Drinking: cutting back vs. quitting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s great that you were able to nurses a beer. Just do not make the mistake of thinking you can nurse a beer more often….or have two beers. Or three.

I think you can say you have been diligent the entire time and should be very, very proud of your self.

I’m one of the PP’s who thinks the way OP phrased it isn’t truthful and I like this a lot. I think there’s value in being proud of what was actually accomplished without having to resort to twisting what happened into something else. Agree that OP is doing great, the one drink didn’t derail the process and there’s no need to pretend it didn’t happen, which is how I interpreted OP’s original post.

Agreed. The only troubling part of ops post is the desire to lie. Don't lie (to yourself, to others) and you're doing great!

+1
It's fine to cut back rather than quit, if that's what you want and you genuinely can do that. It's not great to lie to yourself.

[Anonymous]

You are doing awesome, OP! I transformed my relationship with alcohol about a year ago and went from drinking 3-4 glasses of wine 5-6 nights a week to only having 2 drinks 3-4 times per month. It has done wonders for my physical and mental health, and I feel much more in control. Before, I was really married to the habit, finding myself even running out to the store just for wine. My partner doesn't drink at all so it was really easy for me to acknowledge my patterns. For a while, I really kept track of how long it had been just because I was proud and it was kind of hard! Now, it is not hard for me and so I don't really keep track. It's really evolved into my lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was feeling pretty good about myself because I hadn’t had a drink in a month. Yesterday I was at a party where it would stand out if I didn’t at least have a beer in my hand so I had one and nursed it for 2 hours. I feel fine and it’s not like I have shakes and am craving a drink today, so I’m still gonna say I haven’t been drinking for a month😁. Is that ok? Or am I playing with fire? How do you know what the right approach is? I always told myself I don’t want to be someone who can’t have a glass of wine at a steakhouse, or a beer at a super bowl party…. I just want to be healthier and stop treating alcohol as a way to unwind/relax.

I’ve come this far and I’m feeling great. I don’t want to blow it!

Why would it stand out if you didn't have a beer in your hand? I would re-evaluate my friend group if this was the case.

I don't drink any more. I never had a drinking problem, but I did really enjoy drinking when I was younger. Once I had kids, my body just changed and it went to my head a lot faster, disrupted my sleep, etc. so I just stopped. I enjoy getting up early and having quiet time with coffee and I didn't want anything like a drink or two to disrupt that so I've just stopped drinking. Sure, it can be awkward and people do ask me about it, but it's not a big deal. Another woman in our crew of friends has bad migraines so rarely drinks, and a few others have really cut back because of the sleep thing especially now that our kids are old enough to be playing sports that often have early weekend start times.

If you want to drink, then drink, but don't drink/nurse a beer/whatever because of peer pressure.