100 days

[GreySkySummer]

I’m going to aim for no booze for 100 days which will take me to early December, would anyone like to join me?

This will be a massive challenge for me- I’ve been drinking a lot every day. I failed at dry Jan this year, and have had another couple of attempts which have gone south. I’m taking it very seriously this time and going to really do all the other things to try and make it work.

My drinking has slowly crept up over the last 5 years and I’m now really scaring myself and I feel so ashamed. I drink over a bottle of wine a day and keep a lot of it secret from my dp- I just feel totally disgusted with myself.

Anyway enough of the pity party- I’m hoping this will be a really positive experience and would love some company!

Day 4 for me and feeling low about various things going on. Would normally sort this (and make it worse) with wine. Now I can’t numb it so have to feel it. Reminding myself these things will pass. Hoping to feel better soon.

Day 3 for me, another restless night too, this shall pass soon I hope. We are all doing so well

well done for keeping going @Swimfreak hope your sleep settles down soon. I’ve dipped in to alcohol explained but not properly read it- the author talks a lot about sleep and how alcohol effects it- will try to dig it out.

@AutumnGlowUp welcome! Sounds like such a lot growing on for you- can really relate to having wine to settle the stress.

Last night was hard for me, 4pm hit and I felt like I turned into a different person, all my peace left and I had to really fight the voice telling me to wine will sort it all out, by 7:30 I as alright again.
This morning my peace is back and I’m so glad I didn’t cave- I keep talking myself I have to accept the antsy early evenings in exchange for a calm day. Drinking means I was having a stressed/ anxious day but could have peace in the evening- but the peace wasn’t real- I was just turning myself off

Sorry to hear this, hope you’re ok. You’re doing really well to get to day 4

Well done @GreySkySummer for not caving! I’m on day 4 and so far unusually haven’t found it as hard as I thought, but I think that may be because I felt so crap at the weekend from overdoing it on top of wine daily for weeks. My sleep has been terrible, We’ve also had a lot going on here with the kids and I think one of my triggers really is boredom and this week so far has been stressful. I’m worried that I will really crave at the weekend as I can’t remember the last weekend I didn’t drink at all it’s so ingrained in our lifestyle. I’m trying to focus on just a day at a time otherwise it feels too overwhelming and like I can’t do it so why bother trying in the week, so day 4 and I will not drink today! How is everyone else doing? X

I’m ok thanks. I’m taking this as an opportunity to deal with feelings the healthy way. I will journal, meditate later and try to get out for a walk.

Well done on ignoring those cravings yesterday - the more we do it the easier it will become.

@GreySkySummer I have a copy of Alcohol Explained which I've skim read before, but I need to go back to it. I also need to find a way to get alcohol off my mind, I am already thinking about how I'm not going to drink tonight. Crazy!

If anyone hasn't watched or listened to the Ulrika Johnson untapped podcast with Matthew Spencer about her sobriety it is well worth a listen.

@Justwanttobebythesea I keep seeing clips of this on instagram and am meaning to listen to it. I’ll listen to it on my walk tomorrow

Thanks so much for your support. I’m glad to be part of this group.

Had a wobble this evening, really craved wine, was in the shop with my son and I forced myself to not buy any, was sooo close to buying some, but resisted in the end, now eating chocolate instead 🤣

Yes! I feel totally obsessed by it! Ive fallen off the wagon many times because I thought if I just had a drink then I’d stop thinking about drinking, but I’ve realised that doesn’t work either!
I think we’ve just got to be patient and give it a good long while as we forget the habit.

well done @flossy888 for resisting the urge!

Day 3 complete for me- I feel so many emotions with my ds starting secondary school tomorrow- I would definitely have used this as justification for drinking a bit extra. I’m also dreading going to work tomorrow which would have been another excellent excuse to drink. Feels ridiculous as booze would only make it all so much more difficult to deal with.

Good on you resisting @flossy888! It’s crazy how the sweet tooth steps right in as a substitution, isn’t it? I would normally skip chocolate, cake, dessert and make sure all my treat calories were wine & crisps. Day 3 here and I’m already makings puddings (!)….one vice to the next. Seriously though, the witching hour is really tough. We will all be tested further when it gets to the weekend so let’s stay strong together. Nice reading everyone’s updates.

@GreySkySummer you have a big day tomorrow by the sounds of it, but will feel lovely and fresh for it at least! I hope your DS enjoys high school, I bet he will love it!
Im day 3 and tired, but it’s nice waking up happy I didn’t have anything last night, no acid stomach or foggy head!.

Well done all, we made it through another dry evening! @GreySkySummer sounds like you have a busy day coming up, hope all goes well! @flossy888 I ate a load of chocolate pl at night, woke up in the night with a pounding head, but I'm sure that's better than the usual hangover. It's not going to be easy but we will be worth it I'm sure.

Well done everyone. Sleep not great over here but days are still better without a hangover. First challenge tonight as DH is out and I’d usually use that as an excuse for more wine and crappy tv. I might get myself some nice chocolate for a treat instead.

Yes good luck @GreySkySummer My yr7 is on the train for the first time - I called her to see if everything was ok and she said yes, bye - so that’s a good sign!

I went out last night - didn’t want to go but it was with some gcse year Mums I wanted to reconnect with. I drove and had a trip drink (I liked the taste but I didn’t find it particularly calming - anyone else?). Didn’t miss wine at all but my mindset was in a place of it would have added no upside only downsides.

Sleep not great as was buzzing from being out but feel much better than if I’d had wine last night.

Morning everyone! I actually slept well last night for the first time in a long time, I think being back in the early morning school routine plus no alcohol for 4 nights has helped. A little voice in me is saying that maybe I can just have a couple at the weekend etc, but I know it wont be just a couple it’ll be a bottle and then a bottle the next night to take the edge off etc. One of my main motivations to have a break from alcohol was so I could be more motivated and productive and I have been so much more the last couple of days once the weekend hangover lifted, so it gets me thinking why I want to sabotage that! It’s horrible the way our brains try to go against us, sorry for rambling! Well done to everyone staying AF so far! I will not drink alcohol today! X

@Justwanttobebythesea that’s brilliant to go out and not drink!!
@idontknow54789 i think nice chocs and being able to watch what you want sounds fab!
@GreySkySummer i hope your ds’s first day goes well, my son started last year and it was such a roller coaster….which I drank nightly through and I’m pretty sure that amped up my anxiety 10 fold! So well done on not!

Thank u @Hollygohappychoc has gotta be better then booze, good luck with day 3.
@Swimfreakit will definitely be worth it! Has anyone noticed any negative emotions, I feel really down in the dumps about myself today and wondering if it's the fact it no longer drinking away my emotions.

Checking in, day 4 here. I relate @flossy888 I just find it exhausting being stuck in my own (sober) thoughts sometimes. I’m really stressed at the moment worrying about my whole family for different reasons for each. I’m stressed at work too. I just need to remember it would all be worse waking to it day at all hungover.
I have been more productive too @Flowersareblue . I remember this turning into a negative last time though, as I just never stopped and learned to relax! I’m not going to let that happen this time (the constant adding on).
Brace everyone- the weekend is coming!

Can I join this thread? I decided to do this in late July so I’m just over a month in. I decided to break from booze for a bit because I’m 44 and feeling pretty crap on a number of levels. Decided to start hrt recently to see if that moved the needle but realised pretty quickly that to genuinely see if it made an impact on my anxiety and things like that I would have to say bye to wine. It’s been easier than I thought it would be. I’m enjoying it though it would be nice to have some camaraderie. I wear a fitness watch and my sleep stats, heart rate and stuff are data points that I’m getting a bit obsessive about at the moment but I guess I could be doing worse.

wishing everyone strength if tomorrow is your first Friday…

Hi @CheeseNcrackerz that’s amazing on already being a month in! How have you found it? What are your tips?! I’m feeling quite daunted at the thought of a sober weekend, I think tonight won’t be too hard as we have an early start and day out tomorrow but it’s the rest of the weekend that worries me. I’m so used to having wine to mark the end of the week, even on weekends where I didn’t actually fancy a glass I still did and it almost felt like an automatic response which when I think about seems like madness that I’d just chuck wine in myself even when I wasn’t feeling like it!
im going to try and focus on the good things I already feel, I’m not as anxious and feel a lot more level and calmer. I’m not overthinking as much which feels like I have a bit of peace back in my head, it’ll be nice to have a fresh Monday morning next week rather than a groggy one full of regret and shame because I drank over the weekend and got rubbish sleep! How is everyone else feeling today with it being Friday?

I definitely mark the weekend with wine too… a treat after surviving the week, sometimes starting on Thursday!

I guess for me it’s not about completely changing habits. I’m still making sure I’ve got a nice drink for the weekends. Some of these af proseccos and similar are pretty low in cals (like less than 200 cals for the bottle) I’m coming into the weekend knowing I’ll drink a couple of bottles of them to get me by. There’s a pink bubbly rose by Kylie Minogue (random) that’s really nice, that’s my go to though a bit more expensive (like £6 a bottle). She also does something similar with alcohol so make sure you get the right one.

anyway I checked my sober app this morning and I’m on 40 days!! I’m not feeling as great as I was a few weeks ago so wonder if I might be coming down with something. But when I get disheartened I get copilot to remind me what happens to my body when I stop drinking alcohol and I know even 40 days in it’s just the start of the body recovering.

@CheeseNcrackerz wow 40 days is amazing!!! Well done!!! That’s a great tip about the Kylie AF prosecco…I’ll try and get to the shop later and pick some up. From what I’ve read it can be a long process for the body to fully recover from the effects and it’s so great you are letting it. For those on Facebook I’ve joined a really good page called ‘life’s better without alcohol’ and there are lots of tips/stories on there of other people’s journeys which I have found helpful x