How much do you drink, honestly?
Discussion
TameRacingDriver said:
I feel your pain buddy, I really, really do!
Some of my mates have made it easier for me since they appear to not be interested in going out anymore.
Even so, I'll probably have a few beers tonight, but I do feel a pang of guilt about it given how well I've been otherwise doing. I'll just try and not have too much. At one time I would have done 10 cans in, even staying in the house but now I doubt I could get anywhere near it (tolerance!), nor do I want to.
I think the best strategy here is to be strict through the week - this is the critical bit. Still enjoy your weekends, but try and reduce what you have. The lowered tolerance will certainly help. Get drinks you love the taste of and savour them. Try not to drink through the day on a weekend - at least wait until the evening. You might need a distraction - mine is working out, walking and computer games (not so much TV/movies as they're passive so you tend to reach for your drink). You're on PH so unlike me you might have a car you can go out in and enjoy.
Unfortunately, it's not meant to be easy, if it was, this thread wouldn't be full of people like us. As with me, you're probably of that generation that went out all weekend on the drink every weekend and its difficult to get out of the mindset. Thing is, our bodies can't take it anymore (well mine can't anyway!).
Good luck mate, am here if ever you want a chat / moral support
Slippery slope. Some of my mates have made it easier for me since they appear to not be interested in going out anymore.
Even so, I'll probably have a few beers tonight, but I do feel a pang of guilt about it given how well I've been otherwise doing. I'll just try and not have too much. At one time I would have done 10 cans in, even staying in the house but now I doubt I could get anywhere near it (tolerance!), nor do I want to.
I think the best strategy here is to be strict through the week - this is the critical bit. Still enjoy your weekends, but try and reduce what you have. The lowered tolerance will certainly help. Get drinks you love the taste of and savour them. Try not to drink through the day on a weekend - at least wait until the evening. You might need a distraction - mine is working out, walking and computer games (not so much TV/movies as they're passive so you tend to reach for your drink). You're on PH so unlike me you might have a car you can go out in and enjoy.
Unfortunately, it's not meant to be easy, if it was, this thread wouldn't be full of people like us. As with me, you're probably of that generation that went out all weekend on the drink every weekend and its difficult to get out of the mindset. Thing is, our bodies can't take it anymore (well mine can't anyway!).
Good luck mate, am here if ever you want a chat / moral support
Managed to keep my consumption down last night, 4 stubbies and a whisky. Not really much at all for a Friday. But one thing that was brought into stark focus was just how disruptive even this relatively small amount is on your sleep. I’ve been awake since 5:15 this morning. Before that, I’ve been sleeping through the whole night. Also a little heartburn for the first time in weeks. So yeah, that’s putting me off it too...
J4CKO said:
Went to the pub with the wife last night as her colleagues band were on, had a couple of zero percent beers and was quite happy, part of enjoying a beer is the feel when you drink it and the taste, plus being out.
What beer did you have? I like Brewdog Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, so I've been eyeing up that Nanny State beer and wondered if it was any good. Its not 0% but it is something like 0.5% IIRC.
J4CKO said:
A doing the Dry January after caning it (by my standards) during December, found it pretty easy which is pleasing.
Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
For the last year I was regularly sinking 80-100 units per week, mainly drinking at home as I'm not a particularly social person or social drinker, oddly I drink less when out with others or out doing something. Jan last year I was 102kg (heaviest I'd ever been up to that point) and drinking, but not as much as I have been recently, Jan this year I was 106.7kg. Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Something clicked in me and I started to reign it in over Christmas when I was off work, so far I've been totally dry since the 1st January (new years eve I only had 2 pints), I've lost just over a stone and gone down 2 holes in my belt, my diet has always been OK, hardly any junk, rarely eat takeaways, the majority of or meals are from scratch, I have a home made salad for lunch etc; it's all booze.
I was saying to the wife only a few days ago that my dad (who died 4 years ago, totally out of the blue but it was heart related) died only 20 years older than I am now, he wasn't a particularly healthy man and liked a drink; a realisation has kind of hit me that I need to look after myself, now I'm approaching mid 40's and I still have time to do it before it's too late, particularly as obesity runs in the family, my younge sister is obese and suffers from sleep apnea; as did my dad.
My snoring has stopped and I now don't drop off in front of the telly at around 21:30, a friend of ours who is in his 50's recently went to the Dr's, as he was always tired, dropping off and snoring heavily, he drank in similar levels to me, the Dr. told him he must stop and he ws showing classic early symptoms of possibly getting Type 2 diabetes, however he still has time to sort himself out; he's stopped drinking for January and has seen similar benefits to myself.
I feel so much better for not drinking, I'm sleeping better, I'm not tired, I have more energy, my heart rate has dropped and is more consistant; when drinking, it was all over the place.
Problem is I like a drink, I always intend on only drinking at the weekend but it quickly creeps back up to a daily thing.
I'm intending on a dry February just to see how I go weight wise and I'll see where I end up, I have Glastonbury at the end of June and have kind of seen that as an unofficial dry target, but just over a month later we are off to Greece so I think, I may as well do an extra month, however that is in the future and realistically I'll take it a month at a time.
What I will say though is, I don't think I've missed it and I'm rarely in situations where its kind of expected to have a drink.
TameRacingDriver said:
J4CKO said:
Went to the pub with the wife last night as her colleagues band were on, had a couple of zero percent beers and was quite happy, part of enjoying a beer is the feel when you drink it and the taste, plus being out.
What beer did you have? I like Brewdog Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, so I've been eyeing up that Nanny State beer and wondered if it was any good. Its not 0% but it is something like 0.5% IIRC.I have never been in any way dependent on alcohol, I enjoy it but I find it self limiting, even hammering it over Christmas I find I dont enjoy it if I have it every day, I have found it very easy to just not bother this time, seem to remember my last two dry Januarys being a little more like hard work.
I just want to get to my target weight and that is much easier when booze is not involved, its easy 2000/3000 extra calories a week if I go out and have a few at home plus the crap I eat when having a drink. I can lose weight if I drink moderately but not doing just means its not taking ages.
So, plan is, tough it out, lose this two stone, then maintain that weight whilst introducing the odd drink back.
Schmed said:
Seems a shame not to carry on with dry Jan into Feb.
Great timing though, Feb 1st is on a Friday night... I imagine the pubs will be busy.
Very hard to do with 6 Nation and ski holidays / half term. Great timing though, Feb 1st is on a Friday night... I imagine the pubs will be busy.
Dry/low Jan is followed by a wet Feb is the usual phrase.
Anyway I managed doing only 16 units all Jan lost no weight at all
J4CKO said:
A doing the Dry January after caning it (by my standards) during December, found it pretty easy which is pleasing.
Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Speaking from personal experience (gave up totally in 2012) it is far, far easier to stay off it than try to limit it. Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Inspired by Adrian Chile's documentary I watched after Christmas, I've been tracking my consumption on the Drikaware app. Target is to get under 14 units a week.
Have not been too successful this year so far, keeping under 30 units a week is hard enough but the last 7 days I've managed just 11 units. That will all go to pot from tonight when the 6 nations kicks off....
It's quite a nice feeling to hit the "Drink Free Day" button in the app, but I'm still looking yearningly at the pile of beer wine and bourbon I accumulated over christmas.
I may be kidding myself, but I'm trying to avoid the "unneccessary" drinks, that add up and put you over the intake limit - like the last one or two for the road, or even the can of beer I though I might have with my dinner last night. Save the drinks for special occasions and try to moderate the number them is what I'm trying.
Have not been too successful this year so far, keeping under 30 units a week is hard enough but the last 7 days I've managed just 11 units. That will all go to pot from tonight when the 6 nations kicks off....
It's quite a nice feeling to hit the "Drink Free Day" button in the app, but I'm still looking yearningly at the pile of beer wine and bourbon I accumulated over christmas.
I may be kidding myself, but I'm trying to avoid the "unneccessary" drinks, that add up and put you over the intake limit - like the last one or two for the road, or even the can of beer I though I might have with my dinner last night. Save the drinks for special occasions and try to moderate the number them is what I'm trying.
funinhounslow said:
J4CKO said:
A doing the Dry January after caning it (by my standards) during December, found it pretty easy which is pleasing.
Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Speaking from personal experience (gave up totally in 2012) it is far, far easier to stay off it than try to limit it. Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
I have found this January being dry, very easy; far easier than previous years and whilst I sometimes look at the booze in the fridge and think "mmm, I a nice cold one would be good", the urge is actually never that huge.
Currently I am on a 1.3 stone loss for the month and I am continuing with being dry through February.
I started tracking my drinking on the Drinaware app after reading this thread. I hadn't realised that drinking every day had crept into my routine. I'd want a glass of wine to "relax" and that led to downing a whole bottle. Then there was the weekend drinking where I'd find reason to go out and eat and of course that had to be accompanied by more wine. I hadn't been tracking it but reading this thread made me think that maybe I was overdoing it. That and reading the Allen Carr book helped to resolve to track and see how much I was drinking and that awareness led to going more days without alcohol.
Went for a holiday in November and where I'd usually drink every day, I ended up drinking only on the last two days of a two week break. Needless to say that sleep is much better, feel and look better too.
I now try to make sure that the consumption is less than 'Increasing risk' measure on the app and never fail to log my drinking. Realise that it has gone up a little in the last few weeks but it's not regular like it used to be. The app gives you a mental target and the feedback in terms of knowing how much you have/haven't drank is extremely helpful in taking a more measured approach to drinking.
Went for a holiday in November and where I'd usually drink every day, I ended up drinking only on the last two days of a two week break. Needless to say that sleep is much better, feel and look better too.
I now try to make sure that the consumption is less than 'Increasing risk' measure on the app and never fail to log my drinking. Realise that it has gone up a little in the last few weeks but it's not regular like it used to be. The app gives you a mental target and the feedback in terms of knowing how much you have/haven't drank is extremely helpful in taking a more measured approach to drinking.
funinhounslow said:
Speaking from personal experience (gave up totally in 2012) it is far, far easier to stay off it than try to limit it.
It is inevitable due to the nature of addictive compounds, plus the human body's adaptation. You feel slightly worse most of the time, better after one, and soon one is not enough.funinhounslow said:
J4CKO said:
A doing the Dry January after caning it (by my standards) during December, found it pretty easy which is pleasing.
Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Speaking from personal experience (gave up totally in 2012) it is far, far easier to stay off it than try to limit it. Just now wondering what to do after the 31st now, have lost half a stone but still need to lose two more, do I just not have any or just limit it ?
Tonight I’m going to have a drink - it’s France v Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿. Not sure how many probably not as much as previously (maybe 3-4 which would be an eye opening low level for rugby days)
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