To drink every night?

[Sidalee7]

Since lockdown I have had a few drinks every night. The thought of 6pm without a g and t or glass of wine seems a very dark place but I’m starting to worry I’m forming really bad habits. Any one else and how do you have a drink free night?!

Yes, you're forming bad habits. How many is a "few drinks"? Could you maybe just have one instead of a few?

Might as well during the lockdown, if you’re not getting up for work the next morning

What I would give for just one glass of alcohol - I'm 32 weeks' pregnant! OH on the other hand is drinking most nights. It's sooooo not fair!!!

I'm trying to stick to my normal work pattern ie no alcohol Monday - Thursday. I could happily have a drink every night but that doesn't seem the best way forward!

If I'm gonna die I don't want to go sober.
Yanbu op

“A few” means more than one but can be as low as 2...

I've managed two bottles since lockdown, ones I've had lying around since Xmas. A glass or two at night has been fine for me (not every night), it's not something I'd normally do, but these aren't normal times atm. Don't beat yourself up, but don't go overboard either. Pour a glass and take your time with it, no ones rushing you. X

Haha @movingnot

I suppose it's good old self discipline really.

I love a glass of wine but since I've been off work, I've made a promise to myself I'll still stick to drinking only at weekends because I know it's a slippery slope.

6pm is very early (for me - I know we're all different) to start drinking though. I normally wait until night time...about 8pm as I don't go to bed til late anyway.

@Tothemoonandbackx weirdly I’m usually a really slow drinker but if I’m on a Zoom call with friends I find I drink really quickly! Good tip though

@WorraLiberty weirdly I find the earlier I start the less I drink. One night I didn’t start until 8.30 and it was 3 glasses of red...

It probably isn’t the best habit to fall into at a time you should be optimising you’re immune system, but it’s your call, of course.

One trick is to start with a G&T and just keep topping up the T but not the G. It just progressively gets weaker. That might help.

That’s a great tip, going to try that tomorrow!

Christmas rules apply as far as I’m concerned 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well there needs to be some benefits to this!!

What I would say however is that a lot of my mum friends are crowing about “4pm wine!!” And I don’t get that at all. I wouldn’t sit and have a wine while I had the kids in the house during the day (and I would be annoyed if I came down and DH was tanning a beer at that time).

I wait till they are down and have a couple of glasses then. The day I start drinking at 4pm is the day I need to go back to work

Easy to get into this rut, as nothing seems normal at the moment, however, you are (assumptions here) an adult, and hopefully have learned how to self regulate

I, like you have been 'drinking' during the week, I'm not concerned at all, I know my limits, and are fully able to abstain/restrain/stop, if/when I want to.

Enjoy your 'tipple' OP, these are testing times

We have also been drinking more than usual OP. But I have no job to get up for and it does feel like a weird Xmas holiday. I don't think it helps that I change in clean pjs in the morning and they have now become my everyday clothes.

I am starting to feel a bit fed up and like I am wasting my days away. Starting on Monday I will be adding more structure to my days and as I will be getting up in the mornings I won't be drinking every night.

I think this is why I am grateful for my kids in this period. Whilst clearly it would be a great deal easier to work from home without kids, they give me a reason to have a routine. To get up and dressed and put my make up on instead of just slumming about in my pjs. We make sure they are up and washed and dressed before nine during the week because we want structure and routine and some demarcation between the weeks and the weekends.

Yana OP - you are not alone haha.

I didn't even know it was Friday today altho I am working every day.

It’s worrying that you feel you can’t survive the evening without it . Not a good habit to get into .
Personally I drink tea ☕️

I’ve had wine on two occasions since the lockdown and I’ve regretted it afterwards as I’ve felt hungover and haven’t done exercise/been active the following days. Normally, I only drink about once every couple of months and will pretty much always drive when socialising. Despite not normally drinking much and feeling rubbish the next day, I was sitting tonight wondering if I should open a bottle of wine. In the end, I didn’t.

It’s just me and DH at home, so we’re not really kept busy looking after kids, etc. We’re both WFH, but this tends to wind down about 3ish most days. The next couple of months are going to present a lot of temptation to drink, partly to relieve stress but also boredom. So I’ve been thinking about the alcohol issue a lot in recent days and can identify with the OP and what other PPs have said.

It’s a very personal decision as not everyone’s the same, so my advice to myself may not be right for you. However, FWIW, I’ve decided to steer clear of alcohol during the lockdown as I can see it leading me into a bad habit that I may later struggle to break as well as making it less likely that I’ll feel like exercising. I also tend to eat high fat/high sugar food when I feel hungover and that’s another reason for not drinking.

Yes I have wine every night

I don't know what the answer is but I feel the same way. I don't drink every day but there are a lot of days (like today) where I really feel I can't get through the night without a drink. I am in a bad place mentally, and some days it feels like the walls are closing in.