Giving up/ Cutting Down Alcohol Thread Part 16

rosy10

17/28, please Shaggy.
Well I won't make target again this month. I weakened because the weather has been so nice and I fancied a cool glass of rose and then I was back into my old habit of drinking most of a bottle. I've stocked up on AF beers to try to avoid further temptation.

I did think about loosening up on the target but I think I would just use that as an excuse to drink on those days so I'll keep the target high and aim for it.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the lovely bank holiday sun!

Honey_Bear

Season_of_Mist wrote: »

I think I am hoping that the longer periods I can go AF, or with only very moderate drinking (max 2 days per month), then that will become the ‘new normal’ for me (rather than a bloody novelty) and that I will just get myself to a stage where I can cut right down to nothing, or close to nothing, and that I will be in the frame of mind where it will be very unusual for me to have a drink - like most of the teetotallers I know, if I were to ask them when they last had a drink, they’d reply “Oh I don’t really know...honestly couldn’t tell you...hadn’t really thought about it”. What I mean is, for those people, drinking just isn’t something they do, and so the date of the last time they had a drink isn’t some big deal, because it just isn’t a big feature in their lives.

I think you explained it very well indeed! Unless you've got an addictive personality (which I'm pretty sure I have) booze is a habit, for most people. If you can crack the habitual reach for a drink, then being nearly AF becomes the new normal and a great way of life. Good luck with it.

cathybird wrote: »

Also, I did find when I cut down to drinking about once a week that it became much easier and in fact I stopped thinking about drinking in the evenings and now don't miss it. It was actually easier than when I was drinking 14 or so days a month. So maybe part of the key with moderation is that the closer it is to total abstinence the easier it is overall. You'd think then that abstinence is the logical option, but I don't really want to give it up altogether and enjoy seeing friends over a drink or two. So no plans to give up totally yet.

And so, carrying on from Season's comment, I agree with you. The less frequently you drink, the easier it becomes not to. The 'Shall I Sha'nt I today?' keeps the tantalising possibility of a drink just within reach, so one is never given the freedom of not even thinking about it.

rosy10 wrote: »

Well I won't make target again this month. I weakened because the weather has been so nice and I fancied a cool glass of rose and then I was back into my old habit of drinking most of a bottle. I've stocked up on AF beers to try to avoid further temptation.

I did think about loosening up on the target but I think I would just use that as an excuse to drink on those days so I'll keep the target high and aim for it.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the lovely bank holiday sun!

Thanks Rosy, I intend to! Reaching for a cool glass of wine is undoubtedly one of the easist downfalls for women in hot weather and you're not the first that has succumbed. It's one of the very, very few things that never appealled to me, so it's one of the battles I didn't have to fight. Good choice, realising that aiming high works for you.

Glenda, it sounds as though you really have cracked finding what works for you. Fantastic.

Annie, you were so good at making yourself keep applying for jobs and working at ones that you really didn't enjoy, now that you've got the prospect of going back to somewhere you love to a job you really want I think you should enjoy the pre-Departure Revellries without feeling too guilty if it's a bit OTT. As much as anything it's a relief from the months and months and months of tension, isn't it.

Happy Easter All Contributors and Lurkers, and I hope everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the fabulous weather.

20/30 please, Shaggy.

cathybird

Morning all, 20/21 and 2/2 for me today.

Green_Karen

Thanks HB for your wise words about whether to go AF altogether or moderate. That is the big question, can I moderate or not? And if so how to do it. I know some people manage it and can only aspire to do that and try it.

Thanks Season of mist, you explained what you meant really well. I would also love to be at the stage where someone asks when I last had a drink and I can't remember as it isn't a big deal any more.

I think you're right Cathybird about using this thread religiously. I don't post or check it as often as I should and will make a conscious effort to use it more to keep me aware. You are an excellent example of moderation, getting good totals and yet having the good controlled nights of alcohol drinking.

Gelndasugarbean I can see the sense of getting a good few months of being AF under your belt first. It seemed to help me last time. I fell by the wayside when I used alcohol during our house move as a relaxant. For me moving forward, I think alcohol must always be taken socially and is the only way I can keep it in my life in its place.

So all good advice, for now I am keeping it AF for a while. It's my birthday a week on Monday and am not sure about what to do then. Am sure I could drink that night and not fallback into nightly drinking again, but not really sure if I want to chance it.

21/28 April
5/5 WDC
2/2 WEC

GlendaSugarbean

22/25. Hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weekend!

Honey_Bear

Quiet on here, isn't it? That's what Easter looks like most years, but because I didn't log on yesterday I had to double-check I hadn't inadvertently skipped a page of posts just the same! There's no doubt the UK's alcohol consumption goes up on BH weekends - I live very close to the Barbican in Plymouth and as far as I'm concerned it's now a No Go area on BH Sundays. Unlike most other days of the year there's a nasty, aggressive atomosphere by late Sunday afternoon, about 4.30/5.00 pm, and fabulous weather makes it much, much worse. This only started about 10 years ago; before that it was pretty good-natured but it's not any more. I do not look forward to the May BH or the August BH any more simply because of it. Tonight everyone will still be nursing their hangovers and it'll be back to normal. Good.

Weighed myself this morning, which I haven't been doing because of my birthday and an upcoming weekend in London again, and was very surprised to see my total bulk was still only 67.9 kg. It could be something to do with not having much chocolate around at the moment, but there's a rather large milk chocolate Easter Bunny around somewhere, that OH has moved to I know not where, and that obviously needs scoffing so it won't be that steady for long.

22/30 please, Shaggy.

maggiem

10/15 AFDs.
I completely agree with Cathybird about posting on here regularly and reading what is written. Everyone's comments and views make me reflect on what and why I am drinking. I'm in the group that wants to moderate rather than give up completely. Since Christmas I have been trying to lose weight as well and of course, drinking wine doesn't help with weight either. Ido feel better for having lost some weight but still have about 18lbs to go to be within a 'normal' BMI.
However I do know that drinking wine is my go to response to really bad and sometimes really good days. I have been getting into a good routine of not drinking in the week and drinking one or two days - but in sensible amounts - at the weekend. Recent events which have impacted very badly on my family, have meant I have again been using wine every night to try and relax and stop worrying about them. I haven't been drinking nearly as much as in the past though. Yesterday I did not have a drink and I want to continue with more AFDs.
Sorry to read BHs are difficult around the Barbican Honeybear. Not sure we have a good relationship with alcohol in U.K. - lots of European countries seem to be able to drink during the day or at events without tipping over into aggression.
Hope everyone is enjoying the weather and possibly chocolate too wherever they are.

cathybird

Morning all, 21/21 for me today please

CuppaTea

Hi everyone, I am feeling pleased with myself that I am set for target and possibly over target, as long as I don't do anything stupid this month. I had wine on Friday but nothing Saturday or Sunday. I am unsure about today, but unless I go out the house to buy some it won't happen.

I am still working on reducing my drinking days to two a week. It had crept up to 4 some weeks, i've been back down to 3 lately, but this week gone its been 2. Feeling better for it too.

Hope everyone is having a good bank holiday before reality kicks in again tomorrow.

Shame about the Barbican HB, I've never understood why people drink to aggression. But then it doesn't affect me that way. I'm a happy silly drinker. Plus I try not to drink so much that it wipes out the next day as it seems such a waste of time and money. I have done in the past though, so trying to learn from my mistakes.

Pollyanna hasn't posted for a while, so I hope she is ok?

Green_Karen

How quiet things are on here! I hadn't realised HB that it went like this over Easter.

22/28 April
2/2 WEC

Going for 5 for the WDC please. On 2/5 so far.