Quitting Alcohol
hermes1
109 Posts
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.
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.
Comments
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.)
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
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.
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)
Yeah, I know.
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 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
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.
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'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!!!
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.
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
Kind of bums me out how people stereotype the ethos based on the negatives.
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.
If playing in your band live counts, yes, many times.
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??
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.
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! ;)
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.
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
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.
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