Who's signing up for a "Dry January"?

hazyjo

Could try buying half bottles of wine? Or could you switch to say a G&T (slimline) or Martini or something else lighter? I always take a 'jigger' (spirit measurer!) with me to anyone's house if drinking spirits, and always use one at home. That definitely helps (although I often drink doubles with lots of mixer instead of a small single). Or maybe do a weekly shop and think okay, two bottles of wine and that has to last me. It might encourage you to close the top and save one for the next night. Or alternate drinks. One wine, then a large water. Or try spritzers and keep soda water in the fridge.


Jx

pollyanna24

hazyjo wrote: »

Could try buying half bottles of wine? Or could you switch to say a G&T (slimline) or Martini or something else lighter? I always take a 'jigger' (spirit measurer!) with me to anyone's house if drinking spirits, and always use one at home. That definitely helps (although I often drink doubles with lots of mixer instead of a small single). Or maybe do a weekly shop and think okay, two bottles of wine and that has to last me. It might encourage you to close the top and save one for the next night. Or alternate drinks. One wine, then a large water. Or try spritzers and keep soda water in the fridge.


Jx

Half bottles? Didn't know you could buy them. Only the little ones which work out quite costly.

Have a "jigger" and always use it when having spirits. People always look at me strange when I say that, but that's what they're called, haha. Maybe it's an Irish thing. I still think if I drink spirits I go a bit overboard. Not the whole bottle granted, but still...

At the moment, I'm coping fine with just not drinking at all. Don't want this to be the answer and I will try and find some moderation somewhere. Generally, me and mum used to share a bottle when I got in from work and once it was gone, I was fine. But if mum isn't around, then I would just drink her two glasses as well instead of just leaving the bottle (hangs head in shame).

pollyanna24

Ps, tried that with buying 3 for £10. I found that after the first bottle I wanted more! If it's in the house....

Having said that, there is a bottle in the house at the moment. It was in the kitchen, but noticed it wasn't when I got in from work yesterday. So my mum (she is at my house most days looking after my children) either hid it or drank it!

purpleshoes_2

Some of the small bottles of wine aren't that expensive. If you go to home bargains you can get a 187ml bottle of wine for a quid, asda often do a 250ml for I think its £1.33.

I'm not very good with moderation, alcohol wise or food wise. If I open a bottle of wine I'll tend to drink it, which is when I do drink wine, I'll buy a small bottle. However I think for me, once Ive got a few days not drinking alcohol under my belt I'm absolutely fine, I don't crave it and I don't want it, I can go to a pub and not drink, but if I have a drink, I think that was good and if there's more around me it will be gone.

In saying that I have two unopened bottles of alcohol in the house and Ive no desire to drink it, just that for me, the days of opening a large bottle of wine and putting it aside after one glass are well gone.

Im exactly the same with food, I don't eat very much junk, I don't crave it, but if someone plonked a big bag of crisps in front of me, I'd do my best to finish them. Somewhere along the line, moderation and me became strangers but at least I'm aware of that.

I will drink when I go on holiday later in the year, but apart from that I'm going to try and do most of the year without alcohol.

pollyanna24

purpleshoes wrote: »

Some of the small bottles of wine aren't that expensive. If you go to home bargains you can get a 187ml bottle of wine for a quid, asda often do a 250ml for I think its £1.33.

I'm not very good with moderation, alcohol wise or food wise. If I open a bottle of wine I'll tend to drink it, which is when I do drink wine, I'll buy a small bottle. However I think for me, once Ive got a few days not drinking alcohol under my belt I'm absolutely fine, I don't crave it and I don't want it, I can go to a pub and not drink, but if I have a drink, I think that was good and if there's more around me it will be gone.

In saying that I have two unopened bottles of alcohol in the house and Ive no desire to drink it, just that for me, the days of opening a large bottle of wine and putting it aside after one glass are well gone.

Im exactly the same with food, I don't eat very much junk, I don't crave it, but if someone plonked a big bag of crisps in front of me, I'd do my best to finish them. Somewhere along the line, moderation and me became strangers but at least I'm aware of that.

I will drink when I go on holiday later in the year, but apart from that I'm going to try and do most of the year without alcohol.

Never thought about it before, but I'm the same. Give me a normal size packet of crisps and I'll eat them, won't think any more of it.

Say that packet is up to three times as big, I'll just keep going until they're all gone!

hazyjo

Y'know what... you're right. I was thinking of the smaller bottles. You often get the choice of a half bottle of wine in a restaurant which is where I'd usually choose it.


What a great gap in the market. Just had a quick google and they are available, but seem to be for pricier wine.


I suppose if you're gonna charge around £3-4 for a half bottle of bog standard wine, you still have the same production costs to make a bottle, a cork/cap, etc. Maybe it's just not that cost effective. Mind you, they do the small ones... hmm.


I reckon that could be an enormous market for some entrepreneur. I'd definitely buy them as my OH doesn't drink wine.


I do love wine, but I have to be in the mood. I rarely fancy a glass after I've eaten.


btw, I'm full of helpful information but am pretty rubbish at heeding it myself I've never had a spritzer at home in me life


Jx

WantToBeSE

Gosh, I feel bad reading all of these comments about people not craving or missing it.. I really do.
It seems like every evening so far (apart from 1) I have really fancied it.
Once I have made my mind up that I am not drinking that evening, I am fine, its just the initial 'do I, don't I' which always starts as soon as I start cooking dinner.


I know that I have been drinking for too much for quite a while (2 bottles a week-1 mid-week and 1 on the weekends)and am pleased that I am doing this challenge. My plan is to make it a permanent thing really.
But I am struggling with it quite a bit if I'm honest

purpleshoes_2

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Gosh, I feel bad reading all of these comments about people not craving or missing it.. I really do.
It seems like every evening so far (apart from 1) I have really fancied it.
Once I have made my mind up that I am not drinking that evening, I am fine, its just the initial 'do I, don't I' which always starts as soon as I start cooking dinner.


I know that I have been drinking for too much for quite a while (2 bottles a week-1 mid-week and 1 on the weekends)and am pleased that I am doing this challenge. My plan is to make it a permanent thing really.
But I am struggling with it quite a bit if I'm honest

I did have a bit of practice given that I spent a lot of 2014 alcohol free.

For me, as someone said earlier on in the thread, the glass was the habit. Id got into the habit of sitting at night in front of the pc with a glass of wine or taking a glass of wine with me to bed at night.

Now Im more likely to go to bed and take a big bottle of sparkling water with me, it's still a habit, but it's a different one.

When I cut down on drinking I was also overhauling my diet as well, I had to, I was massive, that was 25kgs ago. I got to the point that I thought what is the point of eating healthily and then washing it down with wine, even if that was only one glass. That helped me.

In the very beginning what did help me was the alcohol substitutes, such as becks blue, alcohol free wine and as the months went on I just drank water.

It's not alcohol I miss when I'm not drinking, although if I go months without a drink I enjoy it when I have one. It's very much the habit, because for so long Id be of the mindest even if I have just one unit of alcohol Id sit at night and have that one (I know wine has more than one unit, I mean stuff like pre mixed cans of G and T), even if I was under the recommended units for that week, I still had that habit.

Psychological habits can get you as much as physically wanting a drink, a few weeks in and I bet you won't bother about it as much if at all.

WantToBeSE

Thank You PurpleShoes. Maybe I'll go and get some sparkling drinks and drink that from a wine glass instead for a while. I was worried about the amount of calories and sugar in them (I am trying to limit and reduce my sugar consumption at the moment), but they probably have less in that wine anyway. Besides, 1 thing at a time helps!


I REALLY want to be alcohol free, preferably for life (with the odd exception here and there), I just wish that a good cup of tea satisfied me life a glass of red ( or white) does.

pollyanna24

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Gosh, I feel bad reading all of these comments about people not craving or missing it.. I really do.
It seems like every evening so far (apart from 1) I have really fancied it.
Once I have made my mind up that I am not drinking that evening, I am fine, its just the initial 'do I, don't I' which always starts as soon as I start cooking dinner.


I know that I have been drinking for too much for quite a while (2 bottles a week-1 mid-week and 1 on the weekends)and am pleased that I am doing this challenge. My plan is to make it a permanent thing really.
But I am struggling with it quite a bit if I'm honest

2 bottles of week is nothing in comparison to what I was sinking last year. Hence dry January.