It’s been two months since I quit alcohol. Well, almost.
I did dry January back in, erm, January. Then we went into York for a few drinks on the 2nd of February to break my alcohol fast. Big mistake – 4 pints over the afternoon and I woke up in the middle of the night and was sick, then spent the rest of the day hungover. The worst part is I didn’t even feel drunk, my body just can’t tolerate alcohol!
So I decided to quit.
After that, I’ve had one drink – I had a glass of wine when we went out for a meal for a friends birthday.
Apart from that, nothing.
What I was drinking before.
On a general week, this is what I was drinking:
- Tuesday night – get home at around 10:45 pm from work and have a whiskey before bed. Pour straight into the glass was probably a double or triple measure.
- Friday night – a large bottle of beer and maybe a couple of double gins.
- Saturday – similar to Friday. Sometimes wine instead.
I didn’t drink loads, but I was in the habit of drinking when I was off work the next day. I think I’ve always had this habit back from being a student. Just sat on the sofa drinking for no real reason.
On Wednesday mornings I get up at 5:30 am to go to the gym before I start work at 9 am. I felt crap half the time! On Saturday I would go to the gym around 11ish and still a bit rubbish. Not hungover, but I would have that that slow and sluggish feeling, my workout wasn’t great. I spent a lot of Sunday mornings in bed until midday. Often with a headache.
Every weekend I would tell myself this would be the last. Then on Friday, I’d want to reward myself and turn to drink. Reward for what – for it being Friday? I don’t know.
It’s a stupid cycle and pretty pointless.
When I did dry January, I had such productive weekends. That first weekend in February when I was hungover on Sunday, I decided it would be my last hangover. I meant it.
Since then, I’ve stuck to my word.
I’ve not been drinking on a late night after work and had a great workout the next day. I’ve not been drinking on the weekend and my workouts have been amazing. I’ve been in the gym before 8 am on some occasions! Naturally waking up around 6 am. I’ve had strong, long sessions and I’ve been making all kind of PBs. It’s been great.
This has meant that I’m home from the gym earlier, showered earlier and am able to spend more time blogging and studying for my CIM marketing exam.
I’ve also just finished the book’ The Sober Diaries’ by Clare Pooley, a mother who fell in the trap of drinking wine on a daily basis and decided to quit completely, started a blog to talk about being sober and logged it all. It really helped to keep me motivated and although I didn’t drink as much as her, reading about how she tackled certain social situations sober has really helped me. Because going to the pub and watching someone drink a pint while you’re drinking diet coke SUCKS. It does and there is nothing you can do to make not suck. One thing I need to work on is my social skills though. I can be a bit quiet and awkward in social situations and I do use alcohol to help me cope. Even sometimes when I’m not with strangers, I am often in my head a lot and can happily sit quietly daydreaming and observing others, rather than getting involved in conversations. I’m more of a sponge than the centre of attention, that’s for sure!
That’s another perk – I can read before I go to bed rather than being too tipsy to follow a book!
I am so glad I stopped drinking. Yes, there are times I still want a drink, but the alcohol-free wine isn’t actually that bad!
