Alcohol free January

Greyduster, you're not alone and I know exactly what you mean about the gin after the funeral - sorry about that. DH had a nice glass of red (I had a sniff) with his meal tonight while I had water. I did have a non-alcoholic beer before the meal (bought by mistake a while ago!) It was actually ok if you like beer but very fizzy.

Heard that woman ranting on the Today programme this morning - not how to communicate to adults I would have thought.

Hang on in there Greyduster you can it. Repeat after me 'I will not b dictated to by a bottle!'

Thank you NanKate

And well done all those still surviving

I am into day eight but have struggled the past couple of days. We were up at half past five yesterday to travel to South Wales for my brother in law's funeral, and quite honestly i could have done with a very large gin (yes G-I-N!) and tonic afterward. But i stuck to the tonic . We are now back at home, DH nursing a large scotch and me staring balefully at a bottle of Oxford Landing! Think it'll be an early night!

It's enough to drive one to drink! I don't drink on my own, so am unlikely ever to exceed a recommended limit. However, it's about time England followed Scotland in lowering the drink drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol in every 100ml of blood. It's still 80mg in the rest of the UK.

Exactly! I am definitely going to have a drink this evening, even though I wouldn't have one normally.

I haven't had a drink since Christmas day - not because of Dry January but I've been ill since then and haven't felt like one which is a sure sign I'm not well. I generally only have one glass of red wine a night but these new guidelines make it look like I've been going over the units on a regular basis for years! Makes me want to go and open a bottle just to be a rebel!

Is there anything more ridiculous than the manner in which the new drinking limits have been announced today. All that hectoring and threatening short lives and fatal illnesses. I can think of nothing more likely to encourage people to drink to excess.

People will just ignore the limit and drink what they like. I know a lot of people do that already, but I think a lot of those who always had the limit in the back of their minds when drinking will now just shrug their shoulders and ignore it completely.

I wonder how many have given up on the Dry January as a result.

I had a few with the family on New Year's Day but nothing since!
A whole week and my Christmas bottle of Baileys is calling me......

Poor You Anya how terrible being out of your home due to a fire. We live near the Thames and two sets of friends were out of their homes for 9 months due to flooding.

I can perfectly understand the need for a drink. When we are doing heavy duty child care for our two young grandsons the moment they are in bed I can hear the sound of a cork coming out of a bottle.

Well done Marty we are a quarter of the way through.

Booze free day 8. I am so proud of myself.

I love my wine, or the occasional single malt, but am finally being strong and am into day 8 of dry January, hoping it will do both my liver and my waistline a lot of good; it'd better be worth it!

Is there a record for the thread which achieves the most posts? This one seems to have stimulated a vast amount of comment and emotion, not surprisingly.

Well done NanKate glad to hear it's getting easier. Makes you think...perhaps it's just habit reaching for a with that meal.

I also did a dry September and no, I didn't go back to drinking the same at first. I was ticking along nicely on a reduced rëgime but then, we had a house fire, had to move out into rented accomodation (still there) and that completely threw me back into old habits....needed something to see me through. Not that much but a couple of glasses most nights.

I'm hoping that we might be able to move back next month and if so that will be a new start and hopefully I'll be able to get into a better pattern of drinking.

Getting easier by the day Jogginggirl but will no doubt miss my weekly Bacardi and Coke tonight. Just 3 weeks to go.

When you finished your dry September Jg did you notice that you reduced your drinking or did you go back to your normal consumption ?

I agree Cambia - nice meal, nice glass of something - they just seem to go hand in hand
Friday night is always a steak night here and I do miss a glass of red to go with it but .... here we are - one week done and second weekend coming up..Hope everyone is feeling good about their achievements

Just realised 1st February is a monday, so am going dry until the 30th Jan!! Can't start drinking on a Monday!!! Fully intend to have three alcohol free days and hopefully four after that each week. Have managed the first week and it hasn,t been too hard to say that we were in the habit of having wine most evenings, even if it was just half a bottle shared. The hard bit is when you cook something lovely! Dead easy when It is beans on toast or a jacket potato but mussels or sea bass shout out for a nice cool glass of white.

if only I had Nankate - another rollover? Guess there's no point in me checking my numbers then

Going out to lunch today and will miss a glass of wine with my meal but restaurants seemed to have upped their game when it comes to nonalcoholic drinks. I expect I will order a ginger beer, a lifetime favourite.

I'm glad Anya we are on the same psychic wavelength. Any ideas of the numbers for the Roll over Lottery on Saturday ? . If I win I will be the only Winner photographed with a lemonade in my hand.

Dry day 6

Anya you made me laugh.
For me, no alcohol, chocolate or bread (but only day 3 for me to be fair). Strangely enough have gone right off tea, drinking water instead - anyone else changed a habit because of not drinking alcohol? Let's all keep going! x

Having spent New Year in Spain I have to say I missed out on knowing that January should be dry .
I am not a big drinker (was married to an alcoholic for 17 years, which is enough to gain a perspective on using it as a prop) but I tend to have an every-other evening drink. Just the one and in a modest amount (think sherry glass worth).
Consequently my kitchen worktop looks as though I am a bit of a drinker as I have an opened bottle of Baileys (bought months and months ago), an opened bottle of ginger wine (bought at the begining of December), an opened bottle of red wine (bought before Christmas), two bottles of unopened red wine (Christmas presents) and three cans of beer in the fridge.
The latter are for any guests who may like a beer instead of a cuppa tea, as I don't drink beer.

Someone asked about alternative drinks - I think sparkling water added to any fruit juice is a better substitute than the cola range.
I've recently discovered coconut milk in a carton, not as rich as the coconut milk used for cooking and I may try the almond version too as some time.
In Spain I had Nestea a couple of times - a bit sweet for me, as I avoid most sugary things (except dark chocolate) - but I did find it refreshing, both in the lemon and peach version. Not sure if it is available in the UK though.

I remember a Halloween game where you were blindfolded and your hands were directed to a bowl of water filled with tea leaves and grapes - we were told it was dead mens eyes!!! Eeeek.

Anya

Wow you must be pyscik psykic sykick able to read my mind NanKate I was just getting my breakfast (berries and cream) and wondering if raspberries and blueberries would freeze too. I enjoyed the grape in my glass but it reminded me a bit of my father's glass eye

Yes thanks Joggingirl Day 6 is here and no significant problems, just surprised at home often I think about alcohol. My DH hardly ever drinks so I do not have to see him uncorking a chilled bottle of some nice wine fortunately.

Hope you enjoy the frozen grapes Anya, frozen raspberries are nice too.

Dry Day 5. Hope it's still going well for everyone