On a mission to moderate or absolutely abstaining, no judging, keep on being strong, new thread autumn 2024

[Nowstrong]

@Amdone123, @Freezingfeetwarmheart , @Bigbus,@Flumpywoo , @FiveShelties , @ForeverTipsy, @Hohofortherobbers,@Jbob1976,@walliedug,

Wanted to post and old thread wouldn't let me, so took the plunge...
Please tag everyone, don't want to leave anyone behind.

Still AF here and even starting to enjoy it. Nearly 2 months. Will write proper post later..
Hope you are all doing well. Stay strong. Wet vibes, 'cos it's raining.

@HorrorFan81 113 is really great, that is amazing.
My husband is home tonight after nearly a week away, he’s had 2 glasses of red, I was not even tempted. Even after a very stressful meeting which would normally be a trigger. He’s really pleased and is going to join me, but our social lives are very drink oriented so not sure how he will be able to manage that.

Honestly I didn't think I'd ever manage - I love drinking with my DH - cocktails in the garden, wine with dinner or over late night chats. Weekends away where we enjoyed day drinks and nice restaurants with wine. Our social lives involved drinking, always. Any groups of friends that got together- we drank. Camping trips. We drank. Dinner parties, poker nights - we drank. But somehow its...fine! I still do all the above I just dont drink alcohol whilst doing it. My DH is taking a break from booze now and will probably go back but he definitely won't drink as much as we would together, maybe it will be similar for your DH?

@NeedANewOne25 I couldn't imagine my life without drinking. Just about every social situation involved a drink, my days were planned around it, my holidays always included it. And yet, here I am on Day 40 and it's fine. Even the holiday was fine. I just drink something else!

Still here - still sober - having a tough time at the moment but not yet driven to drink.

well done to all of you still crushing it!

@Seenoevil33 Keep on going! The tough times will end sometimes. Glad you're still here and still sober.

My phone (about 8 years old now) has been playing up recently and although I love it, I knew it couldn't last forever. So yesterday I used some of my not-drinking savings and ordered a new one. It feels like I'm getting a free phone!

@LillyPJ @HorrorFan81 thanks so much for your posts, they give me hope. DH and I do have a lot of fun together and when we go way it is very drink centric, all the time. We do walk and cycle but always the day ends in a boozy way. Our friends are generous hosts and they always ply us with drink. DH knows it’s not good for us, but somehow we haven’t been able to break the habit, I’m hoping that me making this change will encourage him to too. I think he will be able to moderate, I have decided I don’t want to do that, but that’s fine.

Enjoy your new phone @LillyPJ 😃

@NeedANewOne25 Have you found some alcohol-free drinks that you love? I had fun discovering new ones and now have a healthy stock of various AF beers, tonics, Martini, Cordino etc. There's always something exciting in the fridge to look forward to and I'm having fun mixing and experimenting, adding slices of frozen orange, lemon or lime, or mint or cucumber. I've found that really helps.

It's hard sometimes, keep on keeping on

Well done all of you 💪

I’ve bought the Martini one but not tried that yet. On the whole AF drinks make me feel disappointed 😅, but I like some of the flavoured tonics (Fevertree) and things like Appletiser, I know they’re sugary but they are better than drinking. Oh and some nice hot chocolate on the odd occasion.
Fevertree have an Italian spritz I found, that was nice enough. Still need to try a few more things that sound tempting!

@NeedANewOne25 The Martini Floreale is my favourite - I panicked when there weren't any on Sainsbury's shelves and went online to order 4 bottles from Ocado! The Martini Vibrante is great with tonic and a slice of orange, plus ice. I've used Fevertree Spanish orange tonic for that too. The only palatable AF white wine I've found is Freixenet 0.0, served very cold. I think the fizz makes up for the lack of alcohol. Today is the end of my sixth week now and I don't think I could have got here with a few decent AF drinks in store.

@LillyPJ wow 6 weeks in just fantastic! I hope you’re really now starting to feel all the benefits of sobriety. It amazes me constantly now how much my health (mental and physical) has improved since I packed it in.

@BezMills thanks. Have to learn how to cope with tricky times and stress without diving into a bottle. Guess it’s all part of the process.

@AlertCat how are you doing?

@Seenoevil33 Thanks! Yes - lots of benefits like better sleep, more time, more energy... Lost a few pounds (lbs) and gained a few (£s). I'm sure I look younger and my eyes look brighter, but none of my friends have mentioned it so that's probably just my imagination!

@Seenoevil33 ok thanks- some internal wrestling going on here (about something unrelated) so the shakedown may result in setting the booze aside too. I do like wine though and feel I am managing to moderate so there’s less motivation to cut it out.

Wondering how folks are doing? We went away to a family party this weekend, and stayed over a couple of nights in a very pretty holiday destination. I was tempted when we stopped at a cute microbrewery by the sea, but had lemon San Pellegrino instead. It took some focus as first time for I can’t remember how long, that I haven’t drunk on a weekend away.
I have done 8 days now, and still feeling positive. DH bought me some Nosecco, that was ok but not great, Martini Vibrante with some orange tonic, was pretty good!

This thread has really helped me stay on track. Thank you.

Well done @NeedANewOne25 ! Getting through those situations where you would always usually drink can be challenging but once you've done it you prove to yourself you can and the next time is easier

I hit 4 months today! Can't quite believe it. Had a nice chilled weekend, zero hangovers 👌

Well done @NeedANewOne25 and @HorrorFan81 ! Amazing progress for both of you!

I'm still moderating. Bought a bottle of wine on Friday and had a glass Fri, a tiny glass Saturday, then a friend popped over yesterday and she had a glass. Have kept a couple of bottles of prosecco in the fridge since my birthday over a month ago, and they don't tempt or bother me at all. Saving them for a special occasion.

So yeah, definitely progress as old me would have found any excuse for a 'special occasion' and open the fizz, and that bottle of wine would have lasted me a night, not a weekend. I'm definitely going to do another 100 days in the autumn though, need to lose weight apart from anything !

Keep on keeping on, all!

@HorrorFan81 thank you, and you’re totally right, it feels like it should get easier and will be looking back wondering what the fuss was all about. Congratulations on 4 months! 🥳

@NeedANewOne25 what a win for you - and just making those decisions gets so much easier as the days go by!

@HorrorFan81 woohoo - huge congrats! I will be 5 months in a few days - it’s fairly unbelievable isn’t it?

@ForeverTipsy youre doing much better moderating than I ever could so a huge well done to you!

@AlertCat hope things are easier for you and that you’re still moderating. I loved wine too - can’t stand the smell of it now though.

Every Monday I think, I’ll go dry next weekend. Then on Friday I think, oh, a glass of wine would be nice, and if I keep it to one or 1.5
bottles that’s ok. 🙄

@AlertCat I've just accepted I'm going to ENJOY a glass of wine or two on the weekend now. It's the summer and I'm not gonna feel bad about it.

Progress over perfection and all that 😊

@ForeverTipsy good for you. A+ moderating!

@NeedANewOne25 I love both the AF Martinis! I've tried both with all sorts of tonics, plenty of ice, slice of orange or lemon - great drinks and I really don't miss the alcohol (unlike some of the AF gins I've tried!) The Friexenet 0.0 sparkling white 'wine' is fine too. It's fun trying new stuff.

Good work everybodu. This group has helped me a lot in the beginning, and it has gotten easier and easier over time. I've got a big birthday coming up and am just over 5 months dry myself.

I am thinking it might be possible to have a couple beers on a Friday after work, or ahare a bottle for a naice dinner, but I am not in a massive hurry to test that theory tbh. I would be so disappointed in myself if I just drifted back into really bad habits.