To even try give up alcohol?

[Therealpink]

I don’t drink as much as many, but I’ve got a mum gut and think the 2 glasses of wine a few times a week has some blame. I also don’t handle hangovers well at all (low mood and anxiety trigger). And I have a habit of drinking heavily in a big night out type situation, very drunk level. That’s only a few times a year. But still, not great.

problem is I love a couple of drinks after work some days. And I absolutely love a big night out. Has anyone managed to quit drinking while acknowledging that they do really enjoy it and no major disaster has really happened?

If you did, how did you change your mentality about it? I’m thinking in the evening when I fancy a glass I just make a tea or something. But interested how others have reduced or stopped their drinking.

I broke into manageable time periods, so first was a month, then 3 months then the year. Its now 4 years and just part of who I am.

Read some 'quit lit' too and there are some good groups around. They were great at the start but I out grew them eventually as there's only so many 'day 1' posts you can read when you're well on your way. But they can be a massive eye opener.

Aside from your own will power/desire for change, other people can be the biggest issue. People don't like change and see what you're doing as a reflection on them for some reason. It's a bit sad that so much emphasis is placed on good time = booze.

Regarding how to frame it - I find 'I want to address/change my relationship with alcohol' is a succinct way to look at it.

I read alcohol Lied to Me by Craig Beck and I haven't looked back. You'll never see alcohol in the same light after reading that. I was drinking far too much. Now its like I've never been a drinker. I wouldn't want to go back to fuzzy head, hangover, poor sleep and anxiety. I'm glad to see the back of it.

Read 'this Naked Mind' by Annie Grace. She's an ex marketing exec who didn't have a 'drink problem' as society would define it, but was fed up with it.
She looked at all the reasons we enjoy alcohol and basically worked it out to be a con - our social conditioning and a hell of a lot of marketing. Essentially the idea/anticipation of drinking is better than the reality, the things we enjoy with alcohol (summer evenings with friends, relaxing after work, meals out etc) are better without alcohol, and if there are things that aren't (eg clubs at 3am) maybe it's because those clubs are a bit shit and boring.

There's no preaching, it just looks at all the reasons why we want to drink and unpicks them. Honestly when you don't have booze in your life you have so much time and energy to fill it with more interesting things.

I only drink occasionally on weekends, and everyday when on holiday (maybe 3 weeks a year).
However I increasingly think I should cut it out entirely.
DH is my problem - buying alcohol and offering me drinks.
If I told him I never wanted to drink again I am sure he would stop offering, but I am not quite there yet.

I stopped drinking except on night out (so pretty much tee total for covid years) Boringly I replaced my wine with a walk and in conjunction with a better diet I lost 2 stone, all my belly fat and regained a tiny waist, at 52. I never decided not to drink on nights out, but found (the hard way!) that my tolerance had reduced dramatically being slimmer and less used to it, so I know now I can't go beyond 3 or 4 if I don't want to be ill/make a show of myself/both.

I just cut down, and then my life changed where there was less focus on drinking to get drunk.
Now I no longer work and can’t remember the last time I had an alcoholic drink. It might have been Christmas.
Instead of a couple of glasses of wine after work, how about one but later in the evening?

No doubt you should look into the Sinclair Method to reduce. It is gaining momentum and is based on science, heard good things about it with people close to me who have indeed changed their association with alcohol by working with the method.