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

Is that what they call a London fog? Do like bergamot

I'm pretty much teetotal and try to stay off fizzy for the bloating and sugar. I love kombucha but it gives me heartburn :( so! I have iced water, tea or herbal tea.

However, im not a drinker, im a snacker and if someone says 'oh just snack on carrot sticks instead!' It just doesnt give the same buzz as popcorn or whatever so i'm not sure teetotalers giving advice will help :/

It wouldn't occur to me to have a glass of wine every evening. Presumably if I did I wouldn't be doing anything different to what I do now, with or without wine would not alter my actions.

I don't think one glass of wine in the evening is going to do you any harm, it's not like you are drinking half a bottle. Red wine is supposed to have some health benefits. Make sure you eat healthily and enjoy your tipple.

I don’t see ‘having a drink’ as an activity. If I sit down and have a drink whilst watching tv etc I’d have a herbal tea, a decaf tea or a hot chocolate.

I have wine, when I have wine (not every night) because I feel unhappy and alone and it makes me feel a bit better. There's nothing I can do about either of those emotions, so the wine (plus anti-depressants) makes me sleep till I have to get up tomorrow and start again...and again...and again...forever.
Quite often I have tea instead.

@Glockenspock - what is a 'teaball' and is it the lemon balm that gives you the relaxing feeing?

I don’t drink at all. Haven’t for 2 years bar about 3 drinks. Didn’t drink at home for a year before that. I do exercise, go to choir, do a course, do Brownie volunteering and when I am chilling I’ll drink other alcohol free stuff. I had Kylie non alco Prosecco at new year and that was really nice.

*I wonder if the wine is stopping me from going wild and eating a tub of ice cream a night *
Seems quite a defeatist attitude.
You might benefit from therapy because the way you think with regards to alcohol.
Do you have a partner /children?
Does your partner also drink ?

I just drink water? Maybe a camomile tea in the evening.
I drink coffee all day long until about 4pm.
I wouldn't think to just have a wine every day the thought makes me feel ill tbh. Probably drink alcohol once a week- approx 1 bottle prosecco or around 4 beers.

I don't drink. My mental health is shite, I just don't like the less in control feeling alcohol (or weed) gives me. So I don't use those things.
Can you try non alcoholic beverages though? Cocktails ciders wine etc. Just alcohol free.

Partner drinks but less often. I don't think of alcohol as social actually I like to be able to really savour it (ditto food, I never enjoy social meals as much as ones just me and immediate household)

@abracadabra1980 it's a tea infuser

I’m not a big drinker, and only really have a drink when out. I love non alcoholic Amaretto to turn into an amaretto sour! Cherry and all. Feels festive and fun without the alcohol. The non alcoholic gins are also very good

You have just influenced me to buy one!

Don’t sit on the sofa!
Join a gym, running club, go for a swim, do a dance class, walk someone’s dog, declutter the wardrobe, get adventurous in the kitchen and bake something or batch cook dinners, have a long bath.
You’ll feel a hell of a lot better than if you sit drinking wine.

I make myself a selection of drinks, one hot (tea or hot chocolate), one still (water or vimto) and one fizzy (Pepsi max or appletiser if I’m feeling particularly fancy).

I have all three as it feels overindulgent and a treat. If DP is having a beer I’ll put my appletiser in a fancy glass with some ice.

@Stuffisperplexing if you already own a French press you can use that

You are probably having 28 units of alcohol OP which can lead to long term liver problems. It's far too much. Can you get some advice from your GP?

In the nicest possible way, you are being very naive.

Damage to your liver from one glass of wine a night happens very slowly, and it might not be for decades, but It will catch up with you. A member of my family found this out the hard way. Even just dropping to every other night will have long term health benefits.

Genius!!! Though won't it taste a bit coffeeish? Will try anyway

This was me a few years ago.

OP, read The Easy Way to Control Alcohol by Allen Carr. After that, read This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. You will find it really easy not to drink after reading these books. They will change your whole psychological attitude to alcohol.

If you have problems with stress and anxiety, know that drinking actually increases both of these. Use guided meditation, hot baths, or watching something funny to relax in the evening. Magnolia bark extract is supposed to be a good anxiolytic too, I think it helped me anyway. I drink alcohol-free beer (Peroni is the best one), fizzy water and herbal tea in the evening. Alcohol-free prosecco/fizzy wine is pretty good too.

I have the odd glass of wine with an evening meal. If not drinking wine, I would have water, sometimes sparkling water or kombucha. In the evenings at home dp and I make a pot of herbal tea (often greek mountain tea) which helps sleep.

@Stuffisperplexing you can clean it with denture tablets to get super clean if needed

That sounds like a bit of a slippery slope OP so it's good you've decided to cut back.

We don't drink unless we go out and even then it's rarely.

Drink Fri, Sat and Sun usually. Mainly wine, below recommended allowance these days.
Other days we ring the changes with Guiness 0.0, alcohol free Moretti or Peroni, Nosecco, Atopia or Tanqueray 0.0 gin and Mediterranean tonic. We don't enjoy hot drinks in the evening for some reason.