Sober October 2026

[Hohofortherobbers]

Hello 👋 done several of these and Dry Jan's before. Need a reset after creeping back up to unhealthy daily drinking. Anyone looking for a daily check in and support please join me.

Ill join in. I think i will struggle but would also love the reset myself too. Daily drinking is a slippery slope for me. Thanks for the thread

Welcome, I will check in here every day, will be great to have company

I might join. I probably should.

Will be lovely to chat @fruitpastille

I was looking for a thread on this - I'm in! Have done dry January before so I know I can, I just always persuade myself that I don't need to. But for various reasons it would be good to have a reset.

Only caveat is that DS is off on a school trip at half term so as that means a couple of child-free nights, I may give myself a pass if we actually go out out!

Same here! Thanks for starting the thread @Hohofortherobbers (the cops and robbers hoho?! - I hope I have the right book!)

Same here in terms of recent levels creeping up. I always do dry jan and did 3 months about 18 months ago… but as ever I am feeling unhealthy and not happy with the way things are going. I always feel fantastic when I don’t drink and am not ‘caught in the trap’ which begs the question - why drink?!!

I look forward to joining you on here. Plenty of good TV to see us through if that’s your thing!

Hello to others joining too 🙌🏼

Great, thanks for joining @BookSharkand @Skatefordinner . It is the right book! You're the first person who's recognised it 😁
I have sparkling water and 2 posh cordials so I have lovely refreshing drinks for tonight. I also know I become quite a sugar monster if im not drinking so having a sweet cordial hits the spot.

Also have downloaded the Try Dry app which i find really motivating.

Ahh yes the try dry app. I think I deleted that to make room on my phone! Good shout. I have badly timed work drinks tonight but I want to get home to watch Traitors so that’s my exit plan. I’ll have a couple of AF beers and drink them slowly. My favourite one is Erdinger but not many pubs have it. They all seem to have Lucky Saint which I don’t bother with. 0% Guinness (even though I would never drink Guinness normally) is a good option.

I have one night away in October with a friend who I haven’t seen in 20 years. When I decided to do dry October I decided that would be my one day/ night off but I may feel differently by then!

Gorgeous day today (hopefully where everyone else is too)
hello to @BookShark@Irregularelephant
And @fruitpastille

Morning all. I have a bit of an unusual couple of weeks coming up. DW is away both this weekend and next, so lots of solo parenting and driving DD around which will keep me busy and hopefully out of trouble.

My usual tactic on the first week is just to let everything else slide, snacks in the evening etc, whatever gets me through the first few days to get some momentum.

Good luck everybody!

I'm in and need this reset too as my daily wine crept back in and is getting earlier. Thank you so much for the post!

I'm in. I thought I was moderating quite well to drinking just on a Sunday evening, but during September it's crept back to a midweek bottle as well. I'm fed up with doing life on hard mode; dealing with sleeping poorly on nights where I've had alcohol and feeling generally feeling a bit shit the next day.

I also recognise your username @Hohofortherobbers , that was one of my favourites to read out loud. It has a lovely rhythm.

Count me in please. My drinking crept up over the summer as it often tends to, and I want to get back to my pre summer levels of only drinking every couple of weeks, if that. I am booked for a BYOB craft event tomorrow but will be more than happy to bring a bottle of nosecco and the friend I am going with is very much a take it or leave it drinker so she won't mind. Saturday will be more of a challenge as it is a pub day with a very boozy friend, who will be uncomfortable with me sticking to soft drinks. It will be helpful to stay accountable here.

I am actually on day 10 already, tracking through the Try Dry app. Not missing it at all right now.

Well we're a lovely big bunch of Try Dryers already ☺️ welcome @bigfoot40 @IdRatherWakeFreshAt6am@mummykezza
I'm currently drinking an earl grey and looking forward to an early night. I am the only one in the house(and maybe the world) who is not fussed about Traitors so I will hit the sack by 9pm.
Have a school quiz night tomorrow where there will be booze. But I need to drive so no temptation there.

Well, that's day one done. Which really shouldn't be an achievement, but knowing that I can't have a drink just makes me want one! I suspect tomorrow will be the real test though, and over the weekend.

As a wine drinker I'm yet to find a good AF alternative, so I'll probably just stick to sparkling water as that's what I drink during the day anyway.

And so to bed!
I had a preplanned meet-up with some work people tonight. Thankfully none of the others were drinking wine - it was beer and cider. I wasn’t looking at their drinks as longingly as I would have been had it been pale rosé!
I had 2 Guinness zeros, got on a lime bike and made it home in time for Traitors. Also then had an impromptu game of cards with my 2 teens before bed.

I would have normally started dozing off on the sofa and not done that so that was a nice end to the night.

Day one done everyone. Hurrah 😁

Good morning. I'm a day late but really need this as my drinking has become almost daily. I'll add an extract day at the end of the month - although staying long term sober would be the ideal outcome! I'll check in daily to keep myself on track

Well done everyone. Can relate to so many posts I just read. I didn’t struggle as much as I thought but the thought came to mind a few times last night. I finished with a decaf tea and reading my kindle in bed. I previously read Glorious rock bottom by Brtony Gordon and started again last night in my kindle as it’s not exactly relatable to the excess she experienced and drugs as I don’t do, but some stories got me really thinking, so started that again

i I knew sleep would be a bit of a struggle but woke up this morning feeling so tired in a good way, not foggy, just having had some nourished sleep and want more!!! This is the feeling I need to hang onto tonight!!

I also struggle with AF drinks as I LOVE wine so much, don’t want cafffeine and some AF drinks are full of sugar. Any tips for the weekend would be appreciated x

Yes the Bryony Gordon book is good / sobering (!) isn’t it?! . The book that had the biggest impact on me wheh I gave up for 3 months before was ‘alcohol explained’ by William Porter. Not sure if anyone else has read.

I didn’t sleep brilliantly either however there is a world of difference between waking up tired and waking up tired / hungover and regretting the bottle of wine isn’t there? I’ll take tired and pleased over that!

Well done everyone and welcome to @Swanchaser.
I was asleep by 9:30 and slept so well. I usually wake around 3am and 5am but slept through last night.

I love quit lit, glorious rock bottom was very good.
Just finished The truth about Ruby Cooper, which also has alcohol themes although it's not the main storyline.

Currently listening to the Sober Awkward podcast , which is funny and inspiring

@mummykezza and @BookShark I also love wine. If there was no wine I would drink the odd cocktail and that would be it, I would be a very moderate drinker with no effort. Somehow wine gets a hold in a way that other drinks don't. I find kombucha a decent alcohol free alternative to wine. It is not pretending to be wine, so no letdown when it doesn't taste like wine, but has a slight sourness that stops you chugging it back like a soft drink.

Tea is my other go to (edit - fancy tea and herbal tea for something a bit more special. And I love having a pot of tea in the morning, kind of shifting my relaxing treat from wine in the evening to tea in the morning)

Well done everyone for day one. The mornings feel nice and clean without alcohol, don't they?

@Hohofortherobbers I loved the truth about Ruby Cooper. Brilliantly written wasn’t it? I think it’s my favourite book of hers.

It’s getting to that time on a Friday 👀. I’m still working upstairs but teen son and his friend are listening to music downstairs having a couple of celebratory end of week beers.

It’s not the beers per se - I’m not a huge fan of beer anyway but it’s that ‘marking the end of the day / week’ feeling which I’m sure we all feel.

It will be fine. They’ll be off in an hour or so. I’ll have the house to myself. Will tidy up, make a nice dinner get a couple of AF beers and watch something on TV and it will all be well.

What is everyone else up to? Wishing you all well :)

Are you relaxing now @Skatefordinner ?

My craft evening was good and we shared the nosecco. It would have been very different with alcohol wine, but not better, just different. No regrets.