[Closed] Here we go again - time to get sober

Good luck! Take the booze fridge out of the office!

Good luck! Take the booze fridge out of the office!

Ta - I'll have a few non-alcoholic ones

Good luck mate, you aren’t the only one to be a nob after drinks. I know you well enough to know you are a great lad 😀

Sounds like you are borderline alcoholic. Good luck.

^^ Nice dose of encouragement there trumpton.

Sounds like you are borderline alcoholic. Good luck.

Not far wrong tbh - however, I find it really easy to stop when I decide to and I'm usually pretty resolute at sticking to it

Good luck mate, you aren’t the only one to be a nob after drinks. I know you well enough to know you are a great lad 😀

Cheers mate

Sorry I wasn't thinking. Hope you stick to it.

Good luck x

Sorry I wasn’t thinking. Hope you stick to it.

Haha, no worries

Good luck!

I'll raise one of these to your endeavours this evening...

https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/browse/c-BEERS-5/c-Non-Alc-48

Best of luck, you sound a bit like me tbh. I never really got drunk, but one just got me thirsty really, 4 or 5 and it spoiled the evening, and made next day an effort.

Chucked it over 2 years ago, I'll not bother again, it's just so much better without it.

Fair play. I'm on a 10 sabbatical from it too. Finding working from home I'm drinking more think its cos I'm staying up later....

So need to shift some timber as well so time to knock it on the head and put the pies down.

Enjoy the break (however long it may be).

I also have the tendency to be a douche when really drunk, luckily I tend not to drink that heavily these days!

Good luck!

I’ll raise one of these to your endeavours this evening…

https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/browse/c-BEERS-5/c-Non-Alc-48/blockquote >

I can't stand IPA even with alcohol - fortunately the lagers are a bit better now there's more choice than the absolutely vile Becks Blue

 

Good luck. I always find pricing new kit in pints helps with sticking to it.

Good luck. I always find pricing new kit in pints helps with sticking to it.

I 'justified' an Audi RS5 with the money I was saving last time

I like this post and need to do the same myself, finding out how much I put away on saturday night was a bit more than a shock! Never really used to do home drinking but have become much more prolific at it since lockdown started...

Need to stop with the school night drinking as well.

I will be doing a 30day... possibly longer.

I don't drink "that much" just not enjoying the vice that a few lagers at home on a weekend has on me..

finding out how much I put away on saturday night was a bit more than a shock!

Bottle and a half of red, nigh on half a bottle of pink gin and 4 stella's yesterday

I ‘justified’ an Audi RS5 with the money I was saving last time

Bloody Hell! How much were you drinking?

Good luck, come on here to get nagged/encouraged/heckled regularly.

I went dry start of lockdown, so a few months without a drink. Defo was not shy with the bevvy beforehand, but had been slowly dropping down the divisions the past couple of years. Used to be a solid premiership outfit.

It's difficult to understand how easy it has been, like a switch has been pressed. I think I might have completed beer, basically - 100,000 pints and congrats, you've finished the game.

I guess it depends if the craving is still there or not - it's always going to be hard if you're fighting the urge to have a drink at the weekend. But for a lot of people it seems to just disappear. Good luck.

I got a little hammered yesterday with the neighbours and ended up talking drivel... According to the OH. Woke up in the night with heart palpitations, which scared me a little.
This morning I have pledged to stop drinking for August and go from there. Good luck OP!

It takes balls to openly admit you think you have a problem, tbh it’s probably the hardest part.
So, go to it, don’t look back.
The last time i was proper drunk was about 2005, was out with my (now) wife, ran into a female friend of mine, (i work with her BIL) she told me a few days later that my hand was “welded” to her arse.
I was mortified, I didn’t drink for about 8 years after it.
Luckily for me, she’s a proper mate and knew I didn’t mean anything by it, but I didn’t like the idea that I actually knew nothing about it.
I’ll have the odd beer nowadays, but i never get drunk anymore.

Good luck mate. You'll be surprised at how productive you can be when you're not drinking. It's not like you're hungover anymore due to tolerance but it affects your energy levels generally I think. I had to knock it on the head recently. Had been putting a bottle of red away every night, and up to three at weekends, not to mention cocktails and party accoutrements when out... was starting to resemble a beef tomato, was getting into scrapes, and energy levels were rubbish.

I've got to the age where I realise I'm just one of those people that needs to be altered consciously most of the time. I don't fight it anymore but work with it. Micro-dosing hallucinogens, yoga/meditation, high grade CBD medical cannabis. Drinking starts to look pretty boring when one considers the alternatives. And nothing beats the buzz of sailing back on the home-stretch of a good bike-ride!

Good luck. I think I need to do the same - been drinking a lot more than usual during coronatimes and I'm feeling it. Energy levels are down massively this past week and I'm fed up with it. Went off drinking altogether last autumn as all the lovely bocks we get just weren't hitting the spot. Still have about 150 bottles of various different beers in the garage and really need to get that number down - and keep it down.

Bottle and a half of red, nigh on half a bottle of pink gin and 4 stella’s yesterday

Saturday night = 4 pints in the pub (San Miguel) and then 8 pint cans of Arbor Space hardware NEIPA at a social event. This was in 6 hours, started at 4, home by 10, in what I thought was a reasonable state...

Sunday Wobbler

Winner of most appropriate forum name to post content award

I think il come in on this with you if you don’t mind.

Since late January I have been stuck in a cycle of drinking to feel better due to feeling knackered and stressed. Probably a bottle of wine and a couple of beers several times a week, and on other days gin/beer/cider.

No energy, feel like shit and then wanting to start drinking in order to “relax” when the evenings come.

I often say “ enough, no more” in the mornings as I know how unhealthy it is, especially with Covid. Then I crack and go back to the bottles.

Hoping posting this will help willpower a bit, and give me a line in the sand.

Have managed two nights so far. I know that sounds pathetic but it’s a win il take. Have more energy ( I’m not a zombie in the morning) going for a ride to the beach on the way to work this morning. And I have slept better and feel less worried about things in general.
A risk exists tonight-paddle boarding to a beach with a bar, also then passing my favourite pub on the way home (sits just behind the coastal path, epic views out to sea, great pint that the landlady knows my order and starts pouring as she sees me walk in).
Hoping posting this gives me willpower in the fact that it will be shameful if I have to report later that I folded

Well done mate.

I'm going to stop tomorrow.

Have managed two nights so far. I know that sounds pathetic but it’s a win il take.

I'm with you on that. Woke up early this morning feeling great rather than tired for once, then realised it was because it was after the first day in ages I hadn't had any alcohol the previous evening.  I don't drink much, probably only 1 to 2 beers an evening but that is enough

Having knocked serious drinking on the head at a young age when I was buying my first house, I remember how easy it is for it to become a bad habit.

I still like to have A drink, but two is now a bit much and I simply can't get a third pint down.

Good luck to you all.

my god, there are some people with serious tolerances here!

Good luck chaps, hope you stick it out.

Two days in here, was getting embarrassing putting out the blue box of shame every fortnight. I think the neighbors were listening out for the daily clink every morning too. Not loads every night but at least a couple of beers/glasses of wine. Lockdown trebled the volume and was drinking every day. Not good. Not sure if doing weekends dry but Sunday to Thursday definitely.

I decided to stop drinking about 8 years ago.

I read the Allen Carr: Easy Way to Stop Drinking.

It's a bit cheesy but rings true. It's all about realising that alcohol is a poor choice to often make and that you have TO DECIDE not to drink. Make a rational and reasoned choice each time you're tempted. It gave me the mental argument to tell me why I wanted to drink and why I shouldn't.

If you have to "ban" yourself, or remove it from the house, then you'll crumble in the next warm and social beer garden.

It's not about denying yourself, it's about making the best choices for yourself.

Good luck!

I think il come in on this with you if you don’t mind.

Go for it 😊

If you have to “ban” yourself, or remove it from the house, then you’ll crumble in the next warm and social beer garden.

I just stop and that's it. The Mrs might have some in the house if she's not abstaining and I'm not tempted.

Went to the pub yesterday (day 2) and had non alcoholic lager

Definitely something I need to be doing. Think I have 4 cans 5 nights a week, not massive amount by some standards but much more than most. I've not really felt the need to change as it doesn't have a noticable negative effect on me i.e I don't get hangovers, but I know that long term it's not the best for my health.

I've probs got about 15lbs of dad bod to get rid of so maybe i'll knock it on the head till i've done that?

my god, there are some people with serious tolerances here!

My thought exactly!

In some circles I would be thought of as someone who can 'hold their own' when it comes to the ale. In other circles I was always regarded as a lightweight (Uni mates principally) but mixing >1 bottle of wine with any spirit and/or any beer would put me on my back, especially nowadays.

More than three beers of an evening and I can definitely tell the next day. I do too much low level drinking, and I do need to get back to only having a drink 2/3 nights a week.

I used to get plastered and make a cock of myself fairly regularly, but I probably only get really pissed about once a year nowadays.

Try the CAGE questionnaire.

A good place to start for many and an indicator of how easy it can be to be blind to problem drinking.

The casual attitude to excess drinking exhibited by a lot of otherwise sensible people astounds me.

I’m in as well,if you don’t mind.

I’ve had a few false starts over the past month but I’m determined to do 30 days straight.

I’ll be leaning on this thread for support 🙏

Think I have 4 cans 5 nights a week

....

I’ve probs got about 15lbs of dad bod to get rid of

well, that's something like 4000 - 5000 calories a week you could cut out pretty easily (so long as you don't replace it with lemonade!) so it should help quite a bit with that 🙂

Good luck, I'm still going after packing it in at the end of June 2019, with the exception of a glass of bubbles on christmas day (and the odd erdinger alcohol free if they count). It gets easier and easier as you go along and I rarely miss it these days apart from the taste (beer/sambuca/jager oddly).

Its a good challenge which in my case has led to better quality of life.

My experience, drank far too much when I was younger.
Did go back to it but not as badly.
Have been on call since the start of lockdown so consumption way down.
Last Friday night 3 cans of cider resulted in a banging sore head most of Saturday.
Don't think I'll ever totally knock it on the head but will try to keep it to a couple of drinks at weekends.

I'm now 19 months sober. It gets much easier after three weeks, then you just have to remind yourself that you don't drink alcohol. Saying that, rather than "I've quit drinking" really helps with the mindset.

I'm also gluten free, so can't even indulge in alcohol free beers!

Suggestion.

I had cause to go to the doctor recently for a blood test. Whilst I was there I was told that as I'm over 40 they'd like to do an MOT and could they pull out another half pint or so for various other tests? I said fill your boots. One of those tests is liver function.

It didn't happen to me thankfully, but a GP telling you "stop drinking or you're gonna die" might be a bit of a motivator?

Happy to say - no beer was imbibed in the pub.
Temptation was there, but I couldn’t stand the thought of coming on here to say that I folded.
Thank you

Congratulations are in order then! Well done.

Free delivery on one full box and over at Brewdog now, just got the email.

Good luck. I’m a month away from doing a year without alcohol. I was never a big drinker, but one night out resulted in a missed days riding with mates and feeling like poo so knocked it on the head. Doubt I’ll go back.

I find Ghost Ship alcohol free good to drink when out with friends and we have some really nice alcohol free gin in the cupboard - I’d challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference.

Good one, each time you say no it gets easier

I find Ghost Ship alcohol free good to drink when out with friends and we have some really nice alcohol free gin in the cupboard – I’d challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference.

After trying lots... the Ghost Ship Low Tide is about the best i've found.

Cheers guys
Next challenge, bbq Friday
I may try to find some ghost ship to take-thanks for the heads up:)

I have not had a drink since 7th March. On that day, I drank about 10 cans of Stella and just was a total knobber. Alcohol for me like many people brings highs and lows. For a number of years in my early 20s it caused me nothing but misery and whilst I cut down I couldn't stop. I would regularly drink 60 to 70 pints a week back then.

Even though I don't drink every day I was just a classic binge drinker which is actually more dangerous. Having had children I found the hangovers horrific. One beer would leave me feeling sick and tired and next day. 5 beers would do the same so why just have one?!?

Anyways, I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired as they say. Since stopping I have lost 13kg. I am faster on the bike than I have ever been and I wake up feeling alert and far less tired. The benefits and enjoyment as a result of not drinking are now outweighing the joy of beer.

I am not saying I will never drink again but just not for now. My goal is to do a year without alcohol.I think I can do it, it's only social situations that add pressure.

Good luck OP. As someone once said, you don't have to get out of the lift in the basement.

This combo is quite nice and the cordial with soda and ice makes a nice fake mojito

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we have some really nice alcohol free gin in the cupboard – I’d challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference.

i accept that challenge..... wheres the AF gin from and ill go buy some?

I've tried alcohol free spirits and always been disappointed

Thats 2 nights without a drink, bit of a record lately. Thanks OP, and also to some of the helpful comments on here.

I made it from Sunday to last night without one, then had three last night. I'm pretty pleased about that because it would have usually been double.

Couple of favorites from designated driver duties. Brooklyn can be had at tesco.

This is harder to get a hold of but worth the effort

Thanks, keep the low alcohol suggestions coming in!

I bought a case of these recently - https://drydrinker.com/product/low-alcohol-mixed-ipa-box-12-x-330ml/

Which were all decent, but none blew me away. My local Tesco is a small one so doesn't carry Brooklyn or Punk AF, but does do Ghost Ship 0.5% which is probably my favourite so far.

Someone here (Kelvin?) keeps posting that Tiny Rebel beer, but it looks a bit fruity for me!

Pistonhead .5% is decent. Crate from Amazon for 24quid. I actually like the heineken zero and it's nice and (comparatively) cheap at 4.50 for 6.

I did 8 months dry last year. I enjoyed the benefits of being booze free but I missed the pub/socialising so on balance decided permanent abstinence is not for me, yet. And since lockdown I've got into home brewing which has been fun.

I'm on a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I recognise a lot of the comments made so far here, and would like to tone it down a bit. Bar two pints of shandy last Wednesday for the first visit to a pub garden for 3 months (instead of 3 pints of normal), I've gone without for 12 days.

I very rarely drink during the week, but tend to make up for it on a Saturday and Sunday. After just one weekend off it, I'm surprised how much more energy and motivation I have, which is helping me recognise the benefits of cutting down other than just giving my liver a break.

I've experimented with a few alcohol free alternatives. Most are disappointing, but an ice cold bottle of Eisberg Sauvignon Blanc last night was really very nice. The only alternative so far that i'd recommend.

Well it would appear that the wheels well and truly came off my wagon on Saturday...

Waking at 0530 on the landing floor at the top of the stair with no recollection of how I got there probably isn't something I should be shouting about...

Time to have a word with myself I think! Even missed my sunday ride and I very rarely miss that even with a hangover!