Calling time on wine: 100 days sober - starting 01/01/26

[reset100]

My wine drinking has slowly spiralled into a daily habit and I’m calling time on it. No drama, no rock bottom - just the realisation that it’s become a crutch and I want out of the swirl.

From 1st January, I’m committing to 100 days sober and I’d love others to join me. This isn’t about moderation or “just weekends” - it’s about a clean break and supporting each other to go completely alcohol-free for the full 100 days.

If alcohol has crept in as a daily default, if you’re tired of negotiating with yourself every evening, or if you simply want a proper reset with people who get it, you’re very welcome here.

No judgement. No pressure. Just accountability, honesty, and support.

Thankfully its nearly bedtime (I go to bed at 9 these days 🤣)

I’ve been doing some crafts with an online group and have a new jigsaw puzzle to get to. But honestly, I am shattered, probably from the sleep disturbance, and am probs going to bed early with a book. Sending hugs to everyone who is struggling with life stuff this week, or had bad days that they would usually numb or drown out. You are not on your own, we are all in this with you. 💝

Wow im having a shit week! Been up since 2am so in bed now. Could really use a wine!

Day 8 here, been checking in on this thread from the start and it seems like everyone is on my wavelength so thought I’d jump in :-)

I spent nearly 2 years AF in the past but then Covid came along and I went a bit ‘fuck it we are all going to die anyway’. Think the longest I’ve managed since is 16 days.

Like most I’m a bottle-maybe-more a nighter. Time to make a change.

I’m trying to focus on looking after my body with not drinking just being a part of that- trying to get 30+ plant types in, enough fibre, unprocessed stuff etc. Not denying myself a little sweet treat in the evening, just making sure I get as much good stuff in as I can otherwise. Exercise on the cards too but that can wait for now.

Giving blood later this week which is a nice short term solid reason not to drink, and I have a health check blood test next month (assume includes liver function) which is 100% spurring me on too.

Feeling sooooo much better already. Calmer, more measured, more focused on my work, coping better with stress, just lighter. Loving it, don’t remember feeling such a stark difference during previous AF stints!

Off to make a tasty hot magnesium drink and climb into bed with my kindle after a few late nights bingeing Runaway. Hope everyone who’s had a shit day has a much brighter one tomorrow!

Hello,
I'm following along with interest. Great reading all your posts and wise words. I'm doing dry Jan (day 7), but I wonder whether I need to stop drinking permanently. I'm finding it hard to accept.

• I don't drink every day, but before my current relationship I drank a bottle of wine every day. I also (trigger warning, apologies) self harmed most days once I'd had a bottle of wine. This went on for about 2 years, 10 years ago.
• at the moment I drink nearly a bottle of wine, three times a week. I might also have a single beer and some whisky on other nights of the week. Recently, we have been drinking 4-5 nights a week, but my partner is much better at moderating than me. Some nights where I've had several glasses of wine, he's had less than a pint of beer.
• I have sometimes have secret extra drinks once he's gone to bed
• I have occasionally also been guilty of buying small bottles of wine to "top up"
• I haven't yet done so, but I have fantasized about drinking alone, e.g. when I have a day at home without the kids when DP is at the office
• if I had 24hrs alone, I would feel excited about the prospect of being able to drink what/when I liked
• when I think about stopping for good, I'm not worried about, say, missing out in social situations where it's customary to have a drink. I'm worried about missing that numbed feeling. I don't want to lose that. Which...means I probably need to stop, doesn't it?

It's odd knowing what the right answer is and still wanting to deny it, isn't it?

Yes @applejar, I agree. It's the weirdest thing to know that the numbed feeling which we crave and love, is killing our brain and body. I totally get you

I know I can't drink alcohol again. What can we do to help you? ❤️🥰

Welcome! Well done on getting week 1 under your belt.

I have always drank more than my DP but his moderation definitely kept me on the straight dnd narrow for many years. Then we had kids and my drinking was mainly done at home and it was easy to drink more without him necessarily noticing or me having to be open about it / justify it to him (or myself I suppose). I know he’d be really worried if he knew how much I’ve been drinking recently.

I don’t really drink to numb but more for a release, something to look forward to, escapism to elevate my flat days. Also, having read a fair bit now about alcohol I think I also drink because my prior drinking makes it feel like the only option. It’s not, I’m not physically dependant but my brain tells me it’s the only game in town so I might as well crack open a bottle. So I do!

I hope you don’t mind me asking but have you ever had any counselling to help you understand why you used to self harm? I would assume this could also be related to your desire to be numbed by drink.

I eat my way out of it. Not necessarily snacking (but that is often included) but a big, filling meal. I personally find it really hard to drink after that. Plus, it’s really hard to get a buzz when your stomach is full to bursting so drinking becomes pointless.

think how glad and proud you’ll feel
in the morning- rooting for you @freshstart2026 💐❤️

Curious to know how much, how often and for how long everyone was drinking?

I was a bottle of 11/12% Rose a night for a year or more 😏

Also, having read a fair bit now about alcohol I think I also drink because my prior drinking makes it feel like the only option. It’s not, I’m not physically dependant but my brain tells me it’s the only game in town so I might as well crack open a bottle. So I do!

I really relate to this.

I drank at least a bottle of wine every day for the past couple of years - and not much less than that before hand. I had no problem not drinking through 3 pregnancies and there were times I drank very little but the last couple of years frightened me. I'm still frightened I've done long-term damage to my health. I was also feeling despondent - with absolutely no reason to feel so - my life is fine. That feeling has lifted in just the past 6 days.

@applejar I hope you stick with us. That bit about if you had 24 hours alone you'd be excited about being able to drink as you wanted - that resonated with me too. Apparently Raymond Carver said during his active drinking days happiness was an empty house with no one home and no one coming home. I think we can relate to that but on every human level it is just bananas.

I’m so grateful to you all for your generosity and honesty.Its really good to have a place where the conversation about alcohol is honest and real but also kind and supportive.
Im a binge drinker. I can go for several nights without drinking but when I do drink I have no “off” switch. I drink until I crash out . I say stupid things in WhatsApp groups and this has affected relationships and my self esteem. The next day I feel so overwhelmed with shame and anxiety.
I started drinking to cope with my shyness and social anxiety. I realise now that I can cope well at social events without alcohol.
I also now know I can get a real and healthy “buzz” from walking the dog on a beautiful frosty morning with a clear head.
🙌

I am a binge drinker too. Once I start there is no off switch and recently it hasn’t stopped with alcohol there has been cocaine too which I’d never dream of doing sober. I am wracked with guilt and shame the next day. I have always had a bit of an all or nothing personality not just with alcohol but hobbies, work…throw myself at things. I’ve tried to drink sensibly so many times but it never helps. When I binge o can prob put away over 2 bottles of wine. I’ve had accidents too, I fell down an underground escalator, I’ve knocked a tooth out, fallen down stairs…woken up with unknown bruises. I’m 51 now and this is just an embarrassment.

@JustAnotherDayWorkingAtHomeI am exactly the same re being all or nothing with everything!!!! Could have written that myself re drinking, hobbies etc!

Currently feel secure in my ‘all in’ AF mentality but also very wary of the sudden flip reverse my brain can do if triggered enough, has caught me out on many an AF stint.

Day 9 for me today, almost double digits, which is the best I have managed since September!

@anewyearthisyearI’m totally with you. I used to be annoyingly positive and even when drinking a lot I wasn’t chronically miserable or anything but I had lost my joie de vivre which I used to have in spades. I blamed it on other things (small kids, living somewhere I don’t want to live) but whilst these things are a challenge, I am starting to think they are not the reason I’ve been down. It’s the drink.

@applejar@anewyearthisyear”The opposite of addiction is connection” we want to be on our own with our addiction because we can’t connect to other people normally anymore. It’s isolating by nature.

Haha - yeah, I’m ‘all in’ too. I’m also running every day this month just to be a bit more ‘all in’ 🙄 what’s wrong with my damn brain 😂

Morning everyone. I woke at 5.30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I’m feeling tired after a gruelling day yesterday. I wish the weather was a bit better - it’s so dark and wet.

I’m feeling proud to have done a full week sober - that’s the longest I’ve been without a drink since Dry January last year. Onwards!

that’s a good idea complimentary. If I knew I was running every day I definitely wouldn’t drink!!!

@JustAnotherDayWorkingAtHome thank you for your honesty- you will love this thread as everyone is supportive and there is no judgement here at all. I used to fall a lot and I’m sure that’s why I have a bad knee now.
Im finding this sobriety lark so freeing! Just got offered free ticket to a show on Saturday. My first response is always refusal ( it’s Saturday I will be hungover) but then I got in the car and thought whst!? Free expensive ticket to a London west end shoe of course I am going! These are the wins that just make this all worthwhile.
Hope everyone has a good day

Morning all, this flu is not subsiding 😩 I actually feel much worse today. Managed to get to sleep a little earlier last night but was awake by 4am. Still no car .. no hire cars available. Honestly the week just keeps on giving. Normally this would totally send me over the edge and I’d be knocking back the wine by 6pm. NOPE! Not happening. Onto day 9 today - I wish I could say I felt refreshed and relaxed but that is far from accurate. Faced with some serious issues this week I’ve managed to stay alcohol free, that’s a huge win in my opinion. Delighted to see so many of you staying on track and doing so well, we’ve broken through the first week of January and that’s a huge achievement. Well done all of you xx

You are doing SO well @reset100

Sorry you are having such a hard time @reset100

I am shattered, really fatigued every day. It’s like first trimester tiredness if that makes sense. I’m sleeping a bit better, woke at 5.30am instead of at 2.30am so I’ll take that as a win. Also craving sugar, sweet tea, biscuits, stuff I never usually bother with, and I’m hungry, absolutely ravenous. Anyone else got full on munchies?

I have read that if your body is used to, say, a few glasses of wine every night, that's a LOT of sugar, so you have a double whammy. Maybe allow yourself some wine gums in place of wine for the moment!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well (I hope you get better soon @reset100 - well done for toughing it out). Last night my apple watch tells be i slept for 8 hours and didn't wake up once 😃Between 2 kids who were awful sleepers and too much wine, that probably hasn't happened in about 4 years.

Feeling very upbeat today and went for a great run this morning too.

I'm looking forward to week 2 and feeling more of the benefits of not drinking. Well done everyone!

Each time I have abstained for a bit I've found I've got a horrendous sweet tooth! Which I never normally have. So generally in the first week or so I'll have some sweets or a couple of chocs in the evening with a cuppa instead.

I'm feeling a kind of determination I haven't before. Really enjoying the feeling of being anti-wine and spurred on to not drink.

And last night I had the best night sleep I've had for a while. Not great still, but improving for sure.

To the PP who asked how much everyone drinks, for me it was about half to three-quarters of a bottle, every single day. I’ve rarely had a day off in years (and then usually only because of a hangover). It barely even touches the sides. I can function perfectly normally at that level of consumption and otherwise am active and have a very healthy diet (which as someone upthread said, somehow seems to allow your brain to cancel out the seriousness and scale of the damage being done by the alcohol).

On weekends it was more, and on social occasions much, much more. Many in our family and social group are big/regular drinkers (alcoholism runs in one side of my family), so it’s easy to normalise. People always think I’m confident and extrovert, but in social settings that’s due to manic speed-drinking until I reach a point where I’ve got a buzz on and can relax.

For every big dinner or night out or party that was brilliant fun, there was another that was ruined by morning after sickness, beer fear and crushing, excruciating shame and guilt and embarrassment. And while other people might laugh and shrug off your drunken behaviour as funny, you know deep down it’s really not funny at all.

When I actually do the maths and imagine how many bottles I’ve sunk over the weeks and months and years and decades, all stacked up in one room, or laid out in an endless line miles long, I’m overwhelmed by the shame of it all and the sickening fear of what I’ve done to myself.

This thread is amazingly helpful in terms of everyone being so honest and non-judgemental, and it really helps to be able to be truly introspective and post these feelings anonymously. I landed here with only one foot in because it felt like something I should be doing. I now feel like it’s something I actually need and want to do.

Thank you especially to @reset100 for starting it, and for keeping it going through what sounds like a really shitty and difficult week 💐