r/cutdowndrinking

Hello everybody, I am a 35 yo woman from Italy, I am new to this place and happy to meet you all!

I have been an heavy drinker (drinking moderately on daily basis, even alone; passing out every weekend) for the last 4/5 years. During these same years I was in a relationship with a person who used to drink even more than me; as sad as it may sound, alcohol was one thing connecting us. During the last year i started to feel it as a issue and wanted to change my life for the better. He didn't see a problem with that and this was one amongst many reasons that led me to the decision to put and end on it and go back living on my own.

Now I gained back some control on my life and I am feeling much better: I eat clean and sleep well, I lost some weight, built a training routine. I am very happy with my progresses and my new life. But I feel very lonely. I don't know how to manage moderate drinking with keeping a decent social life. I would like to limit drinking to once a week, max 2 drinks, but I almost always drink too much and then feeling extremely guilty. So I often end up declining friends' invites out of fear of ruining everything.

I feel like a person progressing in rehab: it is not too hard anymore, I am starting to feel confident I can do this, but I am scared to death to go back to real life because I have not enough strength to manage it.

I feel very sad and alone. I don't know how to have fun with a diet soda. I don't want to spend every night alone at my place. I don't want to go back to my old life either. How do you people manage this? It is so hard for me. Thank you for any advice

A little over a year ago, I started tracking every drink I had.

Not to quit drinking. Not even to cut back.

I was just tired of guessing.

I used the notes app on my phone and logged every beer, glass of wine, or cocktail. It took maybe 10 seconds each time.

At first, I didn't change anything. I just tracked.

After a few weeks, I noticed patterns I had never paid attention to before. I drank more on stressful days. I drank more often than I thought. And what I considered "just a couple drinks" was sometimes quite a bit more when I looked back at the week.

The biggest surprise wasn't how much I drank. It was how automatic it had become.

Tracking made me pause before every drink because I knew I'd have to log it.

That small moment of awareness started changing things.

I began having more alcohol-free days. Then longer streaks. Eventually I reached a point where I genuinely preferred how I felt without alcohol.

Looking back, tracking wasn't the entire reason I got sober, but it was definitely the first step.

I'm curious—did anyone here track their drinking before quitting?

If so, what did you use? A notebook, spreadsheet, app, calendar, or something else? And did tracking actually help you drink less?

I (24M) started drinking heavily at 18, then I went to university and, as many do, I became an even heavier drinker.

These were some of the best times of my life in many ways, but also some of the worst. When I look back and realise the amount of dangerous/embarrassing/seriously regrettable behaviour and situations I’ve been in whilst blackout or heavily drunk, it really helps me to understand that I can’t carry on this way.

I’d say in my life, I’ve genuinely blacked out drunk over 100 times. I’ve been kicked out of clubs/bars for passing out on tables, I’ve lost my keys and had to sleep rough, I’ve thrown up all over pub toilets and myself, I’ve had mental breakdowns, I’ve lashed out in anger, I’ve been assaulted because I was too drunk to defend myself (not entirely my fault but still), I’ve had sex with people I regretted, without even remembering it, I’ve made inappropriate comments, I’ve upset people, I’ve even soiled myself 🤣(funny but not funny). I’ve also been stranded completely alone, unable to work my phone, or even really talk because I was so drunk.

I have also completely forgotten multiple music festivals/concerts/gigs because I was blackout drunk.

After a recent event, which I won’t go into, I’ve decided enough is enough. I’m not a daily drinker, but I’m an out of control drinker, and it’s time to cut down.

I won’t black out anymore. I will moderate. Many people say moderation never works, but I think it can for me. Either way, I’ve set myself a rule. If I ever blackout again, I will quit for good.

Until that point, I will set limits every day/night where I’m drinking, and I’ll stick to it.

I won’t ruin my life, my relationship, my dignity, or my friendships by drinking as much as I possibly can every time anymore.

Thanks for listening

My current life situation allows me to drink constantly, I know it's not good for me.

I used to be very outgoing, dh in the summer, powder ski winter.

It's just feel easier to lay down and watch a movie or two. Drink with some slow cooked meat. Something cheap and made by me, but still.

Anyone want to give me a new point of view?

I have been thinking about this for a while.

From EU, there might be typos. Äö

My name is Kennedy, I am 25 years old and from rural Ontario, Canada. I am looking to cut down on my drinking.

I don’t drink everyday, nor do I have the urge to drink everyday but I am finding that every time I do drink, I binge drink (5-6 beers, coolers. Always tall boys) and I hate the way I behave after a certain point. I always feel so embarrassed afterwards and will avoid the people I saw for weeks in hopes they forget the way I acted. Nothing serious, I just get very loud, obnoxious and overly affectionate (many, many hugs).

Another issue for me is nicotine. I have been nicotine free since December of 2023, with a few issues over the last month where I have bummed a vape or a cigarette once hitting a certain amount of drunk. Being nicotine free has been such an accomplishment for me, because it took me nearly 10 years to do it. I don’t beat myself up over the two slip ups, but I don’t ever want to make the mistake again.

Addiction runs in my family. We lost my uncle last year to drugs, and my mother and I have a very strained relationship because she is an alcoholic but will not admit to it. That’s her story to tell, but I worry when I see myself following in her footsteps.

I don’t feel it’s necessary for me to quit alcohol all together, but I’m not opposed to it if this sounds like the beginning of addiction. I would still like to have a drink when I go out for dinner, when I am camping, and when I get married in 2028 - I just want to learn to limit myself.

I am hoping you all may have some app suggestions or possibly something similar that has helped you in a situation like mine. Something that I can easily use to keep track and hold myself accountable.

Sorry for the long post, and thank you for reading this far. 🩵

So I’m at the end of day 4, and my withdrawals are virtually gone. Mentally I’m still struggling. My goal is at least a month. However I am scared will end up right back into heavy drinking. Has anyone here tried to drink again after being sober, and any tips on how to change my drinking habits?

I’m looking for good NA wines. I like to come home on a Friday and have a drink to wind down, I used to drink if I had a really shitty day at work and I have decided I am ready to quit alcohol. I do like a good red wine, not something dry. I have been a red blend drinker for many years, semi sweet is my go to, more on the sweet side than the dry. Do you have any recommendations for a good NA wine?

I also very much love a good mocktail! I’m not asking for anything difficult. I like few ingredients and I like them simple. Something I can whip up pretty quick and easy. I’m not looking for anything fancy just something that tastes good, doesn’t require a lot of time to make and it’s refreshing.

Midwest summer is here, it’s hot and incredibly humid. I need some ideas for summer refreshment, drinks for social settings, etc..
#NAwine #Mocktails

So my last drink was last Sunday. This whole week Ive found it easy to get to sleep. Ive drank heavily most nights for quite a while. Was I staying up for alcohol before or something and now that its gone I prefer to just go to bed? Not missing the mornings after drinking, especially hangovers.

Im not holding myself to quitting completely, but I want to take a good long brea, and Im starting with a month.

Body changes you have seen?

I was doing so well, but yesterday, I had a really stressful day, my favorite pet is super sick, work is all over the place, so what did I do? Drank. Like, almost out of spite.

I felt like arse this morning, cried to a stupid song because I had so much anxiety, and could barely get through an easy yoga class this morning. I almost cancelled, but I couldn't let my husband down. I've eaten SO much food today, and napped. I feel better now, so I'm at that delicate point where I need to forgive, but it behind me, and have a great day tomorrow.

We are seeing friends, and I usually have a drink or two with them. I'm going to stay sober tomorrow though. It won't be a big deal, and I'll start the week off feeling strong.

Hi all! I've been seeking to cut down on the quantity and frequency of my alcohol consumption. After generally drinking 3-4 drinks per night from Th-Su, I'm trying to stick with two drinks per night Fri-Su.

Typically, I'll sit at the bar and enjoy the first drink (beer, wine, or whiskey neat) and then place a food order with the second drink order.

Two drinks + a meal allows me to get a little buzz, but not binge eat or get intoxicated.

I never enjoy drinking right after eating (no buzz haha) and food is my signal to stop.

I'm 5'6" 125 lbs 30M.

Does anyone else feel similarly?

I drink 2-3 generous vodka drinks most weekdays, and pretty heavy Friday night through Sunday. Very much look forward to it, and very much enjoy myself. Usually with a friend or two, and I’m the guy most people like to get drunk with…. Now, the weekday drinking has caught up to me. It harder to get up the next day, harder to think and I’m not my best self. I think I look bloated too.
It might sound like bullshit but I am just realizing that I’m an alcoholic. Not cry on the couch, sick or unproductive illness… but a I’m a straight up fucking alcoholic.. this realization just happened today. Now, really. This medication is doing something to me. Not even 48 hours have passed since my last weekday generous vodka drink… so it’s not that… that’s happens like every couple months. I think it’s the pill. I have only seen myself as a guy who likes to drink and get drunk, and has fun doing it. It like someone gave me access to the clarity I have with a bad hangover .. when I’m certain I drink too much and need to cut down so I never feel this way again.
This is messing up my head and my weekend plans.

I'm approaching 1 year alcohol free on June 28 and I'm debating whether I want to drink again after reaching that milestone.

I don't consider myself an alcoholic. From ages 18–27, I was mostly a weekend drinker. I rarely drank during the week, worked out regularly, and generally had my life together. When I drank, I was usually drinking to get drunk and have a fun night out with friends.

Around 2023–2024 I started drinking more often (never daily), was doing coke most times I was drinking, gained 50lbs, and stopped working out.

Over the last year I've been completely sober (and 2 years no coke) and have gotten back into great shape. I feel great and I'm very happy with how things have gone. I'm just getting to a point where I really miss a lot of the fun times that happened while I was drinking. I've had a lot of time to step back from the drinking culture and really focus on myself, and I'd like to bring part of that life back in.

Has anyone here taken a year or more off from alcohol and then successfully brought it back into their life in moderation? Were you able to manage it again and not get off track with your life goals?

I got hit with something VERY stressful and all I want to do is drink. I'm riding it out, but I could use someone else out there to not drink with me today. What is the acronym? IWNDWYT?

I got this, but f*** is this hard!!!

I'm 28m and I had a decade long 3-6 beer daily habit. 500ml bottles 5 or 6% so around 10 units daily every evening. Hardly a dry day that whole time, took a month off twice. I rarely got very drunk but I forgot what it was like to fall asleep sober. The first thing I'd do every day after work was reach for a beer. I wasn't drinking crazy amounts of alcohol, but I was incredibly consistent about it.

I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time so I decided on a long 6 month break from alcohol, I haven't drank since January and I'm coming up on 5 months sober.

I genuinely do enjoy a beer and I didn't plan to be a teetotaler the rest of my life but I never want to go back to the way things were before. In the last 5 months I've lost 12kg, I'm fitter than I've been in my life, relationship has massively improved, I feel a thousand times better.

If I do go back to drinking, I'd like to keep it to weekends only, not necessarily every weekend, and keep the total weekly units under 14. Has anyone had any luck breaking this type of daily habit and moderating without falling back into the old ways?

I am 21 years old and recently, I have been having significant trouble with how much I drink- rather than the frequency. I will start with one beer at happy hour, which will delve into taking shots, which will end up with me on the floor. This doesn’t happen often- but offsets me when it does (probably once a week). I have switched medications lately and I am wondering if that has something to do with me losing control, as that never happened before. I will use last night as an example:

-I started by getting off work and grabbing a beer with my boyfriend at a local BBQ place
-we then grabbed shooters because I “wanted to get a bit drunk and have fun”
- I take 3 shooters in the span of 2 hours
- we go on a walk, super fun
- he says something that sets me off for some reason, and I walk home alone
- I get home and have a very intense panic attack- I’m sure being rude to him in the process
- I pass out and miss our friends coming over (he can’t even wake me up by shaking me)

I struggle with OCD and am just not sure how worried I should really be, if I’m overthinking it, or have a genuine problem. Any advice is appreciated.

I want to learn real moderation before I leave the drink for good. I went from daily drinker to a very infrequent one, but sadly, now there is a chance I'll miss the mark because my tolerance is lower and my guard is down. So If I go past a limit, Hyde takes over and he is deprived and bored and wants to go party.

Fast forward I wake up with no recollection of the party. Now obviously this is not something that should happen, but I want to keep the infrequent evenings where I have 3-5 drinks and laugh with friends and everything is fine. I think mine is a psychological and behavioral problem more than a physical/biochemical one. For an example, it only happens when I drink spirits. I can drink more than intended if I drink wine, but I don't like wine that much, I mix it with soda and it really becomes easier to drink at a slower pace and stop. Now, vodka on the other hand, that's the drink I drink to get drunk. It is a matter of quantity, not a type of drink, but let's be honest - its easier to go overboard with some drinks than with others, just like its easier to overeat with chocolate than with broccoli.

What are your thoughts? Can a problematic drinker learn to moderate?

I’ve hit the point recently where binge drinking is just messing me up. I can’t trust myself not to make stupid decisions when I’m blackout drunk, and obviously it’s just bad for me in general.

Drinking is still a relatively large part of my social life, so I decided to take the idea of moderation quite seriously. I’ve read a lot of opinions however basically suggesting that moderation is rarely possible, and is just a lie we tell ourselves to continue being an alcoholic.

I guess at the moment, my idea of moderation is still quite a few beers, but deliberately missing rounds, going slower than everybody else, and NOT mixing drinks. This way, I feel able to remain at a point where I feel mostly in control, though obviously slightly inhibited still.

So, I ask you all. Do you think moderation is actually possible in this way? And if so, what does moderation look like to you? Is it no more than 2 drinks in a day (per occasion not every day)? Is it like me where it’s still a few but just generally slowing down?

I just read an article about how the keto diet can help alcohol withdrawl. Has anyone tried keto and noticed any impact on drinking or slowing down/quitting?

It basically has to do with how heavy drinkers bodies use acetate from alcohol as fuel as opposed to glucose, and our bodies get used to that, so keto helps our bodies do what they are used to as we recover and reduce heavy drinking.

I would have to see studies to know if there is validity.

https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2021/06/ketogenic-diet-may-soothe-alcohol-withdrawal