To ask what you do on nights when you don't have a glass of wine

[Stuffisperplexing]

I have a glass of wine every single night

Just one (or two)

But I think the reliance on it is unhealthy and I'd like to not drink for a bit

It doesn't help that I have anxiety and low mood and wine gives such a nice dopamine rush

It sort of blows my mind that some people don't drink it at all - I'm quite envious of the self reliance

So this was me peak Covid lockdown. Start slowly build up. Try to go nothing weekdays and stick to one bottle at the weekend. That was my goal but I am beyond that and only drink on special occasions or meals out (and now realise more than one glass gives me a hangover!).

Find an alternative treat- zero alcohol options, herbal teas whatever. Set up a saving fund for all the money saved (£30/week?), and motivate yourself to a nice holiday or personal present. Think of the empty calories! (500 for a bottle?). Do you have kids- do you want to be around for the rest of your life? Find YOUR motivation.

Its a habit (much like smoking), but you can break it and your liver needs the rest.

No, for now I feel fine. I don't tend to drink at lunchtime etc because it can make my blood sugar funny in the afternoon but if I'm having it with dinner it's not noticeable.

Too many need to pay off booze. A very unhealthy habit.

Lay off booze sorry.

Surely you do what you normally do, just without a glass of wine? Whether that's watching tv, reading, hobbies/crafts etc.

Wine every night will not help with your anxiety and low mood it will make it worse.
I have a can on Pepsi Max or flavoured water

That's not my experience. I think wine is better for the gut (and thus serotonin) than sweeteners.

Me too.
I did find that without something in my hands, I'd eat mindlessly. So now I knit/crochet/embroider you can't do those with mucky fingers and whilst that all sounds a bit "old biddy" they're actually hobbies that are right on trend now with some gorgeous thing to be made!

I used to be like this, pre dc. I'm now happy to go all week without drinking and I'll likely manage dry January quite easily. I just keep myself busy so I don't even give it a second thought. I like swimming too (exercise provides dopamine hit too!) If you like alcohol to relax you, you could try substituting alcohol with a CBD drink. Trip do some nice flavours.

I am French and this is not true AT ALL. At the table far more water is consumed than wine. People might have ONE glass with food and definitely not every night. And people would never just flop onto the sofa with a glass of wine and nothing else. There’s always food involved and it’s consumed at a table. The British attitude is VERY wrong.
In the evenings my eldest (who’s 6) isn’t asleep until 9 so there’s not even a lot of time to do as you describe. I drink water with my meals/don’t drink alcohol in the week. Once the eldest is in bed, I have a herbal tea and a chunk of dark chocolate, read a bit and then go to bed by 10 (youngest is still awake at least twice a night and I have an early start for work so no choice really).

….source? Sorry but I call bullshit.
Sweeteners are no good for you either!!

This just popped up in active so thought I'd share my wine-swap, which is homemade ginger and turmeric shot - like the ones you can buy in the supermarket except I make it myself: couple of thumbs of ginger (no need to peel), heaped teaspoon of turmeric, couple of squeezed lemons and about 1 cup water in the blender/nutribullet then strain and top up with about ½litre cloudy apple juice.

Nice to have while making dinner instead of that glass of wine! You can mess around with the ratios but basically it's Got a real kick that's reminiscent of strong booze 😋😁

@HumanbyDesign that sounds wonderful. I've been having the ginger shots from Lidl so a homemade version would be nice to try.

We fast twice a week. DH has water, I have white tea. (No milk or sugar as that would break the fast.)

We only have wine on a Friday and Saturday evening so through the week I tend to drink decaf tea and water in the evenings. We've had a glass or 2 of wine most evenings since Christmas Eve cos 'it's Christmas/we're on holiday' but to be honest I'm fed up of it now and can't wait to get back into a routine.

Like others on here, I don't really drink much but neither does my husband.
We both have jobs where we need to be on the ball so we don't drink anything in the week unless we are on holiday.
Weekends are so busy that we often don't drink much then either.
Confectionery on the other hand.. If there is anything with any sugar in it then it is gone.

We don't drink during week and I barely drink at weekends.
Just bimble about doing hobbies, Netflix, dogs, bath

I drink about two glasses of wine a year.

I eat biscuits or chocolate every evening while reading or watching tv. Not sure which way round is worse to be honest!

Sounds like more of a psychological comfort. Perhaps a nice 0 gin - Stryke or similar and tonic with ice. Still get the 'and relax' feeling.

That's interesting about the lemon balm! I have tons in my garden in summer so may harvest some!

I only drink at the weekend and not all the time. I have a bit more over the Christmas period but I think that’s normal.

in the week most evenings after work I either go for a run and then have a bath and have a late tea. Or I have an early tea and then go to the gym or another hobby. Drinking doesn’t even cross my mind on these sorts of evenings. About once a fortnight I meet a friend for dinner and may or may not have a drink with that.

I don’t tend to replace alcohol with anything specific and if I want a drink I’ll have one and if I don’t I won’t.

If you like having a glass in your hand try 0% alcohol wine. I like Macguigans personally. However, it's rare that I have a glass of wine anyway. Hot chocolate works well, or sparkling water with squash in. I find things like knitting, sewing or playing games on my phone keeps my hands occupied.

I like a nice herbal tea when I am watching TV in the evening, or if it's to replace a drink with dinner I'll have a grown up soft drink (0% alcohol Prosecco, aqualibre sparkling water or a non-alcoholic beer are my favourites). I've found that cutting out alcohol has significantly helped reduce my anxiety and low mood. Whilst I also got a dopamine hit with that first glass, it turns out that overall my mental health is negatively impacted by even small amounts of alcohol.

If you dont mind me asking, which app is it?

Alcohol is inflammatory and incredibly damaging to the gut microbiome. Don’t kid yourself.