The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread! Part 2

GreyPilgrim

Andraste wrote: »

Morning all!

Well, by not drinking yesterday I've reached my target of 11/31. Wehey!!!! I feel great!

Pat on the back there And. Well done.

GreyPilgrim

Imelda wrote: »

Then I will switch to diet coke, pretending it is vodka if necessary

It's interesting that we all go through the dilemma of how to present giving up / cutting down to other people. Do you feel like you 'have' to pretend to be drinking, rather than telling them you want to stick to alcohol-free stuff?

I'm not having a go. I'm also giving people a variety of reasons for staying off it.

I've been honest with Mrs GP and my daughter about my reasons, and to a couple of friends, but to everyone else I've just made sounds of "I overdid it a bit at christmas so I'm cutting back a bit". And when they ask for how long I'll say something like "meh, just until I feel a bit detoxed".

I don't want to go into the whole story with people who know me...maybe thats why it's easier to pour it out to an anonymous forum.

If I'm honest, the reason why I don't just come out and say "I'm giving up alcohol completely" is because there are certain friends and family members who might be less than supportive, and maybe I'm worried that their negativity will get me down. I know for certain a couple will say "Ah, have a beer you big girls blouse", and some will say "You'll never manage it"

Stuff them

jjef

Lurkio wrote: »

:wave: :wave:


11 - jjef (target 25/31) - Actual 15

Been missing for the past week as not been AF. Found myself in not a good place emotionally and slipped back into my usual ways of reaching for the wine bottle however i did manage to restrict the intake to a couple of glasses instead of bottles so for me that is a step forward.

So for last week only 2 AF days to add to my tally, and so far for the week another 2 making total for month 19.

I will join in again next month however wont aim quite so high as this month, target will be 21 days.

A big well done to all those who have already achieved there target

115K

16/29 for me Lurkio please, this will be another AF day for me.

:hello: to Dan.

Some very interesting points made on here. I can understand what a few have said about their strange experiences. I have to admit I have had similar experiences in the past with feeling presences in my house and hearing voices talking to me whilst I am asleep. This was when I used to drink a lot and I have been on anti-depressants here and there. A drug is a drug I think whether it is prescribed by a doctor or illegal and I think your brain can have varied reactions to it and obviously if you are mixing it with lots of booze.

I think for February I am going to set a target of 14 days AF and I am also going to monitor how many units I am drinking on my non-AF days. As some people have said there is no point cutting down the number of days drinking if the other days are really excessive.:o

Well done on the weightloss GP!

Well done everyone!:A

GreyPilgrim

115K wrote: »

Well done on the weightloss GP!

Well done everyone!:A

cheers! Seeing "17 Stone xxxx pounds" on the scales will be a massive psychological barrier for me. Can't wait..getting ever so close to it now!!!

Pippilongstocking

grey pilgrim well done!!

and of course everyone else for keeping up the good work. x

GreyPilgrim

Closer and closer to 16 stone and my promised parachute jump....

maman

GreyPilgrim wrote: »

I don't want to go into the whole story with people who know me...maybe thats why it's easier to pour it out to an anonymous forum.

If I'm honest, the reason why I don't just come out and say "I'm giving up alcohol completely" is .....:)

And the reason I don't say it because I don't want to! I've got a very conservative (euphemism for pathetic) target for next month because I want to allow myself flexibility but if social events don't crop up then I won't be just drinking up my 'spare' days because I can.

GP, I think you're right about the anonymity. This forum has been brilliant for me. I'm getting encouragement and praise (and we all need a bit of stroking) but no-one saying 'I told you so' if there's a problem. I have just printed out a calendar page (private to me not a wall calendar!) for Feb so that I can mark each AF day down and gloat on it! Back later, hopefully to complete my target!

biscotte

Andraste - well done on hitting your target.
Grey Pilgrim - great post and WOW, a stone is a huge amount to loose - is that just through cutting out booze? I don't have a problem with saying I'm not drinking but then my friends are not exactly big drinkers and wouldn't suggest I should have a drink or was defficient for not drinking.
If anyone did push it then I think I would just do as you say GP and suggest I was detoxing or feeling a bit delicate and not fancying a drink.

graemecarter wrote: »

Good post.
Drinking alcohol for us was rarely a conscious decision (how many people say 'I went out last night to get drunk as a skunk'? Not many. You usually hear 'I only went out for one or two and it turned into a massive night'

This is a really interesting one because I think a huge amount of people do go out with the intention of getting ratted - that's why people (often younger folk) buy cheap spirits at tesco and front load, being half sloshed before even hitting the pub. From what I hear and read and remember (I've been out the the UK for sometime now but I don't think things have improved since I left, the reverse if anything) people kind of set out with the intention of getting plastered. I agree that as one gets older and more sensible (apparently) then one is more hesitant to get stuck into a binge maybe because the consequences the next day are worse. I think it's one of the fundamental problems with the British drinking culture that it's OK, maybe even desirable, to go out and get trollied on a night out.

Temptation is all around us and we need to master it. Whether it's from food, alcohol, tobacco or all of them, but it has to be a huge change inside ourselves to deal with that otherwise we all too easily self sabotage and find excuses for our choices - I know I have in the past, not so much for alcohol but when I was continually trying to give up smoking. Passing a 'tabac' I would look for an excuse to go in and buy. It wasn't until I got my head together that I quit for good and realised that the cigs were only tempting when I had already decided (subconciously maybe) that I was going to smoke anyway.
With alcohol, if I am driving having a glass of wine and stopping is easy because there's such a strong taboo on drinking and driving. if I'm taking the tram then 'just one' becomes a whole lot more difficult and the difference is mental attitude rather than physical need.

Addiction is an endlessly fascinating subject, no?

Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble, I'll shut up now and go and do some work!

GreyPilgrim

biscotte wrote: »

a stone is a huge amount to loose - is that just through cutting out booze?

Yes and no...

The calorific content in lager and beer (not sure about wine?) is staggering, by all accounts so I dread to think how many calories I consumed on a typical drinking session.

But follow on from that:

1) The drunken stumble into the kitchen in the early hours to raid the fridge, leaving it looking like a plague of locusts had gone through it

2) The takeaway / dial in food

3) The full english / macdonalds recovery breakfast

and you see how one bad habit opens the doors for another.

Also, maybe it's because I'm proving to myself that I CAN be disciplined with alcohol, but I'm finding that I'm not really snacking on junk food throughout the day. If I'm hungry, I'll have something. I've I'm just bored and picky, I'll tell myself "No".

I'm doing the same amount of exercise as I always have been, but clearly in the past that's just been burning off the beer.