Dry January anyone.

[lazybloke]

Yes, very easy to slip into bad habits of drinking as a coping mechanism.

Just cut back my booze intake over Christmas. I volunteered to drive on most occasions (including New Years Eve) and this has been a dry week. Mrs L has joined me.

A dry week is a useful tool to reset the drinking habits, and is far easier than the dry month we did one November.

I just wish the house wasn't still full of chocolate coins, Quality Street and Choc Orange, as I'm trying to improve my diet too.

Chocolate eclair count: zero.

 

[keithmac]

I normally have a couple on Thursdays and Saturdays now, works fine for me!.

 

[Welsh wheels]

Never drunk in my life

 

[nickyboy]

This. I've had three days without beer. I have sacrificed sleep and pleasure for no discernible improvement in anything except the wallet. I have had three beers tonight and feel marvellous.

I am aware that it is more complicated than this. I walk an uneasy line between hedonism and alcoholism, and I don't wish to trivialize the prospect of becoming dependent on booze. My brief flirtations with sobriety are really about protecting the pleasure of drinking - if you need booze more than you want it, it compromises the pleasure and threatens the prospect of future pleasures. I have survived a dry February before (which, despite Smeggers' gloom, is already a more hideous month than January) and, this year, have endured a Christmas where booze was relegated to a coping mechanism. The trick is not to imagine that there is a perfect life without booze, or to kid yourself that booze will make a bad life better, but to bring the joy of life and the joy of intoxication crashing together.

This is the other reason I do it. At the risk of being a little too serious in rather a jolly thread, alcoholism is very serious. As I mentioned, I really enjoy drinking alcohol. But I need to make sure that I'm not slipping through the "really enjoy" stage into the "really must" stage.

My over-basic approach to this is, if I can go a month without alcohol then I'm in charge of it's relationship with me. I've done the past 15 Januarys without a hitch. Unlike some friends who have tried and failed "because they had a bad day" by about January 5.

 

[theclaud]

Never drunk in my life

Do you have a TV though?

 

[Welsh wheels]

Do you have a TV though?

No

 

[theclaud]

No

Great. Don't forget to let everyone in the 'What TV Are You Watching?' thread know.

 

[John the Monkey]

Good luck to you all!

For those that aren't participants in Dry January, may I recommend Tryanuary? It's a commitment to discover (or keep using) your local independent producers, and to share your discoveries and favourites, perhaps via our own lovely beer thread (if beer is your thing).

 

[byegad]

I used to brew my own beer and wine. I have to say I made a rather nice IPA and a Tea wine to die for, along with many other recipes.

I stopped as it suddenly occurred to me that I was drinking every night and to excess. Since that day some 35 yrs ago, I rarely keep alcoholic drinks in the house but instead, a couple a times a week buy something to drink that night. It keeps my drinking to an acceptable level.

 

[Crackle]

Nah. I've a load of beer and some actual beer tokens to get through from Xmas. Unfortunately my days of drinking more than the odd pint or so have gone due to the ever present threat of a gout attack. Two days of a few pints is all I can do in a week, a third is really pushing my luck. Such is ageing.

 

[Maenchi]

I too thought this was about the weather at first,(because it has rained a lot here, instead of snow) do you folks on here that drink find it impacts on your cycling ? I do,.... and consequently just to make riding easier and more enjoyable, since I started this new phase of riding three years ago I hardly drink at all................(this Christmas 3bottles of red wine....only.....)

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Just be careful folks, too many mocktails and you might end up like these nobbers pretending to have a great time.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Never drunk in my life

you should have January as "Get slaughtered-uary"

 

[nickyboy]

Just be careful folks, too many mocktails and you might end up like these nobbers pretending to have a great time.

View attachment 390224

The person who wrote "smoothies and mocktails can be as enjoyable as alcohol" has obviously never had a diamond white/holsten pils snakebite in their life

 

[John the Monkey]

The person who wrote "smoothies and mocktails can be as enjoyable as alcohol" has obviously never had a diamond white/holsten pils snakebite in their life