Quitting Alcohol

hermes1hermes1 109 Posts
edited March 2011 in Strut Central
Anyone ever done it for a significant amount of time ?
I am going on 4+ months now and it's amazing the difference it makes in all areas of your life.
Esp as someone who was used to drinking 3-5 times a week on a social level.
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    I've routinely stopped imbibing for months at a time.

    It doesn't make a whole lot of difference but it does make that first post-layoff beer taste FUCKING GREAT.

    (Over my lifetime alcohol consumption has probably run 85% beer, 14% wine, 1% other.)

  • djkingottodjkingotto 1,704 Posts
    i drink every day. my kidneys hurt. i'm a big ass dude and can drink half a bottle of vodka and still be sober to everyone around me. i'm about to take at least a month off from drinky and smoky. it will be the most sober i've been in... 20 years.

  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    i am going on a one month break
    my friends did it recently and i am sure it's the right thing for me now
    it's amazing how hard it is to stop weed or alcohol cold turkey for even a week
    i like to believe i am not addicted but i gotta prove it

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I have not drunk since 1999. Straight Edge 4 life lol.
    I thought it would be hard to quit, but once you get over the awkwardness of people offering you drinks & then grilling you why you aren't drinking anymore it's not too bad.

  • Options
    holmes said:
    I have not drunk since 1999. Straight Edge 4 life lol.
    I thought it would be hard to quit, but once you get over the awkwardness of people offering you drinks & then grilling you why you aren't drinking anymore it's not too bad.

    Straight Edge, really? So you don't have sex, either?

    Worst ethos ever.

  • not all edgers dont have sex, xian brainwashing in combination with edge does that ^^

    i jus moved to holland and havent drank since besides one or two times one drink in social situations, alcohol shops are rather rare only a few chains and in general hard alcohol aint as easy to get here as in germany for example (bottle of vodka for under 5 euro is such a sign of the times)

  • Options
    slotbeggazz said:
    not all edgers dont have sex, xian brainwashing in combination with edge does that ^^

    Yeah, I know.

  • MjukisMjukis 1,675 Posts
    The last two years, I've taken one month/year off, where I don't drink at all. The biggest difference to me is how the weekends are - no more starting off saturdays/sundays hungover eating greasy food (even though that has its charm too). But yeah, it really is hard to cut it off completely. I still feel the positive outweighs the negative for me, so I'll keep drinking. But it's good to know that you CAN do without it, feeling the difference and giving yourself a break from it.

  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    hermes1 said:
    Anyone ever done it for a significant amount of time ?
    I am going on 4+ months now and it's amazing the difference it makes in all areas of your life.
    Esp as someone who was used to drinking 3-5 times a week on a social level.
    First off, kudos to you. Keep at it. Secondly, I cosign how the absence of alcohol can actually enhance your livelihood. I haven't had a drink since the late January. I plan to stay sober for the remainder of the year.

  • never had a drink in my life. always get questions and people bothering me about it, but the real reason i did it was because i know people become addicted and have a hard time stopping. high five.

  • dj_cityboydj_cityboy 1,459 Posts
    i very rarely drink now a days as well, my dad was heavy drinker from what i remember, i used to drink quite a bit when i turned the legal age which is 19 here in Canada, i drank quite a bit until i was about 23 or 24 and even back then i didnt really like it that much, i more or less drank to (sadly) impress my friends and show that i could hang, but the sad thing was i was a terrible drinker, i have thin blood so i could drink 2 or 3 beers and be drunk as hell...but i continued to go over my limit many times...once i found the "herbs" i pretty well cut my drinking off.

    my friend John (those who read the other thread, the one with the gamling issues) is as well a very heavy drinker 16 to 20 beers about 4 or 5 days of the week, so much so that we have postponed recording our album time and time again, he tried to quit for new years, but 3 weeks after he showed up with 1 beer, i didnt make an issue out of it because it was one beer, its march now and hes back drinking heavily again...

  • I havent had a drink or a drug in over three years. I use the 12 steps. i'd be nothing but happy to talk to anyone about this by phone or PM if you want. No way i could've stayed sober a week without it.
    I was primarily only a beer drinker and a chronic pot smoker.
    whether or not you are an alcoholic or drug addict is up to you to decide. its not an easy conclusion to come to. a great way to "test" that is to see how long you can stay sober on your own. and the mind will give you a thousand reasons as to why you are not alcoholic or addicted.
    not every suffering alcoholic lives under a bridge.
    has my life gotten better without drugs and alcohol? it has in ways i can't explain. the jones has gone away.
    it's not hard to stop drinking, the challenge is in staying stopped. i quit using many times, only to relapse again and again, because i had no idea how to live sober. my brain was always finding an excuse or reason to get fucked up again.

    again, if anyone want to talk about it on the downlow, hit me up any time

    brian
    612-751-6478

  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    Once in a while I'll have friends who will stop drinking for a bit. Without fail, they always end up telling me the same thing, "Man, I don't know how you do it, dealing with all these drunken idiots." (I've never had alcohol of any kind but when I'm DJing in the clurb, I have to deal with drunk fools. I have little patience with them.) Funny thing is, most times they themselves are the drunken idiots I have to deal with!

    In regards to people offering you drinks and asking questions, I always have to clarify that I've never drank, smoked, snorted, whatever 'cause people automatically assume I don't drink ANYMORE, like I had a problem with it at some point.

    Anyways, congratulations to you, Beatstew. Offering your number is a great look.

  • FrankFrank 2,370 Posts
    I've started a diet a few weeks ago that includes onkly eating raw fruit and raw fish (sashimi only, without the rice, no sushi) and only drink water and unsweetened juice. from Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I eat and drink what I want. I've dropped 18 pounds so far in 4 weeks and can't remember when I last had slept this good. I don't even crave a beer or any other alcohol all week but come weekend, I indulge in good food, beer, wine, fine spirits. As far as I can say after these few weeks, I think I found my perfect balance. I would never want to stop drinking completely but alcohol never posed a problem to me, it never made me angry or become an asshole. I can be an asshole when I'm sober. I always know what's up when my wife asks me "Don't you want to have a beer honey? Come on, let me get you a beer...". This being said, I know plenty of people who would be much better off without drinking and I had bad cases of alcoholism in my extended family.

    Chances are you'll live for a handful of years longer and won't lose any valuable time to hangovers. No beer gut, too. Good choice!

  • you bet! it;s a serious deal for me, and i'm glad to talk about how i've been able to stay sober. believe me, it's nothing shy of a miracle that i'm sober today. i actually chose drugs over spending time with my son as his parent. that's sick shit. :beerbang:

    i'm happy to report that i have a healthy relationship with my son today. he's five and i missed some time in his life and it affected him for sure.

    another great benefit is that much more money to buy records with!!!

  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts
    Frank said:
    I've started a diet a few weeks ago that includes onkly eating raw fruit and raw fish (sashimi only, without the rice, no sushi) and only drink water and unsweetened juice. from Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I eat and drink what I want. I've dropped 18 pounds so far in 4 weeks and can't remember when I last had slept this good. I don't even crave a beer or any other alcohol all week but come weekend, I indulge in good food, beer, wine, fine spirits. As far as I can say after these few weeks, I think I found my perfect balance. I would never want to stop drinking completely but alcohol never posed a problem to me, it never made me angry or become an asshole. I can be an asshole when I'm sober. I always know what's up when my wife asks me "Don't you want to have a beer honey? Come on, let me get you a beer...". This being said, I know plenty of people who would be much better off without drinking and I had bad cases of alcoholism in my extended family.

    Chances are you'll live for a handful of years longer and won't lose any valuable time to hangovers. No beer gut, too. Good choice!

    Frank, i have been on a very similar diet the last few month. What you do is basically eating low carb. After all that time I know now a lot about nutrition. If you want to increase your weight loss then cut out the fruits. They contain more sugar than you might think. Especially oranges and stuff like that... Forget what you heard about them being healthy. If you are worried about getting not enough vitamins then just take substitutes.
    It is great that you eat a lot of fish because they contain good fats. The greasier the better. In general don`t be afraid to eat things containing a lot of fat. Withouth consuming enough fat this diet can be extremly unhealthy. Proteins can`t replace the fat in your diet. Too much proteins might cause damge to your kidneys. Believe me, I learned it the hard way.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Those who know me are aware that the cup can get too good to me, and too often; recently my doctor finally put her foot down as my blood pressure was getting dangerously high. Luckily, she caught me pretty much at the bottom (no exercise, high stress, bad diet, lots of booze) so there's a lot of improvement to be made. For me, the real challenge is to moderate, rather than to quit. I've got relatives and friends that went all-or-nothing, but I am more of a "everything in moderation" type of person, and to me it's far more of a struggle to be selective (wine rather than beer, no hard liquor) and to turn it off after 1-2 rounds than to stop entirely.

    One friend told me, "you have to earn the right to drink" and I believe that. These days I am trying mightily to limit my intake on weekdays so that I can enjoy a few rounds come the weekend. And if I earn that right, I don't feel guilty about it.

    Keeping a healthy lifestyle in other aspects (diet, exercise) is crucial... when I think of the possibility of not feeling up for a jog the next morning or having to sop up the whiskey and beer with late night greasiness, it encourages me to limit my consumption to just a glass of wine with dinner or whatever.

    Having your friends/family/significant other on board is crucial. And get yourself a piggy bank - for a couple months now I've been depositing my after-work drinking money into one and it's getting fat. Pay yourself instead of the local bar (apologies to the bartenders who are no longer the beneficiaries of my largess).

    It's only been a few weeks on this new regimen, so time shall tell if I can stick to it. But I feel good. My doctor made me go out and get a blood pressure gauge, and I'm slowly seeing results. Dropped a belt size already. Etc

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    BobDesperado said:
    holmes said:
    I have not drunk since 1999. Straight Edge 4 life lol.
    I thought it would be hard to quit, but once you get over the awkwardness of people offering you drinks & then grilling you why you aren't drinking anymore it's not too bad.

    Straight Edge, really? So you don't have sex, either?

    Worst ethos ever.
    you must have missed the lol. Anyways, originally Straight Edge wasn't vegetarian/vegan either, just basically no drugs. The sex thing originally was more like just don't be a slut, as mentioned above, the hardline religious dudes always take it to the extremes.
    Kind of bums me out how people stereotype the ethos based on the negatives.

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    My alcohol intake has decreased a lot over the last few years. Even now, when I DJ (free drinks all night long) I only have 3 to 4 beers over the course of the night. Also, the last beer I bought to keep at home was a case purchased the last week of January and there are still 8 beers left from it. My one drinking spell I still do though is at the mexican spot up the street with liter mugs...love to down a couple of those with some tacos.

    My Dr. also is concerned with my BP...I was sent to the emergency room from work (which can be super stressful) with a BP of 194/120...however it dropped 50 points after a few hours of relaxing at the hospital...but it is still high. My main unhealthy vice is cheese and cured meats...I like nothing more than some prosciutto and salami with some good cheese. Also, my girl was a baker by trade before she went to grad school and she is always making cakes, pie, bread...the low carb thing is kinda impossible with all that goodness in the house all the time. But, the last year I have pretty much cut out all processed foods, soda, and fast food (I allow myself one fast food meal a month as sometimes time constraints prevents eating right and I do like a big ass cheeseburger and fries...but just once a month now)

    Also, the last bottle of hard liquor at my house was a fifth of Jameson I got at Christmas that is still 2/3 full.

    Its tough being good.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Im thirsty!!!

  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    Out of curiosity, have any of you seen video of yourself while drunk?

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Herm said:
    Out of curiosity, have any of you seen video of yourself while drunk?

    If playing in your band live counts, yes, many times.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Herm said:
    Out of curiosity, have any of you seen video of yourself while drunk?

    Man... plenty of audio, for sure.

    And I stay untagging pictures of myself at some bar that show up on FB.

    and that reminds me. DUDES... STOP THAT SHIT. You take a flick of someone with their eyes closed, a beer at their lips, and think it's a good look to poast it on their wall??

  • hermes1hermes1 109 Posts
    Frank said:
    I've started a diet a few weeks ago that includes onkly eating raw fruit and raw fish (sashimi only, without the rice, no sushi) and only drink water and unsweetened juice. from Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I eat and drink what I want. I've dropped 18 pounds so far in 4 weeks and can't remember when I last had slept this good. I don't even crave a beer or any other alcohol all week but come weekend, I indulge in good food, beer, wine, fine spirits. As far as I can say after these few weeks, I think I found my perfect balance. I would never want to stop drinking completely but alcohol never posed a problem to me, it never made me angry or become an asshole. I can be an asshole when I'm sober. I always know what's up when my wife asks me "Don't you want to have a beer honey? Come on, let me get you a beer...". This being said, I know plenty of people who would be much better off without drinking and I had bad cases of alcoholism in my extended family.

    Chances are you'll live for a handful of years longer and won't lose any valuable time to hangovers. No beer gut, too. Good choice!

    I did the same thing you did, quit drinking full stop changed my diet and started exercising regularly. Mentally and physically the changes have been dramatic. Btw I loathe nothing more than smug self righteous tee-totalers. Drinking is fine in moderation just like anything else. Shit it's even really cool to tie one on on special occasions or get dumb when you are young. But I am post 30 now and I've made some bad choices so my priorities are different these days. To each his own.

  • discos_almadiscos_alma discos_alma 2,164 Posts
    I have serious problems many times when I drink hard alcohol (whiskey especially) and I'm frankly sick of it at this point. Add to that the fact that I DJ at bars around Oakland where my friends tend bar and regularly offer me shots of Jameson on the house. Shit is real tough to just walk away from, but I have decided to cut out the hard stuff entirely. This sucks because I really like a glass of bushmills on the rocks while lounging at the crib on weeknights. Wine will have to do in its stead from now on.

    Hats off to folks like Herm for being able to DJ and keep off da joose. I gotta have a beer when DJing, otherwise it just wouldn't be right! ;)

  • Jonny_Paycheck said:
    my doctor finally put her foot down as my blood pressure was getting dangerously high. Luckily, she caught me pretty much at the bottom (no exercise, high stress, bad diet, lots of booze) so there's a lot of improvement to be made.

    WERD my whole story right here...Weed was my whole life/panic/needz that/ounce every other week and I quit, yet did not pay attention all this shit right here--I don't drink all day...gettin' $ stable, right??? duh. Hence having me now to go back to doc to get re-evaluateted in May...wonder why?...and who knew there were so many calories in str8 vodka (while I favor carb sensitive fat based diets).

    Last thing I will say is I feel this werid limbo SEEING first hand the GIFT of giving up smoking 24-7, and how much that changed my life for the better, and at the same time holding on to a lesser love not applying this first hand insight. Like the last crutch to let go I think is the deal...'man, why should I do this it's all I [knew], what will I do now'...

    ProjectX - SxE Revenge soon/love the SS confessional threadz.

  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    yo bigups to anyone trying to regulate and tip of the hat to folks who have never touched the stuff.

    i feel very unbeholden to alcohol these last few years. rarely drink beer, wine makes me sleepy and i cant take whisky in any form. love some rum though, but im rarely around it. all that being said, its nice to partake and be social or just get lit once in a while (4, 5 times a year?). i had stone cold alcoholics on both sides of the family, so not sure why it hasnt been a problem fro me. maybe canabis use dulled the need for something else? i try to keep the smoke in check too and too appreciate very small quantities. not god to be dependent on anything, even coffee, sugars, tobacco

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,779 Posts
    I limited my self to the occasional drink when I started having kids 7 years a go. Hangovers and children DO NOT mix. That said, I do like to get shitty about twice a year.

  • Options
    holmes said:
    BobDesperado said:
    holmes said:
    I have not drunk since 1999. Straight Edge 4 life lol.
    I thought it would be hard to quit, but once you get over the awkwardness of people offering you drinks & then grilling you why you aren't drinking anymore it's not too bad.

    Straight Edge, really? So you don't have sex, either?

    Worst ethos ever.
    you must have missed the lol. Anyways, originally Straight Edge wasn't vegetarian/vegan either, just basically no drugs. The sex thing originally was more like just don't be a slut, as mentioned above, the hardline religious dudes always take it to the extremes.
    Kind of bums me out how people stereotype the ethos based on the negatives.

    I was joking, also. I just don't use "lol" because it creeps me out.

    First I heard of straight edge was Minor Threat.

    "I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't fuck. At least I can fucking think."

    I've done all of those things, though I never smoked tobacco. And I can think. I think.

    Ian MacKaye is alright with me.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    When things collapsed I was getting ready to say, nice post beatstew. Thanks.

    I think I recently mentioned in another thread I quit drinking about 15 almost 20 years ago.
    I didn't have a problem and it was easy.
    My buddy makes real egg nog for new years, and I have half a cup, and thats it.

    Only other time I want a drink is hot summer afternoons eating bbq. A cold beer would be nice, but no big deal.

    When I tell people I don't drink, some clearly assume I am an alcoholic and start watching me sideways. But many, not often.

    ?On the alcoholic tip. I have a relative that has had mainly alcohol and also drug problems all his life. In his late 50s now. Apparently living on the streets of Key West now. We did a google search for him, because he has been out of touch for over a week. Found 2 mug shots of him on line. Very scary. I'm not going to post him up. But any older white male at this site will give you an idea.

    http://keywestmugshots.com/?s=kenny&type=files&categories;[site-templates]=1&categories;[wordpress]=1&categories;[psd-templates]=1&categories;[joomla]=1&categories;[email-templates]=1&categories;[misc]=1
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