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Original poster

has anyone decided to give up alcohol?

22 replies

jasper · 27/09/2004 21:54

I am toying with the idea but not really sure why!
I really like wine but resist from drinking at all during the week now, although I FEEL like opening a bottle each night when the kids go to bed

I had a relative staying for much of the summer and we used to share a bottle several times a week and it was frighteningly easy to get used to doing that.(dh never drinks wine)

I find a lot of conversation with friends at weekends centres around being gasping for a drink and looking around me wonder if some of us are sailing a bit close to the wind regarding alcohol use. I am not sure where enjoying a drink turns into having a drink problem.

At my weightwatchers class we are pretty unanimous that it is alcohol that is the real killer in the battle to lose weight.

Other than the pleasure it gives at the time there seems to many reasons NOT to drink . I have never really felt this way before and might just be an age thing. (ie I am getting old)

Does anyone have any views on this?

OP posts:
acnebride · 27/09/2004 21:58

know what you mean jasper. i'd say go off it for a month and see where you are. in the past I scared myself slightly with amount i was drinking and stopped for 18 months, mainly just to prove i could. no problem thank goodness. have also stopped in order to try and get into a sports team, and for diets - alcohol calorific but not as bad as the 10 bags of peanuts i scarf down when a bit merry.

No harm to stop for a bit, IMO - save a lot of money too.

Original poster
jasper · 27/09/2004 22:17

ab that's it exactly about the peanuts etc you scoff down not to mention the stodgy stuff you crave the next day.
Lately I have felt very tired a lot of the time, almost like having a hangover in the morning and that's WITHOUT having drunk a drop the night before.

As I have to get up and be responsible at 7am each day for either work or kids it seems daft to make it even harder on myself.

Often I wake up, feel awful and am relieved when I remember I was NOT drinking the night before!

What's your sport? I have been doing a bit of running lately and that is another reason to give up.

OP posts:
pixiefish · 27/09/2004 22:19

I stopped when I met my dh. Before that I used to drink a fair bit- I was in sales before I became a teacher and started drinking at 19/20. Didn't drink to excess but it was probably above the recommended allowance and if the truth be told I was probably at the top of a slippery slope. After qualifying as a teacher a lot of school social life revolves around the pub so I used to get drunk on school things- never too drunk though but looking back it can't have been healthy.
Anyway dh not a drinker so totally stopped when I met him- not a conscious thing- just not something we do... don't socialise in the pub, he has other interests. He will have the odd pint here and there- he's not against it just not something he does anymore.
Then I got pg and didn't drink, now I'm bf so don't drink.
Not against it per se and once I stop bf then would see nothing wrong and will probably have the odd drink now and then. I'm not bothered about it as it's not really something I think about

blossomhill · 27/09/2004 22:20

Me. I seriously need to lose a stone in a month and it's not good for you either!

Original poster
jasper · 28/09/2004 22:24

so not too many of us then?

OP posts:
pixiefish · 28/09/2004 22:26

looks like that doesn't it jasper?

pixiefish · 28/09/2004 22:27

Not meaning to sound sanctimonious but I feel great for it

JoolsToo · 28/09/2004 22:30

never been keen on the stuff actually. I HAVE been drunk but only once or twice and frankly I don't see the fascination - I mean - its not fun is it?

when you're the only sober person in the room and everyone else is talking Hungarian its quite an eyeopener and makes me more determined than ever to keep control of my faculties - anyway SOMEONE has to drive!

Original poster
jasper · 28/09/2004 23:13

pixiefish I went through a phase before I met dh much as you describe your life back then.
I don't drink so much now because of the responsibilities I have ( I need a very steady hand for my job so never drink the night before working)but still have a strong desire to get sloshed from time to time.

OP posts:
CountessDracula · 28/09/2004 23:16

I recently gave up for a month. TBH it was great for the first couple of weeks, then became the norm and was a bit dull. Now back on it but much less than before. I wouldn't like to give up for good!

marthamoo · 28/09/2004 23:20

I decided yonks ago that dh and I were drinking far too much wine - it so easily creeps up to sharing a bottle almost every night, and opening a second bottle at the weekends. We made a pact to only drink once a week (usually a Friday) and we have kind of stuck to it. Can't claim absolute success as I will be shot down in flames by those who have witnessed a few tiddly mid-week postings on MN.

I'm doing WW too, though, and decided about 3 weeks ago that it was madness to keep sabotaging myself every weekend by drinking wine (2 glasses of wine followed by a late night fridge raid) so for 3 weeks I haven't touched a drop! I am not totally booze-free though - have discovered Martini Rosso at 0.5 points a shot, so that's my weekend treat now.

I do feel far better in the week when I haven't been drinking, have to say.

mears · 28/09/2004 23:29

I totally empathise with your sentiments Jasper. DH likes wine but does prefer beer. We are appalled by the amount of alcohol we consume and we vow daily to pack it in. Then comes the evening and we agree to share 'just one bottle'. If we dare have more than one bottle we always lose our resolve and open it too. Then we are consumed with guilt. We are both sghift workers (as you know) so there isn't a night we could call a 'drink night'. I have not had any wine tonight but could murder a wee glass. However, offies is shut and I will feel santimonious in the mornung. DH is working night shift but no doubt tomorrow we will decide just to have 'one last glass before we stop'.
It is nice to sit in front of the telly sipping a glass of wine. Wish I didn't like it so much....

luckymum · 29/09/2004 11:36

There was a Giving up Booze thread recently - but we all seem to have 'given up' giving up!

Where are you Betty - I need help!

Northerner · 29/09/2004 11:39

I hardly drink at all. Didn't really make a decision to stop, just sort of happenned. Don't rally like it, and hated being drunk. Dh and I never drink at home, and never buy drink for us at home (only for guests) I might have the occassional G&T or glass of wine but that's not even 1 a month.

ks · 29/09/2004 11:41

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luckymum · 29/09/2004 11:43

ks - you sound just like me. My dh is away at the moment and I promised myself that I would be booze free - but its not working.

ks · 29/09/2004 11:48

This reply has been deleted

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TraceyP · 29/09/2004 11:50

I don't drink. Yeah, I know, boring old fart.

sis · 30/09/2004 10:09

not at all TraceyP - more like a member of an exclusive club (me and you so far!)

acnebride · 30/09/2004 10:20

hi jasper, have you decided to stop?

i've signed up for a 10K called the candleford canter and have promptly stopped running altogether. in the distant past i was a rower (seriously good exercise but like a lot of team sports quite an alcohol culture at a lot of clubs).

motherinferior · 30/09/2004 10:35

I'm still on the wagon. Mainly to do with my waistline (which is decreasing!) but also I have to admit that there are a hell of a lot of positives.

Original poster
jasper · 30/09/2004 21:29

No acnebride in fact since thinking about it I am craving the stuff more (it's midweek so I resist)
I have been roped into a 1ok run in Inverness on Sunday (round Loch Ness) so nothing till then and am already looking forward to the post run celebrations.

After the Glasgow 10k in september the first glass of cold white wine was delicious beyond belief
I guess I am an addict on some level or other in that the idea of never drinking again seems like a big loss.

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