Here we are, week 4 and nearly at the end.
You can see how week 1, 2 & 3 went in their respective blog posts and I thank you all so much for the support and encouragement over the last few weeks, we have nearly made it but I am not there yet.
That said, the benefits of being alcohol free for 3 weeks now are amazing and impressive.

Day 22
Lazy Saturday, all the things I wanted to achieve for the day to myself I did not but I think the Podcast went well. Finally have a working headset after a week of naff tech and we ordered Chinese because… well just because Duck went back to work today as we are finally done with shielding from Omicron now I am past the safer window since my booster. We had our weekly game of D&D and finished yet another Netflix documentaries. Its nice to be getting more quality evening time we can both remember – just not an early night!

Day 23
Ah lazy Sunday, how I like only seeing you after noon and nearly 10 hours sleep.
That’s the thing that has surprised me most about all this, I have been able to sleep.
I might not be sleeping at the ‘right’ hours but I am getting between 7-10 hours a night and my dark circles are better than they were 5 years ago when I was teaching! I got a little stressy at one point this evening with a troll who had infiltrated discord and I spent a lot of post stream time basically being detective paranoia and booting people out. A drink would have been nice, but I coped.

Day 24
A day off! Finally time to start catching up on all the jobs that have been piling up whilst I have been streaming more than usual this month. Managed to find even more things to do, part procrastination part “oh shit now I have time to think about it, this needs doing too”. I have the barebones down for all the games I intend to review on Thursday and scheduled website posts from now until the middle of Feb which is a huge achievement! With more games coming in every day I will be able to have Feb covered by the end of next week at this rate. I’ve also been enjoy the financial relaxation of not drinking and planning what I might save the extra money for. Lots to look forward to. I think my relationship with alcohol has been well and truly reset but I would dearly like a bottle of G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge to celebrate… at some point.

Day 25
Today I was up by 10.30am and the possibility of rolling back my sleep from too many Netflix induced 4am bed times finally seems actually possible. Its also my second day off camera, and the first gym day of the week. In addition to the 5 odd miles we walked today I also set a new personal best for 1k on the rowing machine and then hit 5k on a bike. My legs are sad.
Its also my first time being out of the house and social since I stopping drinking – we went to see friends for what has now been pencilled in as a monthly games night. House Shiney love boardgames but when there have only been two of you to play them for the last 2 pandemic years, and you are both HORRBILY competitive, you need extra people around to play all those other games… which need more people around. Its been a lovely night.
Also a few personal victories today with some issues I had been having with customer support from two places and some positive news on the possible housing situation. It has been a good day.

Day 26
The early morning yesterday was a fluke! Was up late… (again) I am just not feeling tired at times that make getting up early helpful and its been a shitty stressor of a day. Lots of bad news and too much to hurry up and do all at once, I am feeling seriously overwhelmed. I don’t think working so much has helped this but I am so pleased with what I have been able to accomplish this month but I fully admit days off need to actually involve nothing to do with with this magical site or twitch. I will work on this. Because of the stress though, I feel like I am pressed for time so whilst I was on the 6.5mile walk today I decided to not do a social thing tomorrow I was supposed to do. I can’t promise my sleep is fixed and I need work & gym routine to get back to a better sense of self.

Day 27
Today has been better, less stressed but seriously so achy. No gym, a rest day from physical activity (which makes going tomorrow all the more important) and a great stream day playing 4 new games. Have decided to alleviate some of the admin working pressures that new game reviews will only be done on Thursdays now and I need to make sure I try not to do too many. I am still relieved I don’t have to be social for a while. I need some time to recharge so I can get on top of all the extra life crap that popped up this week. Non-social time is crucial for me to do that otherwise I can see my stress getting back to the point where I was on meds for my anxiety.

Day 28
Week 4! Fucking hell, it has gone SO FAST.
I have also reinstalled MyFitnessPal so I can start moderating calories on top of the gym going – which means when I do introduce alcohol again, it will only be on days I have the spare calories for, its nice to feel so totally reset. The end is in sight…!

Week 4:
Walked over 18 miles, went to the gym twice and lost over 2kg.

I am hoping sharing my experience has been helpful. I know that recording the experience has meant it was at times much easier to carry on and not ‘crack’. If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol dependency please in the first instance speak your DR, GP or local alcohol charities. It is possible to go from nightly use to a healthier relationship but its hard to do alone. See you again next week!