Hop on up it's Dry January thread #2

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

Shiny new thread to carry us onward through January

We've just been dancing like loons around the kitchen to the mama Mia soundtrack. I feel a bit elated being able to have this much fun without booze.

Well done to everyone and hope the Sunday roasts have gone ok! I cracked open a bottle of the Nosecco. My drinking started at 14 and then never really stopped. I used to drink pints of beer at university and remember a few enormous nights. Then graduated into wine. Living alone in my 20s I would never have dreamt of drinking at home alone. But when I got married my ex DH used to always have a bottle in the fridge and that is when I was drinking more and at home. Work is stressful and it just crept up. Split from my ex DH and remember I would never drink a full bottle. I used to close it when I had drunk about half. But that has crept up and drinking a bottle a night has been quite normal this past lockdown year. And now it is going up even more - so I can even crack open bottle two and do another half. My kids have started to notice and I am really ashamed. I have been known to hide bottles etc and also drink behind peoples backs so they don’t know. That’s when I knew I had to cut down. So dry jan - is my third year of trying. Have never managed it before so this time and feeling rather proud. I started on 4 Jan so will go into feb. My aim is to stop the mid week drinking and have it as a treat at the weekend. My new DH (who lives in another country until his kids have gone to uni) manages to do that. But I drink mid week because I have a highly stressful job and an effectively a single mum during the week with no one to help. So I settle in the evening with wine. This thread is so helpful and supportive. Thanks to you all for sharing your stories.

@Sometimes123 not at all, I was worried I darkened it by asking

My roast was okay! Cooking harder than eating but got through both in the end. Becks blue now and then a cup of pukka tea (first four gulps nice before it turns into something reminiscent of tepid washing up liquid)

Thank you all for sharing your stories. You are all doing so well. We are all doing so well

@Blessex I've found a better prosecco copy... Rawsons Retreat sparkling. It's got half the sugar, so nowhere near as sweet. I still add a splash of tonic, but its sooo much nicer.

Good to know @Allycat. Did you get that in a regular supermarket? The sugar content is what is putting me off trying any AF Prosecco/wine at the moment as I'm cutting my carbs way down.

I bought it in a Wine Rack shop, but did see Rawsons Retreat in a big Sainsburys last week, but I cant remember if they had the fizz, or just the wine.
Nosecco is 7g of carbs (sugar)/100cl, whereas as RR is 2.5!! I'm type 1 diabetic, so this is a massive discovery for me 😁

@humphriescushion I always think the same . I'm so glad camera phones and social media were not around when I was on the scene!!! It was bad enough getting your pics back from the developers after a night out and seeing the state of yourself! Imagine being immortalised on the internet!!
Day 17 here woohoo what a great feeling. I've been thinking about my relationship with drink and I really like having a glass of wine with friends so I really want to become a proper adult who can just drink socially but not sit in night after night drinking x

Ooh @Allycat I will try!

PeacheyPeach That's what I'm wondering. What is an occasion worthy of alcohol? A rubbish Thursday at work shouldn't really cut it, should it?

@Allycat wow ok I am on it! Will get a bottle. I don’t understand why all these AF drinks are so sweet. Firstly it’s crap diet wise. But more importantly that is exactly what makes them taste fake. Just cut the damn sugar down!!!! The zero Gordon’s gin is great but ruined by the artificial sweetener. Whose idea is that? To chuck loads of sweetener in. It is not needed and that is the thing that makes it not taste real. Equally wine copies are the worst because of the sweetness. Anyway rant over and off to get some Rawsons Retreat!!! I was telling DH last night that I am going to become like him and eventually only drink at the weekend. I agree @OhioOhioOhio that a crap Thursday shouldn’t be an excuse for a binge alone. But mid week I do love the taste of alcohol so will have AF alts in.

Hello everyone. I think AF wine may be my salvation - had done this weekend and didn't have as many cravings. And I've lost a kilo(ish) too. I can stay awake through films too.

But apart from that I'm still not really seeing any benefit - I still look like shit, I'm still fat and my MH is pretty low. I'd expected something better by now.

I come from a long line of alcoholics - started drinking at 15 and pretty much abused alcohol from then on. But this last year has got much worse with lockdown. And DP and I collectively have no willpower. Every time we go to the shop we've bought wine.

@myghastisflabbered I keep looking at myself in the mirror and expect to see this amazing face look back at me but it's not happening...yet!!! We have to give it time and maybe we are expecting a bit much after only a few weeks. I pretty much have had a drink every day for years, so maybe it's going to take a while to see the benefits but we have to start somewhere otherwise we just stay on this merrygoround of drinking - feeling rough - guilt and on and on it goes. Baby steps might be needed here for some of us.

@ohioohioohio I'm thinking the same. A Tuesday evening knocking back vodka and cokes before making the children's pack lunches for school isn't particularly a special social occasion! I want to get into the mindset that having a lovely family meal on a Sunday afternoon or a evening out is when i will have a drink x

I fell off the wagon on Jan 15th and have yet to make it back on. Fucking usual story. If I crack one night then that's it. back to square one again.

@dementedma -the wagon is always creaking along for you to climb back on! I have had so many day 1s. I am trying to get into the mindset that special occasions are too special to ruin with alcohol! I feel so much better in the mornings-just not even slightly hung over. Why would I choose to drink something that makes me feel shit? I imagine we have had so long off booze that we will feel really crap after a drink next time. Or, worse, our livers will have recovered so much that we feel absolutely fine as the alcohol is processed super quick so we use it as evidence to have another drink the night after etc etc. I know this is the pattern I follow. I almost wish I lived in a dry country!

I'm going to give that Rawson's Retreat a trial run this weekend before I make my mind up if I'm going to have a day off for my birthday the next again weekend.

I'm coming round to the prospect of not having a drink (unheard of) as my mind feels so much clearer, I feel optimistic about the future and about things that causes me slight stress, the constant lull of anxiety has lifted. Do I really need to drink when I'll be sitting in alone, just because it's 'my birthday'. I'd rather break my diet for a night or two and get a pizza than drink at the moment.

That being said pizza and wine go hand in hand for me both during and after drinking and I'm worried I'll be 'fuck it!'. Maybe this pizza isn't a good idea

Rawsons retreat seems sold out everywhere I look or not in stock. Anyone found any? I have been drinking the nosecco but the sweetness gets to me after a glass or two

@swiftyfifty I bought mine in Wine Rack. See if there's a branch near you.
I have decided to now avoid any booze replacements during the week, as I'm having them night after night and all that sugar can't be good. As well as the fact that from Feb I want to only drink at weekends and feel that at the moment I have replaced one bad habit with another one!! We can do this 💪

Really struggling the last 2 days with not drinking. Digging underneath it all, I'm just fed up. I never get any alone time and it's a struggle. Toddler is horrendous at the moment, just treats me like a piece of shit on a shoe, and I think I might have PMT. Fed up and just want to dive into a bottle of wine. Trying my best to resist.

My TryDry app too has gone a day out.

My drinking career? Starting as a teen in the 90s and didn't really stop. Surrounded by drinkers (or have I surrounded myself with drinkers?) Use alcohol as a mask. Drink to numb feelings, or to give myself false feelings of cheer or confidence. Trying to unpick it all now I am older and wiser but there's a lot beneath it. Still, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Keep on keeping on...

@dementedma welcome back to the wagon. (And anyone else who is lurking). I manage long periods of moderation when I get the right mindset - by which I mean AF 5 days a week - and then periods where I drink every day for a whole host of reasons. Many, many day 1s, so look at it as AF so it's all good.

New on this thread....18 days in and feel good, sleeping improved and lost 4lbs already, only another 6 lbs to get to my idea weight so may continue into February...or beyond. I'm finding my appetite is diminished and I'm satisfied with less and make healthier choices, don't have craving for carbs anymore :)

Hello Everyone, I've been AWOL for a while as I had a meltdown wobble last week and fell off the wagon. Anyway. have been back on it now for a few days and I feel much better. I think part of the problem was that I had been sleeping so badly, and felt like shite. Thankfully I have now had two nights of good, deep sleep. Plus my skin is looking better - I've usually got dark circles under my eyes which aren't toooo bad, but I do have to use quite a bit of concealer on them. I noticed this morning that they are definitely less dark and less puffy, perhaps because I'm less dehydrated.

I'm thinking of allowing myself to drink in the first week of February, to celebrate my birthday and to take part in a zoom wine tasting on the 5th, and then get back on it for the rest of Feb. I don't think a month is long enough to really see benefits (although your body will have benefited internally) or - for me at least - to recalibrate my habits.

Re Rawson's Retreat - I've been drinking this for a few years, on AF nights. It's by far the best AF fizz. Tesco used to stock it, but they stopped at the start of the first lockdown. I've since found it in Sainsbury's. I think a lot of AF drinks sold out at the start of DJ, so let's hope that things normalise soon!

I like AF Chardonnay made into a spritzer - I find that that dramatically reduces the sweetness. However, I'm going to try the tonic recommendation - never thought of doing that, but it sounds like a game changer! I couldn't do DJ without my AF wine .