I should be feeling amazing. Why don’t I? And how unreasonable is it to expect to?

[SomethingNarstyInTheWoodshed]

For many years I have drunk too much. Not buckets full. Just a good couple of glasses of red most evenings.

Since Christmas I haven’t. I’ve had 3 occasions when I have had a couple of small glasses.

I’ve also eaten far more vegetables and less crap.

1. Why do I not look better? I still look tired, haggard and shit.

1. Why do I not feel better? I still feel shit in the mornings. I’m not sleeping better. I’m sluggish, forgetful and still unhinged.

1. Why am I not thin? After an initial half stone loss nothing. I though alcohol was all liquid sugar and empty calories. Still fat.

Would it be unreasonable to say fuckit and enjoy half a bottle of delicious red wine most evenings?

I don’t think it’s that easy to reverse the effects of years of drinking and eating unhealthy, the damage is already done to some extent, you can improve your health and lose weight but your not going to suddenly look ten years younger after going a few months without wine. It’s taken me 3 years to loose weight and become fitter, I don’t even drink (never have), I have friends that do drink, they are the same age as me but look a lot older.

A couple glasses of wine a night is actually quite a lot, it might not seem it but it is.

Maybe you are not getting enough sleep?
Also, if you didn't drink a lot to begin with, why would you expect a drastic difference when you stop?

Could it b psychological? Part of it you don't want to feel better because you want to drink in the evenings? That you're struggling with not drinking?

Mindset can have a huge impact on how we feel.

I think it’s all relative, too.

Like, maybe I just have no way of knowing how crap I’d feel if I didn’t rein in my drinking, do exercise, blah blah...

Peri menopause and low b12 at a guess..

@PrimalLass, Happy Birthday ! Have a lovely day.💐💝

I am also trying to work out why I am so bloody tired all the time. I am 43.

I have cut my drinking back to about once a month from twice a week. I go to bed early every night. I don´t eat sugar and low carb. My blood analysis showed everything was completely normal.

I have to say I did have a drink - only a bit- last night for the first time in a month and I look and feel shocking this morning.

I am now going to cut out my precious cup of tea after lunch and see if no caffeine in the afternoon will help.

And then I may have to become a Buddhist monk because it´s the only thing I haven´t fecking tried yet.

I stopped drinking for about 6 months last year and also didn’t think I felt any better. Then I had a couple of drinks and felt horrendous (even worse than normal!).

I’m still tired and look awful, but I know I feel and look even worse if I drink, so I very rarely do now.

I’m 48 this year and think I’m peri menopausal. Has anyone started to take HRT and did it make you feel much better? I’m having a lot of trouble waking up in the night and I get quite hot and sweaty at night, both symptoms I think.

I feel your pain I drastically cut back on alcohol. Salad every lunch healthy meal at night, gym 3 x per week inc 1 session with PT. Basically doing what everyone says eat less and run around more. Don’t get out of breath as much but feel knackered, weight the same, v v slightly increased muscle percentage. Have come to conclusion I’m just fat. Can you pour me a glass of wine please

Over the last two years I've gone from a bottle of wine a few nights a week to a couple of glasses every few weeks. I've not lost any weight at all.

I was feeling slobby and lethargic even without the wine so I did some research and started taking vitamins B and D, and I started following the advice in a book called The Depression Cure (by Dr Steve Ilardi). I now exercise every day, get outside, and try to be more sociable, and I'm feeling loads better. Far more energetic. I'm eating less, and eating better, too. It took a while to have a noticeable effect but it really is working. The exercise is the big thing, I think. I don't enjoy it but really notice if I don't do it.

You are getting old hun!

I feel the same, drastically cut back, eat very healthy food, sleep 8 hours and still totally knackered all of the time.

I think it is life in your forties....we need siestas maybe?

I always feel better in the spring and summer, you will be bouncing around feeling fantastic by then. Half a stone is :) and don't go back to the wine, you will feel even worse.

Bloody hell, eat and drink what you want. All this self-denial, puritanical bollocks won't make any of us feel any better (and 'clean eating' and detoxes are not only ridiculous bullshit but can be actively dangerous. Absolutely everyone who peddles dietary advice (but is not a qualified NHS dietician) is lying, either because they are stupid or because they are a con artist.)

You do not have any kind of obligation to 'look nice' ie be thin and clear-skinned. Life is too short to make yourself unhappy just to please other people.

Also, I am 53, I drink, I smoke, I eat what I want. I am a bit chubby by mundane standards but I do not care. I would rather enjoy life than worry about impressing stupid people.

I don’t particularity even want to look nice.. just not feel like shite. Ideally.

*particularly

And spell properly. 🙄

Having something interesting and enjoyable to do can make you feel better, as can cutting out unnecessary crap that you only do because people expect it of you.

I’m 52 and feel shit too. I gave up wine and alcohol in Jan due feeling really shit with flu/bug/chest infection and being on antibiotics.
I kept it up and only drink very moderately now once or twice on a weekend. I am eating better less and packing in more fruit, veggies and water. I have also upped my exercise from zero to more walking and steps and also trying to get to a dance exercise class once or twice a week which is a completely new thing for me.
I have an underactive thyroid.
I am still very overweight/obese but Rome wasn’t built in a day and still feel shit most mornings. I do think the weather helps at least light bright days do with me. Last week when we had all the snow and I was walking even more as I was too scared to drive I actually felt really good a could of days (for the first time in ages) a combination of everything plus a bright snowy day. Keep going OP.

I quit regular drinking in January. Did the Dry Jan thing then decided to mostly continue in that vein. So far I’ve just had a single glass of red maybe once a fortnight and only with a nice dinner. Physically I’m not much different but mentally it’s incredible. I was getting The Fear the next day every time I drank more than a glass. Now I wake up feeling much less paranoid.

giving up alcohol was one of the top ways to live longer - I'm pretty sure I read that recently.

I gave up alcohol in my 30's when it was obvious I was drnking too much and felt like shit too regularly the morning after. It took a while for me to feel better but I did eventually. Cutting down processed carbs helps too.

I don't leap out of bed and I'm overweight but I'm 53 and I feel pretty OK most of the time.

My mother recently died and anyone who says they'd rather just drink what they like and to hell with the consequences hasn't just seen someone die. When you look death in the eye you near;y ALWAYS want longer.

And it fucking annoys me that these kind of threads always bring out the people who imply (or even say outright) that somehow people who don;t drink are as boring as fuck.

I like the occasional drink myself (maybe a glass or two once a month) but would you say to someone eating a box of chocolates every night "Good for you, make yourself happy and who cares what the boring health police say" or would you say "Erm, that doesn't seem terribly healthy - could you try limiting it to once a week?".

Drinking half a bottle of wine (2 or 3 large glasses) a night is rather seen as cool and socially acceptable. Eating a box of chocolates every night would be seen as low class and greedy.

Ultimately there are no health police - you can do what you choose. But please don't pretend that if there is no instant feel good benefit to you that somehow it's just fine drinking that much.

Same. I quit the booze, increased exercise and fresh air, do meditation apps, journaling, pampering baths/face masks/ massages, upped vitamin d and b complex, magnesium and vast amounts of vegetables and soup. Feel less shit but still shit. Look worse too. Will keep at it as it must be helping my body, right? Going to ditch sugar and see if that helps. Then maybe dairy. If all fails then I’m going to sink a bottle with a cheese fondue and a box of malteasers

I can't see why giving up 2 glasses of red would make you feel amazing unless you felt crap in the first place.

I eat a lot of veg. I am a vegetarian! Don't really notice any difference in busy periods where I live off sarnies.

I don’t feel better when I’m low carbing so it pisses me off (it’s low carb or take medication, so I choose to low carb), then I fall off the wagon and after a couple of days I feel like all kinds of shite and realise that I do actually feel ‘better’ when I’m low carbing, just not the way I’d like to feel. You might be the same.

I’ve started taking VitD3 every day. I don’t feel any different, but it’s cheap enough, easy enough to take & can’t hurt.

I love the winter, so I’m not ‘down’ about it, but I do feel better when it’s sunny. I think most of us do.

Why not have a couple of glasses Fri/Sat nights? I really don’t think it’s necessary to avoid red wine altogether, just cut down from what you were having,

Kew I am so sorry to hear about your Mum 💐 You & DS must be missing her terribly. You, your Mum & DS are such a big part of MN as it was for me, I’m very sad to hear she’s gone.

drink if you want to drink and you dont see any beneft to not drinking. Up to you

I have been no sugar, no alcohol, low carb, moderate protein & high fat for about 3 months. I must say I do feel better. I’ve been told my complexion is lovely. I’ve also lost over a stone and still reducing (11st 12lbs to 10st 11lbs)

I am more energetic, less lethargic as a result of my change in diet and drinking habits. I’ve found my eating regime is sustainable and enjoyable.