On The Wagon... then in 'ere!

Great going.

Think I'm at around 9 months now. Wouldn't mind hitting that 18 month point myself.

Was out in Newcastle on the weekend and I felt kinda anxious thinking I used to be one of the drunk people stumbling about. When your sober on a night in a city you become pretty aware of how risky drunken behavior is. People with zero control of their faculties. (me in the past)

I loved nights out on the beer with friends and probably still would, but it brought me more hassle than enough so I'm glad to be clear of it.
 
mid_gen said:
Cutting out all the other drinking has been pretty life-changing. Not dramatically, but I've just got so much more energy and motivation, better sleep. My climbing training has come on massively, and I'm fitting in training every day, even with a particularly busy period at work.

Just makes me a bit sad at having spent so much of my life aneasthetised by alcohol. It's bloody great to cut it out for good. Awful drug.
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Great effort. I'm doing my best to switch to the alcohol free alternatives. Beer i find easy as they do some decent ones now. It's easier here as it's harder to get really nice craft beer so an NA lager isn't much different to the alcholic version, although wine i think i'd miss too much. If they could nail an NA red wine i think i'd make the full switch.

I don't think i'll ever stop completely as i enjoy whisky/rum and craft beer, but if i can switch from having a couple drinks multiple times a week, to a couple times a month it'd be nice. What's weird is that whenever i've cut it out for longer periods (albeit only around 6 weeks at most) i never really feel any different. Only real time i notice it with exercise is when i've had a decent amount the night before, but i could generally have a full bottle of red wine and then do a 2-3 hour long run/bike ride without feeling too crap.
 
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Martynt74 said:
Great effort. I'm doing my best to switch to the alcohol free alternatives. Beer i find easy as they do some decent ones now. It's easier here as it's harder to get really nice craft beer so an NA lager isn't much different to the alcholic version, although wine i think i'd miss too much. If they could nail an NA red wine i think i'd make the full switch.

I don't think i'll ever stop completely as i enjoy whisky/rum and craft beer, but if i can switch from having a couple drinks multiple times a week, to a couple times a month it'd be nice. What's weird is that whenever i've cut it out for longer periods (albeit only around 6 weeks at most) i never really feel any different. Only real time i notice it with exercise is when i've had a decent amount the night before, but i could generally have a full bottle of red wine and then do a 2-3 hour long run/bike ride without feeling too crap.
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This was my problem as well. When I gave up alcohol for months at a time it never made the blind bit of difference except making life more boring. People told me ah you'll notice the difference in a week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 month, 3 month, etc. I think for some people it makes a huge difference others not so much.

From the start of the year I have made a conscious effort to reduce the excessive consumption. I got the usual "executive health check up" where they prod and poke every possible part of you and do like 10000 tests. Liver scans and stats came back perfectly healthy so glad for that. Was a bit worried something would show.

My weight is down significantly though which I guess is beneficial down to early 90s kg from well over 100+ kg. I never really felt the weight at my height but I'm under no illusion that it's bad.

Sounds like some people are making great progress here in reducing which is good. Whilst I never will give up entirely now I know that it affects a lot of people and it's better to be without than to ruin your life. For the rest of us mortals moderation for everything in life (including occasionally moderation ;) ).
 
Orangeade said:
This was my problem as well. When I gave up alcohol for months at a time it never made the blind bit of difference except making life more boring. People told me ah you'll notice the difference in a week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 month, 3 month, etc. I think for some people it makes a huge difference others not so much.

From the start of the year I have made a conscious effort to reduce the excessive consumption. I got the usual "executive health check up" where they prod and poke every possible part of you and do like 10000 tests. Liver scans and stats came back perfectly healthy so glad for that. Was a bit worried something would show.

My weight is down significantly though which I guess is beneficial down to early 90s kg from well over 100+ kg. I never really felt the weight at my height but I'm under no illusion that it's bad.

Sounds like some people are making great progress here in reducing which is good. Whilst I never will give up entirely now I know that it affects a lot of people and it's better to be without than to ruin your life. For the rest of us mortals moderation for everything in life (including occasionally moderation ;) ).
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Pretty much my experience as well. The only thing it really benefitted me was when I do drink I'm now more aware of how I feel in the morning. Even 2 glasses of red and I feel a bit squiffy in the morning. I'm pretty good at moderation now and only allow myself around 4 drinks a week tops. I find I enjoy in more when I do crack a cold one and am happy to stop at one most of the time. Also went from 84kg to 80kg.

I really hated having to get up to pee in the night after having 3 or 4 beers so don't have that issue anymore which is a bonus! Its also nice being able to drive everywhere and not have to worry about trains/taxis. I may have the occasional night "on it" so to speak but that's pretty rare now.
 
Coming up to 19 months now. I was barely a drinker to start with, but I noticed that the hangovers got worse and so did my sleep.

Can't say it was life-changing or anything, but I certainly sleep better than I would've on those very rare occasions I would have a little tipple. Perhaps if I was a regular drinker I could compare better, but, I'd settle for the better sleep every day.
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
I didn't feel any different but have friends that are in a perpetual state of drunk/hangover that I'm sure would feel better with sobriety.
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The lack of hangovers will make you feel better for sure, but actual damaging effects on physical health with moderate drinking are quite limited. You’re more likely to damage your health with food than sensible levels of alcohol. Excess salt/sugar/fat/chemicals (UPF) are often harder to control than drinking, unless you’re a raging alcoholic in which case you probably barely eat anything at all
 
I've not long hit 18 months alcohol free and do I feel notably different?

No in some ways, yes in others

No hangovers / fuzzy head / beer fear from the night before yes

Generally day to day "better" no

But. The not thinking of having a drink or when I'm going to have a drink is liberating, for me, I'm a way I never thought it would. My noticeable differences are certainly more mental than physical
 
regulus said:
Coming up to 19 months now. I was barely a drinker to start with, but I noticed that the hangovers got worse and so did my sleep.

Can't say it was life-changing or anything, but I certainly sleep better than I would've on those very rare occasions I would have a little tipple. Perhaps if I was a regular drinker I could compare better, but, I'd settle for the better sleep every day.
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Older i've gotten, and i'm only 36, the more i'm protective over my sleep. I feel like it's the root of the tree really and should be as best as you can possibly get it. Alcohol definitely ruins it, the odd times I do drink I notice I wake up and feel pretty bad for 2-3 days after.
 
robfosters said:
The lack of hangovers will make you feel better for sure, but actual damaging effects on physical health with moderate drinking are quite limited. You’re more likely to damage your health with food than sensible levels of alcohol. Excess salt/sugar/fat/chemicals (UPF) are often harder to control than drinking, unless you’re a raging alcoholic in which case you probably barely eat anything at all
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Define moderate, depending on your definition, a lot of what you said is in direct conflict to medical evidence.
 
31 days today no booze.

The last time I drank was at a friends wedding where I had way too much, which has always been my problem; very little or too much. Decided to finally go tee-total. I've downloaded the booze free days NHS app which, and it sounds silly, gives me some gratification when I can tick off a day.

Having kids massively changed my mindset as a hangover with two year old twins is not fun.

Also noticed my fitness improving too.
 
Think it's a year now since my last drink.

Last time I got "drunk" was first week of October 2023, then I remember having a small bottle of peroni a couple of weeks after that.

A recent holiday abroad had me tempted a couple of times but I just opted for a non alcoholic beer each time.

For anyone wanting to cut back it does get easier after the first few weeks. Breaking the routine of drinking on a Friday night after a week of work was the hard bit initially.
 
Hedge said:
For anyone wanting to cut back it does get easier after the first few weeks. Breaking the routine of drinking on a Friday night after a week of work was the hard bit initially.
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Probably good to think of some other little treat that is not harmful like alcohol. Also, alcohol is not something that helps you relax, quite the opposite.
 
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