Giving up/ Cutting Down Alcohol Thread Part 16

12/28 April
5/5 WDC

Can I go for 2 nights for the weekend challenge please Shaggy. Am planning not to drink now before 17th April at the earliest, am doing the 30 day challenge again.

But then end of the month is my birthday so may have a little drinkie or two then :j

It happens, ArsenalBarnie. At least you won something even if you indulged so it wasn't a waste of a night. As it seems to be a regular thing the way forward will probably be to work up a plan you can stick to, stage by stage, like the Apollo Missions.

I didn't know this when I was watching the first man walk on the moon as a child on very scratchy TV images, but each of the Appollo rockets did one thing to progress the moon landings. Appollo 8, for instance, orbited the moon and was the first manned space flight that did so, and Appollo 9's "major purposes were to qualify the LM [lunar module] for lunar orbit operations and to show that the CSM [command and service module] could separate and move well apart, before rendezvousing and docking again, as they would have to do on the lunar landing missions to come."

Nasa didn't just decide to land a man on the moon and work from being nowhere in the space race to Neil Armstrong's 'One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.'

So I'd suggest the same step-by-step approach, where you carefully think through each stage of the night that drank when you didn't intend to. Was your intention not to drink undermined before you left the house, because you hadn't worked out what you were going to say to your friends, or even your partner, about not wanting to drink that night? Had you phoned the bar to find out if they stocked the drink you wanted? Etc etc.

Once you know you can rely on your partner to support your pub evenings with an AF choice, that'll make dealing with your friends much easier. If there's a bottle on the table when you arrive, all the more for them!

And once you know what AF drinks the pub stocks that you actually like, that'll dispense with the 'What shall I have?' conundrum. Etc etc

I don't know what your stages would be, but as an ex-drinker who struggled with this issue for at least a year I now don't leave these big choices to chance. I plan them. That way I don't get thrown when there isn't a choice. Occasionally I go to an event and the only choices really are red wine, white wine and longlife acidic juice that they tell me is orange juice. If you have ever eaten an orange and then drank that stuff you'll be aware that all it actually tastes of is metal. It's undrinkable if your taste buds are functioning, and because I neither smoke nor drink any more, mine are. I just go thirsty and leave early and OH knows that. He gets a bit twitchy if he sees the dreaded longlife carton on a drinks table and asks if there's anything else because he'll want to stay longer and therefore wants me to be able to enjoy myself. I like the fact that I have a very supportive partner; it makes a lot of difference.


I'm disappointed to say that after two days at 67.7 kgs, today I am 68.2 kgs again. Grr. I have eaten chocolate I'm so disappointed. New dog is settling in nicely but still wants to chase the cats. We've probably been walking her a bit too much; she's got wasted muscles in her back legs according to the vet, so today's walks are minimal to give her a rest. She's fast asleep right now and enjoying a bit of pottering between naps so that's a mile I won't be walking today.

12/30 please, Shaggy.

Calling it early for tonight so I’m sitting at 11/27 thank you.

Morning all, 12/21 and 1/2 for me today thanks