Alcohol

I've joined Weightwatchers after being egged on by DD2. I do need to lose some weight and it's easier to monitor alcohol intake when you're following a plan.

I'm under a lot of stress at the moment so the diet has given me something to focus on that's actually for my benefit. The only night I reached for a G&T to ease stress was last Saturday when things went a bit pair shaped chez merlot

So it's alcohol free weekdays because I save up my points for the weekend

Oh dear Yes Old Batty got told off my the doctor whose shocked expression when I told him I had two glasses of wine with dinner every day was a sight to behold. Anyway I am having a couple of alcohol free days and have bought myself some expensive fizzy water (San Pellegrino) so it feels like a treat.

I don't drink much at all, since my incredibly drunken hen night, 33 years ago! The exceptions being Irish Whiskey or Champagne, and those very rarely.
However, try Badoit mineral water, available in Citron or Mint flavour, or just plain.
It's naturally carbonated, and with ice and a slice the Citron is a lovely drink.
Waitrose sell it, and, I think S'bury's do too.

I think that's the key. Find something non alcoholic you like to drink and drink that instead. Up till a month ago, the OH drank a bottle of wine every night, and had done for some time. He decided he needed to do something about it before irreparable liver damage set in. He has opted for alcohol (just one) when he's out socialising and diet coke at home in the evenings. So far this seems to be a plan he can stick to. Fingers crossed!

Good luck with this.

It may be that your GP can help. I understand there are pills you can take initially to assist willpower. Might be worth try?

Just don't drink .!
If you have difficulty in not having one then you already have a problem and need some form of help.
So anyone unable to go without a drink go see your gp as a first step. Well actually it's a second step as admitting you have a problem is the first step so well done to anyone identifying this.
Do something now before the problem gets bigger.
I'm speaking as the daughter of a man who had a drink problem and witnessed the wreckage it made of the entire family.

Appletise is nice too.
The only way I know to cut down is to change habits, such as substituting new activities, change mealtimes.
We were staying with friends from last Thurs. to Tues., and I never missed alcohol. For me it's associated with food preparation.
Everyone's different.

Well I think the advice 'just don't drink' is easier said than done for some people (probably me included). I probably drink more than I should and I do use it sometimes to relieve stress. I have had some pretty horrendous things happen to me - sounds like an excuse, maybe it is. My DH was having chest pains a few years ago due to a stressful job. His GP told him to have a couple of whiskies at night, that it would do him good.

"just dont drink " is a bit like " eat less and move more" apart from the fact that alcohol is an addictive and readily available substance.

Anyhow thanks folks, I am reading each idea with interest.

Give yourself a target such as not drinking on a Monday and Thursday. Then add an extra day and gradually build up. I used to drink too much wine, working in pub trade didn't help, but gradually cut down like that. I rarely drink now and if I do open a bottle I find it lasts three days as I never want more than a glass or two - and I use the old style small goblet glasses not the buckets a lot of places serve it in now.

Old habits, whatever they are are not always easy to break........whilst lets be fair,the advice given about what and how much alcohol (along with just about every food and drink on the market) changes daily.
We are left in a state of flux.
What was deemed as just right yesterday is on the banned list tomorrow.
I think personally with any of these things.........drink or foodstuffs........... the secret is to to drink/eat all things BUT in moderation.

If I put my mind to do something I will stick to it like glue........and so never really get into any great problem.

But certainly visiting drinking establishments or eating out they make it very hard to say No.............so perhaps if and when trying to cut down or curtail alcohol, the first and best bit of advice is NOT enter these type of places.
Similarly do not keep the drink you particularly enjoy in your home.
Make it difficult for yourself to enjoy whatever it is you perhaps like too much!

Whilst finding an alternative drink to the one you might be cutting out or cutting down on is also a big help.

Hope you are extra strong oldbatty though when coping with stress it is so easy to sort of "slip by the wayside"

Choosing days not to drink is a good idea, as is cutting units. Have you tried diluting what you drink? (I realise that’s not always possible depending on what you drink!) maybe 1/3 of a glass of wine topped with soda water? Or half your usual shot of vodka, with a little extra lemonade? You may be able to ‘trick’ yourself into feeling like you’ve had drink. Then you can gradually drop one all together and keep going until you’re happy with the amount you drink?

Tonic water does it for me. With a slice of lemon in it, I can happily drink it in place of a G&T on alcohol-free days. The problem is, I do find that I drink it much more quickly than a regular G&T, then top up my glass again, and this habit risks carrying through to when I'm drinking the real thing, which kind of defeats the object!

No drinking Monday - Friday. Only drink at weekends. A big pint glass of a mix of dash of orange juice with fizzy water fills you up and gets you over the early evening craving. Remember a glass of wine has as many calories as a slice of cake.

Try to find different ways of dealing with your stress...mindfulness, yoga, exercise, going for a walk, get a pet. Change your routine so you're doing something else at the times you normally have a drink.
A visit to your doctor might help. They can give you advice and maybe arrange counselling.
Good luck.

As MamaCaz says, tonic water. It is my favourite fall back when on driving duty or when I just don’t fancy anything alcoholic. Having said that, it is the only fizzy drink I will countenance, and I do, very occasionally, like a large measure of Tanqueray in it! I have stopped buying wine except when we are expecting people for a meal, because invariably, I am the only one who wants to finish the bottle once it is open (over days, though, not all at once, but still!), and, as indicated above, it is full of calories ?! If I don’t buy it, I can’t drink it.

I do t drink on school nights (Sunday-Thursday) unless it’s a B/H or whatever and I’m not at work .

I know I drink too much on a weekend but as others have said it is a stress relief “after a usually shitty working week”

Should have been ......I don’t drink on school nights.....

Oldbatty the fact you have asked the question suggests YOU think you are over doing it. For what exactly is overdoing it? Does it vary from person to person or are you equating to government suggestions?

IF you are worried then cut down before it becomes an issue. Personally I just go with my body - if I’ve had too much it tells me ?. I wouldn’t be able to stick to a regime of any kind say two glasses and no more. I take each situation as it comes. As I said my body tells me ENOUGH ?

After what I took to be a bout of Gastritis plus feeling distinctly “porky” three weeks ago I embarked on the diet the day after the last BH Monday, and had my last glass of wine the day before.
Oh I had about 1/2 a glass of very good champagne to celebrate DGS’s birthday a fortnight ago but am finding it surprisingly easy to stick to water when it’s hot or tea/coffee now it has turned cooler.
Friends and family are helping by sticking to soft drinks (“driving”) and while I am sure that a wee glass of single malt would lead to another I can’t say I am really missing it.
Lost 7lb too.

We had got into the very bad habit of 2 glasses of wine a night well 2 for me , more for him.
We’ve just returned from holiday and have cut right back, now we have a very large G&T a night. Very little gin plus one and a half cans of fevertree aromatic tonic, lemon and lots of ice. delicious and only 1 unit of alcohol.
Like MamaCaz leaving out the gin makes me drink more quickly.

We had developed the habit of two or three G&Ts in the evening then when DD2 was nearing her due date and I was the transport we changed to tea instead and have not gone back to the G&Ts. Added benefit is that I have lost some weight which is a great spur to stay with the tea. Because we drink diet tonic I hadn't realised about the calories in the gin. Our drink driving rules in Scotland mean you can't risk any alcohol and drive so unless I know I am not driving in the evening I will never risk it. Sadly a few restaurants/bars out of town have closed because of this however alcohol abuse is a huge problem in Scotland so anything that helps lower the rates of alcohol related disease is good.

I found myself developing a problem donkey’s years ago when the DC were little. Nips from bottles in the mornings, etc. It was harder then as there weren’t the alternatives as there are now so I had to go cold turkey for a while. But since then I’ve kept a constant check. No shorts drunk without mixers and learning to sip! Avoid lagers and drink real ale as a treat as that’s more difficult to quaff. Learn to love Becks Blue!

And only spritzers and not wine. It’s a much longer drink. I don’t like canned drinks. To sweet. So if I’m driving I find fizzy water with a slice of lemon or lime a good long drink and no one knows there’s nothing in it. I also use wine glasses a lot as it just feels better drinking from them!

I tried a new beer a couple of weeks ago which tasted just like Ribena. Only it was 4%! These new beers seem to be replacing alcohol pops. It’s a minefield.

I’m obviously in a minority of one here, but I see nothing wrong in two glasses of wine a night, either morally or from a health point of view.
It depends on your lifestyle and what else you’re eating and drinking.
If you’re eating lots of salty or sugary snacks or a lot of sweet things generally, that’s probably worse for your liver and general health than a moderate amount of alcohol.
If you exercise moderately, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables & don’t smoke, I don’t think the alcohol is going to do any harm at all.
And as long as you keep it under control it can reduce stress and aid relaxation.

Here here to that.?