Cutting Down Alcohol Thread

[Deleted User]

Good morning all.

15/28 for me, please.

I found the second week more difficult than the first and have had a couple of moments when I've really had to talk myself out of having "just one small drink". Then I had to be honest with myself and accept that it wouldn't have ended there and I really need to be clearheaded at the moment to deal with other stuff that's going on.

cathybird, thanks for the idea about a drink to have when you get in from work - this is one of my trigger times so I'm going to give the ginger beer a go.

bln x

fatrab

Shaggy, I have noticed 2 "triggers".
1. Food. If I go out for a meal I will have drink.
2. Drink. If I go the pub I will have a takeaway afterwards.

I didn't drink in the past as a result of being particularly stressed or worried, it was boredom and habit more than anything else. Working away from home at the time I drank most nights, to be sociable. I don't keep beer or wine in the house so that also removes temptation but I've never been much of an at-home drinker anyway. Very rarely would I leave the house, or stop on the way home, to buy alcohol.

I do wish I could just stop drinking altogether but it seems such an ingrained part of my life that I don't think I'll ever fully stop. But having gone from 5-6 days per week to 4 or 5 days per month I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved so far.

16/26 AFDs
3/5 School nights

I'm going to stop counting my Take-away free days as while I'm doing SW they're not an option! Making plenty of meals from their recipe books which are pretty tasty

shaggydoo

My biggest problem, I think, is that I've been using ciggies (quit that about 20 years ago) and booze all my life to deal with major stress. The appearance of a mouse I found so unsettling (mind you it was not helped by a neighbour a few doors down saying the previous people had lefted that rented house because that house had become over run). But we've not seen any since, thankfully.

Does anyone remember a lovely poster (whose user name I've forgot - was it PoppyOscar?) - she was doing really well on the AF front and she got rehoused and ended up in a flat with a major mouse problem and seemed to fall of the wagon....I can so relate to that now...

Anyways, walking destresses me and listening to relaxing sounds like waves, seagulls, garden sounds - Alexa/The Echo has a great libary of these.....I should do this more often than just reaching for an alcoholic drink...

...Of course, getting rid of all stress would be ideal but in today's world is probably impossible!


Maman I watched the Southampton game last night - that last minute Brighton goal must have made you want to reach for a drink!



Anyways, another AFD yesterday and a wonderful nights sleep....ZZZzzzz

shaggydoo

Fabrab 3/5

Miss P 1/4
Shaggy 2/5

WBF 2/4

shaggydoo

September 2018


= 7 Days

= 14 Days

= 21 Days


= 28 Days


= 30 Days


= Target Reached


= Target Beaten



Arkers 11/TF
Barney 13/25
BestLifeNow 15/28
Billy2Shots 11/30
CathyBird 17/21

CuppaTea 5/TF
Doshwaster 10/25
Fabrab 16/26
Glenda 16/25

GreenKaren 16/14
Honey Bear 17/30

MaggieM 3/14

Maman 8/10
Miss P 13/22

Pricey 4 /22

PurpleJay 4/15
Shaggydoo 9/21
Sukeyboo 10/12
WannaBeeFree 7/10



Please let me know if I've made a mistake!

Everyone Welcome Anytime of the Month!

maman

shaggydoo wrote: »

Maman I watched the Southampton game last night - that last minute Brighton goal must have made you want to reach for a drink!

We didn't go to last night's game because of (yet another) birthday meal so I had a drink anyway.:o Not tonight though!:D

shaggydoo wrote: »

Mind you the previous week I did 5 nights AF and 15 units so I guess it isn't all bad...

Definitely not all bad! :T


I suppose I must have triggers but I've taught myself to ignore them. What I have instead (or are they the same?) are habits that I keep under control to an extent that I'm (reasonably) happy with. So I used to get home from work and open a bottle every night without fail and often opened a second. Now I decide in advance which days I'll be drinking (weekends and special occasions) and other days I just have a cup of tea.:DGenerally I'm happy with that. I'm over units when months like this with family birthdays come around or holidays but 'normal weeks I can easily do 4 AFDs, occasionally more and I almost never have a s*d it day. That's roughly what I set out to achieve but we're all different.:)


What I think I'd find it really hard to cope with is not having that plan/structure. There was a poster on here who chose not to plan her AF days. Instead she sort of hoped that every day would be AF and then when she had a drink she beat herself up over it. I'd find that too much of a roller coaster.:(


Today is an oasis of AFness here.:D


8/10 AFDs please Shaggy.

sukeyboo

10/12 for today please Shaggy

GlendaSugarbean

Cathy my go-to is tonic water with a dash of bitters - tastes kind of like a pink gin and I guess alcohol content similar to AF beers. Ginger beer and bitters sounds fab.

cathybird

bestlifenow wrote: »

cathybird, thanks for the idea about a drink to have when you get in from work - this is one of my trigger times so I'm going to give the ginger beer a go.

bln x

Oh you're welcome bestlifenow! I hope it helps. Some brands of ginger beer are much nicer than others - it's better (obviously) to have one you like.

Cathy my go-to is tonic water with a dash of bitters - tastes kind of like a pink gin and I guess alcohol content similar to AF beers. Ginger beer and bitters sounds fab.

Glenda, the tonic and bitters sounds lovely - I'll give that one a go at some point. Bitters do contain some alcohol but because you only need a few drops I never really count it as alcoholic.

cathybird

shaggydoo wrote: »

Does anyone remember a lovely poster (whose user name I've forgot - was it PoppyOscar?) - she was doing really well on the AF front and she got rehoused and ended up in a flat with a major mouse problem and seemed to fall of the wagon....I can so relate to that now...

Shaggy, I remember her - her username was piggles1 - she vanished shortly after I started, not related I hope :eek: - she had MS and her housing situation sounded pretty bad. I just went back through the threads (work is a bit slow today :rotfl:) and she hasn't posted for a couple of years now, a great shame, hope she's doing okay.