No more drinking any more .....

[bramble]

Its all habit really.
You get into a habit, like having wine with your dinner and then think something is missing when you have to eat without it.

[nelliegemini]

Just got back from Weightwatchers and I am drinking a pint glass half full of ice and topped up with lychee juice. I can do this, I can do this - but I miss me ol' mate. This wagon thing has really shocked my OH who didn't know a thing about it until he came home from work.

Chilimad, you must have hollow legs, or do you have a downstairs loo as well as upstairs (and in the shed, the garage, and the corner of the lounge). Sarzwiz and Sharonr, thank you for sharing that (and that isn't meant to sound patronising, I'm sorrry if it does). I had reached the stage where I didn't know if I had a serious problem or just needed to cut down a bit. I always wake up at 3ish in the morning, as discussed on the insomnia thread and deep inside I knew it was because I was really dehydrated - I always take a pint of water to bed with me and always finish it during the night - that can't be normal.

Glutton4 - there's nothing wrong with hopping on and off the wagon, you seem to have learnt from your 8 days if you can see the effects already. Hopefully this total ban will sort me out so I can withdraw to the weekends only rule.

[daleclarke]

Just found out last night from a Policeman friend that if you have more than 2 large red wines and finish about 10pm, you are still over the drink limit at 8am. If you have a bottle it can be as much as 12 noon. So I think drinking less on a night at home might save your licence.

This has been a very sobering thought to me and will certainly make me cut it out.

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, you should count your hours from your last drink. A bottle of wine has 9 or 10 units of alcohol, and it takes an hour for your body to 'burn off' each unit (give or take).

So if you stop drinking at midnight, a bottle of wine is still 'in your system' at 9am for the school run, potentially.

[daleclarke]

This topic is being discussed in a computer forum I reside in and a doctor there says also if you drink more than 4 units, for every unit after that you need to double the hours. So 8 units is 12 hours.

Furthermore, it is a fallacy that you get used to booze in fact its the opposite the liver gets less efficient.

If you have over 200mg which is the average for a night out you are still over the limit at 2pm.

I am really shocked at this!

[nelliegemini]

It's fascinating about the next day rollover. I am very strict as I said earlier if I am driving and wont even have a tiny wine (just a huge whine at the drinkers (sorry)).

Now I realise that most of the time if I drive to work in the morning I shouldn't be - thank heaven there's been no accident.

Meanwhile first night went well, just drank loads of lychee'n'ice. Didn't sleep that well but hey, it's early days. I am expecting the ratty feeling when I gave up smoking (bit like pmt for those that know/remember) but so far OK. Good job too because I am in a charity shop dealing with the public today.

I'll come back on tonight and see how we're all doing.

[daleclarke]

Wow I not having anymore Kebabs 100g of fat and 98% of your daily salt intake.

As I usually have one when I have had a drink, I will probably stop them as well... Anyone got any health reasons for not having rumpy pumpy as that would just seal it, I might as well become a priest then!

[FionaH]

Meanwhile first night went well, just drank loads of lychee'n'ice. Didn't sleep that well but hey, it's early days. .

Hi been watching this thread and deciding wether to post. When someone first quits the booze they will find their sleep pattern screwed for a while. Drunk sleep isn't the same as normal sleep. A normal sleep pattern does return over time.
I would also suggest that people watch their caffeine intake. I never noticed it when I was drinking, (body too full of vino) but really notice the effect of coffee now my system is clear.
Like Lynda I got into a mess with booze and now choose not to drink.

[Two_Sheds]

Wow I not having anymore Kebabs 100g of fat and 98% of your daily salt intake.

Mr Sheds was virtually addicted to kebabs. Even watching Jamie show that they are just fat & grease held together with a bit of meat, didn't put him off. He needs to lose 4 stone to be a healthy weight.

If he loses his jelly belly, he'll feel better, have more energy, stop snoring, and then he'll be getting a bit more lovin' (if you know what I mean, family forum and all that)

[where2start]

This is a really interesting thread.

I truly believe that drinking at any level has been demonised like smoking has been. Two generations ago drinking everyday was not considered anti social, just as lighting up in enclosed spaces.

Now this change in peoples perception of drinking may be a result of improved knowledge of the dangers.

I have given up drinking many times in my life for various reasons. More recently i was tea total for 4 years, going to the gym every day and loosing lots of weight. Then i heard the news one day, and they said that a glass of red wine every day had health benefits and that those who didn't drink at all would benefit from a small tipple.

This changed my perception of life again and i started to drink again. BUT if i have one to many i don't sleep very well, i can suffer for a whole two days and i don't drink to extreme. Not only that but i feel incredibly guilty, i have let myself down etc.

Don't get me wrong i don't have a problem with it and i can go to social functions and not touch a drop and still have a very good time, i also know when to stop which is a far cry from my teenage years. Its actually more fun watching those around me!

I probably have a few beers three times a week. The only thing i would like to curb is drinking mid week, even though i don't drink excessive amounts i do feel so sleepy that its absurd. In reality though i feel sleepy all the time, drink or no drink because i have asthma which has reduced my lung capacity.

Some of us may have grown up with heavy drinking in the family, and if we truly evaluate how much we partake now i am sure we would find that we don't drink as much as the generation before us.....so that is an improvement in my opinion.

[Two_Sheds]

Drunk sleep isn't the same as normal sleep. A normal sleep pattern does return over time.

I always used to swear that I never dreamed. I didn't!
But now I'm not having that half a bottle of wine a night, I am dreaming.
Weird huh?

[Flummery]

I always used to swear that I never dreamed. I didn't!
But now I'm not having that half a bottle of wine a night, I am dreaming.
Weird huh?

Ah, but are you dreaming of wine?

[Two_Sheds]

Good one!
No, last night I dreamed that my bedding plants made it through the winter ... they didn't, I just checked

[bluemoon]

I think sometimes you just fall into a routine with it. Mine was; pack OH off to work (night shift) have a long hot bath, preferably with a bath-bomb in it, put on pyjamas, cozy dressing gown and fluffy slippers, open bottle of wine, open book, read until words cease to make sense......after about 2 glasses, finish off bottle, go to bed. That was in winter. In summer it was; go to lottie, sit in deck-chair, open wine (I have a corkscrew in the shed), drink wine - timing it perfectly so the bottle is emptied just as it gets dark - go home. My OH edged a bed with the empties of just one summer.

[Hilary B]

I`m the same, my OH can get through 3 bottles of red wine a night, or a bottle of whisky. If I say anything it makes it worse so I try to stay out of the way.
He can be a nasty piece of work if you annoy him and I don`t ever want to be like that so I haven`t had a drink in over 5 years and it doesn`t bother me.
Best of luck to all of you that are cutting down, just think of all the things you can buy for the garden with the money you`ll save.

A very old saying (so old it is in Latin) "In Vino Veritas". Translated (in case anyone doesn't know) "truth in wine". My OH drinks a bit much sometimes, (often enough for it to worry me in temrs of his health) but while it causes him the illusion that he can sing (and that really is an illusion!), the only OTHER effect on his personality is to make him sleepy.