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I'm still in. I only drink weekends these days. Missed a beer the first weekend, second weekend it was easy going. Then a case of Freester Jr bringing the 'au naturel Covid booster' into the house has kind of helped distract me from lack of booze.
I'll keep going off the pop until next weekend now...
Still in... started a week early too 🙂
Still feel lousy half the time... so don't think it was the booze causing that.
Stuck to my version of doing it/not doing it. I've had a drink on just two Saturday nights this month (and much same in September). Actually feel like I've broken the cycle of "it's the weekend let's open the wine", which I'd like to think is sustainable long term. Can't decide if I feel much different on it, I'll make that judgment in 6 months. But do enjoy waking at the weekend without a hangover, and really noticed how jaded I felt after those couple of Saturdays I did have a drink. No plans to booze today.
Well, as thread starter - I failed miserably
Did a week of not smoking and not drinking, but the Mrs (who had been badgering me to do it) didn't even try - walloping bottles of prosecco. Had the odd glass, being sensible, but then there were some nights out and slipped back to normal
Supposed to be doing November/December
Ironically, the Mrs didn't touch a drop last week
Hmmm, nearly done.
I am trying VERY hard to resist the urge to open the garage door at 00:01 and liberate the gran reserve Rioja my bro and sister in law bought me for my birthday.
I’ve done this for 3 years in a row now and I always get to the end contemplating the benefits…
Sleep - still rubbish but perhaps ever so slightly less rubbish?
Mood - meh, standard not ecstatic, not sad, just stressed
Weight - a bit lighter I think. Someone said I’d lost weight and the scales suggest maybe 3 or 4lbs gone.
Long term drinking habits - hmmm, tricky . I think sobertober adjusts them
For a little while but I worry that
Come Xmas I’ll be back into it.
I think the biggest challenge has not been reaching for something when I’ve had a particularly bad day (and there’s been a few) and also dealing with events, nights out etc
Well I made it. Now 41 days without alcohol. Pretty sure this is the longest I've been without a drink since I was 17.
I've hardly missed it at all, but something about being close to the finish line and I was really tempted at the weekend.
First couple of weeks I didn't feel much different, but after that I really felt the benefits; I'm sleeping way better and sleep all through the night from about 10 until my alarm goes off at 5:30. For as long as I can remember I've been a shit sleeper, waking up every couple of hours and then giving up around 4am and just get up.
I've lost 10kgs so far (also been eating better) and my resting HR is down from mid 50s to mid 40s (I've always had a low RHR. Last time I was in hospital around 10 years ago I kept setting the alarms off at night when my HR dropped but they said it's just efficient and nothing to worry about).
Strange thing is, with all the benefits above and how I'm generally feeling loads better I still think that when I do have a drink again, I will eventually end up back where I was. So I'm going to try and keep it going for as long as possible.
^^ 10kg? Wow, good work!
Well done everyone, I know it should be easy and all that but it’s not!
Muggo - I know what you mean re going back to old habits. I think the associations need to be broken I.e. had a bad day - beer, knackered - beer, weekend - deserve a beer, night out - beer etc etc
The problem is (I think) that during this month I’ve merely changed the association to a less harmful thing (AF drinks) rather than challenge the association. That means when I do start drinking again the link will still be there..
Yeah and I'm aiming for at least another 10kg too (My lockdown 2 and 3 habits really helped pile on the weight).
My hope is that if/when I do go back to proper beer, that this period has shown me that I can do it if I want to and that the AF alternatives can help.
The problem is (I think) that during this month I’ve merely changed the association to a less harmful thing (AF drinks) rather than challenge the association. That means when I do start drinking again the link will still be there
Interesting you think like that. Personally I see it more like I need to drink liquid to stay alive. There's only so much water you can consume so AF beer seems to be a healthy enough alternative. Or am I kidding myself and the long term effects of alcohol free is not known, probably like vaping.
My problem has always been I didn't know when to stop, so having a glass of wine or beer always turns into emptying the bottle. With AF beer I tend to feel full after 3 and stop drinking. That wouldn't happen if alcohol was involved.
Good plan muggo..
^^ re above, I’m pretty sure AF beers are safe 🙂
Yeah, I think my problem is that it’s a reward so even though I’ve been slurping AF beer it’s reinforced the whole needing something to relax after a hard day / work / stress thing..
Well I had my first drink Saturday night. My last drink previously was the Sunday before October, so that's 6 weeks in total. The pint on Saturday tasted nice. It may have turned into 3 or 4. And I felt soooo tired Sunday AM. Normally I'd have a beer Sunday with my evening meal but didn't bother.
So I'm now 49 days without booze.
In those 49 days I've had the odd moment where I've thought "I really fancy a beer", but it quickly passes and then I don't think much about it again.
This weekend though it's been constant battle to not give in. Pretty much from Friday after work through to Sunday evening I've been wanting a beer. It's actually made me feel pretty miserable all weekend. Health wise I believe it's ok to have a few drinks, so long as I stick to the guidelines of 14 units over the week.
I think it's more that I'm wanting to keep the booze free streak going and the nagging doubt in the back of my mind that once I start again that I'll go back to how I was.
And I felt soooo tired Sunday AM
Gonna bore you all again with my tales of teetotalitarianism!. 🙂
^^ This was my reason really for chucking the beer, that lethargy that is difficult to shake after even 3 or 4 the night before. Of course, there's many, many more positives 3.5 years later, but that was the main driver.
This was my reason really for chucking the beer, that lethargy that is difficult to shake after even 3 or 4 the night before.
It's been one of the biggest positives from this for me. As I have said before, for as long as I can remember I have been a terrible sleeper; waking every couple of hours before giving up. Around 10-14 days into giving up drinking I have been sleeping all through the night getting 7-8 hours. It's probably the main reason I'm so keen to avoid starting again.
Aye, for sure, life's issues are so much easier coming off a good nights sleep.
I don't feel that different for not drinking, no cravings and no sudden alertness. The only noticeable things are that I wake up an hour earlier and I save money for petrol on the bottle run. One side effect is weight loss shown here for just under the last 3 months. I am sure I should feel healthier for it but I seem to be blindly indifferent
The only noticeable things are that I wake up an hour earlier and I save money for petrol on the bottle run
Only? Did you get your drink for free like? 🙂
Ha, I have a little spreadsheet where I've added in average amount of days I would drink in a week plus the average amount I'd spend for the days I've been off the booze and I'm just under £300 now. Should actually start putting that money aside and use it for a big night out somewhere 😀
[i]Only? Did you get your drink for free like? 🙂[/i] - I am the accountant for the cycling club kitty but don't tell them 🙂
Okay - I am probably saving around £5 - 6,000 a year as well
Now you're talking.
I’m doing this for 30 days, started 31st October. Main reason is the challenge/breaking the cycle of dependency. I really feel like I ramped up in the last 19 Months - or certainly became more aware of volume consumed.
I’m definitely a grumpy bugger right now. Some would say that’s my normal but I deffo feel more quick to annoy.
Good luck @paulneenan76. Keep it going, it took me 10-14 days before I started to feel good for it, but really feeling so much better now.
I was the same as you and I expect there are plenty more of us who’s drinking ramped up from the first lockdown. 2 big bottles of beer used to be enough for an evening’s drinking for me and 18 months later I’m at 4, sometimes 6 of them.
Cheers Muggomagic.