Cutting down on booze- experiences?

[WestyCarl]

I gave up approx. 18 months ago and feel much better. Sleep better, feel fresher in the mornings.

[Petrol Only]

Good for you hora. I stopped drinking 2 years ago. I have had a drink 4 times since. Stag do and big party's

Certainly don't miss it and a night out seeing all the drunken fools is entertainment in it self. Probably worse thing is the missus dad. Can't trust anyone who don't like a drink? fk off

[LordGrover]

Warmfuzzies said:

Since Jan 1st, have only had one days drinking on Jan the 24th. Doesn't faze me one bit, but it does other people. Which is odd, they think I'm doing to detox etc, but I just fancied a break, and it seems to cause more of an issue with others as they are the ones who make comment....
Very odd.

K.

As you and others have said, this is often the case. It's a bit like when you quit smoking - you're left inside while the smellies all go outside even when it's pishing down. In my old circle of friends it was like being an outsider.
I look at them these days and rather than feel like I'm missing out, which I used to, I feel a bit sorry for them.
I'm not being holier than thou, I still have the odd drink if the occasion arises, but the days of compulsive binge drinking are behind me.

[Mike22233]

hora said:

I can't stand soft drinks- prefer water personally. Did ok this weekend. Three pints of Stout Saturday. Normally I'd get back in and open a bottle of red. I didn't.

Sunday/yesterday I had 4 330ml bottles of Nigerian Guinness.

Yes they are stronger % however where I go 'wrong' is I tend to mix my drinks- redwine, shots, beer. Stick to one- no hangover.

So its Monday to Thurs/Fri again off the booze and doing stuff like DIY etc

I feel good

Youre lucky. I feel even a small amount the next day when training / even in terms of overall energy

[soad]

Some of you will end up like that chap from Leaving Las Vegas (a sad, disturbing, trembling portrait of the final stages of alcoholism) film.

Enjoy the clip: Leaving las vegas (Super del "RED")

[MC Bodge]

soad said:

Some of you will end up like that chap from Leaving Las Vegas (a sad, disturbing, trembling portrait of the final stages of alcoholism) film.

Enjoy the clip: Leaving las vegas (Super del "RED")

As a student I lived opposite a Kwik Save. It had an extensive booze section and quite a few of the locals would reguLarly go in at breakfast time to buy their booze supplies (cheap rocket fuel cider, and/or super strength beer and strong wine) for the day. Some were fairly young mothers too. It seemed sad.

[Captain Muppet]

I didn't used to drink at uni, but slowly got in to it when I met my ex-wife. Her mum was a raging alcoholic and that made me worry about ending up like her, so I often have a deliberate week off booze, just to prove I can.

Just after Christmas I decided to have a week off booze and realised I'd already had a week off booze.

I try not to use it as a reward after a hard day, because then it becomes a habit, but I do like a whiskey.

[brickwall]

Captain Muppet said:

I try not to use it as a reward after a hard day, because then it becomes a habit

This seems to be key. I know a few who adopted this approach, and suddenly found more and more days were 'hard days at work'. One managed to stop for a month, the other has never managed more than 3 days (despite pledges to take a week/fortnight/month off).

[decadent]

I used to drink about 7 bottles of wine a week, majortiy to myself. When I got to 16.5 stone (5foot 10 tall) and felt tired most of the time I thought I had better change my ways.

Bought a bike a couple of years ago and now go running 2-4 times a week and I weigh 12 stone and feel a dam site better. I still drink up to 3 bottles of wine a week and still have a tummy but I do notice if I just have one bottle over a week my tummy flattens the following week.

I don't want to give up drink but the mixture of exercise and cutting down has worked wonders.

[Pothole]

decadent said:

I used to drink about 7 bottles of wine a week, majortiy to myself. When I got to 16.5 stone (5foot 10 tall) and felt tired most of the time I thought I had better change my ways.

Bought a bike a couple of years ago and now go running 2-4 times a week and I weigh 12 stone and feel a dam site better. I still drink up to 3 bottles of wine a week and still have a tummy but I do notice if I just have one bottle over a week my tummy flattens the following week.

I don't want to give up drink but the mixture of exercise and cutting down has worked wonders.

You know you could have gone running without buying the bike, right?

[decadent]

Pothole said:

you know you could have gone running without buying the bike, right?

[decadent]

I found normal life a bit odd too without a glass of wine in my hand. My evenings used to consist of coming home and cooking dinner (with wine in hand), eating dinner with wine and probably double helpings as I ate more with wine. Then I'd retire to the living room and finish the bottle.

Cup of tea before bed and that was me. The weekends were much the same except I'd wait until 5PM to open the vino.

Nowadays I don't do much different (except do have an 18month old so life is generally busier!) but don't notice the lack of wine in the week. It took a month or so to get get out of the missing it stage; I mainly felt bored without it.

I did find going for a run in the evenings helped massively in the beginning. I didn't feel like drinking after running, perhaps I was on another euphoria. It also helped with getting me off to sleep easier too as I did find I couldn't switch off as well without the usual drink relaxing me.

If anyone needs inspiration - I've never been into sports and was a pretty unhealthy 28 year old with the booze, pizzas etc and when I started with the running I could barely run a 1km without having to stop and walk. That was April 2013. But now 10k in 50mins is not a problem.

I also took up cycling at the weekends in Jan 14 and did the london to brighton last year (way to busy and not really a challenge as you're stop start) but whilst training I was doing 70-80 miles at the weekend. So the fitness levels build quite quickly.

Key changes without lots of alcohol and lifestyle changes for me: Less tired, less fat, better skin, weirdly thicker hair(?), better memory/more alert, better sleep, less snoring and I feel like I achieve more (plus the compliments from people who have known me a long time are quite nice).

Edited by decadent on Tuesday 24th March 15:11

[BrabusMog]

Agreed on the better memory, I've only just stopped drinking in the week and I've found I'm a lot sharper at work already. It's really nice to wake up in the morning with a totally clear head, I don't have any trouble getting out of bed and am having time to make breakfast before I leave the house which I never used to do.

[BoRED S2upid]

Cutting down on booze just have a baby if your like us you will be asleep on the sofa after the first glass! Boy do you need / deserve that first glass after getting up at times only a postman should see but your far too nackered to get drunk!

[Mike22233]

hora said:

Its bloody boring in the evenings- having to do stuff without booze. Whereas (for me)- wine etc seems to really slow my heart rate down so TV/couch surfing meant the hours glided by).

Last night I walked to a supermarket and browsed mags, did a bit of shopping. Tonight I'm walking to the Swim/Sauna. Its abit far but pointless warming/switching off the car for <2miles.

Walk! Can walk than in less than 30min. Get some audibooks / podcasts.

[IvanSTi]

hora said:

LordGrover said:

Not per night. Over the day.

Wowsers- thats still alot ('in one day'/all the same). If I'm reading that right?

Sure your not a pub landlord or restaurant owner?

Just catching up on this as I was in a similar place last year.
An exchange of texts between me and a friend (who I used to go out with every night) on a Friday morning before work went as follows.

Him: "I feel ill this morning"
ME: "You big girl, we only had 10 pints and a few Vodka's"

That's when we realised it had gone a bit far. Only 10 with a few vodka's, vodka's being doubles and a few being at least 4 each. Then we had to go to work on the Friday morning, turned up pissed nearly every Friday and sobered around lunch time after going to the Chinese for lunch.

I don't drink pints, so replace my 10 pints with Double Jack and Cokes.

On a weekend we'd easily go through 15-20 pints (JD for me), then go to the high street for shots and trebles on offer.

On holiday last year we'd go through 40+ bottles of Desperado's beer in one of the local bars to the hotel, then head out to the strip to once again, hit the vodka's/shots. Every day.

The above scenario with him being ill after the thursday night out didn't happen very often, we'd usually be ok and go to work drunk the next day and 10 pints or double JD equivalent, would have been done pretty much every day.

This isn't a worst ever "look how much I can drink" post, we packed in drinking excessively in September last year, my kidneys started hurting and we were going a funny shade of colour. I haven't stopped drinking all together, I still go out now and then and get pissed up and shoe the rest how to drink properly but it's cut down considerably.

My saving grace has been meeting a new girl, him meeting a new girl, me starting to race my car (Spending all my money on that) and needing to lose weight to be competitive and I've started going Rock Climbing again.

So my input would be to find a hobby which requires you to use your spare time on and preferably something which would be made easier if you were lighter.

[IvanSTi]

hora said:

WOW! How old are you roughly if you don't mind me asking?

Me? I've just gone 31.

[Pothole]

MC Bodge said:

soad said:

Some of you will end up like that chap from Leaving Las Vegas (a sad, disturbing, trembling portrait of the final stages of alcoholism) film.

Enjoy the clip: Leaving las vegas (Super del "RED")

As a student I lived opposite a Kwik Save. It had an extensive booze section and quite a few of the locals would reguLarly go in at breakfast time to buy their booze supplies (cheap rocket fuel cider, and/or super strength beer and strong wine) for the day. Some were fairly young mothers too. It seemed sad.

You might have seen and judged someone like me then...just coming off a night shift and on the way home for 'dinner' before going to bed. Your morning is not everyone's. Why were you looking out the window when you should have been studying anyway? Typical lazy student!

[MC Bodge]

Pothole said:

ou might have seen and judged someone like me then...just coming off a night shift and on the way home for 'dinner' before going to bed. Your morning is not everyone's.

That might well have been the case. They might all have been unhealthy night workers. I'm sure that 3 litres of Frosty Jack Cider and a cans of few Super Strength is an important part of shift work.

[Issi]

My oldest boy was recently working in a mini-mart type establishment, and he'd regularly have people at 0800 queuing to but Special Brew and Frosty Jacks.

One Sunday morning, when the offy part of the shop doesn't open until 1100, he had a chap turn up (as a passenger) in a taxi, and sat outside for 25 minutes with the meter going, before he could go in for his vodka.