that's impressive. Welcome. I also plan on doing lots of walks over the christmas period which the kids will enjoy too. AF mulled wine sounds amazing I might have to look into that. I wonder if there is an alcohol free baileys as its my favorite but if not then lots of baileys chocolates will do (im not being strict with alcohol in foods so I will still put red wine in when cooking spaghetti but now I won't need to buy a standard bottle as I won't be drinking the remainder while cooking ill just get a tiny bottle.

I'm currently charging up my kindle and hoping to find a good thriller book or maybe even a christmas one if I can find one.

I also quite like the rosé shloer so that will be my weekend tipple I think

I am DEFINITELY in!!!

AF mulled wine is the bomb. Google kinder wine. We used to have ti in Vienna in the pre-children days.

kinder gluhwein

www.teawithmum.com/kindergluhwein-german-mulled-wine-for-kids/

I'm in too. Day 47 for me and am very much still in the grip of sugar cravings which means I'm stuffing my face with chocolate every night.

I wasn't a huge drinker at the end after two pregnancies and a couple of sober October's but my relationship with drink was still really unhealthy and I'm glad to feel calmer every day.

Looking forward to some time off work to be with the family and lots and lots of food (Yes there's a pattern!)

Oh that extra apostrophe is annoying me

@CatRed200 oh that sounds great I've screenshotted the recipe! Sounds delicious!

Welcome @givingitamiss the more the merrier! I also wasn't a huge drinker as such but I was getting there and starting to become dependant on wine to de-stress which it did at the time but made me feel 100times worse the following day.

So yesterday I bought myself a jar of Irish cream coffee at the range, it smells sickly sweet but I haven't tried it yet. Also got some bottles of rosé shloer for the weekend as its reduced on club card price in tesco.

Plans for the weekend are lots of hot chocolates (I've convinced myself the options belgian chocolate one is fine as its pretty low calorie for hot chocolate) and fancy juice in wine glass with sliced lime. About to give house a quick clean then off on a dog walk.

Day 2 today and I had the best night sleep last night complete with very strange vivid dreams!

Me too, please. I'm on day 6 and back on sertraline. Alcohol was not giving as much as it was taking away (understatement) so I've excised it. I hope forever. Bring on the chocolate coated Lidl lebkuchen. I don't normally eat anything sweet, but I suspect that's because I buried any sweet tooth with booze. Thanks for the vit B reminder.

Hi everyone. Congratulations @hazelnutmochi on 95 (96?) days AF. Day 19 here, but it’s a Friday so of course it feels like forever.

I made the rookie error of starting to lose weight before cutting out alcohol. Pro is that the weight is coming off very steadily with fewer calories and no drink. Con is that there’s seriously less sugar to console myself with. So enjoy the Lidl goodies @Benvolio! I just about resisted the stollen bites today but it was even harder than resisting dh’s wine just now.

I am really enjoying being able to get in the car and drive whenever I want, take my daughter out on her bike or get out on Sunday afternoons. I’m looking forward to reclaiming every single day.

Thanks for the welcome and congrats. Had several day 1s and 100 days seemed impossible so very pleased to be here. I was a binge drinker, seriously faulty off switch and drinking got out of control during lockdown 1. The thing that worked for me was discovering Love sober, they do a brilliant pod cast and just brought a book out.
Thanks for sharing the kindergluhwein recipe @CatRed200, sounds amazing!
Trying to lose weight here too @Blackberryblossom, its not coming off anywhere near as fast as I would like though (have lost about 3kg and want to lose another 10...maybe by next Christmas)
Hope everyone has a lovely sober weekend, less than a month to go until the big day. Think we're going to get our tree soon and have treated myself to a lovely Holland & Barrett AF drink advent calendar so looking forward to opening that this week.

Hi ladies just checking in. Anyone else feeling smug to be hangover free on a Saturday morning? Its usually unheard of so I'm feeling very pleased today. Had another peaceful night sleep last night, drank my shloer then a massive mug of sweet tea & slept like a log from 10pm until around 6.30am.

Just pottering around the house today and have a casserole on for tonight. Will be going food shopping later & plan to get myself some fancy juice if anyone has any recommendations hit me up

Hi @Hotchocolatesforeveryone , happy day 3! It is lovely getting so much better sleep! We are starting to put the house back together after getting some work done during the week. It was so nice to get up early with a clear head and get the furniture back in from the garage without trauma. We have a new slip cover on the old tired sofa and a decluttered and rearranged front room... it is so much nicer! Plus of course I have never drunk in the room in this configuration so I can make new AF rituals in my armchair by my bookcase.

Re fancy juices - I haven’t tried it yet but we have a Bottlegreen Sloe and Juniper Berry cordial which I am hoping will work nicely with tonic water. I will try that tonight and report back.

@hazelnutmochi , thank you for the LoveSober mention, I will have a mention. I hope your AF Advent calendar is lovely, what an excellent idea. Congratulations on your weight loss! I have put on so much over the last couple of years - about 2.5 stone to lose altogether and I am pretty much exactly half-way. Hopefully if I can stay off alcohol and on MFP and this thread then I can limit the damage over Christmas. That’s the plan, anyway

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I will have a look, not a mention.

I’m in!

Coming up to 8 months alcohol-free and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done! Weekends are so much more relaxing, productive and fun all at the same time. When I first got sober I was quietly feeding an AF Christmas, but as it gets closer I’m actually really looking forward to being clear headed, energetic and present.

That kindergluhwein looks great! I bought some AF mulled wine from Sainsbury’s the other day and although it smelled lovely, it was revolting - like sugar-free Ribena with clove flavouring. Horrid artificial sweetener after taste 🤢 Definitely trial and error with AF drinks!

Feeding = dreading

Hi @TizzDeSeason , it’s really encouraging to hear that you’re still going strong after nearly 8 months, and what a brilliant positive attitude to an AF Christmas!

Learning what works with AF drinks is definitely trial and error! I said to dh that it’s like learning to drink all over again, but without the Malibu My win for the week is ginger cordial with hot water, which I think someone mentioned on here. I’m not sure on the sloe and juniper cordial; it’s meant to be inspired by sloe gin but I keep thinking of lower sugar Ribena. Nice enough though. I’ll try it with a plain tonic water next.

Also in... I am on Day 2 (feels like I have been here before).

Vitamin B is being taken along with some other vitamins (D, Probiotics and K, plus a multivitamin).

I love the ginger cordial. I sometimes add cinnamon spice to it as well :-)

I am trying the cold infusion tea bags at the moment, not overly impressed with them.

And, I have some smoothie mixes in the freezer to have in the afternoon to try and fill me up a bit.

Hello, how are we all?

In my compulsive searching for AF drinks, I found a Belvoir no alcohol Mulled Winter Punch in Sainsbury's today, will try it on Sunday when we put the tree up. Lidl have something similar in their Xmas section. Also a Rhubarb and ginger cordial in Lidl which looks interesting.

I went climbing today for the first time since the spring. Might have enough calories for a hot chocolate

Hi, can I join? I’m on Day 5 spurred on by a failed liver function test this week. Repeat bloods today. I kept kidding myself that I don’t drink that much but 1/2 bottle wine 4 or 5 days a week is actually a lot.

Anyway, I also bought the Rhubarb and Ginger cordial from Lidl and I’ve got the Belvoir winter punch. I had a lovely Rose and Pomegranate cordial with sparkling water too.

Hi @Wildernesstips [waves] Sorry to hear about your liver function test, that must have been a shock. Were today’s tests to check the results? If you don’t mind me asking.

I know what you mean about amounts. It’s taken me nearly two years after my hysterectomy and starting hrt to (finally) realise that alcohol is not my friend, even just a glass or two a night. I can’t believe how hard I tried to ignore that fact though, especially during the first lockdown. I’m determined to take this opportunity to stop. I’ve been listening to some really helpful quit lit and that’s really useful when the desire for a drink appears. I always thought that I didn’t drink that much, but it turns out the bar is pretty low for me. Plus, I was wrong.

Just finishing a mug of hot ginger cordial, I added cloves (inspired by @Dyno )

Yes, to check the results and Drs on Monday. I have listened to Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, Naked Mind and the Outrun all of which were really good.

Will try the ginger cordial hot tomorrow. I have the Belvoir one. I’ve also really enjoyed a Big Tom (spiced tomato juice).