No more drinking any more .....

[HeyWayne]

You're all missing a trick.

Just get bigger glasses!

In all seriousness though - I now drink red wine in chuffin great big Bordeaux glasses - but only fill it to it's widest point. Makes me feel like I'm having loads and I try desperately to smell/taste the wine properly, but like James May, it smells "winey". I find it lasts me ages.

[smallblueplanet]

This is my problem, I only drink two/three glasses a night, but that's a whole bottle...

Whereas common measure used to have it that there were 6 glasses of wine in a 75cl bottle!!!

So yes, when I say I'm only drinking 2-3 glasses I mean about half a bottle of red wine. I also don't buy (except very occasionally) red wine that is above 13% alcohol, I try to stick with 12% French reds - lots of 'new world' stuff now is at least 14% alcohol.

Like lynda's choccy and tea, I know I ain't gonna give it up!

[daleclarke]

I am like a few have a glass then the bottle and the cheese and biscuits or crisps. So have come to a decision this week to stop, I do not believe in just doing it gently. I did stop for 2 years nearly, so know I can do it...

I worked out every month I spent £120 if you have a bottle a day and nearly £60 in treats to eat with it. Wow that's a lot of money!

[bluemoon]

Umm, reading this makes me wonder if red wine is seriously addictive or something. And yes, I'm afraid it's my downfall too, I can quite easily do a bottle a night. For the past year I haven't drunk nearly as much though, but I didn't consciously stop I just stopped wanting to quite as much, to the point where I couldn't really fancy it even on special occasions. I'm past that now and can happily drink again (best mate is coming round tonight, so I'll be indulging later), but I just don't seem to do it as much now. I think I used to because OH worked permanent nights and I was bored once he'd left for work. Once he lost his job and then started working normal hours again my drinking stopped too. (I'm sounding like a complete alcoholic here, but what I mean is that when I opened a bottle I did it knowing there was no-one to share it with and that I'd finish the lot, I suppose I'd have 2 or, occasionally, 3 bottles a week) Anyway I seem to have some balance back now. Good luck NG.

[geoff]

I can identify with all these comments. Red wine is my weakness too; I can quite happily leave it alone, but once I start I just keep going till the bottle's empty
It's not so much the wine, it's the act of drinking that I like. I've cut down a lot, and started drinking china tea or blackcurrant and soda; getting so I do't miss it
Anyway I want a new sleeping bag for backpacking - have you seen the prices for a good quality down filled sleeping bag?! Another reason to give it up and save my money

''how could anything I love so much treat me so badly?''

[nelliegemini]

Bluemoon I think you're right - no-one with a white wine addiction here (no wonder you may say, I've never found one I liked for under £10, apart from the hock type).

I'm back from shopping and have resisted - even the little bottles that are one third of full size and whimpered to me as I walked past 'just buuuuy mmeeee, I won't hurt and you can just drink one'. Little devils!

I don't plan to make this a rest of my life thing, I do believe that a small amount of red is good for me, but like so many of us I can't stop at a small amount and over time I have built up a tolerance that means I can have a bottle and still appear cold stone sober. I plan to try for a while and then see if I can go back to sensible drinking, if not then it's the wagon for life.

Off topic, just spotted my first purple sprouting in the shops. For those of you who are with me in thinking it will never be ready and is it worth it, Morrisons have 200g for £1.59 from Lincs. Thats £7.95 a kg!! I will go and talk nicely to my two plants and tell them to hurry cos I need them to sprout soon.

[di]

As it's your thread so O.K to sidetrack....I noticed the beginnings of some little sprouting babies on my purple & red today!
As for the reason I'm only addicted to red....cos it's too darned cold in the winter to be drinking white....sure my addiction will transfer come the long warm days of summer!

[nelliegemini]

i gave up alcohol 21 years ago, when i realised how it had taken over my life (bottle for breakfast, lunch, tea and a couple for supper) was hard going, but one day i just stopped, and yep i was ill for about 3 months ...... but i stuck with it.

the hardest thing for me was to not fill my trolley with bottles before i put food in..... and to actually start eating food instead of drinking (i always take things to extremes lol)

so now the rule is no drinking alcohol unless it's a special occasion, so basically i get plastered on my birthday,and occasionally when i go out (don't go out much) but it costs far less to get drunk lol .... and i only drink at home if we're having a party.

no words of wisdom really, like any addiction though, if you want to give it up you will ....... i am now addicted to tea and choccie ....... but i'm not joining you giving them up

good luck and stay positive ..... you will feel so much better xxxxxxxxxxxx

Lynda, I've just read your post again and I am so impressed that you managed to stop, even more so that you are now so adjusted that you can take it or leave it - that's where I want to get to. I've got an 18th birtday party and a Chinese meal out this weekend, so it's going to be a challenge. I think I'll try and be good until our hols in April - thats do-able, I hope!

[Rhona]

Yep - that's a heck of an achievement, Lynda.

Now you must all stop talking about lovely lovely wine as pregnant women (ok this one) are starting to crave it!

Actually, my midwives are very relaxed about a small glass of wine every now and then, so I do have the odd bit. When you're restricted to tiny tiny amounts, it REALLY makes you appreciate it!

[multiveg]

The thing I need to give up is chocolate - just ordinary milk chocolate (I won't touch the dark/plain stuff) and I find myself opening my son's chocolate buttons.....
As for wine - sometimes go through half a bottle. Other times, just get those small bottles of red - 4 for a £5 or whatever. OH prefers beer and doesn't want to mix drinks but he tops up my glass with more wine while I am not looking. Once a bottle is opened, it will go off (not immediately) so unless it is drunk in a day or two, it is wasted and there is enough waste in the world! Often, wine will get used in cooking.
As for exercise, I treated myself to an exercise bike - too much hassle to go to gym (perhaps I am being too self-conscious..). So shortly, I will put on a dvd and get on my bike!

[multiveg]

Yep - that's a heck of an achievement, Lynda.

Now you must all stop talking about lovely lovely wine as pregnant women (ok this one) are starting to crave it!

Actually, my midwives are very relaxed about a small glass of wine every now and then, so I do have the odd bit. When you're restricted to tiny tiny amounts, it REALLY makes you appreciate it!

My midwife suggested a very very small glass of red wine was good for me - I would drink one sherry-glass size (25ml) of red wine with a meal when I was pregnant. She said that red wine has more iron in than Guinness. She said she froze the rest of the wine in ice-cube trays - an ice cube would be about the right size. I never drank more than 50ml wine in a night (mostly half that), though one time, drank a measure of port instead.

[Two_Sheds]

I do believe that a small amount of red is good for me, but like so many of us I can't stop at a small amount and over time I have built up a tolerance that means I can have a bottle and still appear cold stone sober.

me too
I really, really enjoy the first glass, so much so that I want another. Then the bottle is nearly gone, so you just finish it, don't you?

I have cut right down in the last year (with some ups & downs) from 4 bottles a week to 2, on average. Some weeks I only have a couple at the weekend, but if we go out it's a lot more.

I've discovered that I sleep a hell of a lot better if I drink nothing at all, but some evenings I am so exhausted or wound up, that a glass of red is just the thing. Then I don't sleep properly, so I'm tired the next day, so I want a drink - and on and on.

You'll need lots of tricks up your sleeve to fill the gap left by alcohol. The lighter evenings will help, if you can get up the allotment, or out for a walk.
Find a non-alcoholic drink that you like: mine is Shloer or Virgin Mary

If you fall off the wagon, don't give up ... just start again the next day.
I would love to abstain totally, but it's not possible ... I enjoy red wine too much to give it up forever. I will instead aim to drink only at weekends, and only after 8pm.

[Hilary B]

Most red wines I don't much like. I always give up alcohol for Lent (and at the moment not drinking until Feb, to balance over-indulgence for Christmas and New Year). My stomach won't let me drink VERY much. If I am getting beyond 'cheerful' and still drink I start feeling sick. That is when I switch to fizzy water for an hour, after which..... (only ever done that for a New Year do).
Never have been one to drink every day (except on holiday, and even then miss a day here and there).

Idea, choose some exootic fruit juice and drink THAT when habit makes you reach for a wine glass.

[nelliegemini]

Idea, choose some exootic fruit juice and drink THAT when habit makes you reach for a wine glass.

I've bought some mango juice and lychee juice. The lychee is wonderful (I keep thinking how well it will go with gin), but the sugar content is really high, so I will spend so much at the dentists I won't be able to afford to drink. OH drinks diet coke when he is driving but I don't like the fizz, so on my next foray to the supermarket I will look at all the fancy fruit juices and mixes and see what is low in sugar. I've got some Morrisons grape and elderflower which is 72 calories for a third of a bottle. I know it seems silly carping on about calories, but part of the reason for not drinking is because it makes me fat.

[Hilary B]

I've bought some mango juice and lychee juice. The lychee is wonderful (I keep thinking how well it will go with gin), but the sugar content is really high, so I will spend so much at the dentists I won't be able to afford to drink. OH drinks diet coke when he is driving but I don't like the fizz, so on my next foray to the supermarket I will look at all the fancy fruit juices and mixes and see what is low in sugar. I've got some Morrisons grape and elderflower which is 72 calories for a third of a bottle. I know it seems silly carping on about calories, but part of the reason for not drinking is because it makes me fat.

Is ALL fizz out, or would 'lightly fizz' be OK? If so, try 'fruit spritzer', half fruit juice, half fizzy water. The bubbles reduce the 'dilution of taste'. The things called 'fruit drink' are mostly juice, but diluted and sweetened, you can sometimes get them sweetened with artificial sweetener. I can't stand the muck, but it may help the calorie control.