Calling Time on Wine - the next 100 days after the first 100 day reset | Thread 3: Continuing to support and navigate together.

[needastrongone]

As promised, a new thread.

As the title states, this is the third thread. It started for those of us who wanted some support and a safe place to navigate a 100 day alcohol reset. Most of us on the thread wanted more time and space than Dry January to fully reset and maybe reflect more on our relationship with alcohol than one month.

What we also found was the most wonderfully supportive and uplifting set of folk, all with the common intention of being AF from January for 100 days. A few blips along the way for some (including me at the beginning) but for those that have, we’ve tried to understand why they happened and most of us have continued to be AF going forward and managed 100 AF days since January.

We are going for another 100 (we all liked the idea of breaking being AF into chunks of time) and I don’t think it matters one bit if new folk want to climb on board and start from here, we can all offer a friendly and non judgmental place here.

Morning everyone and welcome to all the new people. Pp have already given lots of great advice for starting out, when I first started on this dry wagon, I kept busy especially in the evening and weekends catching up on odd jobs and deep cleaning my house sometimes it was only ten minutes other times a few hours. My house is now clean, tidy and I'm in a routine to keep on top of everything. I also caught up with things I had neglected over time such as subscriptions and direct debits, I went through my bank account and tidied that up cancelled things I didn't need etc. The best thing I done for me though was put me and myself first and made it mandatory daily. From washing my hair with a new expensive weekly hair detox shampoo, a weekly face mask some days it was a full body brush before my shower and other days it was filing my nails watching tv. When I was drinking which was way over the recommended units a week my skin was gray and dry. I now use hand cream daily and moisturiser my whole body at least once a week. My diet has improved for the better, I am eating so much more healthier still have room for improvement and definitely need to start exercising. I've gotten into a routine of going to bed early as I am naturally tired now I love getting all cosy and I've even started reading books again. I used to think drinking wine after a day helped my stress it's only looking back, I can see it just added to it and everything I've mentioned above my new way of life has honestly done wonders for my mental health and stress. Also my skin is absolutely glowing! I hope me sharing is of some use to you guys and I wish you so much luck on your journey 🥰

@freshstart2026 I am so sorry to read about your marriage 💐 would therapy be a option? Please don't be hard on yourself you have done amazing and you are continuing to be amazing. Blips don't take anything away from that.

Sorry everyone for my long rambling. Away to clean my bathroom... and yes I do use a loo brush 🤪

Thanks @Ladymuckypuddle. I love how you’ve sorted all your subscriptions etc. I have gotten on top of certain aspects on the house but still have a long way to go. I’m hoping to have everything sorted by the end of the year.

I am feeling horrendous - ill, exhausted and very low mood. Anyone thinking of drinking, DO NOT DO IT - I promise you it is not worth it!

Still here and thank you for the thread. I'm proud to say I don't drink now and I feel good. Still occasionally go to drink when it's a celebration or similar, but I like being sober and enjoying myself.

Thank you for the welcome guys 🙂 I'm going to take a read through all the previous thread , you have all done amazing, and must feel really proud of yourselves, I can't wait till I hit my 100 day mark x

Checking in for day 2. Sorry to hear how awful you are feeling @freshstart2026, I really hope you are being kind to yourself.

I was very pleased to see some more new joiners on the thread. Looking forward to hitting that one hundred days together.

The posts are really resonating with me. The need to focus on some self care, my diet and exercise are my priorities for the next 3 months. My wardrobe could really do with a refresh and I have lots of jobs to do around the house to keep me busy in the evenings. I read this article on one job a day and I’m going to try and follow that. Doesn’t matter how small, just focussing on making progress. Hopefully all the small changes will add up!

I had a bit of an eye opener at the weekend as I found out a relative has liver cirrhosis due to alcohol. What's quite alarming is that to my knowledge, her drinking patterns are very similar to mine. A bottle or two within the week, but a bit of a session on a Friday/Saturday....so, how I drink😳 I know nothing is guaranteed and there could be other factors, so it wouldn't necessarily happen to me but I don't want to be in that situation in 20 years. I was really glad to have 100 days under my belt and be at the point where I feel like my relationship with alcohol has changed when I heard about her situation, but it's a powerful reminder about why its so important to adjust my drinking.

Btw, welcome to the new joiners. Very happy to have you here!

@Raindancer101 oh that’s a shock. And they weren’t a heavy drinker as such ( as in a bottle a day)
Did she have symptoms?
This was one of my biggest fears as well as motivators. My liver enzymes started to rise and I thought I don’t want to get an alcohol related illness if possible. I’m sorry about your relation I hope they are not suffering

I'm honestly not sure about symptoms, we're not close. I heard about it from a mutual relative who I see often and is close with my aunt. Usually, when I bump into my aunt we're pissed in the pub 🙈 Of course, there is the possibility that her drinking is actually significantly more than stated. I think many of us are quite good at downplaying our drinking quantities aren't we, and like I said before, there could also be other influencing factors aswell as alcohol.

Anyway, sorry for sharing that depressing update. I just thought it may be a motivator for others because whilst I'm not particularly close to her, and she is obviously 20 years older than me, it was just an eye opener for me because it's close to home (relation wise) and it's a reminder that alcohol really can and does fuck up our bodies.

Joining because I really need to get a grip on my drinking - I wimped out of Dry January at about day 10, even though I was feeling better. I just don't seem to have an off-switch any more, so I am hoping a reset will work for me as it has for so many of you. It's been very inspiring to read through the previous threads and this one, and to see people who struggled at the beginning but who are so glad they've persisted. I'm feeling very nervous about this, but I'm hoping I can stick to it this time round.

Evening all. I’m still feeling dreadful. I bought a takeaway for lunch to try and help the hangover, so that was another £15 down the drain. The house is a tip as the time I’d usually spend doing chores whilst WFH instead was spent lying in bed feeling horrendous. I hate the feeling of wasting a day due to self-inflicted illness.

If there’s one positive to yesterday it’s that a few weeks ago, I was half thinking I wanted to drink again. This has made me realise that is a terrible idea and the horrendous hangovers are 100% not worth it.

A sobering thought I had this afternoon: I guess I am an alcoholic. I clearly am incapable of controlling my drinking and go completely off the rails. To say I’m an alcoholic feels very scary but I am addicted.

@freshstart2026 rest today and get an eatly night if you can. I completely get why you feel scared but you are being very self aware and that is so emotionally healthy. You will look back in the next 100 days and you will feel so much better than you do today. This is probably very niche but I like to sing along with loud angry or sweary music when I feel rough or am dealing with negative emotions and it always helps me feel better.

@freshstart2026 I do hope you feel better tomorrow. That's the best way to organise things just write a to do list and they will get done when they get done, no pressure or stress about it.

@thisoldcity hi, do you mean that you moderate now?

@Raindancer101 thank you for sharing about your aunts liver problems. Definitely a sobering and powerful reminder that alcohol just damages, destroys and takes.

@ClaribelSpurling welcome and good luck on your journey. What helped me in the beginning was to just try and block it out and not think about the future or tomorrow, just that evening of not drinking. Others on this group really enjoyed and got a lot out of quit lit and podcasts. Have a try at different methods to see what rhythm fits you.

Another dry day ticked off for me today. Nothing to report really except I'm getting a little bit fed up of drinking the same drinks ginger beer, fresh orange, cranberry, tea, water and coffee. Will need to investigate what other drinks I could get. Sending you all hope & strength 💐

I ve finally caught up with you guys and hit day 💯.

Weight loss seems to have ground to a halt so I m going to have to accept I m going to have to moderate my diet .

Otherwise.... It's been ok .... I ve been out a few times with friends I just duck out after dinner . I ve definitely saved a load.

@Ladymuckypuddle try ginger shot ( available from Lidl in small cans or bigger bottles) with sparkling water. I love it!
@freshstart2026 hope you are starting to feel better. Don’t label yourself ( unless it helps you) harshly - I think all of us on here have our issues with alcohol - your feeling particularly low and the self loathing is extreme at the moment.
I had a dream thst I was being forced to drink alcohol last night and I was raging!
Today is 105 for me. About five years ago I got to 105 then caved so im pleased to be beating that record ( I have no plans to go out this week so will be fine)
im away to Sardinia on Sunday for a few days so this will be a challenge - first holiday abroad sober.

@LadymuckypuddleI've stopped now completely. It's possibly a temporary reset but I've decided I feel better with no alcohol noise in my life at all for now. I want to be sober at my daughter's wedding in July as well and enjoy every moment!

I’d like to join too. I lurked around the original thread at the beginning of the year, then my father’s long illness became terminal and he died a couple of weeks ago. So I gave myself permission to carry on drinking (which of course made everything worse). It’s made me think about the life I want to live with the time I have left, and I don’t want to waste any of it with the 3am doom and hangovers. The best way I can honour dad’s memory is to try to live a healthy, optimistic life. It would be his birthday in about 100 days so I decided to make that a sober target, then I remembered about this thread. Reading all your comments is truly inspiring!

Morning all, checking in for day 3 confident I won’t drink today. Sleep is appalling (to be expected). Just wild thoughts racing through my mind each night and clock watching. Looking pretty spotty today too but putting that down to the sugar reduction.

I’m looking to lose a pound a week over the next 6 weeks, that will take me back to a weight I feel more comfortable at. Trying to carefully consider every decision I make around food. Hoping the exercise will follow naturally. I hope everyone has a great day.

Morning Day I'm on day 99, nothing of importance to report being sober each day is becoming my new normal. I can't remember who mentioned in a post that they are getting bored of their soft drinks or tea but I tried this the other night when I fancied something in a nice glass. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/321114277/?icid=ghsandapp_ghs_pdp_share

check out this product www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/321114277/?icid=ghsandapp_ghs_pdp_share Belvoir Farm Pink Grapefruit Paloma

This link might be better

Morning!

’today I will not drink’. That’s all we need to tell ourselves today in terms of alcohol consumption 😊.

How are you feeling today @freshstart2026 ? I hope you have slept well and can feel a bit more positive. It’s hard to know how to define ourselves with regard to alcohol isn’t it? I’ve been pondering this about myself - some of my behaviours before I moderated and then decided to do this challenge definitely were veering into alcoholism (separating all the empty bottles into different recycling bins, buying the extra bottle of wine on the way home because I ‘only’ had one in, walking straight into the house straight to the fridge, waking up self loathing then drinking again by 4pm). So yes, perhaps I was/am an alcoholic. That said I stopped reasonably easily (by that, I haven’t needed additional help and have only lapsed with one glass of wine during my dads death). Maybe it would help to define myself as one - then it’s just not optional. Certainly I had/have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and that has needed to change. I’m waffling now - what’s other people’s thoughts on their relationship with drinking?

@Raindancer101 - my health is one of my primary reasons for being AF. Obviously you don’t know exactly how much your relative was drinking, but it very likely depends anyway person to person and is such a reminder that damage from drinking is almost silent - until it’s not..

Welcome new people - I can guarantee that whether it’s day 2 or 200 - we will have or are feeling the same things.

I’ve slept well again. Been out for an early run. And very glad to have a new recommendation for a soft drink alternative as I too need just something different for that ‘wine o clock’ hour while I’m cooking supper.

On day 2. There was half a bottle of wine left in the fridge from a friend being over for a long weekend and I did not have any of it. Usually I would have had it, especially as there is other alcohol in the house unopened. So DH consumed it whilst I was out doing something else and then he joined me with a diet coke whilst watching TV before heading to bed.

Morning all! Day 99 for me. I’m feeling a lot better after a good night’s sleep, although I’m still sluggish and tired. That’s not surprising really, given I drank a bucket load of poison on Sunday for my poor body to process! I think the scariest symptom for me after excessive drinking is the racing heart at 3am 😱 It just seems quite scary to have affected your heart to that extent.

@InItToBinIt I’m so sorry about your dad 💐 It’s good to have you with us x

Hi guys! Just checking in really to say well done for all of you who are still on the band wagon (slips or no slips). I am not fully AF but I am drinking a lot less than I did previously and still pushing in the right direction. I have had a few incidents of what I would call abnormal drinking (ie. drinking for the sake of it, drinking alone, not being transparent about how much I was drinking) but they have been infrequent (compared to basically daily for much of last year). So I am still here cheering you all on and I will still post occasionally if that is ok. You've all helped me so much to get on the right path and I am inspired by all of your achievements 💖

Hi all, got rid of a lot of bottles that have been hanging round, don't need to be seeing them as a daily reminder!
Actually feel so glad that I've made this decision to not drink, for as long as I can remember everything I've done is focused around drinking or not drinking.
But it's weird because I'd never dream of drinking in the day, that has only ever happened very rarely even on holiday I don't drink in the day.
So if I go out for lunch I'm never tempted it doesn't even cross my mind to have a drink,
But it's like I feel I have to drink at night, or if we go outside for dinner, I have to order a bottle, If we have social occasions I always drink, there's never a doubt that I won't.
And I just don't understand my mindset about it, what makes me feel that I have to do this,
I don't socialize with huge drinkers, some don't drink at all so it's not like i feel I have to keep up, infact thinking back it's probably me being the loudest, silliest or just talking garbage anyway, my older teens are not big drinker's, they never drink at home ,
But when I make the decision to be AF I don't crave it, I don't miss it, I can simply not drink, it just doesn't bother me, and then I come back to it and I fall back into the habit of drinking regularly again, and it's just so annoying and I'm so cross at myself that yet again it's becoming my whole personality
I tell myself I'm a social drinker but is social drinking really having blackouts in my memory, getting excited if I know I've got a brand new bottle of vodka to get through, can drink a bottle of wine in an hour and it's not even affecting me,
But because I'm up early every morning, ready for work, house always immaculate, kids happy, everything runs as clockwork, I tell myself there can't be a problem,
I have got to make this time the last time,