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?

How’s everyone doing? I have had a headache for two days but I think it’s the alcohol leaving my system! Hope so anyway x

@Bomblette Thanks

I had Xmas off after the doing dry November and started drinking again on Christmas Eve. I have had a drink nearly every day until New Year's Day and can't believe the effect it has had on my skin. My roseacea had calmed so much just with 6 weeks of no alcohol and then as soon as I'm back on the wine I have had a terrible breakout . I think I noticed it more as it wasn't a gradual thing . I had started to lose weight and have brighter eyes and skin and then a week off and I'm back to square one but at least I have the motivation to kickstart it . The only problem now is staying away from all the Christmas chocolates still around as a substitute

@friendlyflicka

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

Me too!

If only!

Another one here who just cannot cope with the booze since I turned 50. And let's not even talk about my metabolism

When I drink, I eat. I lost two stone during 2020 but I reckon I may have regained half a stone in December.....I need to buy a new battery for my scales.

I did Dry January last year and slid it into February too, stopping for a friends birthday bash. I definitely felt more energetic and my skin was so much better. Right now I have dry blotchy bits under my eyes and spots on my chin - soooo attractive.

I have been dry so far in Jan 2021 and am very pleased to have found this thread.

@bluebeck The weight gain is terrible for me too. That is a big incentive.

@Backtoblack1 sorry to hear about your headache, that’s not fair. It’s probably your body adjusting!

Thank you. I’m hoping it’s the toxins leaving my body and brain 🤣

I have felt and looked much better today. Was tempted to drink after 8pm announcement but just had a couple of mint Clubs instead.

So tempted to drink wine after Boris tonight too flicka. Instead I had a row with both my DH AND my DM and am in bed sulking. But still dry. Humph.

And you didn't have mint Clubs

Probably still less sugar than tucking into the wine.

This is day 6 for me. Made the mistake of weighing myself and was horrified! Drunk way too much last year, much like the rest of the population I suspect, plus my sleep was terrible. I wear a fitbit to bed and I've noticed over the past few months my resting heart rate has crept up by an extra 10 beats a minute, I'm thinking this is not good?! Alcohol does definetely give me anxiety issues, even not drinking for only 6 days has reduced my resting heart rate by 4 beats so it's coming back down!

Well it's only been 5 days but I have lost 2lbs (probably just water) and my skin looks better already.

I did nearly reach for the wine last night at 8pm but resisted

Keep going everyone - we will look awesome!

I am not weighing myself for 100 days either! I think I just want all my eating to settle down by itself and I don't want to put myself off my healthy life by finding out how much I weigh.

Very glad I didn't succumb to lockdown induced alcohol

Day 4 - I have had headache on waking and not great sleep - but the fact I know it isn't a booze headache kinda helps me snap out of it and despite patchy sleep I feel a hundred times better than last week - 3 short runs done as well - eyes are brighter, not going to weigh myself for at least two weeks possibly a month as would be good to see a bit of a reduction for motivation. I've ended up having a chocolate each night but compared to the calories in booze thats negligible.

Yes, I know what you mean. Just one chocolate rather than drinking lots and then not even noticing what you eat. So much better

I’ve had a headache most of the day and rubbish sleep, my photo diary shows me looking worse today than at the weekend but this might be work stress rather than booze related

Fiftysixth I could have written that myself. My heartrate has gone up 10 bpm this last year too. Scared the bejesus out of me.

Can’t say I feel particularly beautiful today, more ... ragged, but the thought of working and homeschooling with a hangover kept me on the straight and narrow.

I look haggard today and am craving chocolate. But, tomorrow will be day 7 for me so a whole week!!!

I’ve just dug out my password and logged into MN for the first time in YEARS to post on this thread!

I really want to reduce how much alcohol I have been drinking since the first lockdown. It is just too much and whilst it isn’t showing in my skin massively (or at least I don’t think it is...) I have gained weight, at least a stone (it was more, I managed to lose half a stone before Christmas but it doesn’t exactly come off easily!), which is all the more of a problem given I was overweight and in the process of losing weight when the first lockdown started. To say that got derailed is an understatement.

I basically have a good 3 stone to lose and kicking the booze would be a massive help.

So here I go. I didn’t drink yesterday so am now on day 2. I’m taking it one day at a time and hoping to get through January with no drinking. We’ll see where I am at the end of the month as to where I go from there. Three years ago I did dry January and kept going, all the way through till mid August when I started drinking again at a family wedding and that was it!

I’m not sure if I want to go to that extent again. It was really hard socially and I missed the enjoyment of having a nice drink, matching wine with food, a cocktail on a summer’s day etc. Mind you, I also went hard core low carb at the same time and wasn’t having any processed foods, sugar, artificial sweetner or anything slightly carby, so the only drinks I was having were water, black coffee and herbal teas. Which got very boring!

Anyway, this time I’m not going to be that restrictive so I’m hoping other drinks like slimline tonic and lime will make this process more enjoyable.

Well it appears I decided to make up for years of not posting on MN all in one go .

Short summary, I’m in!

It may be with the help of some tanning drops in the moisturiser last night, but I do look a whole load better today.

And yesterday I had a day where I really wanted sugar and carbs. I did eat some biscuits but not huge amounts. Today I have woken up without those sort of cravings.

And mentally loads better: obviously world situation not conducive to happiness but I feel calm and coping.

Generally a whole lot better.

imustbepatient Did you notice any massive positive effects when you went no alcohol/sugar before?
I'm on day 5 and woke up with a really bad headache all over 1 side of my head...it's a bit better after some aspirin but still there. I'm thinking that it's probably linked to me having had a lot less sugar over the past 5 days...? On the positive side of things, my skin is looking great and I'm sleeping a bit better.
It's not going to be easy to stick to this with further lockdown and homeschooling to contend with, but just think how amazing we're all going to look when we're actually allowed out again!

@TheHoundsofLove I think quite often in the past, I have craved alcohol when actually what I am craving is sugar. Because I felt the same yesterday and just had a couple of biscuits and felt normal. And today feel fine and energetic and not really craving anything

TheHoundsofLove yes I did definitely notice benefits. I lost about 15kg, although as I mentioned I was also doing full on low carb so not sure how much I can attribute to that vs the alcohol alone.

I also slept better in general (not a guarantee for every night but on average it was better). I had more energy too and I feel like there was more of a spring in my step, so to speak.

My skin is generally ok so nothing massively different on that front.

Having said all that, I still felt that the weight loss wasn’t as much as I thought it would be, but I seem to be a tortoise when it comes to weight loss.

On the headache point, whenever I dip back into low carb eating I get a bad headache that painkillers don’t even touch the sides of. But it only lasts a day or two. It gets called carb flu and sounds like your headache could well be from your reduction in sugar. It should pass very soon. Day 4 and 5 is a bit notorious for that on the low carb boot camp threads on here.

Sounds like you are doing brilliantly. I’m only on day 2 here now but made it through that moment where my husband or I would pour a glass of wine to have with dinner, which is the real danger point for me. So that’s one more day ticked!

Welcome imustbepatient! I reckon if you can get through the usual drink pouring moment a couple of times, you know you can do it.

I don’t really get headaches, but I have been feeling really knackered. But way calmer and more able to cope than previous lockdown as flicka said.

I was booked to have Botox on Saturday and that’s buggered, but at least it gives me a chance to really assess the wrinkle reducing powers of being dry. I’m quite enjoying the experimental aspect of it.