Any of you lot contemplating a booze free start to the year?
Loads of good non alcohol beers out there now. My own recommendation is Birra Moretti.
Anyway I’m at the bar and I think the barman has spotted me so what are you having?
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Gatz says
So far, I have to say, ‘No’.
Good luck to anyone who is though. I come from a family with a very strong history of alcoholism, and on top of that I’m from Glasgow so it can be hard to tell the difference between the alcoholics and the rest. I know some frown on the AA approach, but I credit it with saving the lives of some people very close to me.
If you’re choosing sobriety and struggling with it then I wish you every strength and and a supportive sponsor. May one dry day turn into weeks, months, years …
Vincent says
No. But I drink less than I did.
dai says
I do it every year, but not sure I can be bothered this year. Have over indulged a bit in the Christmas period but otherwise my alcohol consumption is about 2-4 pints a week., some weeks not even that, sometimes I do alcohol free months without thinking about it. Good luck those doing it, first week is tough then it’s a breeze.
hedgepig says
Yeah. A stinky cold and then covid meant pretty much an entire December in which I ate too much, drank too much and exercised nowhere near enough. I’m very up for cutting out the booze, which I often do for months at a time anyway, just to improve my all-round health and energy levels. Even a couple of drinks slows me down appreciably the following day, and it always makes me feel tired. So a January without is devoutly to be wished. I won’t miss it.
fentonsteve says
In 2021, I doubled my alcohol intake.
In 2020, I had food poisoning on my birthday so didn’t drink anything, two glasses of bubbly on Christmas day but I was a bit dicey on Boxing Day, so didn’t bother on NYE.
In 2021, I didn’t drink anything on my birthday (forgot to chill a bottle in advance), two glasses of bubbly on Christmas day and was OK on Boxing Day, and so had two more on NYE.
I haven’t been to any gigs for nearly two years, so haven’t even had a pint of Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% in 2021 – I find live music sounds best with a beer, but I still have to drive home afterwards.
About 10 years ago I went from a couple of pints or half a bottle of wine every evening to almost nothing. Extreme, but required due to the Crohn’s diagnosis and medication. After a couple of weeks I didn’t miss it at all and just stoppped altogether. I’m much healthier at 51 than I was at 41.
Not that I want to make light of anything, but I found coffee harder to give up – that took a couple of months for the headaches to stop.
Good luck to everyone doing Dry January.
johnw says
I haven’t given up coffee – there seems to be no good medical evidence that I (as relatively healthy person) should but I did used to find it an irritation that I had to make sure I got my ‘fix’ to avoid the awful headaches. A few years ago I substituted my mid morning coffee for a decaf and I no longer get the headaches when I miss out on my afternoon cuppa. So, unlike many other sorts of addiction, it seems that it’s possible to wean yourself off one step at a time.
I tried a few beans and have settled on the Sainsbury’s own brand Columbian although I’m happy to have the Waitrose Peru beans. No, they’re not quite as nice as the real thing but then so is no coffee at all!
fentonsteve says
Turns out coffee isn’t good for the (my) guts. I still drink a lot of tea, though.
dai says
It’s a well known gut irritant
Lodestone of Wrongness says
January, IHMO, is not the month to go dry (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). It’s miserable enough, short days and mostly inclement weather.
We have two dry months a year – February and October. I find drinking nothing at all easier than restricting myself to one glass. Once the bottle is open ..
I love those “What to do with leftover wine” articles. Yeah, right.
bobness says
Leftover wine.
I didn’t even know there was such a thing.
Good point re Jan not being the best month.
Good luck to anyone who is, of course.
Nick L says
No dry January for me but then I only ever drink at weekends and even then only ever a pint or a can. Which definitely wasn’t the case in my 20’s and 30’s.
Jaygee says
While one of those people who drinks quite heavily if having a night on the grog, I’m a firm believer in having lengthy spells on the wagon.
After receiving a warning that I was nudging the lower level of type 2 diabetes following my annual pre-birthday blood test in Sept, I cut out or down on everything and ended up losing just under 30 lbs in the three months to Xmas. Although have let things slide a bit over the holidays, I’ll be back on the straight and narrow first thing tomorrow for the foreseeable.
Edgar Davids says
Good work Jaygee. Sounds like you’ll be a contender for the coveted Afterword Slimmer of the Year Award!
The changing attitudes to booze are noticeable in the under 35s I think. Lots of non drinkers in that age group and it’s not an issue for them.
Speaking to friends recently and we all knew middle aged women who seemed to be drinking wine at home every night. Not sure if this is pandemic related or driven by social media but definitely a worrying trend
dai says
At some point it became a thing that women in my orbit were talking on fb about having a “cheeky” glass of wine or two and were then encouraged by all their friends making it appear to be completely normal which is what it has become to many. Well done @jaygee
deramdaze says
What would Johnson do?
Answer: Sneaky drinks. It’s written all over him.
And that’s what I’m going to cut out. Not the shared bottle of wine with my wife, but the casual pints at the Rugby or the two or three when I’m at the local rival’s football ground… one in the pub, one in the Club Bar before the game, one at half-time… no more. Two weeks into that mantra now. Pretty good, given that covers Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Sneaky drinks is exactly what Fat Boy would do.
Polar opposite of Fat Boy = good. Fat Boy = bad. Works for everything, not just alcohol.
MC Escher says
Jesus
MC Escher says
Apologies Deram, that was a bit uncalled for. Stay safe and mostly sober 😉
Fintinlimbim says
Not for me, I’m afraid. Pubs and breweries have suffered quite enough and, thanks to lockdown, we have lost our local microbrewery.
I see my continued drinking as a form of philanthropy.
dai says
I only support local craft breweries these days. Little pricier, but we are blessed with many in this area.
Twang says
No. But we don’t drink Monday to Thursday nights, and moderately on Sunday. I sometimes crack and have a glass of wine on an AFD day which I shall try to resist, but that’s our regular restraint. I can’t see the point of dry January, if you don’t want to drink, don’t. Or if you do, cheers! Why just January? Also it’s Mrs. T’s birthday mid Jan so a bottle of bub is something to look forward to.
I do find the 4 days off system has real benefit though, and I probably drink less on non-AFDs too (unless it’s been a rough week).
retropath2 says
I used to do dry Mon/Tues/Wed, they being work days, doing the same over my spell of trying to rid the black dog, but have found I generally can’t be that arsed to imbibe the rest of the week either, bar token efforts over the holiday. Given people seem to have to embrace dry january to prove they don’t have an issue, seems to confirm more you might, but, hey, horses for courses.
( guess the sauce doesn’t mix so good with/for medication either, mind…)
Gatz says
As Louis Brennan puts it in his song Selfish Lover
Baron Harkonnen says
I haven`t had a drink since December 11th when myself and friends had a weekend in Ulverston.
At one time no one would have believed me if I`d told them I hadn`t had a drink for 3 weeks, especially over the Festive period. I used to be an at least 5 nights a week and Saturday/Sunday afternoon in the pub guy. One day I just stopped drinking to excess, no problem doing it. I didn`t stop going out drinking* completely, I still enjoyed a few beers and still do.
*I rarely drink at home although there is always alcohol in the house/beer in the fridge in the shed, although…..
However I am happy to announce that friends will be coming round to Harkonnen Towers in the next hour and I will definitely be having several sips.
Jimmydon says
I was swithering whether to add to this post but in the spirit of the openness I’ve seen from others on here during the years here goes.
I have a history of addiction and had to go to the GA a few years ago due to my gambling, something that I’d been doing since I was about 14. Although GA wasn’t really for me in the lomg term I found that it did help me sort things out in my head and I was thankfully able to curb this compulsion. I still gamble now but only gamble what I can afford (the first and only rule to gambling!). I always thought it was a family/genetic thing, as I had grown up in a Scots/Irish family where gambling was just a part of life (days out to the races, card games for pennies, etc).
I now think that maybe drinking is a family/genetic thing too,. My dad wasn’t a big drinker but I had a couple of uncles who were alcoholics and I fear I’ve picked up certain habits recently that I’m worried about. I’ve always liked a drink, without craving it, but I’ve been off work for the last three months due to extreme unhappiness with how things are going there (without going into the details) and have found myself drinking every day for the last 3-4 weeks. Two or three bottles of red, generally (I don’t drink beer in the house, strangely, but I do when I’m out). Although I don’t wake up and hit it straight away., I generally start around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
In the past I have been guilty of being a binge drinker, going on sessions for a few days. However, there was always a day at the end of a binge when I said ‘enough is enough’. This feels different somehow though, although I know this is probably because of my work situation.
I’m not really sure what the point of my post is here, but I know drink is a slippery slope, so although it’s too late for me to have a dry January I can say that I’ll be spending the majority of January sober, as I am self aware enough to recognise when I’m standing on this slope. Hopefully others in the same position do too.
Jaygee says
@jimmydon
Brave post, J.
Hang in there
Freddy Steady says
Yep @jimmydon
I imagine it will have been hard to write that.
Jimmydon says
Surprisingly easy to write, Freddy, but surprisingly difficult to press ‘Post Comment’.
Freddy Steady says
Fair play to you for pressing it @jimmydon
Jimmydon says
Thanks, Jaygee, I appreciate your support
Edgar Davids says
Fair play to you Jimmydon for posting. Seems to me like a good sign you have that self awareness to step back. All the best
retropath2 says
As you ride this, remember to be kind to yourself.
Twang says
Yeah ditto from me too.
Black Celebration says
Thanks for posting – a bit of honesty really does clear the air. I think the wine consumption will tail off naturally as the time distance grows between today and the work trauma. It sounds like you are just dealing with that and that’ll all be in the past soon enough.
dai says
@Jimmydon I once posted something similar here around 10 years ago, does take some guts. I drank too much for many years and marriage break up pushed me over the edge where it became an every day occurrence
I also was unemployed at the time.
Through a strange set of coincidences I ended up getting counselling both for my alcohol dependency and depression in my neighbourhood. Both helped me a lot, I gave up completely for a while, I do drink now but it’s generally a quarter or less compared to what I used to put away. There is professional help there if you need it. Good luck.
Jimmydon says
Thanks all for your kind words and advice. Sharing the burden has definitely helped my frame of mind
Barry Blue says
That’s great re the gambling, @jimmydon. The various industry-financed (for which read ‘lip service’) counselling services are fairly shit and in my experience are little more than box-ticking exercises.
Have you considered AA? I know you say that GA wasn’t really for you, and I get that AA can end up as too much of an identity for some people, but those structural elements like having a sponsor, doing the steps, and having a sense of community can be really helpful.
Good luck and thank you for posting!
Jimmydon says
Thanks, Barry.
The sense of community certainly helped when I attended GA but I don’t feel yet that my problem with alcohol is at the stage where I would benefit from AA. Having been addicted to gambling, I know I am not as much in the grip of alcohol as I was with gambling for many years. I’m hoping my recent over-reliance on drinking is a consequence of my problems at work and by addressing those I’ll be able to get back to normal.
fentonsteve says
A great post, Jim. It sounds like you’re aware of the issue, which is the first step. Stick with it. It will take a while but it will be worth it. Total abstinence isn’t for everybody so maybe try setting yourself a limit and stick to it. And try talking to someone – your GP would be a good first call.
Interesting point raised by Richard Osman on Sunday’s Desert Island Discs. Someone addicted to alcohol, or sex, or gambling can give them up entirely with enough resolve. Harder for someone addicted to crisps and chocolate to give up food – a balance has to be struck in order to survive.
Mike_H says
Before my retirement I never used to drink alcohol between Sunday lunchtime and Friday evening unless I was at a gig where the bar was in the same space as the performance, in which case I’d have a pint or two. Same behaviour at gigs on weekends, come to think of it, though I did have an evening drink or two Friday and Saturday.
Since retiring my alcohol consumption has increased, along with my weight and waistline. One or two large G&Ts most nights and a few beers (3-5 small cans of Punk IPA) or a bottle of wine on the Friday night Zoom sessions with my old pals.
This past Xmas was pretty low-alcohol compared to previous ones. Beer only on the day and on Boxing day. NYE I broke the habit of many past years and went to the pub, arriving just after 10pm and leaving shortly after midnight. 2 pints and a large Highland Park 12yo malt, followed by quite a few more malts at home on Zoom with the usual suspects. Got through about ⅓ of a bottle of Highland Park and suffered for it all the next day, spent mostly sleeping and rehydrating.
I probably won’t have any alcohol tonight now, it being close to midnight and not having had any yet.
On the phone to my sister earlier, she asked if I’d made a New Year resolution and I said no. Second thoughts suggest losing some weight/exercising more is a candidate, which probably will be easier if I cut down on alcohol.
pencilsqueezer says
I’m not at all certain if any of this will help others but you never know.
I haven’t taken an alcoholic drink for some time. The last being a crate of beer sent to me from Mantle Brewery in Cardigan when I worked in collaboration with them and the marvellous 1of100 of Glasgow on a limited edition t-shirt project. That would have been around last springtime. I drank the twelve bottles over a couple of weeks and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Then I stopped. Again. I had decided some time before that I would only drink socially and as social mixing had sensibly become verboten due to Covid-19 restrictions I had in effect become teetotal. I don’t miss alcohol. I miss company.
I’ve become seriously antisocial but that’s another story.
I decided to eschew alcohol in the first place when I realised that I was only drinking a glass or two of whisky as a change from drinking the tea I habitually drink during the day. It wasn’t the alcohol I was craving it was simply something that would signal that the the pace of the day had altered. I started drinking lime cordial in a tall glass packed with ice and topped off with slimline tonic instead. The result is I lost quite a few pounds and I feel happier with myself. It’s a damn sight cheaper too. I have added one more thing to my repertoire this year when I accidentally bought a bag of coffee beans rather than pre-ground. I discovered the joy of a cheap hand grinder ( Steady the Buffs ) and an Areopress so I now drink a couple of cups of good coffee every day just for the hell of it. Colour me reckless.
As I have already remarked I don’t know if any of this helps but I think people should give some serious thought as to why they drink, especially if you are doing so alone or out of habit. If you imbibe for pleasure and in reasonable amounts then have at it but if it’s for other reasons and it doesn’t give you any pleasure then I think with the greatest respect maybe you should take abstention beyond January.
Pob lwc.
Blue Boy says
Such a good post pencil. I think your point about habit and breaking the day up is spot on. I found I would reach for a beer when I got in from work until I realised that a ginger beer or a sparkling water would generally do just as well. Apart from anything else I was just thirsty and that’s never a reason to drink alcohol.
Native says
I gave up red meat and chicken last January and haven’t eaten any since.
But sorry, I love a drink!
rotherhithe hack says
All things in moderation. I generally don’t drink Monday to Thursday, have two to four on each day of Friday to Sunday. Reckon that on that basis and with either a run or a workout on six days a week I’ve got no need for any dry months.
Gatz says
Similar to me, except I might have a beer on Thursday and stay dry from Sunday to Wednesday inclusive. There have definitely been times when I have leaned too heavily on alcohol, but as noted above I keep in mind that I have a family (and I don’t discount the possibility of a genetic) tendency to do that, and am aware I have to be more careful than many not to tip over into dependence and beyond.
Leffe Gin says
I’m not great with resolutions; I rarely stick to anything along the lines of “I will NOT do xxx”. I seem to get on much better with “I will do xxx” – e.g. “I will make one piece of music every week”. Positive intention seems to always work better. Thankfully I am not too bothered by any vices, but I can see why they are so hard to break because they are always “I will not” types of things.
Perhaps the way to break a habit is to form a completely new one instead.
Hope this makes sense?
dai says
“I will be completely sober for a month”
Leffe Gin says
That works, I think. It’s much easier to motivate oneself in a positive way.
ip33 says
As I haven’t had a drink since 21st September 1988 I won’t be doing this, but my wife is. 0% Gordon’s is her tipple at the moment.
I stopped because I was about an inch away from it becoming a big problem. I had a drink on my wedding day, Champagne and a rather nice Macedonian liquor and that was it. Nothing since. The first couple of years were hard but I don’t miss it at all now.
dai says
Then you will be doing it actually, well done on staying sober for decades
ip33 says
I suppose I will! And thank you very much.
fentonsteve says
As Bob said above, and I’ve mentioned before, momentum builds quikcly after a week or two on the wagon. Pretty soon, a week turns into a month, and a month into a year.
Maybe because I was eating as well, and I didn’t drink enough to feel dizzy, but two glasses of bubbly left me thinking “I doubt I’ll bother again”.
Black Celebration says
I went to an AA meeting when I was 18 because I was getting drunk every night – always in a social setting because I had a large circle of friends – but I couldn’t just have (say) two pints, it was always at least six. This had been going on for at least a year. And two or three at lunchtimes – every day. In those days I had the constitution to cope with it (no hangovers) but I wasn’t happy with how things were going. This was at the height of my gig-going too, I saw some brilliant bands (London was 30 minutes away by train) but these gigs always, always involved many many pints of beer and being pissed by the time I stumbled back home.
It was a mistake going to that AA meeting because I felt like a lightweight in comparison. I was still young and fit. This was much older people talking about drinking two bottles of scotch a day…a businessman sharing with us that he carried fresh underwear in his briefcase for when he crapped himself. I don’t recall the other stories but they generally involved lone, secret drinking and usually spirits. In my case, my drinking was in plain sight and didn’t drink much at home. Certainly didn’t wake up craving it – so I felt like a fraud and never went there again.
By the time I got to the end of my twenties it had nearly killed me. I had countless “lost weekends” – still in my work clothes from the previous Friday night when finally getting home on a Sunday afternoon.
I have a vague but alarming memory of being pissed out of my head on the Embankment in the mid-90s. I was freezing cold and lay face down down on a ledge, knowing that if I rolled to my left, I’d just fall into the icy Thames below and probably would feel a thing.
By now the social element to my drinking had become a bit of a facade. I did still have a wide circle of friends, but they had become increasingly like-minded in that our only unifying factor was that we liked getting pissed in a pub. My standards had dropped. None of these friends would suggest a walk in the country or playing some recreational sport, or anything like that. Some years earlier I’d be among a cheerful group of young people, getting merry and having a laugh. It wasn’t like that by the time I got to 30.
By the time I got to 30 I would meet up with fully functioning friends who by now were actually just genuinely meeting up for one or two after work (because they had a life). I would have probably got to the pub a bit earlier, had a couple while I was waiting and then popped into other places on the way home. When I got to my flat, I could truthfully say I’d met up with fully functioning friend (but leave out the bits before and after that).
I couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments on my flat because I was always in the pub or at work. Throughout all of this I remained pretty diligent at work and worked long hours so there was always the cashflow but it was the “flow” bit which was the problem.
I only snapped out of it when I moved to NZ after, incredibly, meeting someone who agreed to live with and then marry me. I saw that relationship as a new beginning but the old habits did take a few years to die out completely. Going to the cricket with a friend who wasn’t looking to be totally pissed by lunchtime was like walking on the surface of the moon for the first time.
Even in NZ I used to miss a bus on purpose so I could have a pint somewhere while I waited for the next one. Now I think that behaviour is bizarre and stupid.
Native says
I often think I love pubs more than alcohol – yet, I always find it difficult to go into a pub and not drink.
I don’t drink loads, and hardly ever touch spirits, but it is very regular. I tell myself a little, often, isn’t a problem – but I must admit I’m starting to think I’m kidding myself on a bit…
Jim Cain says
I’m 10 days in to Dry January, and that’s the longest I’ve been without a drink since the last time I did Dry January in 2020, having previously managed 8 days last summer.
I’ve always liked a drink but it was generally a 5-6 pints in the pub a couple of times a month, or a 4-pack of cans on a Friday night.
Five years ago I went through a painful divorce, which caused me to lose my ‘off switch’ and meant I’d drink and drink until I blacked out.
I managed to curb that, but instead got into drinking 1-2 bottles of wine on a nightly basis. The two reasons for this are a diabetes diagnosis – after which I replaced my habitual binge-eating with the relatively blood-sugar neutral red wine. And lockdown, where I used red wine to signal the end of the working day.
I was unsure whether I’d crossed into the alcoholic threshold, but I have a pal who works in recovery services, and he advised me to replace alcohol with other things – exercise, music, books etc, rather than just trying to sweat it out until Feb 1st. I have to say it’s working well for me so far and I’m wondering if I’ll have the resolve to continue sobriety into Feb and beyond.
Good luck to everyone.
dai says
Think that’s known as a “functioning alcoholic”. Been there. Exercise helped me a lot.
Jim Cain says
Yep.
As someone says upthread, these things tend to gather momentum, and a week turns into a month etc.
I remember being out on Feb 1st 2020 after a successful Dry January, and booze-wise I felt I could take or leave it, but I opted to have a pint and went back to my old ways, whereas I could just as easily have had a diet coke.