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

barshamhillbilly

My counsellor said this week that I hadn't had any great consequence from drinking, except financial .... which is true; I've never fallen over in the street, never lost my partner, never crashed the car, never lost my job. etc.

Perhaps that's why I am not 100% convinced that I want to give up ?

115K

Happy Birthday to The Rugby Coach!!!!:A

:bdaycake:

115K

barshamhillbilly wrote: »

My counsellor said this week that I hadn't had any great consequence from drinking, except financial .... which is true; I've never fallen over in the street, never lost my partner, never crashed the car, never lost my job. etc.
Perhaps that's why I am not 100% convinced that I want to give up ?

I have fallen over in the street actually when I've been drunk on a night out but then I'm quite clumsy anyway.:p

I don't think I want to give up completely either but I do want to cut down. That's why I think this challenge is such a good idea.:T

GreyPilgrim

barshamhillbilly wrote: »

My counsellor said this week that I hadn't had any great consequence from drinking, except financial .... which is true; I've never fallen over in the street, never lost my partner, never crashed the car, never lost my job. etc.

Perhaps that's why I am not 100% convinced that I want to give up ?

Is there a strict definition of an alcoholic? Is it possible to generalize? I don't know if I'm an alcoholic, on the way to becoming one, or just being a drama queen about all of this.

I've never drank before or at work, never gone to work drunk, never driven whilst drunk. But I've had arguments I have no memory off, blank spaces of two or three hours where I've no recollection of getting home. I've based events around alcohol, using it as a pivotal part of an evening or occasion. I've not felt that I've needed alcohol to 'function', but at the same time I've used alcohol as a way of getting over nerves (I'm an extremely shy and quiet person and really hate large gatherings) and being more chatty.

And as I said at the start, my 'weekend' drinking was slowly starting to seep into thursdays, and mondays, then sometimes tuesdays and wednesdays. I think we all know deep down how badly we are dependant on it or how much of a problem we have.

I absolutely hate the stigma attached to being labelled an alcoholic and maybe I'm in denial a little bit about things. I suppose all you can do is face up to yourself and try your hardest to change yourself. You have to be honest with yourself and I'm trying to be. Maybe I am one.

GreyPilgrim

And I have used a black recycling back rather than the clear ones in the past, because I was ashamed of the amount of empty beer cans in there...

GreyPilgrim

Lardloss Update too - I threatened a graph, and here it is...

http://www.nepheliad.com/gplardloss/FullGraph.jpg

Lurkio

Calm down, everyone

fedupandskint

GreyPilgrim wrote: »

Lardloss Update too - I threatened a graph, and here it is...

http://www.nepheliad.com/gplardloss/FullGraph.jpg

Blimey you're a clever one!!!!:D

PS Your other post really struck a cord with me about how drinking creeps into the week. Lets not get stuck with labels, society does enough of that every day. We need to do what we know deep down is right for us when we're not fooling anyone else with our fronts.:o

Anyhow, thats all for me for a bit, I've been glued to this site this week whilst I've had the winter lurgy! Sure I'll be back later, to see who else is arguing - can we go back to the less brutal challenging/support for a bit?

Lurkio

fedupandskint wrote: »

Blimey you're a clever one!!!!:D

PS Your other post really struck a cord with me about how drinking creeps into the week. Lets not get stuck with labels, society does enough of that every day. We need to do what we know deep down is right for us when we're not fooling anyone else with our fronts.:o

Anyhow, thats all for me for a bit, I've been glued to this site this week whilst I've had the winter lurgy! Sure I'll be back later, to see who else is arguing - can we go back to the less brutal challenging/support for a bit?

Amen to that!! :j :T :j :T :j

maman

'TRC I wanted to say I agree with NTC, It depends if your aim is to stop drinking or to cut down?
As I said before, I want to cut down how much I drink not stop, so I would have a glass of wine on my birthday, but then be extra strict the next day so I didn't slip back into drinking everyday'

I’ve been lurking since thread started but haven’t posted because my aims seem very modest and motivation superficial compared with posters who want to be completely AF. But as above poster (thanks miamoo) has reminded us this is also about cutting down, so here goes:
My aim is simply (!) to break the habit of drinking every day. I was on a bottle of red a day and creeping towards more particularly if it was a wine box or I was drinking with someone else (my ‘share’ was always more than half). I’m not including holidays (didn’t start until 4th Jan), weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun) or planned mid-week meals out with friends (3 planned). So my aim for January is 13/31.
I’m ashamed to say (as I know I should be thinking about long term health issues) but I’m motivated more by:

• saving calories
• saving money
• immediate health benefits like clear head, eyes and skin

So far I’ve managed 3/3 and plan to make tonight 4/4 before my w/end off. It’s not been easy. We have a fully stocked drinks cupboard, all we don’t have until I shop tomorrow is cheap red wine. Last night was hard as I was watching Rick Stein and he had a huge glass of red tempting me! I have slept very badly all week (normally wine knocks me out for a few hours).
Last year I managed about 10 weeks but then in March I had a big birthday, took 2 weeks off, then it was Easter holiday, then…. This year I’m going to try again and all of you are helping me. Thanks. (sorry for such a long post!)