200 days alcohol free- anyone wish to join?

[FeelingLessTired]

Several years ago, under another user name I did a 100 day alcohol free challenge and alot of people joined me on MN. It was before covid, so a long time ago!

I really appreciated the support and lasted 120 days in the end. ironically enough DH joined me IRL and he just continued on and has been teetotal since then.

I was reading Annie Grace back then (I think) and her recommendation was that if you slip, to then challenge yourself for double the time- hence I now wish to start and achieve a 200 day challenge.

I'd love some company if anyone wishes to join me!

I have a funeral today and plan to drink J20 with tonic water. The deceased was a good friend of DH's and although he was in his early 70s drinking definitely played a part in his extreme fragility over the past few years. He's been really ill for a good ten years I think.

I have set out a spread sheet with my alcohol-free savings. In the last week i have definitely reduced and have saved just shy of £50 already (since the beginning of April) as we have had a fair few dinners and lunches out. I look at what I would have drunk (sauvignon blanc here and there) and when i have not had it I add that cost to my spreadsheet. That does help to inspire me because COL is biting us hard right now.

Good afternoon ladies!! How are we all? I am still here! I have been so so busy! Need to have a read through the thread and will do that later this evening! Had a lovely elderflower iced tea this afternoon and I need to know how they make that shizzle! It was sssooooo good! Mint and lemon waters in the fridge. Lovely.

Will write another post once I’ve read through the thread! Hope you’ve all had a lovely day!

@wecandothis2025 aahhh there you are! Glad you're ok.

@Goandygoyes, as usual I am so glad I didn't give in and drink last night. We still had a perfectly pleasant evening and once again wine wouldn't have added anything to it. Very good point about feeling good because you are AF. I am definitely feeling much better than I was despite a few slip ups. Sounds like you've got your weekend planned. I think that's key - to make sure there are nice AF options in. I've bought some more of the San pellegrino flavoured sparkling water I liked and this morning I chopped some more lemon to freeze and froze some raspberries and cucumber to add into - wild I know 😂 but I am looking forward to it.

Hope everyone is doing ok and hello to @wecandothis2025👋

@paintcolourchart your wild choice of beverage sounds lovely.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Nozecco. I won't have it regularly but I will definitely have it when visiting relatives.
I've no plans to be drinking at home in the future except the odd af Heineken which I really like.
I had a lovely afternoon - ds came round 6pm ish to watch tennis with me and once again, I was so pleased I wasn't drunk. Ridiculously so.
I'll be nice and refreshed for the little visitors tomorrow - it's so much better this way ❤️

Sounds like a lovely evening @Goandygo- I bet you are so glad you're feeling fresh this morning for the little ones! I've just seen the time and I think that means you're coming to the end of your 'shift' and your lovely peaceful self care afternoon/evening can start?

Tiny update from me - starting to feel really good, actually. My skin is very clear and fresh looking today as well - may well be because of the sun, but I'll take it! I do feel a little slimmer as well, although the scales have maintained (which is actually good as I've not been exercising or watching what I'm eating lately). My ankle is still ongoing from 'that night' so that's put a stop to my morning walks for the time being, sadly. It is getting better though, I'm just mindful of not causing any permeanant damage, and I really really hope I haven't done so already. How is your shoulder doing now @Goandygo?

Some of my crystals arrived today (everything except the
dry day ones), so I've mounted a chain to my dressing table and have already put one of my crystal stars on it, representing one week. I've put the two drink days I've had in a little glass ramekin ready to be surrounded by the dry ones when they arrive! I'm away tomorrow until next weekend so I'm hoping that when I get back the rest of my delivery will be here. By the time I get back that'll be another star Sounds a little sad I know, literally rewarding myself with stars, but it's strangely satisfying 😂 not overly concerned about staying AF when I'm away as I'll be sharing a bed with young DC, so even if I wasn't abstaining I wouldn't have drank while sharing.

Hope everyone is doing ok!

@paintcolourchart that's great to hear you're starting to feel good. I know what you mean about your ankle. My accident was 6 weeks today and I still have a bump on my chin and funny you ask about my shoulder, it's actually been sore at night.
I really need to go to the gp.

My little visitors were absolutely gorgeous. I have a new great - niece - I met her today ( she's 3 weeks old, omg, ❤️). Fed everyone bacon rolls and ice lollies. Was a beautiful morning.

I'm actually feeling a little flat but as I just reminded myself, it's better than drinking and falling, ahem, flat on my face 🥴
Your crystals sound great - good for you. You do what works for you - you're doing great ❤️

@GoandygoI think I might need to go to the GP too. I ended up reading a thread last night in active about people who had broken their ankles and didn't realise for weeks 🙈. I think I'm too ashamed because of how it happened, and I don't think I can face it right now if they tell me I'll have long term issues with it 🙈. Let us know how you get on if you do get it checked, sounds like it might be a good idea. I'm a month on from doing mine, and I naively thought it would be 100% better by now.

your day sounds like it was lovely! Hope you're feeling a little less flat now?

Thank you for your kind words ♥️

@paintcolourchart no problem.
I do feel like I should have got it checked the day after the accident as I couldn't even get out of the bath. I couldn't move it. In that respect it's gotten miles better.
I'm same as you - I can't face it, but I'm going to have to take the bull by the horns and stop putting it off.
My friend fell off a scooter on holiday ( he drinks a lot, but this time he actually hadn't been drinking), and he said it took about 3 months to heal.
Thanks for listening, sorry for going on about it 🥴 - my sister is staying at mine tonight so I'll see what she says, too.

( The flatness is strange - I'm a bit bored, restless, but if you put a drink in front of me, I wouldn't want it).

Love this.

Right. Honesty here. I drank yesterday. I'm not even sure why. I was bored, we were at a beer garden I thought 'fuck it'. I drank a large white wine then a vodka and then a little mojito can on the way home. Then i felt sick, went to bed and today I feel awful. *

I AM going back to Day 1 despite what i said a few pages back because I keep losing track and this time I am going to track properly. I view the past 30-ish days as the warmup and now I am in the finals.

Today i have promised to take the Dcs to a local agricultural show and I am dreading walking around in the heat with a hangover.

Day 1.

*ETA- and I am having digestive issues..... groan

@FeelingLessTiredI think we have all been there (I certainly have!). Please don't beat yourself up, it happens. I've read multiple times that people rarely manage to give up on the first go. I disagree that shouldn't count the 30+ days, it still does count. I'm currently on day 9 because I had my 2 slip ups in the first week of the month, but I still do think 'I'm on day 9, but I've also had 26/30 dry days'.

If I'm being completely honest, and this will vary person to person - it doesn't sounds like you drank enough to warrant how you feel today... do you think that's because of your 30+ days break, or would you have felt just as bad before the 30+ days?

Anyway, you should still be pleased with your progress - 30+ days is huge! If that was in my crystal jar you wouldn't even see that one slip up amongst all the dry ones (and I've made sure the slip up ones are a lot bigger than the dry ones!) 😅

@FeelingLessTired some great points made by @paintcolourchart regarding the quantity to how you're feeling. You may remember I hadn't even drank a lot before my accident, but I had been sober for 10 days.
Anyway, don't beat yourself up. It happens. I've had thousands of day 1s. I love your idea that you've been in training.
Go back to day 1 or look at the overall picture as @paintcolourchart said.
Whatever works for you, but you're trying, you've been doing well and you haven't murdered anyone.
Get a plan for tracking - mine's just in my head, but we're all different.

Lord no- before the 30-ish days what i drank would have been a day I congratulated myself for for being so moderate. I was dehydrated though and also had only had one boiled egg food-wise some 10 hours earlier.

I really like the crystals idea and 'Day 1 but 30 days not drinking'. I'll mull on it all today.

I haven't murdered anyone no. Thanks for making me smile @Goandygo . And DH is still like he always is this morning so I have not said anything I ought not have (Always my fear post-drinking though tbh I trend to just be a happy drunk who books holidays on the Tui site). I also made the Dcs a lovely dinner (after which I went to bed) so ticked all the right boxes.

@FeelingLessTired 🤣 - there you go, then. You had a few drinks but you still got things done. It's all good.
( I'm a happy drunk who either messages people I haven't seen in years to meet up - the next bloody day no less - or yes, I'm OnTheBeach, booking holidays 😎).
We're all the same, I tell yer.

I'm feeling alot better thank you.

I booked a holiday to Jersey once. Lovely place it was too. That was a good drunken decision.

To add to @Goandygo, not only did you not murder anyone 😅 but you also didn't hurt yourself! It sounds like you were in control so really, it could have been a lot worse! A 3 drink slip up really isn't that bad. Both my slip ups were more than 3 drinks and I think I'd have felt quite pleased with myself if I stopped at 3, but no I did my usual and didn't know when to stop. It's interesting how 30 days has made a huge difference to how you react to alcohol. The lack of food will have definitely made a difference for sure - the night I hurt my ankle I had a light and early tea and I have never been that out of control of myself before.

If crystals isn't your thing, let us what kind of thing would be more up your street and we'll try and think of something.

Also, on a slightly different note on a topic upthread.... can confirm sober sex with sober energy is much better than sloppy drunk sex 😅 (obv we have had sober sex plenty of times but not for a while as we're always too tired and it only happened after drinking for a bit!).

Nice! I honestly cannot recall the last time I had sober sex. Probably when pregnant so that was a fair time ago.

Also on another note- I am making this for dinner today. I love a protracted cooking session when I am feeling a bit low. Although you both have made me feel alot better.

www.lecremedelacrumb.com/easy-white-chicken-lasagna-with-spinach/

@FeelingLessTired that looks lovely.
I love making lasagne and a while back made chicken and bacon lasagne.
My friend makes seafood lasagne.
😋

Good Morning Lovelies,

Sorry for the radio silence, life has been very busy with one thing or another other. It is not including alcohol thought which I am very proud of. Nearing the 5 week mark now.

Love the support here for those of you who have had a slight slip up, corrected yourself and not carried on! That’s what matters here @FeelingLessTired the correction and not carrying it on for a further day or two, or more! Love the crystal idea. Thats genius. I bought some crystals when I was pregnant with my last child and kept them close to me at the end of my pregnancy. They were certain healing and strength crystals so may get them out again and recap of what they symbolise.

@Goandygoyou so make me laugh. I was the same texting pissed up, waking up in the middle of the night dreading to look to see what I may have written. 🥴 I used to tell myself at the start of an evening to put my phone down and not use it. After a few wines that would go out of the window and i would be hooked on it most of the evening. Now I don’t have to worry about any of that! What an amazing feeling that is.

Had a children’s party yesterday, the host cracked open bottles of fizz that I kindly declined. Pretty much all of the women were drinking. One woman declined a second drink after her first. She was driving her child home after, and I was thinking what I would have done if it were me. The times I’ve been in this situation and left my car there until the following day, or got my eldest to drop my husband off that evening to collect my car so I could drink. Such a wonderful feeling to not have to worry about that.

I hope you all have wonderful things planned for today. We have another kids party today 😩 but it’s only for 2 hours. Xx

@FeelingLessTiredthat lasagne sounds amazing! Glad you're starting to feel better about last night. Hope the physical recovery is speedy!

yep, also familiar with the embarrassing phone use!

@wecandothis2025the random crystals she put in were actually really appropriate. They will make nice necklaces one day once they've served their purpose, but for now my aim is to see all 4 (so 4 weeks) hanging side by side on my dressing table. Need to get a nice glass to put the day by ones in.

I've also started a list of things I want to buy but wouldn't have treated myself to before as well, with the aim to treat myself when I'm feeling a bit flat and need a boost. Some of them are £80 or so purchases, which I definitely never wouldn't have bought before, but now I think we'll F it, that's x amount of wine. Some of them are smaller though, like a book that's coming out soon. I rarely buy books now, I just use the library which isn't that up to date, so that'll be a real treat 😂 I'm definitely learning to appreciate the joy in the every day, and I have to say it's definitely helping my mood.

@wecandothis2025I see the wine culture children's parties on here all the time, but it doesn't seem to be a thing here thankfully. DC isn't yet in school, so maybe it's coming.

There's been a few times when I've hopped in the car to drive on occasions I otherwise wouldn't have been able to, which has been nice!

Gawd, had a wobble earlier.
Sat in the sun 11am ish, and felt like wine. 11am ish is my witching hour, as I'd start drinking lunchtime.
Dh came home. He's been away for the weekend. He said his friends were telling him to take home the leftover wine, but he declined because I'm obviously not drinking.
He did bring af kopparberg which was really nice, in a glass with ice. Had 2 and don't want anymore. Having tea now.
I'm glad I haven't drank today.

@Goandygowell done on ploughing through! Sometimes it can hit very intense can't it. Just remember, you haven't come this far to only come this far. You've got this ♥️

@paintcolourchart thanks.
Yes, you're right about it being quite intense.
What I'm trying to do ( and I actually did last week a couple of times) is sit with the feeling, not dismiss it and ask myself why ( if there is a reason - sometimes there isn't).
This morning I was actually hungry.
HALT
( H - hungry A - annoyed L - lonely T - tired - all common triggers ).

Hello, haven’t lurked here for a while. But not have extra compelling reason not to drink (medicine) and really need to stick to it for the forseeable. Going for dinner with an old pal tomorrow night which will be a challenge.