Calling Time on Wine - 100 Day Reset | Thread 2: One Day at a Time - Together

[therockingbird]

Welcome to Thread 2 of Calling Time on Wine 100 Day Reset 🍵

If you’re here, you’re doing something genuinely brilliant. This reset isn’t about perfection, shiny lives, or pretending it’s easy. It’s about choosing ourselves one day at a time, even when life keeps lobbing chaos our way.

We’ve already proven we can sit with hard evenings, bad days, stress, boredom, celebrations, and still not reach for wine.

Thread 2 is about keeping the momentum going, supporting each other, being honest when it’s tough, celebrating the wins and remembering why we started when motivation wobbles. Clearer heads. Stronger bodies. 💪

So pull up a chair, grab your tea, water, or AF alternative, and keep going. You are not doing this alone - and you are doing so well. 💛

Thanks @EnjoythemoneyJane. I’m not sure whether to ring the surgery (which I hate doing) or wait til they hopefully pop up on the app. I think I’ll do the latter.

In other random thoughts, I still can’t decide whether having an AF beer in the evening is now second nature to me or the result of willpower. How can I not know this? Sitting here with my beer I do vaguely think I’d quite like a wine, I feel a bit flat and I’m holding on with gritted teeth until the end of the challenge. On the other hand, although the thoughts of wine are there they feel easier to ignore and are not all consuming. Hmmm.

Back on the AF after a wobble. Day 65 today for this year

Morning all on day 68. The scales have finally moved and I’m another lb down, taking my total weight loss to 17lbs. I have another 4lb to go to reach my goal. I’m losing at a snail’s pace ATM but will just have to be patient (am eat less cake and chocolate, lol).

I’m getting a bit fed up of waking every morning sneezy with a runny nose. It was always something I put down to alcohol but clearly isn’t that! I’m going to try taking an antihistamine before bed.

Here’s to another day sober. Mad to think on Wednesday (day 70) we’ll only have another 30 days to go!

Morning all. The start of week 10 tomorrow for me. I’m starting to think on weeks rather than days which is a positive I think. I’m away for the weekend but with my parents whi don’t drink so I don’t think I ll struggle as previously I would be “ allowed” one glass of wine ( I’m 57!) but no more and would be raging with the injustice of it. Now I just won’t have any so will get a lot easier I think!

Morning.

@freshstart2026 - re your results. I think of mine as a positive in two ways. If they are within normal range - that’s great and reassuring and encouragement to keep going. If they are outside of normal range, then that’s encouragement to keep going! Good luck. I hate everything being attributed to the menopause, I find it incredibly disempowering in some respects, but becoming more histamine intolerant is actually a thing re menopause. Like you say - easily rectified with a tablet.

@SwiftyFifty - I’m going away to a training camp on Saturday. It’s in Portugal. It’s such an easy win re not drinking as everyone is training hard and hardly drinking but it does highlight how we can put ourselves in environments that are so much easier to achieve success in, or indeed not. Sounds like a win at least re drinking for this weekend.

My hot chocolate in the evening is now a bit of a postive crutch I look forward to now!

@needastrongone I didn’t know that about histamines - thank you! I’ll see if the tablet has any affect tonight.

No word on my results on the NHS app. I’ve emailed the surgery to ask for the results over email - I won’t hold my breath for a reply as they're not great on communication TBH, but you never know!

Well it’s gone 9pm and it’s my birthday.. I’ve had a nice cool lemon and lime sparkling water and some birthday cake. Never been one for big celebrations but this birthday has gone smoothly alcohol free - delighted with that. 🙏

Woweeeee @therockingbird that deserves a big 👏👏👏

happy birthday - what a great way to start the next year of your life x

Happy Birthday @therockingbird

@therockingbird that sounds like a lovely Birthday!

That is such a milestone well done and happy birthday!

Happy birthday @therockingbird!

I actually got my blood test results back over email (after moaning about my surgery lol - feel bad now!) I entered my liver scores into ChatGPT and it said this:

Liver Function
All liver markers are normal:

• ALT: 26
• AST: 25
• Bilirubin: 7

✅ What it means: Your liver is healthy

Not sure what the individual scores mean but I’m very pleased by the overall verdict!

Also…

Test Result Range Interpretation

Serum ALT
26 U/L
0–34
Normal, healthy liver enzyme

Serum AST
25 U/L
5–31
Normal

Serum Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP)
36 U/L
30–130
Normal, on the lower side but fine

Serum Total Bilirubin
7 µmol/L
<21
Normal

Serum Albumin
45 g/L
31–45
Upper end of normal — excellent protein production by liver

Serum Total Protein
68 g/L
60–80
Normal

Serum Globulin
23 g/L
22–38
Normal

I’m here! Just joining this thread from the last one, not caught up yet but will do!

Wow congratulations thet are very good. Mine were all a bit higher end Jan but getting them done again next week. Are you thrilled?

Thanks. Mine would almost certainly have been higher in Jan too! I am thrilled but more like shocked and stunned. After punishing my liver for so long it seems quite miraculous really. It hasn’t quite sunk in. I feel very grateful and relieved.

Let us know how you get on next week 🙌

What lovely posts from everyone! Happy birthday @therockingbird, and congrats @freshstart2026.

I’ve had full bloods done a couple of times in recent years (for various reasons) and always expected them to come back flashing red with a blaring klaxon on account of the abuse my poor old liver has taken. When they didn’t I was always sooo relieved, silently thanked my body, apologised and vowed to stop the poison - but in reality just used that knowledge to carry on chucking back the booze, because everything’s fine, so why not?

Although I’m still not totally abstinent, I now feel for the first time that my body and brain are starting to slowly heal from the relentless battering I’ve given them for 40+ years, and the changes I’m seeing and feeling are making me in equal parts guilt-ridden and grateful. I feel very bad about quite how comprehensively daily drinking was compromising all my bodily functions, sleep patterns, moods and thoughts, but I’m now hopeful that I can turn a corner and change the habits of a lifetime. It’s never too late to do better (hopefully!).

@EnjoythemoneyJane yes I feel the same very well put! I am saddened by how I relentlessly drank despite it doing nothing for me ( positive plenty of negatives) for the last few years. I’m loving not having to constantly work out how to buy wine, which shop today, will I have enough, annoyed with mysekf when the first bottle has gone and I need to go out again. It was relentless and I am so much happier without it.

You’ve done amazingly, @SwiftyFifty. I hear ya on the mental noise though, which is something I’m hyper aware of in trying to moderate.

I don’t get booze-hoarding anxiety at all now (is there enough? Should I get another one just in case? What if someone else also wants to drink from my stash?!), but I’ve had ghosts of the old mental negotiation flickering around occasionally. Not as exhausting and relentless as it used to be - usually starting at 7am with “I’m definitely not drinking tonight”, and then the resolve gradually melting away along with the previous night’s low-level headache (I’ve had a shitty day, silly to leave half a bottle in the fridge all week, if I just have a glass with dinner surely that’s fine?).

The difference is now I can recognise it as it’s happening and squash it with intention, so I can walk away from the thoughts and pour a soft drink feeling happy and positive rather than martyred and hard done by.

I just need to keep going and see whether reinforcing new habits will eventually quiet the noise completely. If not, I’ll definitely be back to full quitting - like @needastrongoneagain, @Yearoftheskin and lots of other people on here, maybe a period of moderation is just a good way of easing myself closer to a full stop?

@freshstart2026 did you just get liver tests done or full blood count? Intetested re serum iron and MCV/ Mch ( mine hsve always been the top end of normal - also affected by drinking)

Also my blood pressure has dropped from 130/89 to 96/64!!!

Afternoon.

I’m so glad that you are still posting @EnjoythemoneyJane, your posts are very insightful and resonate with me very much. @SwiftyFifty covers the same thought process - that noise in your head constantly - whether there is wine in the house for later, and if not, which shop did I last buy from, promising myself I won’t drink tonight then basically thinking about my first drink all day. Carrying the bottle through from the kitchen to the living room after supper. Splitting my trips to bottle banks - what the actual hell?!! I wonder if this is similar to food noise, as I have an entirely normal relationship with food.

Also re the blood tests - yes! My normal ones in the past basically were permission to carry on as before. Like you @SwiftyFiftyit was when the MCV and Gamma GT were a bit high (tested privately, I’m not sure the nhs ones cover these markers) that the switch flipped. To be fair, the Gamma was borderline high (one point off normal) and I think can be related to a heavy training load too, but too easy to make that excuse. I’m sort of glad now they were higher than the norm, I was ready to take action. I had my new bloods taken today, so should have the results by the weekend.

@freshstart2026 how do you feel about your results in the context of our discussion? Does it make your guard slip a bit (wouldn’t blame you - it did me) or more determined to keep this healthy lifestyle?

@EnjoythemoneyJane - I couldn’t have gone cold turkey, so to speak. I needed to do too much work on my self and my triggers by moderating first. I didn’t have the resilience or tools to handle being fully sober and I’m honest enough to admit that I needed booze after DH’s stroke - it was my medication and way of losing my emotions for a while in the evening (not realising plenty of the emotions I was feeling were probably because of the wine). You sound like you are having these reflections and even if moderation is exactly the right choice for you, think of the health benefits that this will bring.

@SwiftyFifty I got a full blood test. I entered your question into ChatGPT and it said this!

Short answer: No — your results do not include a serum iron test, but they do include MCV and MCH, and both are normal. I’ll explain simply.

1. Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)

Your result: 91 fL Normal range: 81 – 100 fL ✔ Normal MCV measures the average size of your red blood cells.

• Low MCV → small cells (often iron deficiency)
• High MCV → large cells (often B12/folate deficiency)

Your value 91 is right in the middle of normal, which means your red blood cells are normal size.

1. Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH)

Your result: 28.8 pg Normal range: 27 – 33.3 pg ✔ Normal MCH measures how much haemoglobin is inside each red blood cell.

• Low → often iron deficiency
• High → sometimes B12/folate issues

Your value 28.8 is completely normal.

1. Serum Iron

A serum iron test is not listed in your results. You do have ferritin, which is actually more useful for checking iron stores. Your ferritin: 145 µg/L Range: 15 – 150 ✔ Normal (and quite good) This means your body iron stores are adequate.

1. Your haemoglobin (important)

Your haemoglobin: 120 g/L Range: 115 – 148 ✔ Normal (toward the lower side but still healthy) Because:

• MCV normal
• MCH normal
• Ferritin normal

➡️ There is no sign of iron deficiency anemia in these results.