October 2014
June 2014
In your case I think it's more habitual than a reliance on the stuff. I like to have a bit of everything in the house in case visitors come and I want to offer what they like. But my hubs sees the opened bottle and thinks they need "using up"
So now we only have a few bits in and buy some wine for the weekend only. I did have two weeks off at Xmas, one week before my op and then just over a week after due to string painkiller.
Keep going Penny, glad you're feeling the benefits.
So now we only have a few bits in and buy some wine for the weekend only. I did have two weeks off at Xmas, one week before my op and then just over a week after due to string painkiller.
Keep going Penny, glad you're feeling the benefits.
Caroline
xXx
I'm the other half of "Bean and Oates" always will be.
xXx
I'm the other half of "Bean and Oates" always will be.
My honest 'Dryathlon blog'
by PennyForthem on 20 Jan 2014, 14:09
Beginning of week 2
Like many a habit, it started innocently and crept up insidiously. I've always enjoyed a drink in the evening and hub and I would sit companionably with some wine or a spirit and mixer , unwinding and watching TV.
But two things happened last year, which I can see were catalysts for my decision, though I couldn't see it at the time.
First of all, we had a lovely summer; cocktails and aperitifs with friends or by ourselves, wine with a barbe and sundowners watching the sunset. All very 'innocent' and it carried on during the weekends, then weekdays, from July into November - and then it was Christmas.
Secondly, I lost my beloved cousin to the ravages of alcoholism.
We enjoyed Christmas to the full and several bottles of interesting things sat on the drinks tray. Being a tidy soul, I was intent on finishing them, sometimes having a comforting snifter while I cooked the meal. I was still losing weight, so was allowing for an alcohol allowance in my daily calorie count.
Last week, I tidied everything away and wondered what I could drink, while cooking tea.
Whoa.....
I knew I had to go cold turkey. I'd read about the Dryathlon challenge and decided to try it for myself, privately. I didn't want to sign up and take people's money under false pretences, so knew, if I could do a few days without alcohol, I would sign up until the end of January
I didn't want to stop hub enjoying his drink, so there was added pressure in that it was there and freely available for me.
I searched around for 'placebo' drinks, wasting money on some hateful 'Alcohol free Soft brew', which tasted like cough medicine. In the end, I settled on a low calorie fruit squash and sugar free lemonade.
I signed up for the challenge yesterday, and this is the start of my second week.
So far, the benefits are:
I have raised £70 for Cancer Research - and hope to raise more.
I have lost 3lbs since last week.
I am sleeping
I am more alert
My eyes feel better and look clearer.
No negatives.
Hubs is wanting to join me, in his own time.
To non-drinkers, 2 weeks may not be much, but I have never managed more than one day per week without alcohol in the last few months - sometimes, such as holidays, no days without.
I'll keep this blog going, but my hopes are that I never look back.