Dry January 2024

[mike]

What does the collective think of 0% Guinness,?     I actually prefer to normal.

I don't prefer it to real guinness, but I agree that it is the most acceptable of all the 'zero' beers I have tried.

Agreed, we keep it in the fridge so we can get through the 6pm 'thirst' that tea won't deal with.  The Estrella zero one of the pubs in town serves isnt bad either, no nasty aftertaste like most of them.

[Graeme]

Oh and Graeme communion doesn't count as failing dry Jan

Lol. Thanks. No, I think what I found to drink was waay stronger than that. Also, it was a special occasion and I wrote an indulgence note for myself. Anyhue... back on the self-control train.

[Graeme]

What does the collective think of 0% Guinness,?     I actually prefer to normal.

I don't prefer it to real guinness, but I agree that it is the most acceptable of all the 'zero' beers I have tried.

Agreed, we keep it in the fridge so we can get through the 6pm 'thirst' that tea won't deal with.  The Estrella zero one of the pubs in town serves isnt bad either, no nasty aftertaste like most of them.

Completely with you all on this, of all the alcohol free beers, 0% Guinness is the one I quite like the taste of.

[ian]

Any kind of Guinness ought to put people off booze since I presume they make it through pressure-washing a tramp's arse and collecting the liquid and then soaking his pants in it overnight. Oh, I'll admit it's probably better if they use a Irish tramp like they do in Dublin, to be sure.


I'm holding back on any kind of abstinence till I'm dead. I'll do it all then.

[T42]

I was vaguely planning on giving up coffee after my birthday in mid-Jan, but having two coffee machines on the worktop and a couple of kilos of excellent beans in the freezer made it more than I could manage.  I did learn how to make pretty good hot chocolate, though.

[Regulator]

I was vaguely planning on giving up coffee after my birthday in mid-Jan, but having two coffee machines on the worktop and a couple of kilos of excellent beans in the freezer made it more than I could manage.  I did learn how to make pretty good hot chocolate, though.

You may as well give up life...

[rafletcher]

I didn't do dry January, but did min-Jan to mid-Feb instead. Now I've got there I, surprsingly for me, don't feel the urge to break the drought, so I'll just continue. Part of the reason is, I suspect, that I know full well that if I open a bottle of wine I'm almost certainly going to finish it, and I know that the next day I'll not feel great. I just need to work out what I can drink with cheese and biscuits. Faux beer maybe, the Leffe Blonde alcohol free isn't bad. Or just stay off the cheese and biscuits, which I have been doing whilst trying to lose weight.

[The Family Cyclist]

Now a long way out of January and good habits have continued. Think have only drunk once on a school night in that time and was valentines and was wine as part of a eat in meal deal. Have still been drinking in weekends but have cut my alcohol free beer consumption as was buying a fair bit. Wife did treat me to some Guinness zero last week

The good sleeping seems to have decreased but this may be unrelated. Have to see how the next two weeks go as got two weeks off work, not away just how holiday fell and been given a couple of bottles of whisky

[hellymedic]

We also partook of a Valentine’s ‘Dine In’ promotion, which was excellent VFM.
We shared a bottle of Prosecco, which we did not finish.
I drank more than he did but didn’t really enjoy the experience.
Will stick to the soft drink option next time!

[Snakehips]

Any kind of Guinness ought to put people off booze since I presume they make it through pressure-washing a tramp's arse and collecting the liquid and then soaking his pants in it overnight. Oh, I'll admit it's probably better if they use a Irish tramp like they do in Dublin, to be sure.

I'm holding back on any kind of abstinence till I'm dead. I'll do it all then.

Excellent post from Ian. Pity he is not still around for me to compliment personally.

I did Dry Last Week but that was mainly because I had some sort  of stomach upset.

We usually try to do Moderation Monday, Temperance Tuesday, Weak Willed Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday and F-it Friday. After that it's the weekend so anything goes.

[Canardly]

Carried on and not missed it tbh. Lost some weight as an added bonus.

[Regulator]

I have been advised by the cardiologist to give up alcohol all together.  The most recent research has changed the thinking around alcohol and AF - even a few unit a week can lead to recurrence.

So at the moment I'm off the booze (which is doing wonders for the weight loss - 3.5kg off last week). 

I may not give up entirely... my Camino/pilgrimage walks often take me through wine growing areas (which is why I don't do many in the UK) - so I may reserve any alcohol intake for high days, holidays and pilgrimages.

[rafletcher]

Thus far have been dry since mid-Jan. Will probably breal the droughyt briefly mid-March as it's my birthday. Not missing it in the main, so probably back to abstinence afterwards. Helps that my wife doesn't drink.

[barakta]

My stepdad has atrial fibrillation and alcohol is a HUGE trigger for him, anything much over 0.5-1 unit has been setting him off for ages. To our surprise he cut out booze, he used to like a can of cider or beer with his dinner but has largely stopped or switched to alcohol free stuff. Shame he didn't do anything else sensible about the AF - I blame being a medical doctor, he's such a stereotype of being a horrible patient.

[Regulator]

My stepdad has atrial fibrillation and alcohol is a HUGE trigger for him, anything much over 0.5-1 unit has been setting him off for ages. To our surprise he cut out booze, he used to like a can of cider or beer with his dinner but has largely stopped or switched to alcohol free stuff. Shame he didn't do anything else sensible about the AF - I blame being a medical doctor, he's such a stereotype of being a horrible patient.

Alcohol doesn’t seem to be my trigger luckily.  I’ve had no issues since the surgery and, hopefully, once the thyroid is sorted my risk will decrease further. 

[barakta]

Glad it's not a trigger and just a short term risk reduction for you.

I have accidentally done a dry 2024 so far and I think I was told not to drink during leg recovery and tbh I wouldn't want to, dizzy enough with this anaemia and bad balance baseline without alcohol as it is.

[Blodwyn Pig]

Jan '24 19 days wivout Alhocol
Feb '24 18 days wivout Alhocol

[rafletcher]

Broke my drought (started mid Jan) with a half litre of Moretti with some pizza on Saturday. There'll be some wine this weekend as it's my birthday then probably back on the wagon.