HOW DOES FOUR MONTHS WITHOUT BOOZE FEEL???

Yes you read it correctly, I have now gone four months without touching a single drop of alcohol!

I realise at this point you’re all thinking, ‘oh right I didn’t know Freddie was an alcoholic?’

Fortunately I’m not, I am, like you, just a person that enjoys a few glasses of wine, the odd whisky, and a few pints down the pub now and again.

But once my wife started to get into the latter stages of pregnancy, I could see that me drinking was becoming increasingly frustrating for her to watch. So I decided to knock it on the head until the baby is born.

Now, we are in the very, very late stages of pregnancy, in fact as I write this, we are at the 40 week mark, so are expecting our little boy at any time!

But the point of this blog isn’t to bore you with details of my impending fatherhood (you’ll be sick of that in the coming weeks once he’s here anyway)

No, the purpose of this blog for all you regular drinkers is to give you a little insight to what it feels like having four months off the sauce.

So how do I feel?

Pretty good. Better than four months ago? Yes I would say so. I’ve lost a stone in weight, although that is largely due to my recently improved diet, and my commitment to my local tennis club, I sleep longer and better, and I just have generally more clarity. But one major improvement is the lack of hangovers, which have destroyed days of my life, lying about feeling sorry for myself, wondering why I drink in the first place, and swearing i’ll never do it again! Sunday mornings are actually amazing I’ve learned.

Quite honestly though, the one big effect it’s had on my life, is socially…

I’ve not stopped going to watch the footy, or the tennis, boxing etc down the local, but sitting there drinking soft drinks instead of beer like everyone else is very difficult. It’s amazing how much will power you have to have, not to order a pint. It’s actually quite sad to be honest, how reliant your social life is on alcohol. What I mean by that is that whilst everyone seems to be having a great time, inside you feel a little bored, and as though you are missing out.

It’s an odd feeling, because I love to be sociable, have a laugh, and enjoy a drink. But over the last month or so I have noticed that I just don’t want to attend these booze fueled evenings, and to be honest, it’s made me totally re-assess my life. A proper eye opener.

You realise that the people around you are so heavily reliant on boozey nights, that they probably wouldn’t even be friends without it.

It’s a fine line between jealousy and realization for me at this point, and I find myself asking myself, ‘Do I really want to drink again?’

Maybe subconsciously, at 32 years old, and just about to become a parent for the first time, I am growing up?

Maybe I’m just bitter about everyone else having a great time?

I’m hoping it’s not the latter, but only time will tell.

Truth is, I don’t actually miss beer or wine that much, but my one vice in recent years is whisky, and that I do really miss. But not for the want of drinking to get drunk. I genuinely have an interest in the depth and history of the drink, and enjoy experimenting with different brands/distilleries/countries, etc. It’s almost a hobby. Granted a bad hobby. But it’s the one thing I can’t wait to have a little dram of when I feel the time is right.

I know that this short abstinence from drinking will end soon, and it’s been a great experiment that I would recommend to anyone wondering why they do it every week, questioning their will power, or just interested in standing back and assessing their social habits and situations. Like I said, bit of an eye opener.

So chances are this is my last blog before the baby arrives, and possibly my last blog before I have a sneaky celebratory dram, so I hope you have all enjoyed reading it. I look forward to sleepless nights, nappy changing, and plenty of hard work raising my son over the next errrr well however long! Exciting times ahead!

Thanks for reading, and as always, until next time………..