The Cutting Down / Giving Up Booze Thread (Part 14)

sukeyboo

Welcome Gintotmelinda & Tallyhoh :hello:

Declaring early for tonight on 5/10 please Shaggy

CuppaTea

13/18 please shaggy

Barny1979

12/25 AFDs today

Honey_Bear

tallyhoh wrote: »

Can I join in please? As you can see I knocked smoking on the head a long time ago. I've come to the conclusion after 40 years of unwise drinking that I need to take the same course & give it up altogether.

Managed 2 days so far which is good for me.

Welcome TallyHoh! :wave:

For me, giving up smoking took several attempts over many years but the final time I did, it was without acupuncture, hypnotism or patches, all of which I'd tried. In the end, willpower was enough, which surprised me. Having knocked smoking on the head in 2006, when I decided the drinking had to stop in 2014 one of the things that made it possible was knowing that I'd beaten smoking. If you can do one, you can do the other.

Smoking is a habit that we re-inforce every time we take a drag, so it's not a 20 a day habit, it's more like a 200 a day habit.

Our drinking habits vary, but if you're one of the lucky ones who drinks at the same time every day, you know what time is likely to be stressful if you decide not to do it any more. Building new habits around that time so you're not as likely to be tempted is a great place to start.

The other thing I found that made all the difference was finding something to drink that I liked that I could drink all evening without feeling as though I was missing out on something. It took me a little while, but it was perfectly possible. I slept a lot, ate a lot of chocolate, went to bed early to avoid temptation, read a lot of blogs and books about stopping drinking and avoided situations as much as possible for a few weeks where I would have been tempted. It worked and I've never been tempted enough to have the first one since but it could happen, so I don't take it for granted for a second.

Good luck with it, and post every day even if you stumble a bit - that really, really helps.

shaggydoo wrote: »

I've gone up 2 sizes

*Ouch* I'm not losing any at the moment, either.

19/30 please.

I'll catch up with the rest of the thread tomorrow.

[Deleted User]

Morning,

5/10 AFD for me please Shaggy.

Half way through my target

maggiem

6/15 please for last night.
Continuing to struggle especially when travelling. There's so
Egging about airport lounges with free booze then sitting in a restaurant on your own somewhere that makes me long for a glass of wine. Not sure I will make target this month as it will need a change to my usual weekend. However trying to keep going.
For newbies I havent experienced improved sleep so if you are not you are not alone. Maybe if you completely stop drinking but even during dry January my sleep did not improve. Shame but assume other health benefits happening.

cathybird

Morning all, 18/21 for me please.

tallyhoh

Well, I've managed a whole week now. Wish I could say its been easy. Last night was the worst, had the really achy legs thing, you know the nasty sort you get with flu. It stopped me sleeping.

I think having some pain is probably a good thing, it might make me think twice about starting drinking again.

Thanking you all for your support & words of wisdom at this time.

sukeyboo

6/10 for today please Shaggy

maman

I'm another that didn't really improve sleep either.:( I think there are so many reasons for poor sleep that just being AF isn't enough to solve it for everyone. It can sometimes appear to make sleep worse as you don't get the drugged sleep for a few hours that alcohol gives.


It is tough not drinking when travelling Maggie so you've done well to achieve the 6 that you have. Just to make money, airports and airlines seem to be pushing temptation in your face (and then have the cheek to complain if people have too much:mad:)


Dancing tonight so want even cross my mind to drink.:)


9 AFDs please Shaggy.