Giving up alcohol for vanity?

[VanityWitch]

So, I'm thinking of going teetotal, yes, for my health, but mainly because I am terribly vain and my skin is crap at the moment and my sleep quality is also crap. I don't drink much, as in, I tend to only drink at weekends plus one week night, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday or Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, for example. Usually one or two glasses of wine. Not bucketfuls, but not thimbles either! So I guess that is a bottle of wine a week?

I'm sure by MN standards this makes me either a raging alcoholic or a puritanical stick in the mud, but you know.

Anyway, I'm planning to quit as an experiment, to see if I glow!

Is anyone thinking of doing similar? Would anyone like to join me on here to document our journey to glowage?

Yes! Very painful and not drinking definitely helping it. So either beauty or pain are my spurs!

but not drinking honestly makes a vast difference to my looks and my general optimism. And yes weight: at this horrible time in life, 54, where you have to spend about a week losing half a pound: not the life I had before. Do alcohol might have to go

I definitely need to join you all in this.

My drinking habits have become disgusting since the first lockdown in March. Terrible as it sounds I started drinking me to lessen to stress and deal with the boredom. I don't drink to get drunk but it's a bit of a habit now and I need to cut right back down, I've gone up a dress size (miraculously only one- metabolism still good at least!) and I'm feeling podgy and sluggish. Have eaten like a pig over Christmas as well so it's time to sort it out in the new year.

I don't know if I can do 0 alcohol but I want to cut it down to nearly nothing, and ditch the pints of cider for gin and slimline tonic!

Another one here aiming to drastically reduce my wine intake. If I stop completely, great, but I am will be happy with just drinking on occasions, rather than the almost daily which it has been recently.

I was brought up with a glass or two of wine before/during dinner being the norm and I have picked up the same habits in adulthood. My mum is now 76 and has realised that the wine consumption makes her IBS flare up and when she doesn’t drink, she doesn’t get a flare up.
Fortunately I don’t suffer from IBS but it has make me think about the effect booze has on the body.

My partner is a recovering alcoholic (I met him after he was sober) so you’d think I’d drink less as a result but we don’t live together so it has crept up over the last 9 months and I have been using wine as a reward (homeschooling and working and a single parent needs some of that!), as a relaxant, as a treat...

I realise now that My relationship with it is becoming unhealthy and I need to address it so tonight I put all the bottles of wine I have in a bag and I will put it in the shed tomorrow so I don’t see it everything I open the fridge.

Decided I’d start tonight as spending NYE with my partner and kids so we’ll see 2021 in together, sober.

Good luck everyone.

(A little weight loss wouldn’t be the worse thing either but that’s not my main reason)!

Ouch flicka! I agree about the general optimism, it’s another bonus.

I’m another one whose intake really crept up after lockdown. Work and homeschooling was really stressful - I wanted a way to delineate the end of the day, since all our days were spent in the same place!

Interesting that it irritates your mum’s IBS Sunshine. I guess it can’t be good for digestion generally.

Tonight is my last night of vino for a while. I’ve read a couple of books on quitting and the consensus seems to be to try it for 100 days to see the full benefits. Although that seems like a hell of a long time 😬

Probably 100 days would be easier than stopping and starting (which is what I do) because you really would feel the benefits and would have broken the habit.

It makes an enormous difference to the way I look when I don't drink and weight, yes...

I’ve stopped for 100 days before and not only lost over two stone, I had so much time and was generally much happier and nicer to be around. Slowly my intake and weight has crept back up so thinking I’ll have a good break for vanity and mental health - say 100 days or until I get my vaccination (because that will need celebrating!).

I‘m also planning to start on 2nd Jan. I‘m actually looking forward to it as have got into the habit of sharing a bottle of wine most nights over Christmas and it’s really not doing be any good. I’m thinking about doing Feb and March too, but will see how I feel after Jan.

That’s interesting itsme. I’ve put on a stone since March. I’m not that fussed about weight per se, but I’d love to see if I could get rid of the double chin. I think at least half of the stone is residing there.

Right. I will go for 100 days. That sounds a good amount to aim for.

so, the I will not drink until the 100th of January

I think my chin is currently holding at least a stone on its own

I did dry January a few years ago. I felt fine when I started, and fine when I finished. So I just drink at weekends now, unless it’s Christmas or I’m on holiday. But my face is definitely slightly puffy if I had wine the night before.

Right, I am going for my 100 days and will bore you with tales of my increasing beauty!

Day one in the bag! Despite all of my RL dry January partners having cracked already 🤦🏻‍♀️

I already feel more beautiful, having had a long soak rather than slumping in front of the tv with wine.

Come on vanity team, we can do this!

Joining, started on the 1st. Aiming for 100 days.

Day 1 for me - no wine left in house, gin hidden. House cleaned and going to attempt first run of the year. Good luck all.

I don't think I look more beautiful (I still have cystitis - waiting for someone from out of hours surgery to ring because I couldn't get an appointment in surgery hours and now really hurting again).

But I feel more positive (even with the pain!)

Am on day 3 of no alcohol. I’m a bugger for wine and have put on two stone in two years. My face is puffy and my eyes are sunken. I am really hoping to see an improvement in my whole body. Including face.

I’ve realised that I started drinking to numb a painful break up but now it’s just boredom. I need to stop. Good luck everyone x

Great to find you all! Have started this too, taking a daily pic so I can (hopefully) see the difference in face. Definitely need to lose a couple of stone and sleep better!

15 years younger sounds amazing.

Hope you manage to get something for it flicka.

Oxana I took some deeply unsettling closeups of my crows feet, which have definitely worsened over this boozy year. Would be interesting to see if they reduce a bit.

Got some antibiotics.l

Feel a bit more beautiful today.

Something about the 100 days that someone else mentioned further up, inspired me. It was just the right sounding time to try it out. And move through some difficult phases and give it a real chance to work.

I don't know why. But the timescale mentioned, really inspired me

Apparently, if you’ve been boozing for a while, it takes about 100 days for your brain chemistry to level off.

Day 3 almost complete. I feel knackered, but I’m sure that’s my body recovering (and it’s probably startled by the enthusiastic January run after months of slothful repose).

Might join you all. Had a few drinks the other night and slept so so badly. Sleep after drinking is getting so bad and the tiredness is a big problem the next day. Starting to think more about the effect of wine and tiredness on my looks and general health.