(Mostly) Soberistas - heavier drinkers trying to moderate

[Springadorable]

We did Sober October. It helped. We tried really hard, reduced our alcohol intake, and want to continue to not drink relentlessly. A few drinks at an event or meal out - fine. A bottle or more a night for no reason other than habit and we like being drunk - trying to avoid. We try, we improve, sometimes we cock it up and start again. Join us!

That's impressive restraint! Being able to stop at one glass is good going, well done. I know what you mean re replacement drinks. I tried Kombucha last night after other people raving about it - tasted like stale San Pellegrino.

If anyone is interested in a tangent can I suggest this video:

It is about a possible link between diet and the desire for alcohol in people with active alcohol addiction.
I notice in myself that it is much easier not to drink on the days, and in the weeks I am eating better.

Best wishes to everyone trying to reduce!

Why is it wine?!

I have no idea but I feel exactly the same! We have every spirit you could imagine in our kitchen, we have a "beer fridge" and even bottles of champagne (bought for us on special occasions) and it wouldn't even occur to me to open any of them if I wanted a drink.

I could be absolutely gagging for a glass of wine but if we don't have any in, I'll just have a brew or a soft drink. I wouldn't even think to drink anything else? It is strange but I guess it's a good thing?!

That is a good thing! Also good that you don't just Uber a bottle to the house like I may or may not do...

This probably isn't a thing where I live as we're very rural. Thank god 😬

Which one did you have? I've found Kylies alcohol free sparkling white and her rosé really nice and not too sweet at all. Sainsburys did stock an excellent low alcohol (0.5%) blanc de blanc but sadly no more. I have one bottle left which I am keeping for Christmas Day breakfast.

We have been cutting back our alcohol intake the past month or so and do feel much better for it. Dh did it because he had a bit of a health wake up call and I did as I was fed up of crap sleep and feeling awful the next day. Still having crap sleep, but at least it's not alcohol related. I have pretty much switched my daily g&ts for a non alcoholic one, and now only have that a couple of times a week. Where I'd have a glass of wine (half a bottle) whilst cooking dinner, I have a glass of the fizz I mentioned above, same with Sunday dinner. We do share a bottle of wine Saturday night, though this weekend I did end up having a whole one.

Dhs health kick is a fasting diet so we don't have calories after 8pm and he keeps going until 2pm the next day, but for me it was causing migraines so I don't until 10am. He has Saturdays off which does help with staying up drinking until bedtime.

Wow this group is moving fast. Blink and you'll miss it hahah I enjoyed my days off and I drank on the days I allocated but didn't drink a lot. I also drank slower and enjoyed it rather than just getting hammered. I wont be drinking now until Sunday as I'm back to back in work and starting diet tomorrow.

Good luck with the phone cal @Springadorable Sounds tough xx

I’ve had to cancel a cruise I was going on with my friend tomorrow as she’s lost her passport and it’s too late to get another. We’ve lost all our money too. 😞 Found out on Monday and all I wanted to do was drown my sorrows but I held firm and stuck to tea! Surprised myself tbh!

@longtompotit was a Marks and Spencer one that we happened to have in - I can’t even remember buying it but must have done at some stage. I poured it into a wine glass and put ice in it to make it a bit more special but it was just a bit sweet and fizzy to drink more than a glass of, slowly! Thanks re the suggestions, I’m looking for something a lot less sweet than this so I’ll try the Kylies one. Shame re the Sainsbury’s, I’d love a decent red wine dupe too!

Oh wow @Greenfingers37- that’s terrible re your friends passport. Bloody well done for not drinking under those circumstances indeed.

So not a fan of the Kombucha @Springadorable? , think of your micro biome 🤣

Omg you must be furious with your friend. That is some restraint there, well done.

@needastrongoneagain Hope you like it when you try it. A no or low alcohol red is the holy grail I feel. All the ones I've tried are not good, or would be good chilled in the summer, so not a sitting by the log fire drink.

@Greenfingers37 this is a nightmare, was it not worth just going alone? I'd be hopping! Ha @needastrongoneagain , my poor gut biome typically gets a very poor deal 😂

We booked it as a special treat for her really as she lost her son in an awful accident last year and hasn’t been anywhere/done anything nice since. I couldn’t have gone without her.
Frustrated, sad and disappointed but not angry. We’ll re-book once we’ve saved up again!

Sounds like she could have really used that trip, what a horrific thing to go through and what a good friend you are ❤️

Oh no poor woman, she must feel dreadful.

Not sure reducing my wine/alcohol intake is a good idea. I had two 25ml measures of whisky on Monday and the same on Tuesday. Yesterday (Wednesday) I ended up in A&E with a TIA!

I think the wine was keeping me safe😂So I was discharged at midnight (I am in NZ)with aspirin, BP medication and statins. BP was 169/99 and cholesterol was 6.9 and now I feel absolutely fine. Huge warning for me I think😭

@FiveShelties oh you poor thing, that's scary!! Do you have to have check ups or just look after yourself? My blood work came back last week with elevated liver markers. It's alarming how we convince ourselves we're getting away with it.

That’s scary @FiveShelties, I hope you’re doing ok now.

@FiveShelties goodness me, that's really worrying. My SIL had a TIA a few years ago (and then found out she had high cholesterol, which she didn't know before). She wasn't overweight but she made some changes to her diet and cut down on the alcohol (I don't know exactly how much she was drinking before) and she's been absolutely fine since. No more incidents. I think it's wise to take this as a warning to make some changes but try not to worry too much - it's absolutely possible to reduce your risk of recurrences with life style changes. Hope you are feeling ok x

Oh my goodness @FiveShelties- I really hope you’re okay. Please see this as an opportunity to make positive changes. My DH’s stroke 3 years ago was life changing for us all, it’s changed the trajectory of all of our lives. He had a hugely pressurised job but also drank far too much much looking back. There were no warning signs. He needs a very significant amount of care - can do very little for himself.

As @Springadorablequite rightly says, we are not seeing the damage that drinking consumption has until it’s often too late. And it’s so totally and utterly normalised within our society - it’s wrong really.

That’s dreadful for your poor friend @Greenfingers37, can understand you not being angry given those circumstances.

Anyway, I’ve ordered a bottle of Kylies wine in my next supermarket delivery, thanks @longtompot and have bought some Winter Berry Spritz from M&S, which I suspect is a seasonal thing. I’ll report back.

The Kylie AF sparlking rose is actually really nice, I was pleasantly suprised when I tried it. I've bought the white but not tried it yet.

The best AF red I found was the Thomson & Scott Noughty Rouge, it's not bad but a little bit pricey. Their still rose is nice as well but really hard to find.

I've installed the Drink Free Days app this week after reading this thread and am loving it so far!

Yes I have started back on the drink free days app, it is quite motivating.

I got a winter berry cordial last year, which I assumed could also be made with cold water. Turns out it could, but was beyond rank. Not sure what witchcraft meant that it was delicious with hot water and hideous made as squash 😂