Giving up alcohol for 3 months...

[rusky]

Hmm, interesting thread.

I'm going to give it a go starting tomorrow (I've had 3 bottles of Magners today). I'll run the idea past the wife too.

I would say that on average we drink a bottle of wine most nights.

I'll be interested in the alochol free drink thread too.

 

[ttony002]

well done to all those who are trying just keep doing it one day at a time. Xmas 2007 my partner said she would try and give up smoking, new year 2008 .I went along with the idea . We found supporting each other along the way helped beyond mesure.
No smoking for first week 2008 got to weekend would normally have beer. (beer was my poison, to much, to often).
I knew if beer was in, resolve would be out so did not have a beer.
Nor the next week ,nor the (so far ) next 102 weeks .
My partner has not smoked either ,but has the odd drink very occaisonaly
Theres been a period of readjustment for everyone around me, losses and gains. Im a lot happier,fitter,and better of
The piont i'm trying to make is that by giving up one thing unexspectedly helped me give up another.
keep up the effort everyone we support you.

 

[longers]

Good luck all.

Tdr1nkas post was excellent. I've met some of those attitudes and I've only been a part time abstainer. Weird innit?

 

[Dave5N]

I won't drink at all this January. Haven't for 22 years this year. I miss it for a few days - mostly the habit particularly when I am off work. When does the relaxing part of the evening start?

My other half is sitting in the same room with a very large glass of red. That doesn't bother me.

Her irritating compulsion with Restaurant City does though.

 

[tdr1nka]

Britain has a pretty entrenched attitude to drinking, which doesn't seem to have been tempered much by the change to 24hr drinking.
In a lot of ways it's worse, pubs closing down, black market booze runs to France and supermarkets selling rediculously cheap alcohol now means people can drink more at home now than they ever could before, making the longer term effects of alcohol even more insidious than they are already.

The fact that more people are waking up to, talking about and actually giving up drink, for any length of time, is highly commendable and a sign that habitual drinking eventually costs you in time, money and health.

And for reference, yes, alcohol withdrawl for a regular drinker can cause insomnia along with many other symptoms you might not expect.

(Just Google alcohol withdrawal and insomnia, it's an eye opener.)

I only gave up the sauce for good, aged 30, when I realised I had been a regular drinker for seventeen years and I would need to return to drink in order to get my old social life back but frankly I found my self control and piece of mind was worth more to me than any fine ale or single malt.

 

[just jim]

(Just Google alcohol withdrawal and insomnia, it's an eye opener.)

Thank you for this unintended gem (I hope not presumptious of me) tdr1nka - now I'm pumped!

 

[Night Train]

I recognise so much in tdr1nka's post. I have gone many years without drinking interspaced by the occasional year where I may have shared about 6 bottles of wine in the year.

Good luck with the alcohol free life, it is a real eye opener as to how others really are under the influence.

I doubt I will drink at all this year. Sober and celebate equates to so much more time to do interesting things.

 

[XmisterIS]

I don't drink, smoke or take drugs (apart from paracetamol when my delicate little head has a hurty).

Sometimes people want to know why I don't drink and I just tell them, "Because I choose not to". If they want to know why I choose not to, I tell them it is for medical reasons. If they want to know what medical reasons I ask them whether they think it is appropriate that I discuss the intimate details my medical history with a room full of complete strangers at an informal gathering!

 

[JediGoat]

Another one joining the list.

I've always liked a beer or a glass of wine (or anything else with alcohol in it for that matter ), but after starting home-brewing (beer and wine) a couple of years ago, I never really noticed how my home consumption was rising. It creeps up on you, it just becomes the norm to get home, make dinner, and grab a beer or a glass of wine.

So, I've decided to abstain from alcohol for 3 months, and after that, only drink when I am out at a social occasion (no drinking booze at home). This is almost the same as not drinking at all, as I work 7 days a week, all weekday evenings, and am too tired/broke to got out at weekends

I'm not giving up the ciggies just yet though...one thing at a time

 

[hackbike 666]

I found drinking at home wasn't such a good idea.

Used to start after 9pm and play Championship Manager 97/98 (and other games) all night with a bottle of vodka or gin or both and a can of lager.

Funnily enough I don't play it since I stopped the drinking at home

Also another pointer is I dont have any booze in the house apart from a bottle of 1963 Port given to me by my dad.

Been drinking tea all night.

 

[Luke Bream]

Good Luck to you. I have just gone the other way. Having stopped drinking in my mid twenties and didnt touch a drop for 10 years have just started again !!

 

[Manonabike]

I drink very little and I'm happy to be able to enjoy a drink from time to time. For Xmas I had a few glasses of wine and a few others for New Year.... then I could spend months without touching a drop of alcohol. It has always been this way.....

Now, cigarettes it's another matter I used to smoke 20 - 30 a day for 20 years.... I had numerous attempts to give up.... once I was nearly there, I lasted 2 months and I felt over confident, in fact I felt that I could do the same I do with alcohol so I smoked a couple of cigarettes at a party and my attempt failed again 12 years ago I tried again but this time I said "I will take one day at a time" and the plan worked.... so I guess if I had to give up drinking I would try the same method, one day at a time. It seems easier having to face one day without alcohol or cigarette .... the following day is another day and you say to yourself in the morning "today I will not drink"

It has always been a problem for me socialising with people that drink far more than me..... I cannot drink more than 2 or 3 pints in a night out and that stops me from going out with friends, I feel uncomfortable having to justify that after the first pint I don't enjoy the rest and I'm happy drinking water or orange juice.... I don't mind sitting around people drinking but it does bother some people drinking while I drink water lol

So, good luck..... one day at a time but not just for 3 months

 

[longers]

Hi Luke

That's some first post on a forum!

 

[Noodley]

Here goes the first weekend....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Here goes the first weekend....

Go for it!
Just had first home entertaining with friends, it's not quite the same without the alcohol somehow, but we'll get used to it I hope.
Drinks tried: Elderflower and Grape cordial = Bearable, Cobra 0%, not bad, Ginger beer and lime= OK, needed stronger Ginger beer. Ho hum.
Feel certain some weight is shifting though, and that's a major incentive! Just need for the snow to clear then I'll be back out on the bike... yee haaa.


Well done Wagoneers, keep it up!