The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 12

ManPants

In preparation for the fact I will be at working late i am announcing my AF state for the day. 22 AF including tonight!

The storm has been a bit of a damp squib as far as I'm concerned. I battened down the hatches and cleared the garden yesterday and looks like I could have left it all!

Have a great week everyone. SkintDad you are really inspiring me to hit those high numbers!

Stupotstu X

NewStart13

365days wrote: »

Just stopping by for my yearly update!

4 Years sober today.

Alcohol does not cross my mind 99% of the time, but I know if I had one drink I'd be back where I started.

Hope everyone is having exactly the type of relationship with alcohol they want.

How inspiring; thank you so much.

Well no AF days yet but I have drunk a lot less than I would normally. Today I am going to try for my first AFD for a very long time; I will report my progress tonight or tomorrow.

mrsdee

NewStart13 wrote: »

How inspiring; thank you so much.

Well no AF days yet but I have drunk a lot less than I would normally. Today I am going to try for my first AFD for a very long time; I will report my progress tonight or tomorrow.

Good.luck! Sending you positive vibes!

sukeyboo

Good luck for your first AFD Newstart and welcome to the thread - sorry I have been away over the weekend and have just caught up with all the posts.

Well done to all those that have managed AFD's over the weekend - I even managed one on Saturday night - which I think is a first for me since I have been old enough to drink (and that is quite a long time ago :eek:).

That makes 13/14 for me.

Have a good day all

graemecarter

NewStart13 wrote: »

Hello, I am hoping I can join you. I came across this thread by accident and have been lurking for a couple of days. Now I have joined MSE so I can be part of what is clearly a very supportive community.
I don't know whether I am an alcoholic but I certainly drink far too much every day. My husband is an alcoholic and doesn't want to stop drinking; I do, or at least drastically cut down.

Welcome.

I believe I'm alcoholic, but some people would probably say I am not one because I didn't drink in the morning, didn't drink spirits etc. I previously thought that way also.
I didn't drink everyday and could sometimes stop drinking after a couple of drinks.
However, I regularly drank more than I intended, and sometimes just couldn't stop.
If I wanted to control my drinking, it wasn't enjoyable, and if I wanted to enjoy my drinking, it was never in control.

All that's important is that I realise that my relationship with alcohol is unhealthy, and admit that to myself so I do something about my drinking.

My alcoholism HAD to be self-diagnosed. It was no use anyone telling me that I had to stop/cut down my drinking. It had to be me that made that decision.

The thought of giving up drinking was awful - I thought life would be unbearably dull. That's my alcoholism telling me lies. Life is far better and fuller since I put down the drink. It's not always easy, but it's far easier than it was when drinking.
For me, getting help for my alcoholism has been the best decision I ever made.

All the best and keep posting. In my experience, I have good days and bad days, but it's important I don't drink one day at a time.

Views are my own. This is my experience and is not advice for anyone else. I'm just saying what my story is.

gien

Hello newstart and good luck for tonight.

I was AF yesterday, so a good start to the week!

serenity_10

Hi all :-)

Another newbie here, tho long-time lurker on MSE. Have had a 'lightbulb' moment recently regarding the amount of wine I drink and the cost of it, so am planning to cut down with the help of support on this forum. One thing I would like to ask others who have already cut down and/or had alcohol-free days is how did you approach it? i.e., did you replace alcohol with a soft drink? did you change your routine so you were not doing the same thing as you did when drinking? did you replace alcohol with snacks etc ? I'm interested as I am afraid of failing if I don't have some kind of plan to replace the alcohol.....or is it better to not replace it and just learn to be without it without masking it's absence ....if that makes sense? Would be interested in your stories/views on this.

PS - well done to all those who are reaching their goals - I am impressed :-)

mrsdee

hi there and welcome Serenity!

I really struggled with this too and thought it would be an impossible habit to break. I have tried a few things which appear to be working so far.

First of all I just dont buy wine any more and dont have any in the house.

Secondly, when I get home from work I put the kettle on and have a cup of tea instead of reaching for the wine straightaway. Then I go and have a walk with the dog to get me in the fresh air and feel healthy! Experimenting with lots of different non-alcoholic drinks has been quite fun/interesting - there are so many now! Have also been trying de-alcoholised wine, some of which has been ok. Havent really been snacking although if i did, I wouldnt worry too much as anything is good if it keeps me off the wine, I think.

Drinking hot chocolate and horlicks light and camomile tea (instead of red wine!) before bedtime has meant i am finally getting fantastic quality sleep. I wake up feeling amazing and this in itself is incentive to keep me off the drink for another day, and it is definitely getting easier. I would suggest stocking up on lots of non-alc soft and hot drinks and turn to them if you feel like a drink!

Good luck!!

sukeyboo

serenity_10 wrote: »

Hi all :-)

Another newbie here, tho long-time lurker on MSE. Have had a 'lightbulb' moment recently regarding the amount of wine I drink and the cost of it, so am planning to cut down with the help of support on this forum. One thing I would like to ask others who have already cut down and/or had alcohol-free days is how did you approach it? i.e., did you replace alcohol with a soft drink? did you change your routine so you were not doing the same thing as you did when drinking? did you replace alcohol with snacks etc ? I'm interested as I am afraid of failing if I don't have some kind of plan to replace the alcohol.....or is it better to not replace it and just learn to be without it without masking it's absence ....if that makes sense? Would be interested in your stories/views on this.

PS - well done to all those who are reaching their goals - I am impressed :-)

Hi Serenity - welcome to the thread.

My approach was a combination of finding something to replace the wine that I was drinking - this wasn't easy as I find most soft drinks far too sweet but I have found one in the Tesco Finest range which is a raspberry, cranberry & pomegranate fizz which is really nice and it still looks & feels like I am drinking wine . I have also tried to busy myself a bit more in the evenings so that I am not sitting in front of the TV and expecting to drink something

maman

Welcome serenity.

I found it incredibly hard when I started not to have a glass in my hand at all times!;) Plus my biggest motivation was to cut back on the empty calories so there was no way I was going to snack and many soft drinks were out of the question. I just kept having water, sometimes fizzy, until I was heartily sick of it. Now I just have a couple of cups of tea during the evening and I'm fine with that. The hardest thing was getting past cooking supper without a drink. Like mrsdee said, putting the kettle on straight away helps there.

I think distraction is also really helpful. I go out every Monday evening to a dance class. I'm driving and we just stop for a tea/coffee during the break. It gets me back on the wagon really well after the weekend. At home distractions are pampering sessions and going to bed early to read or watch rubbish TV.

Good luck!!

I'm calling in AF tonight as I know I won't be drinking.:)

12 AFDs please Shaggy.