The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 13

Soworried

12/30 for me please.

That is the longest I've been AF for a year

cathybird

Welcome loveasale, I must admit the fact that you like a discount gave me a chuckle as you are right about that being very much an MSE thing. Are you feeling in good health though? I used to be able to tuck away a bottle a night for periods of time without too much trouble but I also used to feel more and more under the weather, sluggish and generally crappy. Agree with shaggy that recording what you spend might help you give up as much as the amount you are drinking.

ElusiveLucy - hope the craving passed - they do pass but they are incredibly tricky to deal with when they hit because they feel as though the only solution is to give in, and quickly. I find saying to myself "not tonight" or even "not just now, later" can help because I'm not telling myself "no" or "never", I'm just procrastinating a bit - that usually lifts the burden somehow because the next potential drink isn't really that far away, just tomorrow, which will come quickly. Also, sometimes I say to myself, "can't you even go one night without a drink?" ... which helps, because it is a bit shaming, plus it is also a reminder that one night isn't very long and so it really ought to be easy (somehow thinking it ought to be easy can make it easier, even when it isn't easy, if that makes sense). Cravings sometimes hit again when the next night rolls round obviously, but then you put them off again. Anyway, I find that helps me. x

ElusiveLucy

I've managed it with the help of some AF wine, the craving has gone now, thankfully, so I am calling in for tonight with 12/30

ElusiveLucy

Soworried wrote: »

12/30 for me please.

That is the longest I've been AF for a year

Me too! You're not alone

fakeplastictwee

Hello everyone!
It's a long long long time since I have been on here. I've been lurking on the forums for inspiration recently as I've been trying to get myself out of a small debt-hole, (which I've just about got a handle on now). I'm doing dry January this month and tonight has been the first night that I've been rather grumpy about it. Then I remembered you guys exist! So I hope you don't mind me joining in again
I got a message to say I joined the forums 7 years ago so goodness knows how long ago I was last here.

Could you please put me down as 13/31 AFDs so far? Thanks

Poor_Single_lady

9/22

No drinks now till next weekend.

Rolandtheroadie

12/30 please.

smallholdingsister

Back on the waggon until I have lost 3.5 stone...

Arkers

Good morning everyone,

13 AFD please Shaggy.
Arkers x

Honey_Bear

Goodness the thread's lovely and busy!

Welcome Lovesale and FakePlasticTwee. :wave: Lovely to have you with us and if there is one suggestion I would make that I found made all the difference - keep posting! I've found it really helps, knowing there are other people who are doing the same thing - determined not to neck a swift one just tonight. I'll deal with tomorrow when it comes. I can still remember knowing I had to stop drinking but the dread of never being allowed one again kept me slurping away for years. Turns out, at least in my case, it's absolutely fine living without booze, but I'd never realised I could do it until I tried it and everyone on this thread made a huge contribution to me staying off it.

Rolandtheroadie wrote: »

That's my motivation as well (although the weight loss will take time, it's only been 10 days, but was 3lb down after 7 days).
But the bank balance is around £100 healthier already, my lower back pains away (I genuinely think it was alcohol related, the more I drank, the more sore it was) and as I mentioned earlier in the thread, the chronic heartburn has gone.

It's really good news that you're noticing a difference and feeling better after 10 days, Roland. Are you going to let yourself use the money saved for something you've had to do without? (I set myself a target number of days and then had a lovely time spending some of the money saved on things I would never have allowed myself otherwise - evening classes, lovely new pots for plants on the sundeck and so on.) Interesting about your back, that's a new one. How's the sleep thing going?

ElusiveLucy wrote: »

I'm calling in early for tonight - 11/30 for me please Shaggy

I'm finding weekdays straightforward, last week it was particularly Friday where I found it really difficult as I got to the end of the working week and felt I would really like a drink to sit down and relax with. In the end I had a couple of glasses of AF wine and I think I might make sure I have a bottle available again tomorrow night as it got me through. I also missed having a glass of wine when we went out for dinner last Saturday, so went home and finished the rest of the bottle of AF wine. I know a couple of friends started Dry Jan and gave up last weekend, but that is the easy route and I am determined to stick with it (to prove to myself I can do it as much as anything)

If you've found something that you like, or even that will just get you past the cravings it's a really great idea to lay in a supply. Temptation will inevitably strike and it's so much easier to buy alcohol than a really good AF drink that suits you. I'd never have made it this far without Be**s Bl**.

loveasale wrote: »

Oh dear me ,,, I've been lurking for a while now,,
I'm a drinker , a binge drinker, I normally do a bottle of wine a night , sometimes 2 at weekends :eek:
I used to be a smoker and a heavy one at that, gave up about 6 years ago and will never so much as have a puff again!
So back to the booze,,, I'm a real MSE ,, I like , well love the finer things in life , but never pay full price , and save money in tins and so forth , so firstly I find it odd ( even to me ) that I will always find the money to buy wine ,, my goodness I dread to think how much I waste
I do however get discount on it as a family member works for large store chain and is able to give a discount to someone else !
Secondly , why do I do it ?
Depression ,, makes it worse ? Habit ? Boredom ?
Funny if I have a AFD on a Monday I can normally do so until Thursday , I try my upmost to have 2 or 3 AFD a week , I've always kept a littl diary ,,sadly I've only managed 2 this month, and I'm full of cold so I can't taste or smell so still wonder why ?
I'm going to sign off now as don't want to bore you all , I will write more later, as I feel this may help me ,,, I really hope so !

Well all of that sounds very familiar, Lovelsale, that's exactly where I was when I decided I had to deal with it. Yes, it's a habit, and boredom has a lot to do with it, and yes, alcohol exacerbates depression, and you already know that. And OH and I used to go to France very cheaply every six months and stock up on a car full of cheap 15 litre wine boxes, so although I don't have a relative who can get me a discount, we were very MSE about drinking. However, if you gave up smoking, you can tackle the booze thing.

A friend who decided he was going to stop drinking this January put it succinctly when he said, 'One is too many and ten thousand isn't enough.' Once I started I just didn't want to stop, and on this thread that's often referred to as not having a Stop Button. I don't have one. Never have. If you think that's you, then it's probably a bit like smoking - you know what you're doing doesn't make sense, but finding a way of dealing with it is tricky at first, and a very individual thing. The good news is, there is a way that you'll make it happen because you know you gave up smoking. That was my mantra when things were tricky when I dealt with the booze thing - if I could do one, I could do the other.

Keep posting and let us know how it goes.

Maman, I don't think it's vain wanting to lose weight, I really don't. Given the amount of information out there about the effect of carrying too much weight around I see it as a health issue.

14/31 please, Shaggy.