On A Mission To Moderate or Absolutely Abstaining? Join us for encouragement, support and non - judgemental chat *2024*

[Swannyb]

@amdone123 @mj20 @touty @Hohofortherobbers @Coppergate7 @bigbus @colouringindoors @wellitywellness @Atacamadesert @Freezingfeetwarmheart @WouldRatherBeAPieceOftToast @Hohofortherobbers @mickandrorty @Mykittensmittens @afaloren @NoTeaNoShade @CrackersCheeseNoWinePlease @LynnThese4reSEXPEOPLE @Needtokickthehabit @OhShitImNearly40 @Nowstrong @enoughisenough4

Huge well done to those who completed dry Jan, or even just a drier Jan.

I can’t believe I am saying this, but tonight I want to want a drink and I can’t get in the mood for it. I feel unusually energetic for a Thursday night, feeling good and I don’t want alcohol to get in the way of this!

Dry Jan ✅
Dry Feb

Well done to everyone else who managed dry Jan! 💫

I'm definitely in a better place because of it, but I'm more convinced than ever that dry Feb is needed too. I'm more efficient, habits elsewhere are changing...slow process though, just need to keep going. Not much else to say really.

Sorry about your foot @Amdone123 - is that something that has happened before? Sounds painful.

Sober days in January 30 out of 31. Very happy with that!

Got a couple of weekends and nights out planned this month so aiming for 23 out of 29 days dry.

@afaloren that's great, well done.
@Coppergate8 you've done really well. Great plan for Feb too.
It's only happened recently the foot issue. It's because I dash about all the time. I need to slow down. I like to think I'm 26 when I'm 56.

Thanks so much for this podcast recommendation @wellitywellness, from a regular lurker / first time poster. Thanks everyone for the thread. Getting a lot from it.

@Moderato2024 hi, how's it going ?

Hope everyone is doing OK as we ( thankfully) steer into Feb. January was challenging, weather wise etc, for me, but I managed to not escape with wine ( which is actually what I'd have done a few years ago). It doesn't make it better though, if anything it makes things worse !
I'm proud of myself really.
Day 5 here but I will be drinking this evening. Tennis is on and I'm making burgers for tea. Great, chilled weekend planned and some time with the granddaughters.

Hi @Amdone123 . Hope the burgers will be delish. It’s going ok, thanks! Had about half of January dry. (After a 2023 with close to 0 AF days). I didn’t feel as amazing as I would have hoped during dryish Jan, but, every morning I was glad to be waking up without a guilty feeling of having drunk the night before.

I really want to succeed at reducing and moderating in 2024. Thinking about a goal, it might be: 21 weeks with at least 3 AF days per week, and keeping close to recommended weekly units. I like @afaloren ’s plan for X number of AF days per month, too.

Everyone sounds very positive here!

Fridays are my dodgy days. I finish work half day and then I like to get the food shop on the way home which always leads to alcohol and then I get home and the kids are not here on Fridays so thats when the wine witch starts hitting me with her broom. If I could get to dinner time I would be happy but in recent months its 3pm wine time.

Hi @Moderato2024 welcome!

@Needtokickthehabit can you plan something else for the afternoon to postpone the wine witch? Maybe go to the cinema or for a long walk somewhere or do some extra shopping/window shopping? Putting the witching hour back a bit helps me sometimes.

Cinema is a great idea. I have been wanting to see Mean girls but the kids keep saying no!

Yes, definitely doing something, anything to put the wine witch back if only for a few hours. This is most definitely something I would do @Needtokickthehabit get in and drink, and putting it back by doing something is what I should do.
@Moderato2024 that sounds like a realistic target.

Well done on half of January af - that's really good.
Yes, it's a positive thread compared to some I've been on 🥴. I think because we're all very similar, obviously different shades of dependency, if we have a blip, we can be honest and no one's judging. Mostly, we acknowledge it and move on.

Hoping I can join here.

Did DJ but started before NY as I needed a complete reset. 36 full days AF done but want to start moderating at some point and not just slip back into old habits.

Morning @ShufflingAlong and welcome onboard.
Well done for 36 days, that's brilliant. I can only dream of that so looks like you'll be helping me.
What are your plans for moderating? Just weekend?
My aim is just 1 day a week which I've done this week. 1.5 bottles of wine last night which I know isn't great but better than I was once upon a time.
Do you drink wine ?

Thanks for the welcome @Amdone123. I mostly drink wine and could easily drink a bottle of something fizzy over a night hence needing to take control and reset over January after drinking far too much up to and including over Christmas because it's the 'party season'.

I am still contemplating how to approach moderation. I drink red wine much more leisurely than fizz so thinking I might switch back to red as I can make one glass last me whereas fizz is best cold and feels too easy to drink quickly. So my thought was to buy only one bottle of red for the week but try and stick to my AF drinks at dinner as often once I had eaten I don't fancy alcohol as much.

@ShufflingAlong that sounds like a good plan.
I'm the same with red. My sister often talks about the time a bottle lasted me 3 hours. It was ages ago but she still talks about it 🤣.

Hello just an update from me, I am 4 weeks sober today.

hope everyone is doing ok xxx

@Touty that's absolutely brilliant, well done !

28 degrees here in nz and three days of over 30 degrees forecast up next. Drinking kombucha. Pray for me.

@Touty amazing congrats!!!

Well done @Touty ! How do you feel?

@Gemstonebeach that sounds lovely! Is kombucha good? I might have to give it a go. I really need to give myself a kick up the butt.

I seem to have drifted into drinking a bit more than planned and too many times a week and I’m a bit stuck again. Yesterday I was with people who were drinking all day but I planned to stay off it until 7pm which I did and I was aware that in the past I would have got stuck in at 12 noon with the rest and I could see how messy that would have got previously and I did feel much better for not doing that, but I still drank one drink more than I should have in the evening - not drunk or embarrassing but it’s just an accumulation over several days and my sleep has been rubbish.

So to finish my ramble, I’m doing better than I was a few years ago but worse than I was a few months ago. It’s my birthday this week and then my brother is coming to stay so these are both triggers but honestly the days are so much more enjoyable when there’s been no or minimal alcohol the night before. I need to keep this in mind. I’m extremely grateful to you guys on here - I haven’t had a monster hangover or woken up not knowing what I’ve done for ages and I am better for it. Now I need to work on having more AF days. I know this will make me feel better. Posting on here is the first step.

Well done @Touty 💫

@Bigbus it's so easy to slip into that, totally get you. Good luck this week - sounds like you have the motivation to at least moderate to some extent, maybe try thinking through what that looks like when sober. I've found that has helped me before.

Hope the Kombucha on the beach continued to refresh you @Gemstonebeach and you had a good time.

Well done @Touty .
I did dry Jan, then drank moderately Fri and sat, have slept horrendously, feel anxious and depressed. Had to do a dash to dms last night to do a sudden job that couldn't wait til morning and my dh had to drive me as I'd had half a bottle of red. I'm back on the wagon now and am seriously wondering what I get benefits I get from drinking, can't count any today. I think the answer is staring me in the face but I'm scared to commit to it

@bigbus I like it because it is quite sour and tangy and very low calorie, I’m also trying to lose weight. I hate coke and lemonade as I find it far too sweet. I tried switzel (sp?) which I’m sure about and I drink a lot of sparkling water. My biggest issue with staying off alcohol is finding non alcoholic drinks that are not sweet.

Well done 👏

Well done @Touty !!

@Bigbus I feel the same as you. My drinking is increasing as is my eating. I’m hungover today as well, and I am just feeling annoyed at myself. I have had a wholesome day of meal prepping so I feel a bit better for focusing on the week ahead.

I think I need to try another stint of AF to refresh myself of why this is the better option for me.

Hope everyone else is doing okay?