This weekend was the parent’s formal dinner at my Sons school, I was pretty nervous as Saturday approached. This would be my first big function where beer and wine would be flowing, on top of this I didn’t know anyone attending (other than my wife) and I have recently had an operation that means my …
Day 75
Today is my 75th day sober, when I started out on this journey I couldn’t even see myself going a few days without an alcoholic drink, now I just don’t want one. I am actually starting to feel proud of what I have achieved! However, I also remain cautious, the last thing I want to …
I thought I would save a fortune when I stopped drinking!
When I quit drinking alcohol I made a note of how much I had been spending on red wine, it was between £8-£15 a day. Wow, over a year that comes to the best part of £4000! I was already planning a holiday to the Caribbean and adding the huge money saving as yet another …
Do we drink to suppress our emotions?
I have been reading the excellent book Mrs D Is Going Without by Lotta Dann, it really is an fantastic read and a must-have for any ‘quit-lit’ enthusiasts. In one of the chapters Lotta explains how she had an awakening when she realised that her drinking problem was a way of suppressing her emotions, in other words a …
How to get past Day 1 of not drinking alcohol
When I made the decision to stop drinking alcohol it took me quite a few attempts to get past Day 1. Here I was, age 44 having drunk red wine pretty much every night for the last twenty (or more) years, this was going to be hard. I relied on wine to unwind at the …
Why I found drinking alcohol in moderation doesn’t work
When I realised I had a problem with how much red wine I was drinking my first thought was to cut down, I would change my habit and just have a couple of glasses on Monday through to Thursday, then at the weekend I would have my usual bottle or more of red. I figured …
10 Things I Don’t Miss About Drinking Alcohol
Whenever I get the occasional urge for wine (will they ever stop?), I try to take a step back and remind myself of all the reasons why I stopped drinking alcohol in the first place. As time goes by there is a danger that I might start looking at wine with rose-tinted glasses and forget …
How do you know when it’s time to stop drinking?
For me it had been coming for a couple of years. The joy had vanished from my evening bottle (or more) of wine long ago and it had become a struggle as I dealt with the mixed emotion of knowing I was drinking too much and wanting to cut down, competing against my thirsty-self who …
Am I an alcoholic?
It’s the question that anyone who starts to worry about their relationship with alcohol asks themselves ‘am I an alcoholic?’. The common perception of an alcoholic is someone who drinks in the morning or is sat in a shop doorway with a bottle in a brown bag, but this really isn’t the case. If you’re anything …
How I felt after two weeks of not drinking alcohol
So I had been sober for a fortnight, I never (ever) thought I could have done this and I also knew I would never go back to drinking. The first few days had been quite hard, after 20 years of reaching for the wine almost every night it had been a huge life change and …