NHS Drink Free Days

Prior to getting this app, I thought I had a major drink problem/addiction, but having entered what I drink into the app I was very happy to see I was only just in the yellow (17 units per week) and straight away set myself a goal to get into the green (well initially it was to be T total but I’m not ready for that quite yet). So I said in my head I would go from two bottles of wine a week to one and now I’m down to one bottle (and an odd whisky) and already I feel like I have much more energy / less sleepy in the evenings by avoiding alcohol and having soft drinks. What made me get this app was hearing a woman in tv talk about being told she had 10 days to live due to drinking and she gave up instantly and recovered. Being 38 with two kids I didn’t want them to hear me say that so pledged to give up the majority of the drink and hopefully one day give it up completely. Thank you to the creators, its a brilliant app. The only thing I would like to see is the ability to log the actual drinks I have had, rather than my weekly entries because adding it to the app and seeing the units or calories would make me think again. Oh and in the two weeks I’ve had this app I’ve already lost weight (1kg)

I have thought about cutting back the amount of wine I drink for years but have always been put off by the ridiculous government guidelines of 14 units a week which AFAIK translates into a thimble of wine a day which to someone who enjoys wine amounts to becoming teetotal. This Apps proposition and inherent genius is simply - whatever you drink why not try to have a dry day once a week? I could relate to this and actually am now doing 4 days off a week which for me is amazing. The App reminds you of the hundreds of pounds and calories you are saving which are very satisfying and motivating. I was surprised by how much less wine I needed on my on days to be happy after having a few off days. Simple, effective, life changing!

I held off getting this app for months but I wish I’d have got it sooner now I’m doing it. I didn’t really see how it could help but it makes you want to prove you can do what you say you are going to do (or not do!). I pledged 5 drink free days this week and nearly caved tonight when my husband poured me a glass of red. I picked it up and then put it back down as today is a drink free day. My lime and soda and cup of tea were in no way sub-standard and my head already feels less cloudy. I am really pleased with myself and this app

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This isn’t unusual to this App. Most of the ‘manage your drinking apps’ work in the assumption that we all work a Monday to Friday working week - a regular 5 on, 2 off pattern. I work a 3 mornings, 3 afternoon/evening, three off cycle, which means that my Friday may be a Friday this Friday, but next Friday will be a Sunday and so on. The trouble with this app is that one of the first things you have to do is set out your Monday to Friday ‘as accurately as possible’ for it to work. No good for me then. I think it’s sad that this app from Public Health England misses out on the challenges faced by shift workers - the ones most likely to face health challenges caused by their circadian rhythm being whacked and the most likely to have a quick short or two alone when they come off their night shift, or go to Wetherspoon’s when it opens at 10AM, or drink alone in the wee wee hours when ‘normal’ people are in bed.

Really enjoying this app and it’s certainly incentivising me to drink less however some of the functionality isn’t very joined-up and could benefit from an update • I get a notification asking if I drank yesterday even if I’d previously told the app that I hadn’t • On days I ‘do’ have a drink, it’s be good for the app to let me add what I’d drank and elect to use that as my default moving forward. It currently assumes that whatever you’d initially on set-up is still what you continue to drink going forward, and changing it is a bit of a faff. I’m finding that the app is helping me reduce even on my drinking days and I’d like it to be more intelligent tracking that too • The ‘Top Tip’ area of the homepage is repetitive, blindingly-obvious and takes up far too much realestate considering what it actually tells the user. Eg: I’d much prefer this space to reflect my calorie savings for the week - something more related to me and my data